Aaaand we're off: Keynote Talkback
What say you all? Some thoughts:
1. Anyone who knew only the image of Mitt as the Robot Boss from the planet Bain IV in the Outsource System would have to admit that he seemed most genuine when talking about his family story. I thought he was going to choke up, and most of the people who hated him ‘cuz he’s, like, rich, would think “Choke up” was something he did to an underperforming underling in a board meeting.
2. Strange unstructured middle.
3. Strong clear finish: Energy. Jobs. Schools. Military strength. Fiscal Health. Half an hour later, I still remember them. Which was the point.
4. Most interesting take-away: the speech didn’t hammer Obama fore and aft. It dismissed him. Perhaps this was the strategery to peel away people who don’t want to be castigated for voting for a well-creased trouser leg. In this light, the speech was something unusual: a declaration of amnesty.
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Jul '10
Re: Aaaand we're off: Keynote Talkback
Romney will probably manage the country back to health. Ryan & Rubio may help lead it there.
But I am worried about the political class overall. They don't seem to quite grasp just how misaligned the nation is with the axis of success that has been the national history. Perhaps this is mostly rhetoric to win this campaign.
I am confident this group will move the nation away from the nastiness that has pervaded us for these last 4 years. I am just not sure they will move us to where we should be going.
Nov '10
Re: Aaaand we're off: Keynote Talkback
I would edit out the expletive but I don't remember what I'm supposed to put in brackets.
Sep '10
Re: Aaaand we're off: Keynote Talkback
"It dismissed him. Perhaps this was the strategery to peel away people who don’t want to be castigated for voting for a well-creased trouser leg."
To a narcissist like Obama, that's the worst thing. Worse even then straight up attacks. First there was Vice President Ryan (from my keyboard to God's ears) dismissing Obama has old, faded, tired. Then the similar dismissal today.
Mar '11
Re: Aaaand we're off: Keynote Talkback
As I listened to the speeches tonight I wondered if the people who need to be persuaded were tuning in. Do these conventions actually change minds or just enthuse the already decided? Then my wife mentioned that her parents who have voted Democrat in every election were watching. If they are typical then tonight will change some minds. There were a lot of very moving moments and Obama's casting of Romney as the Grinch simply will not be credible.
Aug '12
Re: Aaaand we're off: Keynote Talkback
I think Mitt's problem is that he is genuinely reticent about the acts he does as service. He just does them, and is most uncomfortable even acknowledging them, let alone bragging. I think he is also ill at ease publicly disparaging someone — a large part of any political campaign. That is not the usual character of a politician — gladhanders all.
Mitt solves problems, which teaches him how to tackle the next one. He is running against someone who is absolutely clueless about business, and assumes profit is a dirty word. Only 8% of Obama's administration have had any experience in the private sector, so it's like making an argument with someone from another planet.
After solving a lot of problems, he has a confidence in what he can do, and knows that his knowledge of the myriad of government regulations/taxes/ rules/ and plain old fears are holding American entrepreneurs back. But as a truly modest man, it's hard for him to make the big hard pitch.
Jul '11
Re: Aaaand we're off: Keynote Talkback
I thought it was a strange speech.
Is "I love my mom" the new Republican litmus test?
I watched the video on C-Span, and at the 22-minute point, I thought "nothing's been said yet." Finally, the rock started rolling downhill.
Romney called out Putin (the only world leader named in the speech), which was certainly music to my ears - Obama's criminally naive coddling of that regime against Western interests has been just the tip of the iceberg of the U.S.'s "Innocents Abroad" foreign policy the last few years.
The domestic content sounded good, but I'll let American soil huggers hash that out. But I think Lileks is right; it was a dismissal, with a little bit of sadness mixed in. Might be effective; we'll see.
But Lileks, a reminder: Skype is an Estonian invention, not Finnish. I literally can see the headquarters from my house.
These conventions are weird beasts, and I'm not sure they fit the modern world any more. My wife walked in during Romney's speech and said, "ah, I see the 20th Soviet Party Congress is well underway."
Sep '10
Re: Aaaand we're off: Keynote Talkback
The worst parts of the convention speeches felt like a Dilbert style corporate retreat run amuck for those of us lucky enough to have jobs; the best parts of the convention speeches reminded us why we need one.
Edited on August 31, 2012 at 6:40amMay '10
Re: Aaaand we're off: Keynote Talkback
Bottom line: no one reading this is the target audience. We can only extrapolate/guess what effect speech will have on the target audience...
I though the speech was sound. I wasn't crazy at the way Romney looked, specially his eyebrows. Whatever. I was watching it with a microscope and able to see individual pixels; 98% of people won't have...
