If you missed the two main speeches at last night’s GOP Lie-fest (aka The Republican National Convention), here are the two best summaries I’ve come across.
Steve Benen on the Chris Christie speech:
Christie decided to use this opportunity to celebrate … himself.
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Even Christie’s theme seemed bizarre. The keynote was ostensibly about “hard truths” — he used the word “truth” 21 times — and the need for bold political “courage,” but all of this only reinforced the degree to which Mitt Romney disagrees.
Romney’s afraid to offend conservatives; he’s afraid to push back against extremist rhetoric; he’s afraid of the religious right; and he’s afraid of Limbaugh. He’s afraid to release his tax returns because he thinks Democrats might be mean to him; he’s afraid to disclose his bundlers because he worries sunlight may scare his wealthy benefactors away; and he’s afraid to take a firm position on key issues because he thinks he’d lose. His campaign said last week presenting specifics to voters would be “suicidal.”
Romney’s campaign isn’t about courageous “hard truths”; it’s about hiding the truth and hoping voters don’t notice.
Juan Williams on the Ann Romney speech:
Mitt Romney’s wife, Ann Romney, on the other hand, looked to me like a corporate wife. And, you know, the stories she told about struggle, it’s hard for me to believe. She’s a very rich woman. I know that, and America knows that.
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It looks like a woman whose husband takes care of her, and she’s been very lucky and blessed in this life. She’s not speaking, I think, for the tremendous number of single women in this country, or married women, or separated. She did not convince me that, ‘You know what, I understand the struggles of American women in general.’
There you have it. Christie’s speech was little more than a set up for his 2016 run for the White House. If he has any respect for Romney as a leader, it didn’t come across in his speech. Rachel Maddow noted that Christie did not mention Romney’s name until he got through two thirds of his speech. Oh yeah, Christie’s really into Romney.
As for Ann Romney’s speech, Williams could not have stated it better. Ann came across as a loyal wife who would say whatever it took to help her man get elected. None of her words rang true. Trying to convince America that she understands the plight of middle class women because she and her privileged hubby started their marriage in a basement apartment was as phony as she stating yesterday that she buys Mitt’s shirts at Costco and he ironed his own shirt that very morning. Get real. These people treat the electorate as complete morons.
If this is the best Republicans have to offer in terms of convincing America that Romney is anything other than an out-of-touch modern day Gordon Gekko, they’re in deep, deep trouble.
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Ann is just as common as a pair of Christian Dior shoes!
Ann Romney,
I heard you say at least three-four times that you love Mitt and he makes you laugh. Ann,Mitt has a tumor in his sense of humour. He couldn’t crack a joke even if his life depended on it. Please lay low on that one because your nose will start growing
Chris,
Ann’s family and yours seem to come from lowly starts and God’s blessing gave you both the ability to be at the 1% level. But there are still 99% of us that are in coal mines,sewage cleaners,auto workers etc. The hard truth is that 99% of North Americans lie between poverty and middle-class and the middle class is on the wane. The hard truth is that elected governments have a duty to the people and republican policies cannot alleviate american conditions out there. We need an elected government that has a long-term plan to better the lives of the lowly and make the highly elite pay their fair share. We need Obama to pass the message and you will hear the hard truth when Obama blasts Romney in the Oct debate.
Let’s just hope that the republican clown show doesn’t move their circus tent into the whitehouse.
Ann Romney was eager to talk of the support she received from Mitt when she was diagnosed with breast cancer but neglected to mention that her husband has promised to stop federal funding of Planned Parenthood, an organization that provides cancer screening for women who don’t have husbands worth 250 million dollars.
Ann Romney does not speak for any women except herself.
@occupyalways:
Something we DO have in common with Ann — Mitt makes us laugh, too!!
Between Ryan’s budget,Romney’s failed business record,and Akin’s rape comments,the Republicans are the most dangerous people in the world now.
Mario, Can we get a graphic with Paul Ryan’s pants on fire?
I was screaming at my TV last night. I think I ruptured something…
I originally wrote this in response to another comment at Crooks & Liars, and as I wrote it, felt that it applied here as well.
I used to be able to honestly say that I voted for the candidate, not the party. I have voted in nine presidential elections (2012 will be my tenth). In that time, I have voted three times for a Republican candidate, once for an independent and the other five times for Democratic candidates. However, two of those Republican votes were followed by acute cases of voter’s remorse, and four of the five Democratic votes have been the last four elections, so I am probably guilty of having become a completely partisan voter. A similar pattern has been true of state and local elections.
However, it’s more complex than that. In this spring’s presidential primary, I was sorely tempted to vote for one of the Republicans expected to be an also-ran just to dull Rmoney’s expected edge, but when push came to shove, I just couldn’t do it. My choices were Santorum, Paul, Gingrich, Bachmann and Huntsman, but every time I put the pencil near one of those names, I felt a revulsion that was almost physical. The only one that didn’t make my hands shake was Huntsman. In the end, I voted Democratic, even though only one of the races on the ballot was contested.
This is not to say that the Democratic Party of the US is a bunch of saints and saviors – far from it. But at least the hypocricy is a little less thick, the policies far less vile, the candidates far less nauseating and, at least during election season, I can almost pretend that the Democratic candidates actually care about me.