Artur Davis, the one-time Democratic congressman and 2008 Obama campaign co-chair, has been moving rightward for quite some time. But his speaking slot at the Republican National Convention later this month shows just how much the GOP has embraced him as a Romney surrogate:
“The one thing that I can bring to the table is to be something of a voice for that group of people,” Davis said in announcing his speaking slot. …
At the convention, Davis said he would speak about areas in which he felt Obama had failed to deliver on his promises from 2008.
“President Obama — Senator Obama — ran on two broad themes,” Davis said. “One of those broad themes was reunifying this country. And another broad theme was turning this economy around…. I’ll certainly be talking about those two failures.”
The RNC has sounded this theme throughout the race — most recently with the “It’s Okay to Make a Change” ad directed at disillusioned Obama voters — but the message is far more powerful coming from the person who seconded Obama’s nomination at the 2008 Democratic convention.
Americans for Prosperity is also targeting disenchanted voters with its latest ad campaign that actually includes interviews with former Obama supporters:
The soft, disappointed tone of these ads actually seems more compelling now that the Obama campaign has gone viciously negative in its attacks. It’s as if the Obama campaign is proving these ads — and all those disillusioned voters — correct by destroying the last shred of hope that Obama’s 2008 persona was the real deal.
In fact, it’s probably more effective to use these ads than the ones that blatantly attack Obama. Now that the Romney campaign has a clear message, it doesn’t need to go entirely negative – but the Obama campaign does. The more mud Obama throws, the more he’ll end up turning off independent voters and discrediting himself.
I'm wondering if Bibi N will be speaking at the convention. That would be interesting…
Mr Davis better hire a food taster, stat!
A report from Politico says that Pres. Obama most feared that Tim Pawlenty would be Romney's choice for VP. They may be right, Pawlenty would have been good, but in this (as in so many other things) Obama got that wrong. It is Ryan who he should have understood was his worst nightmare, as he and Biden are about to discover. n nAs Chairman of the House Budget Committee, Ryan has a deep familiarity with the federal budget and can brilliantly marshall the facts in terms so clear and concise that anyone (even a political reporter) can understand what he's saying, and which most voters will find reasonable and persuasive. Ryan is far too principled and too smart to speak in sound bites or resort to "spin" in order to explain his beliefs. That's why he's so popular and keeps winning re-election, despite coming from an overwhelmingly Democratic state. n nBiden and Obama, on the other hand, are proven professional bloviators. Like many an old-school politician, they shape hot air into words and sentences that have little or no precise meaning, punctuate them with applause lines or an irrelevant conclusion (pound the lectern for effect) and think they've said something substantive. In debate or at a press conference Ryan won't even have to attack them. They will, without knowing it, self-destruct in any side-by-side comparison. n nThe Democratic left and their allies in the press (papers like the New York Times don't hide who they support) are about to be mugged by reality. Romney and Ryan are going to show the world that facts and the truth matter, and when they win in November the nation will be spared four more years of irresponsible budgets at home and weak-kneed foreign policy abroad.