Those high expectations for Ann Romney’s speech? She shattered them all to bits. As Seth tweeted afterward, “Never thought I’d say this, but Christie actually has a tough act to follow here.” Chris Christie was fantastic as usual, but Ann Romney’s speech was the pinnacle of the night.
There’s plenty to say about Ann’s remarks, but I just want to briefly highlight what I think was one of the most important lines of the evening:
“Mitt doesn’t like to talk about how he has helped others, because he sees it as privilege, not a political talking point.”
That may be the closest answer we’ll get to the question that’s left pundits scratching their heads for over a year: what drives Mitt Romney, and why is he running for president?
The prevailing theory about Romney — that he’s an ultra-ambitious, calculating, insincere politician — has always had one major flaw. He rarely ever talks about his own acts of kindness; from closing down Bain Capital to search for the missing daughter of a coworker, to rescuing a drowning family, to lending a couple he barely knew the money to buy their first house. If Joe Biden even did a single one of these things, we’d never hear the end of it.
Politicians brag and self-promote, and Romney has done plenty of that when it comes to his business successes. But it’s surprising that a presidential candidate with personal stories like the ones above would shy away from mentioning them — and it certainly contradicts the idea that Romney will say anything to get elected. Ann Romney’s comment offers something of an explanation for her husband’s reluctance to brag, and some insight into what drives his political ambitions.
I call something the "Bob Hope Effect." He was never really funny, but a very nice guy who got laughs just by walking on stage and establishing a rapport with his audience who wanted to laugh along with him, regardless of what he said. After reading many of today's comments about Mrs. Romney's speech, I have to conclude that is what happened last night. I still maintain she was a disappointment. If a liberal ranted(and giggled) like she did about how superior moms were to dads, this morning's analyses would be excoriating them for "dangerously neglecting the vital role played by men in their families and pandering to women for their political support." Anyway, with or without her very public emotional support of her husband, her place will be irrelevant to Romney's victory or loss. The man has to stand on his own and that's how it always has been.
I was disgusted by Juan Williams atFoxnews calling Ann a "corporate wife" and his questioning her speaking of the difficulties she and Mitt have experienced. I'd like to know who is he to judge her or comment on her life?! She made a great speech, very impressive. Juan is getting desperate for BHO.
Mrs. Romney got better as the speech progressed but she didn’t and can’t make America take Mitt as her husband. n nOne thing she may have done is drive home Mitt’s competence. But, as AtT noted, Mitt can’t be made acceptable by proxy. n nAll of the speeches were flat, even Christie’s. And he absolutely turned the prior I,I, I digs into a we, we, we plea. n nThe best speaker of the night was The First Lady of Puerto Rico, Lucé. Her English was concise, direct, lyrical and beautiful. n nWhen is she running?
Rumsfeld came to mind almost immediately in that the convention seemed “old America” and not the whole of America. Not so much because it was so white but because it was an America that seemed in its own little corner. n nI didn’t vote for Reagan and came to appreciate him through and odd circumstance which led me to reconsider his ideas. But I do remember how many young people were at his conventions. n nChristopher Hitchens concluded that Reagan was “as dumb as a stump” because he ate his dinners on a TV tray while watching old movies. When, according to Hitchens, he should have been dining with the most fascinating, intelligent people in the world. But to me it represents a man who was comfortable in his own skin, refreshingly aware that the views of the Gorbachevs, Geitners, and Havels of this world are no guarantee of free-thinking or competence. n nAnother take away from the faces at the convention is that whatever motivates them doesn’t make them happy.
Poor Romney. He's afraid his acts of kindness will make him look too liberal. When Ann spoke about how Mitt's generosity helped poor people better themselves and go on to better others, I thought that she sounded just a bit like a Democrat. nAll the speakers, perhaps Chris Christie most of all, talked about money. Like Marxists, they feel all issues are economic. The Tea Party and the Occupy Movement are simply mirror images of each other. Each makes the same mistake: Money explains everything.
Not bragging about one's acts of charity is basic Christian theology — remember that there is no Christian equivalent of "mench" — and somewhere in the Bible there is mention of how good acts only are good if you don't brag about them, if you are doing them for goodness sake and not self glorification. Like most of Christian theology, there probably are roots in the Torah for this but it is a particular point in Christianity that you know what you have done, God knows what you have done, and no one else really needs to. n nMs. Goodman is quite right, there would be a tear in the very space/time continium if Joe Biden ever did anything along the lines of what Romney *instinctively* did — like send all of Bain out to find someone's "little girl." And this is the distinction between him and Obama, between Republicans and Democrats — we do it versus we have 'the government' do it. Dinish D'Sousa has an interesting story about Obama's uncle — the one living in a hut in Kenya and not the one on welfare in Massachusetts — his daughter was sick and in the hospital and he needed money — he went to D'Sousa and not Obama because Obama didn't care. n nAnyone remember the old Rush Limbaugh TV show and when Clinton was going to the funeral of the cabinet guy who died in the plane crash and was laughing & joking until he saw the TV camera and quickly changed his expression to one more appropriate? Romney is the exact opposite….
Best line of the night: Ann Romney speaking about working mothers who are being forced to work and/or work more hours than they wish to. In that one paragraph, she drove a wedge through the feminist movement and eliminated any need for the GOP to worry about the "women's vote" because we'll get the "mommy vote" and that will leave just the graying bra-burners and Georgetown Law "students" who wouldn't ever vote our way under any circumstances. n nAnd this all goes back to what was said earlier: If she married him and has loved him since high school, that alone speaks highly of him in and of itself. Yes, good women do wind up with bad guys, but they don't stay with them for 43 years or so — this is a woman who clearly is bright enough to do other things than raise children had she wanted to, someone who very much reminds me of Abigail Adams — who very much was one of our "founding fathers."