The Republican National Convention is over and the GOP ticket is set.
On a night that included speeches from Jeb Bush, Marco Rubio and Newt and Calista Gingrich, Mitt Romney accepted his party’s nomination for President of the United States.
“Americans have a choice,” Romney said to the supportive delegates. “To make that choice, you need to know more about me and about where I will lead our country.”
Initial reaction has been tepid, with many saying Romney fell very short of his task to engage the American public. Granted, he spoke more than usual about his personal background, but he did very little to spell out to voters what he would do if elected president.
Romney spoke from his heart and tried to outline the differences between himself and President Obama, but he likely did little to sway legions of voters to his camp. If anything, Romney proved he is who he is — robotic, stiff and distant. The very warm qualities voters had hoped to see from him, he did not display. The reasons are not because he didn’t want to, but because it is now evident he is unable to. He is who he is and there is nothing that can be done to change that.
Romney didn’t pull in women, minorities, or Hispanics with his all important speech. Instead, he appealed to those who have already decided they want anybody but Obama in the White House, which won’t be enough for him to win the Oval Office. If that wasn’t enough, Romney chose to share the night with actor Clint Eastwood, who went on an unscripted rant to an empty chair (supposedly where Romney would have sat), which was a bit odd and may have upstaged the Republican nominee.
Mitt Romney needed to move the needle and pull some additional voters and states to his ideology. Unfortunately for him, he did not succeed.
"Mitt Romney needed to move the needle and pull some additional voters and states to his ideology. Unfortunately for him, he did not succeed."That seems to be the consensus view across the blogosphere DJ.See: "Romney's Speech: Blogger Reax"http://andrewsullivan.thedailybeast.com/2012/08/r…Quote for the Day There was a curious inconsistency that undermined the Obama critique though. Romney said, “He took office without the basic qualification that most Americans have and one that was essential to his task. He had almost no experience working in a business.” If this lack of business experience is the grand failure at the heart of the Obama presidency, then why did Romney pick Paul Ryan, who has no such experience himself?The 2012 race for the presidency has felt stuck for months. Obama is weighed down by the economy, and Romney cannot close the deal. That was the dynamic before the Republican Convention and it’s the same afterward. […] John Dickerson @Slate.comTGIF!