Of Course the Republican Convention Helped Romney - But Not Very Much

[Tom Rinaldo]

Every major party presidential year convention advances the agenda of the party holding it - they don't spend tens of millions for nothing - the only question is; how helpful was the Republican Convention that just ended? The answer this time should be reassuring to Democrats.

The Republican convention had been hyped for weeks as the first of 4 big chances (the debates are the others), that Romney will have to seize the narrative message of the campaign, to fire up his base, and to captivate undecideds voters with his leadership and with his vision for America. Instead the Convention warmed up Romney's base, gaffes and missteps partially muddied the Republican campaign narrative (think Clint, peanut throwing attendees, and speakers who glorified themselves as examples), and undecided voters know no more details about Romney's plans to change America's direction (other than changing the occupant of the White House) than they did before the Republican Convention. In other words they still know very little about Mitt Romney's plans.

Without Romney offering a compelling vision - something more distinctive and a little more specific than essentially loving America and hating unemployment, there is no strong reason for undecided voters to vote for Mitt Romney. Republicans are hoping they will be motivated by a desire to kick out the incumbent. Perhaps they will be but Mitt Romney has been counting on that dynamic since the day he officially declared for President, and the Republican Convention has come and gone with the President barely scuffed up by the proceedings. A good case can be made the Republican rising star new VP pick, Paul Ryan, landed as many blows against himself as he did against Obama by repeatedly and flagrantly distorting the truth and getting caught doing so.

For a supposedly good businessman Mitt Romney got a rather poor return on his investment in the Republican National Convention. Now Barack Obama gets to look forward to his own 4 day infomercial broadcast from Charlotte next week. The bar has been set exceedingly low for the Democrats to do better.

[speedoo]

1. k&are! Nt

[mojo2012]

2. Bump in the polls - will be short lived

I say, short lived like less than a week. I trust the Democratic Convention will be far more professional, honest, and dynamic. Of course, that would be an easier task after witnessing the pitiful Republican Convention.

I see undecided voters and independents as more intelligent (mostly) than the Republicans give them credit for. Undecided to me means exactly that. They want to hear both sides. Well, the Republicans did rally up their base, but that was a given going into the convention. So what? Wasn't their goal meant to reach out to the rest of the country? For the most part, they were basking in the applause of those at the convention or have the speakers speak about how great they themselves were.

I didn't see any FACTS or SPECIFICS on how they claim they will make things better for everyone. It's easy to tout the "happy" outcomes, but you're not going to win over the rest of the country by avoiding how your going to get there and the accompanying pain they plan to inflict.

I forced myself to watch the Republican Convention to see what the Romney/Ryan ticket is all about. It was ugly. It was grossly dishonest and misleading and I was amazed how they could do it with a straight face. It seems that their strategy to dupe the voters is only a means to justify the end.

What did I get out of their convention?

- Romney is probably a nice guy
- Ryan is a dangerous man and can and will manipulate Romney
- That they can comfortably lie to the American public now, so will probably continue to lie if they get into office
- That Romney/Ryan are not fit to run the country

[Tom Rinaldo]

4. A weekend bounce, small, IF they are lucky

What will stick from this Republican Convention is 1) Republican's having to continually defend the lies Paul Ryan's told during his speech and 2) Invisible Obama

[sofa king]

3. Dead Cat Bounce.

Romney is screwed. His awful primary performance and his repeated failed attempts to win over the Denisovians in the Republican "base" polarized the electorate far earlier than in most elections.

Now there are not enough undecided voters left to cover the difference in the places Romney needs to win.

It is one thing to deceive undecided voters over to your side, but to convince better informed voters who are already committed to the other side to ruin the environment, revoke human rights, trash the economy, bankrupt the treasury, and raise taxes on themselves... that is another thing entirely.

All that means is that Romney has to remove the final decision from the hands of the public, which may be his only true area of expertise.

We should be expecting him to try that.

[Johnny2X2X]

5. He peaked

This is Romney's high water mark right now, he's announced his VP and had his convention. To have a chance in November he hoped he would have a nice lead by now instead of still trailing.

The Dem Convention next week will be a set back for him and the debates will make it worse. Obama by 7+ points in November.