McCain Has Not Prepared a Speech

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By all reports from the front of the plane, John McCain is having a good time today, hanging out with his friend Joe Lieberman, and various other notables, like former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge and Florida Sen. Mel Martinez. They have been eating fried chicken, picked up in Tennessee with some peach cobbler. If there is a lull, McCain can turn to the book he has been reading, “An Army At Dawn: The War In North Africa 1942-1943.”

One thing McCain is not doing is worrying about the speech he will deliver tomorrow night from the lawn outside the Arizona Biltmore Resort, the contents of which will depend on the election’s outcome. McCain’s friend and speechwriter Mark Salter does not like to plan too far ahead. “I don’t work until the day of,” Salter said, adding that the speech should not take him more than a couple hours to write. He added that he will probably wait until midday to get started. “It’s gonna be a late night,” he added, predicting a nailbiter of an election.