Republican National Convention - 2012

Great convention. It'll be remembered for Ryan's less than truthful speech and whatever Clint Eastwood was doing.



Jamelle Bouie @jbouie

This is a perfect representation of the campaign: an old white man arguing with an imaginary Barack Obama.
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The Clint Eastwood speech was unusual for a convention speech in that it was more like some sort of ad-lib comedy piece than a typical political oration. Eastwood introduced the use of a prop, in the form of an empty chair, filled by an imaginary president Obama, who he then preceded to ask questions to and interpret Obama's answers from.
I have no doubt that Obamabots everywhere will not have liked this "speech," as it was effective in its own way while being very creative and quite entertaining. Of course some measure of grace has to be extended to Clint as he is starting to become a bit feeble with age (82). No doubt this is something that would be indignantly defended by the left if this speech had occurred at the Democratic convention. But can we expect the same sort of polite and respectful deference towards an elderly American icon at a Republican convention? Well, we will see.

I enjoyed Eastwood's one-man skit and laughed quite a bit as I watched it. I expect that most other people watching who are not Obamabots probably enjoyed it just like I did. Eastwood carved up Obama pretty effectively and with some pretty incisive points, generating quite a few laughs along the way.

Here is a key quote from Clint Eastwood's speech:

In reply to:
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Michtex, what exactly gives the President credibility for four more years? Is it the 8.3% unemployment, the record high gas prices or the economic uncertainty he brings to the table?
 
Marco Rubio's speech was stellar. He is a gifted, natural public speaker of a type that is very rare indeed. He is not quite as polished as Mike Huckabee at this point, but he is not far behind. But in addition to his natural speaking skills, he brings a charisma that Huckabee does not have. This guy is really something.
Clearly Marco Rubio is one of the rising stars of the Republican Party, and of the American political scene. If the Democrats have anyone that rivals Rubio on this score, I have not seen them. And of course the Republicans also have Paul Ryan and Chris Christie, who together form the front ranks of the most solid and talented group of young up-and-coming political leadership that I have ever seen.

And not a moment too soon. With all of the serious, pressing problems we have as a nation, it appears we are up to our elbows in alligators, figuratively speaking. We need some serious, very capable people who are up to the challenge right now. Suffice it to say, Barack Obama has had his chance and was not up to the task. Now it is time for a change.

Marco Rubio's speech was at once an endorsement and introduction of Mitt Romney, an indictment of Barack Obama, and a vision of what American has been, what it is and what it should be going forward. Nevertheless, what made this speech special was the personality of Marco Rubio. That alone kicked this speech up to an entirely different level. This is a must watch speech.

Here is the YouTube video:

Florida Senator Marco Rubio

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Mitt Romney's speech was a strong speech, carefully crafted to introduce him to those Americans who have remained largely disengaged from the political process and the ongoing presidential contest. It was a very personal speech, even an emotional speech. It was an upbeat and hopeful speech. It was a polite and well mannered speech. It made the case for why Barack Obama has to go and why he is a good and better choice to be President of the United States over the next four years.

This speech was very solidly and well delivered, however Mitt Romney is not the gifted natural orator that either Mike Huckabee or Marco Rubio clearly is. But he is roughly as good as Barack Obama on this score, who is a good speaker in his own right, but hardly the uniquely elite, "once in a lifetime orator" that many of his most devoted supporters have baselessly suggested that he is.

Mitt Romney did not need to speak to his own fans or his most virulent opponents here, who have very largely made up their minds on how they are going to vote in this election. It is the truly undecided voters that he needed to speak to, and that he did.

Barack Obama and the Democrats have spent hundreds of millions of dollars over the last few months trying to "define" Mitt Romney, presenting him as a man to be feared and despised as some particularly unholy blend of J.R. Ewing, Jim Jones and Thurston Howell the third. Mitt Romney needed to give truly undecided voters a sense of who he really is and to put them at ease that the Democrat's over the top efforts to smear him are exactly that.

Of course Romney's most virulent opponents will disagree, but there can be no real question that he was successful in achieving these goals last night with any truly undecided voter who watched this speech (and hopefully some other parts of this convention). Does it follow that all of these people will now vote for Mitt Romney? Of course not. But many of them will.

This was just about as good of a performance by Mitt Romney as any reasonable person could have reasonably hoped to see. Mitt and the Republicans presented themselves well this week. Now, on to the DNC next week to see what Obama and the Dems have to offer in response.

Here is the YouTube video:
 
You bastard Roger35, I clicked on the homepage link in your profile and it led to me Rush Limbaugh's rival producer of his favorite drug to abuse...
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Romney is a total stiff. He couldn't inspire water to be wet. Average non rt wingers know that the obstruction Obama has faced is unprecedented. When he gets re elected, the crying will reach new crazy levels
 
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