Live Blogging Pataki: [make sure you keep refreshing for new posts]

• Mel Martinez ain't bad -- you can tell a real difference between a guy who's running for the Senate, compared to one who has been there 20 years.

Bush's problem with Cuban voters in Florida (who have been polling in his favor at around 66% rather than the 90% Bush won in 2000) might just have been solved.

Of course, I'm still sober, so take all this with a rim of salt.

• I know for a fact I'm still sober, so I'm reasonably certain Michael W Smith really is wearing that tie. Bush just lost Carson Kressley's vote.

• BAM! Pataki came right out and mentioned Oregon.

What are Bush's internal polls telling him about what's going on there?

• BAM! Next state Pataki mentions? Iowa.

Then Pennsylvania.

I propose a new game. Every time Pataki mentions a Kerry-leaning battleground state, take a shot.

• Pataki lost me somewhere along the way. In between bites of Chipotle, I almost clicked the mouse in Internet Reversi.

Also, it's time for the second beer. Should finish it just in time to mix a martini before Bush comes on.

• Pataki just got me back. This is damn near poetry.

"This is a candidate who has to Google his own name to find out where he stands."

• "Some people call it an abuse of power; I call it progress."

"A boxcutter is a weapon of mass distruction."

"It is good for the world that he is gone."

Nice lines, all of them.

BTW, I'm watching this unfiltered on INHD. The hi-def picture is gorgeous, but I'm "missing out" on the most of the crowd shots and commentary.

• "We did not choose this war, but we have a President who chooses to win it."

Pataki just summed up every reason (OK, the only reason) I'm voting for Bush in November. Probably for a lot of other RINOs, too.

• Is it just me, or is Pataki striving for Mario Cuomo-level New York oratory? He didn't quite reach it -- but I think this guy is for-sure gonna run in Naught-Eight.

• Laptop fully charged?
  Check.
  Half-finished second beer?
  Check.
  Full martini glass?
  Check.
  Bring on Bush, baby -- I'm ready.

• You know what? I can be so damn shallow I'd probably vote for any candidate who had Fred Thompson doing his ad voiceovers.

....

[Bush portion]

• I thought this speaking-in-the-round thing was going to look cheap and gimmicky. I was wrong. (Insert your own Last Call joke here -- but I'm not really drunk yet.)

• This probably only shows up on an HDTV, but Bush's eyes look bloodshot.

• "We saw the bravery of rescuers grow with danger."

Nice, but --

-- Bush is in trouble if the whole speech is a 9/11 tribute.

• "A superb vice president."

Red meat for the true-beleivers, but not much for the rest of the nation.

Can we get to the REAL meat, please? I understand this is going to be a short speech.

• My first overall impression? I've never seen a candidate give an acceptance speech while looking so. . . serene. And that's probably exactly the right way to approach a restless and apprehensive nation.

But part of me is waiting for the other shoe to drop.

• Nothing will hold us back."

He's talking about the No Child Left Behind Act, which to my mind is a pretty useless and wasteful bit of law. But "nothing will hold us back" is developing into his theme tonight -- and it's a good one.

It makes him sound less like an incumbent we might be tired of, and more like someone we wouldn't mind having around.

• "This will not happen on my watch."

THAT is what I've wanted to hear all week. And he didn't, unlike Kerry, go through a laundry list of complaints and promises before getting to it. That's the advantage of incumbency.

Break time -- need to pour the next drink.

• "...principled leadership...is why we'll win this election."

He didn't have to say any names, did he?

• OK, this stuff on workers, women in the workforce, the uncertain nature of modern employment -- this stuff is completely Clintonian, and I mean that as a compliment.

I'm speaking here of politics, not of policy. And politically, it's swell.

• Go visit Matt. He's had more to drink than I have.
  NZ Bear is liveblogging, too. But is he drinking? The world wonders.

• OK, my drink is refreshed.

Answering the question the folks at Reason.com have been asking, George Bush is giving libertarians like myself reasons to vote for him. Great reasons? Nope. But good enough.

