John McCain turned lukewarm supporters in the Kansas delegation at the Republican National Convention into fans, and attendees from Kansas said they believed the GOP emerged from the event united and energized.

While Kansans applauded McCain’s highly personal and often moving acceptance speech Thursday, they said Sarah Palin stole the show with a stunningly effective address Wednesday accepting the vice presidential nomination.

“Not to take anything away from John McCain – he gave a great acceptance speech and said a lot of things I liked – but Palin was magnificent,” said Christy Andruss, who attended the convention as a GOP volunteer. “She proved with all the media attacks going into the convention that she could take it, and Wednesday night, she proved she could dish it out.”

Andruss and another first-time convention-goer, delegate Maria Holiday, neither of whom were McCain supporters during the primary season, said they were returning to Kansas with newfound respect and admiration for the Republican standard-bearer.

“If I could talk to McCain I would ask for his forgiveness for not supporting him in the primary,” Andruss said. “After being at the convention and seeing his speech and learning a lot more about his history, and with his selection of Palin, I’m just so excited about this ticket.”

Holiday said she was impressed by McCain’s humility, his genuineness and his experiences, especially when stacked against Democratic nominee Barack Obama.

“I didn’t support McCain in the primary, but some of the things I learned about him gave cause for pause,” Holiday said.

“He is a genuine hero who could have come home early but didn’t because he didn’t want to give the North Vietnamese a propaganda victory. And he has worked for positive change," she said.

“But what really moved me was when he talked about falling in love with his country in that concrete cell in the Hanoi Hilton,” Holiday added. “He was so genuine you could just feel it. And I really appreciate that he has put country first.”

Holiday said the love of country that McCain has demonstrated through his sacrifices was in stark contrast to Obama.

“John McCain attributes his success to love of his country, but Barack Obama attributes his success to himself -- in spite of his country."

State Sen. Karin Brownlee, an Olathe Republican and a delegate to the convention, also was won over by McCain, but that conversion started before the convention.

“For my husband and I, it was the Saddleback forum that started getting us excited about McCain,” she said. “He so clearly answered questions as a man of character, as opposed to Obama, who just blathered on.”

While Brownlee agreed that Palin provided the buzz at the convention, she said the McCain address provided a nice balance.

“She knocked it out of the park, and I told someone in the audience that she delivered a one-two punch better than Muhammad Ali.”

But McCain, she said, delivered his address “with dignity, humility and a calm demeanor that’s befitting a man who we can trust to lead our country.”

The McCain and Palin speeches, Brownlee said, “really put into perspective the drivel we heard coming out of Democrats, and especially Obama, in Denver.”

Both Andruss and Holiday said they were thrilled and grateful to have played a role in what both believe will be a historic election.

“I honestly never thought I would be there to see a woman on stage accepting the Republican nomination for vice president,” Andruss said. “That’s a big deal for women and for the country.”

Holiday, who covered the convention for KansasLiberty.com, added that only in America could a Kansas woman with no real power or wealth or high office be involved so directly in the democratic process.

“By the grace of God, I was able to take part just because I wanted to get involved,” she said.

- Phil LaCerte

The Week in Review