Charlotte was a soccer game;
thick with color, energy, talent, flavor, grace, and legit diversity. It was a
glistening, smartly-sequenced showcase of re-invigorated hope and belief in the
potential for a brighter future conveyed earnestly, openly and unambiguously by
the likes of Tammy Duckworth, Deval Patrick, Michelle Obama, Jennifer Granholm,
Julian Castro, Elizabeth Warren, certainly
Bill Clinton and of course, the President himself.
Little of that applied to
Tampa, where the GOP's grand scheme ultimately meant that matters like authentic
minority inclusion warranted only the single day's focus. Of more importance was managing the
off-platform legislative history carried into the convention by their nominees (while
simultaneously low-keying most of the extreme elements of that platform) and to
"humanize" Romney.
Beavis
and Butthead
Thus, the challenge for Team
Romney was both significant and -- with slightly over two months to Election
Day -- subject to crucial time constraints.
In an election where knocking off Obama was viewed as simply plunking
down a candidate with a B-School background, I found it amusing watching them
try to work some sort of David Copperfield maneuver on a set of hype-up fiscal
experts bogged down by a paper trail that reflects dubious economic
sensibilities:
"P90X"
Paul Ryan : the
attention-starved fiscal Butthead; vivid in imagination but short on what it
takes to figure out when to round up his numbers and when to round them
down. Ryan's rep as a deficit hawk sunk
like the Titanic when shortly after being chosen for VP, it was pointed out that
during Dubya's reign of error Ryan
voted in favor of roughly $6 TRILLION
in deficit spending.
Mitt Romney (aka MITT-ROM): the
preposterously prosperous corporate shill whose Beavis-like proposals for
economic recovery read like a suicide note from a deranged accountant. Romney's proposed budget is so undefined that
it's been described
as "an end without the means."
Spinning away those
inconsistencies added another layer to the challenge of humanizing their seemingly
soulless nominee who projects a personality that seems to offer unmistakable
proof that "corporations are people too."
Obviously, a transformation of MITT-ROM from greedy Gordon Gecko to philanthropic
Bill Gates was completely far-fetched, but warming him up to at least, Dick
Nixon levels seemed doable.
Nevertheless, Tampa seemed more
like a Romney roast than an event designed to showcase the human side of their nominee.
Other than Mrs. MITT-ROM, speakers like
Rubio, John Kasich and Chris Christie seemed determined to treat their allotted
time like a commercial for Monster.com.
It was almost saddening to watch as speaker after speaker laboriously
touted themselves while giving either belated or less-than-assiduous mention of
the man they were there to nominate.
What I got out of it was a sense that many speakers feel that Romney's
defeat is a foregone conclusion.
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