Republican National Convention

Now that John McCain has delivered his nomination speech, one thing is clear: Drill! drill! drill! has emerged as a key plank in the candidate's energy, economic and national security strategy. And the GOP loves it.

McCain:

We'll produce more energy at home. We will drill new wells off-shore, and we'll drill them now. We'll drill them now.

On top of oil exploration, McCain said:

We'll build more nuclear power plants.

We'll develop clean-coal technology.

We'll increase the use of wind, tide, solar, and natural gas.

We'll encourage the development and use of flex-fuel, hybrid and electric automobiles.

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On Day 3 of the RNC, vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin took center stage -- along with domestic oil drilling.

The drill-here, drill-now message poured out all over the convention to the roars of a pumped-up Republican crowd, who spontaneously took up the chant: "Drill, Baby, Drill!" Astonishing.

The phrase was coined by Maryland Lieutenant Governor Michael Steele, who said during his remarks:

So, do you want to put your country first? Then let's reduce our dependency on foreign sources of oil and promote oil and gas production at home.

In other words, drill baby drill! And drill now!

It stuck.

The RNC was in full swing on Day 2. The wrap-up:

President Bush endorsed McCain via satellite (transcript of speech), while Fred Thompson acted as a McCain character witness, with a delivery that pleased party faithfuls, it seems.

Not an ounce of real policy substance. But. Global warming earned its first mention in an RNC speech, albeit scant and meaningless. Via Senator Joe Lieberman in the day's closing remarks:

If John McCain was just another go-along partisan politician, he never would have led the fight to fix our broken immigration system or to do something about global warming. But he did!

As Jake Tapper of ABC News points out:

Lieberman gets the Republicans to clap for everything they hate about McCain.

In other convention reax, Gristmill’s Kate Shepard calls the "first big night of speeches eerily sedate." The National Review’s Jay Nordlinger adds:

An austere, abbreviated and less political RNC kicked off yesterday in Minnesota, as Hurricane Gustav bore down on the Gulf Coast and stole the show.

What remained? A business meeting, writes the Washington Post. The American Spectator kicks off its coverage with "Bye Bye Bush:"

As thousands protested in the streets, the Palins announced the latest addition to their family, and the GOP turned its national convention into a Jerry Lewis-style telethon for the victims of Hurricane Gustav, John McCain's party began its transition into the post-Bush era.

President Bush’s appearance was canceled, along with Dick Cheney’s. (Here's the list of what was to have been the RNC line-up.)

Meanwhile, top GOP climate leader Gov. Schwarzenegger announced he will skip the full convention on account of California’s budget impasse.