Daniel McCarthy reports:

Highlight of the day for me so far has been Bill Kauffman’s talk, which was also a big hit with the audience. He lamented the near extinction of antiwar conservatism–”locating the antiwar wing of today’s Republican Party is like looking for the Juice Newton wing in the rock and roll hall of fame”–but Kauffman is optimistic. “Liberal, conservative, left, right–the old labels are more like prison cells,” he said, suggesting that an “alternative America is reasserting itself: in farmer’s markets, in home schools, in book clubs, in the buy local and eat local and homebrew movements [this received huge applause], even in the polling places where over one million Americans voted for Ron Paul for president of these United States.” This is genuine post-partisanship: a stemwinder populist antiwar conservative speech that ended by recalling George McGovern’s 1972 slogan: “Come Home, America.”

I met Bill a few months ago at a local gathering here in Rochester.  He lives in Batavia, and he’s a great localist, libertarian-minded thinker.

Remember that “comeback” I was talking about for this blog?  Here it comes, and politics will drive it.  Coming down the final stretch, I figure it’s time to start blogging politics again.  Lots of stories lately, and here are the brief summaries:

Obama’s Acceptance Speech:  I’m not voting for Obama, and I didn’t think this was his best speech.  But his shots at McCain were bang on.  I’m not sure about the complaints that Obama didn’t mention enough policy.  He did what every candidate does at this stage of the game: he gave a broad overview of the policies.  But there’s no time in an acceptance speech to deal with particulars, counterarguments, and rebuttals.  Of course the speech raised questions.  It was one speech.  Nevertheless, despite the fact that I think he’s less big-government and more personal-responsibility oriented than 90% of the Democrats I’ve heard, he’s still too big-government for me.

McCain’s VP Pick – Sarah Palin:  It’s a brilliant pick, and I’m mad about it.  I like Sarah Palin, and having read more about her today, I wish she was representing the next generation of Republicans, and not attaching herself to the Bush-McCain neocons.  I think, though, that I’ll be slightly less disappointed about a McCain win with the Palin pick.  Slightly.  There’s always the possibility that Palin is nothing more than a two-month political move, and that McCain will brush her quickly to the sidelines if elected.

Rally for the Republic:  I wish I could be there.  Despite the fact that I’m 99% sure I’ll be voting for Bob Barr, I can’t seem to get enthused about him like I was about Ron Paul.  Paul had an energy about him that Barr doesn’t have.  If you’re libertarian-minded and haven’t joined the Campaign for Liberty yet, do so now, so they can reach their 100,000 goal by September 2!