There was a time when I adored John McCain, and I remembered that a bit tonight.

But times have changed, and I don’t buy the swing back to bipartisan crusader. He sold his soul to the Bush people to get to this moment, and a Republican party that packed the Justice Department with party hacks, that rooted Democrats out of government, isn’t going to operate using the template McCain presented in his acceptance speech. He may say he’ll work with anyone, but I don’t believe the Republicans who serve him and administer the government for him will allow it.

His policy proposals were vague and seemed to blur the distinctions between him and Obama. He attacked his own party for corruption, but will that be enough to convince the American people that they should have the privilege to run the country another four years? I seriously don’t know about. The people that work for McCain will be the same people that worked for Bush — and I just don’t have faith that they can run the government fairly or in accordance with the law.

The general pitch of his candidacy is: “C’mon, give me a chance. I’m a different man than Bush! Trust me!”

It’s up to the voters now to decide whether or not they will. Maybe they will — and I’m afraid that given McCain’s lack of managerial skill, reckless judgment and Sarah Palin’s strident Christianism, that four years of McCain could be a continuation of the disaster we’re currently in. The Republicans simply aren’t serious about governance — they’re serious about spending money, making rich people richer, and squeezing the middle class out of existence. I think a fair chunk of evangelicals are also serious about the second coming of Jesus Christ. But when it comes to fixing the country, they’re just not really interested.