Boos and Cheers for McCain at CPAC

There's no question that when John McCain was introduced at CPAC the room erupted in cheers.

There's also no question that there were some boos.

McCain was donning a flashy conservative mantle during his address. It was an in-your-face response to those calling him a soft conservative or not a conservative at all.

Naturally, he aligned himself with Ronald Reagan.

When he discussed ILLEGAL immigration, the boos were loud. Applause then welled up to challenge the boos. The cheers prevailed.

At times, his speech was an almost angry outreach to conservatives. McCain insisted that conservatives acknowledge his conservative record, even though he admitted that they have legitimate policy disagreements. He came off as cocky yet humble, quite a feat.

He appealed to conservatives, promising to make the Bush tax cuts permanent (the ones he opposed initially). He didn't seem to squirm. He acted like he supported the cuts from day one.

After defining himself as a staunch conservative, he went after Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.

It's somewhat hard to reconile that with his statement, "I have no doubt that Senator Clinton would make a good president."

Aside from some of those awkward moments, like when he mentioned the Dems' plan for a timetable for troop withdrawal from Iraq, it was a strong speech.

McCain didn't seem tired and old. He delivered his speech with strength and confidence. I sensed that he feels like a winner. He feels that his time has come. He waited for eight years and now he's getting his chance.

The end of McCain's speech was inspiring. He referred to himself as "an imperfect servant" of America, but expressed his life-long record of devoted service and his promise, committing himself to continue to serve her.

It was impressive. "Imperfect servant" was a brilliant line.

McCain held out his hand to conservatives in a gesture of reconciliation.

The question: Will they accept it?


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Watch a clip of the speech.