Mitt Romney is tearing through the Democrat Convention in Denver with an impressive ability to be relentlessly negative against America’s opponents in the Democrat party while still coming across as genial. The tour, on the heels of Romney’s 10-day Olympic vacation, is being painted as Romney’s audition for the nod as McCain’s Vice Presidential pick.
Over several meetings with reporters, and hits on the cable news channels, Romney demonstrated his ability to deliver John McCain’s message in a more concise and comprehensive way than any other McCain surrogate. In interview after interview, Romney was relentlessly negative, without ever raising his voice or coming across as strident. He hammered Barack Obama as an inexperienced “celebrity” and repeatedly cited the less fortuitous foreign policy positions of his running mate, Joe Biden.
[...]
When asked the gotcha question of how many houses he owns, Romney struck back with a prepared answer. “One less than John Kerry,” he said. “That’s four.”
[...]
For Romney, though, the biggest barrier may be the well-documented personal animosity that existed between McCain and him during the primary. But Romney tried to minimize its import. “Despite the fact that we differed on issues, in every debate I pointed out my respect for him,” Romney said, leaving out the fact that those compliments were often followed by sharp attacks on McCain. Romney said he now considers McCain “a friend,” having watched him bar-b-que and spend time with his children in Sedona, Arizona.
I think it’s pretty clear Romney will be the pick, which for the purpose of governing seems exactly right. If we’re debating the right pick electorally, Romney has his strengths there, too. A woman like Sarah Palin would make a splash and probably make it easier to strip female support from “The One,” but Republicans generally pick based on ability to perform the actual job rather than based on helping get the job.
Tagged
Democrat Convention, John McCain, Mitt Romney, Republican Veep-StakesRelated Posts
1 Response to “Romney Rested and Ready for His Close-Up”
Comments posted are the opinions of the individual poster and do not reflect the views of Bucks Right. Comments are only moderated to prevent spam. No legitimate opinions are altered for content, although we reserve the right to delete any comment for any reason. VALID e-mail address required.
1Edit35 on Aug 27, 2008 at 8:36 am:
If McCain fails to pick Romney for VP, it will be a blunder as large as Obama’s refusal to pick Hillary.
Romney adds style, intellect, personality, affability, a great organization, and money.
If McCain stubbornly refuses to select the obvious, he deserves the fickle-finger-of-fate award (a reference to the old Laugh In days)
[Reply]