Jun '10
Re: Aaaand we're off: Keynote Talkback
I'm sure he watched:
Sep '10
Re: Aaaand we're off: Keynote Talkback
EJHill
Nothing so crude, James. It'sRicochet Bluepallor! · 38 minutes ago
Like the Microsoft Blue Screen of Death but now with extra breath fresheners.
May '10
Re: Aaaand we're off: Keynote Talkback
It also puts Obama between a rock and a hard place next week: he must either initiate aggression or he must talk about his record.
Aug '10
Re: Aaaand we're off: Keynote Talkback
My impression was that Romney donned kid gloves and then proceeded to beat President Obama to a pulp anyway. If Romney was to be true to himself--vitally important--this speech was top notch.
I've seen 'pitch perfect' used somewhat often throughout the convention. My response has often been, 'close, but not quite.' Perhaps I'm alone, but this one seemed to hit that mark.
Mama Toad in #6 hits the real highlight. I have little experience speaking publicly, but I imagine it is quite hard to let pauses linger that long to let a point sink in. But it struck me as masterful. The remarks Romney was pointing out are truly absurd. The sense of absurdity only swelled throughout the pause. Then he followed it with the comfort of realism that hopefully even the most pessimistic American feels in her heart is still attainable at this point in our history.
Sep '10
Re: Aaaand we're off: Keynote Talkback
Agreed. Line of the night for me.
There's a bit of the Herman Munster in Romney's working of the rope-line but I thought his delivery throughout the speech was great. I noticed about halfway through that I didn't have the clenched breath that I usually had watching W high-wire his way through an acceptance speech.
Aug '10
Re: Aaaand we're off: Keynote Talkback
double post...
Edited on August 31, 2012 at 7:05amMay '10
Re: Aaaand we're off: Keynote Talkback
It didn't stir me that much, but I wasn't the target audience. I did get a sense that there was a grown up in the room, and that was refreshing. I think the protesters threw him off initially, but he refocused. Honestly, I was still thinking about that story of the boy who wanted to be buried in his boy scout uniform. The Romney speech got Andrew Sullivan's shorts in a wad, which granted isn't hard to do. But if it aggravates AS into throwing out strawmen, half-truths and irrelevant graphs live, I'm happy. Oh, and the empty Obama chair has it's own Twitter account. It's sad because all the left has now is snark. Snark and student loans.
Jul '11
Re: Aaaand we're off: Keynote Talkback
Wow, Sullivan does get the vapors. I read him back in the day when he had his own blog, but not until now.
Some of his comments are in the "are you kidding me?" category.
Sep '11
Re: Aaaand we're off: Keynote Talkback
As a left-coaster with sensibilities more akin (not AKIN) to the Midwest, I say it's not a bug to let others speak well of you (as opposed to beating one's own chest), it's a feature. We already have a President so full of himself he thinks that he can slow the ocean's rise; we don't need another one.
Humility tied to confidence & determination; that's the Mitt Romney I saw tonight. Not scintillating oratory, but steady competence, assurance and generosity of spirit. A nice dose of American exceptionalism didn't hurt, either.
(Yes, James, the Midwest reference was a shout-out to you. Good stuff.)
Re: Aaaand we're off: Keynote Talkback
EstoniaKat: D'oh. Late-night stumble-brain mistake. I should know better, since the alarmingly alluring tour guide told us about Skype's origins on the bus back to the ship.
Karen: there is a big, broad, bright world out there full of music and flowers and sunshine and Mozart, and then there's the portion of the planet that pays attention to the density of Andrew Sullivan's undie-wad. The internet makes us think that the latter is equal to the former.
My brother-in-law runs our family business; he recently got himself elected to the school board after penning some het-up letters to the editor, and now he's doing what he can from the inside, learning how the system works. He hires people. He makes sure the business thrives so he can pay the employees. In his spare time he gives back to community.
Dude's never heard of Andrew Sullivan.
And all the people who pay attention to Andrew Sullivan have never heard of my brother-in-law.
Nor would they want to, I suspect. Lacks the proper accent that says "all the right schools."
Mar '11
Re: Aaaand we're off: Keynote Talkback
I'm expecting the DNC to be about as dull as the RNC was. At least they can Cry Havoc and unleash the Dogs of Campaign now that we're in the post-convention money season. And I thought the Clint Eastwood "Special Guest" spot was ill-considered -- had t0 watch three times before I even smiled once.
Jun '12
Re: Aaaand we're off: Keynote Talkback
Though I, too, questioned the appropriateness of Eastwood's antics, and winced at his halted, stumbling delivery, I want to shake the hand of the person who came up with The President Who Isn't. That empty stool said more about the Obama presidency than most of the speeches from all three nights put together. America, finally, has seen Barack Obama for what he truly is, and, try as they might, the MSM can't spin that image out of our collective memories. The Democrats will be weeping and gnashing their teeth as they witness the juggernaut of their entire political campaign felled by one stroke of simple theatrical genius. It made my day.