The McCain campaign's pathetic response to Obama's amazing speech tells you one thing: they have no idea how to respond. Tom Brokaw mocks the response and Chuck Todd wonders how the GOP is going to top the Democratic Convention and how McCain is possibly going to top Obama.

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"The McCain campaign, their response seemed to be that they might has well have been speechless. They didn't know how to react to this speech. They could have written that response before the speech even started. They don't know how to react to this speech. Maybe they were focus-grouping at the time and it focus grouped very well. Whatever the response was, they don't know how to react to this just yet. One more point: The 2 conventions, normally you want to go second, but this is the first time we had back to back conventions like this and I tell ya, I don't know if the Republican Party really is looking forward to having to follow this show. because as a political show, this is gonna be hard to top, not just next week, but four or eight years from now."

McCain's response:

“Tonight, Americans witnessed a misleading speech that was so fundamentally at odds with the meager record of Barack Obama,” spokesman Tucker Bounds said. “When the temple comes down, the fireworks end, and the words are over, the facts remain: Senator Obama still has no record of bipartisanship, still opposes offshore drilling, still voted to raise taxes on those making just $42,000 per year, and still voted against funds for American troops in harm’s way. The fact remains: Barack Obama is still not ready to be President.”

Of course the McCain campaign doesn't know how to respond. All they know how to do is attack attack attack. Barack Obama's speech wasn't just well-delivered and well-written; It was a generational call to arms. It was a bio wrapped in an attack ad wrapped in a policy speech wrapped in a vision for America's future. He spoke to the concerns of average Americans and how he plans to address them. He painted McCain as the chief enabler of the Bush legacy and status quo of Washington, while offerring a genuinely different path for the country.

Obama just elevated the debate. The question remains whether or not McCain will rise to the occassion or continue the Karl Rove politics of old. My bet is on the latter. St Paul is gonna be a blast.