Tax simplification. Medical savings accounts. Some sort of privatization and ownership in all kinds of ways.

Perfect? Nope. But better than Kerry, and, sadly, that's the best I can ask for.

• "Making sure local people are in charge of their schools..." while making them take Federal tests?

Does anyone else see the dichotomy? If it's really local, make it LOCAL.

• If I make quote Evil Willow: "Bored now." Get to the war, damnit. And somebody bring me lemony snacks to go with my martini.

• Again with all the Federal requirements for the education he promises to be more localized. Which is it, Mr. President?

• OK, he got me laughing with the georgewbush.com gag.

Just not sure if I was laughing with or at. Doesn't matter, though. What matters is, the guy looks comfortable, unlike Kerry's flop sweat last month.

And if you didn't see Kerry flop sweat in Hi Def, be thankful.

• Oooh, we get to make fun of Kerry now. The "promise a politician keeps" line was quite good, and delivered well.

Also, "we're not turning back." The folks at DU and elsewhere will have fun with it, but I think it will play well in the sane part of the nation.

• "Activist judges..."

Hate to tell you, but most people don't care. And if you REALLY beleive in judicial non-activism, what could be better than courts so overloaded that they can't decide on much?

• "I will defend America every time."

Amen and pass me the third martini.

• "We are serving a vital an historic cause that will make our country safer."

Finally, we have a sideways admission that Iraq wasn't about WMD. If he'd said that 18 months ago, he'd have saved himself a lot of grief.

• "...return home with the honor they have earned."

Again, Bush didn't have to name names, did he?

• "You are involved in a struggle of historic proportion. . . we are defeating the terrorists where they live..."

Again, Iraq wasn't about WMD.

"We owe you our thanks and we owe you something more..."

But no matter what, it's a debt that cannot be fulfilled.

I wish Bush had said that last bit. I really do.

• "There's nothing complicated about supporting our troops in combat."

Unless, you know, you're running against Howard Dean in Iowa.

C'mon, George, give John a break.

• Right now, W is giving a shout out to his most important, "unilateral" allies.

All I can add is, thanks guys -- and can someone refill my drink, Mr Chirac?

• "...not the scorn of a politician."

No, really -- can someone refill my drink? We're getting into some good stuff, and I need another one.

• Am I the only one who got a little choke-y when he told the story of the Iraqi writing "god bless America" with his prosthetic hand?

• "Our good friend Israel."

Just once, once, I would like to hear Bush tell us Israel's fight is just another front in the Global War, and that's why we stand with them. [Ed note: Amen to that, Stephen]

• I just got a little wood.

Bush took on the NYT of today, by taking on the NYT of yesteryear, compaining about the post-WWII occupation of Germany.

And unlike some, I have enough faith in the American people to GET IT.

• "Americans of all people should not be surprised by the power of liberty."

That's another reason for libertarians to vote for Bush. Sure, he'll disappoint us. So will Kerry. But at least Bush will pay us a little lip service, which is about the best we can expect most days.

• "Generations will know if we kept out faith and kept our word."

"Tonight I ask you to stand with me."

He asked, and I'll tell: I'm gonna stand with this guy. I know I'll regret it later, but I also know I'd regret the other guy even more.

• "...A certain swagger which, in Texas, is called walking."

Forget the war. Forget policy. Forget everything but two men who want something from me.

Kerry could never have made that joke (or the others Bush just made) at his own expense. Bush can, and did. That's a guy comfortable in his own skin, and that's a guy I'd give something to, before the other guy.

I'm pretty sure a lot of people recognize that, even if only instinctively

• Watching, listening to Bush's tribute to fallen soldiers and their families, I remember the pride I felt in him when he held that bullhorn at Ground Zero.

• "This young century will be liberty's century."

I'm talking to my fellow libertarians out there when I tell you, at least Bush is willing to speak our language. Maybe I'm a sucker, but it gets me every time.

Nuance? None. Backtracking? Zero. Calculation? There, probably, but undetectable.

Tell me I'm not the only one who sees all that.