Bordeaux Wine Enthusiasts

Now he's speaking lowly, approaching a crescendo....

MLK-like!

The same technique as the "I Have A Dream" speech!

Marco Freaking Rubio is giving the speech of his life.

Now THIS is seizing the moment!

Talking more about his dad, the bartender....

His Mom working the overnight shift at K-Mart....

Transitions into Spanish....
Holy cow, now you can hear a pin drop....

God, this guy is so dangerous.

Tea Party meets Mr. Rogers.

Wolf in sheep's clothing.

"America is the story of everyday people who did extraordinary things."

"A place where tomorrow is always better than yesterday."

The speech is going on just a tad too long. Time to wrap it up.

Rubio excellent-best speech of the convention I've watched so far. Here comes Romney....

Romney on the stage, looking a little creepy, almost Nixonian....

Quite a contrast from the baby faced Rubio.

Please, creep... Leave Neil Armstrong out of this.

This guy is a pill.

Rebounded a bit after the "rose on the bedside table" line, talking about the family.
Still, he just "looks" stiff.

"In America we celebrate success. We don't apologize for success."

He's coming on strong in the second half!

I think he found his voice when he uttered that "rose on the bedside table" line and almost cried.

Fading a little now, speech going on too long.

I give him a B+. A good speech, not great.
Most effective when he talked about his parents and his family.
Also articulated the Republican mantra of trickle down.
I just think his biggest problem is visual more than anything else.
Accented tonight even more with the contrast of baby faced Rubio.
Romney gets a B+, Rubio gets an A+.
A good night for the Republicans, they'll get a little bump, but they've by no means closed the deal.

Romney's anti-environment jab was small-minded and dangerous, as was his statement about how he'd stand up to Putin. He again demonstrated that he has no grasp of the subtleties of statesmanship in foreign affairs.
The beginning of his speech was well-delivered, for Romney, but his finish was poor. He also was low - nonexistent really - on substance.

Guys
Don't political speeches ever go beyond motherhood, hyperbole and cliches??
I just read a Q&A by Romney in Time and read this speech online.
Well, got a bit bored by the hot air.

What happened to policy, practicalities and reality??

I musty be getting old as I can't stop seeing politicians as a buch of fatuous, simplistic snake oil salesmen.
Yet Romney is too narrow minded and focused for me.

The fears of Michael Moore! Watch this video:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/3 ... ostpopular

I have to say, while I admire Moore's conviction and passion, his pretense that somehow he is not part of the one percent he loves to skewer is stunning. He does his best everyman, and I do think that's where his heart lies, but there's an undeniable underlying hypocrisy that undercuts his arguments. Any way, I think he senses the same thing we've all been discussing here -- this is going to be a dogfight.

Agree with your grades, Jim. I think Romney did about as good as he's capable of. He is not a natural orator. I believe he is smart, pragmatic and an undeniably savvy businessman, but he isn't charismatic. He does convey sincerity, and I think on many levels he's a good and loyal man, a good father and family man. It's an interesting contrast. Obama wins on charisma hands down, but doesn't really convey warmth. His expression of concern feels sincere but from a distance somehow. Both have flaws as politicians, Romney more than Obama. In my lifetime, grading all politicians, both easily trail Kennedy and Clinton, and Reagan, too, in my view. Will be interesting.

To your point, Claudius, the reason it's all mom and apple pie is because, like or not, that's what moves the needle. Thats's the reason for my discussion above. We've reached a point, I think, where a good chunk of the population doesn't really even know themselves what they want or what will work; they're looking for someone they trust to figure it out. Only wonky folks like us here get interested in policy and details, I think. I think many make they're decision first from their gut, and (despite constant pleas for a discussion on substance) if whatever specific policy rhetoric that follows sounds remotely plausible they'll buy into it not because it's their conviction but because it serves as reasonable explanation for why they like their guy. When I hear most people try to talk policy, it's usually some semblance of a regurgitation of talking points from the campaign, not an original explanation of a theory, and when pressed to expound, most go blank. If you've ever done any teaching, it's always easy to spot the students who've done a good job memorizing but clearly have no real understanding of the subject. I probably shouldn't generalize, and maybe I'm describing the minority, but there's a reason they track "likeability."

Meanwhile, TV ratings have been off dramatically compared to '08. If I'm in the Romney camp, I'd be a bit concerned. Doesn't exactly sound like they're electrifying the populace. The other way to interpret it, I guess, is that many more have already made up their minds. Or maybe everyone's grown weary of what is clearly theater. Will be interesting to compare to next week.....

Yes, Obama has a veneer that he doesn't let anyone get past.
I think he lacks a lot of life experiences that are important.
Oh, I realize he has world experience that none of us will ever experience, but he's never had a real job, has he?
I mean, like working in a textile mill, or a pizza joint, or as a security guard, or a janitor.
Not sure how much being a community organizer, Columbia grad student, Con Law professor, hanging out in Cambridge cuts it. And then straight into politics.
Plouffe and Axelrod must be feeling fairly good following this Republican convention. It was a success for the Republicans but no big knock-me-over experience. Now we'll see how the Dems do.

Two big wildcards moving forward:

1. The Republican money; and
2. The Ryan factor -- will he help or hurt the ticket more?

Rubio has immense potential. Being as objective as I can be, looking forward, the farm team in the GOP looks much more formidable in the out years right now. I'm not sure who I see as the real up and comers for the Dems. Maybe we'll find out next week. (Lately the real utility of these conventions is this, as I think about it!) They still have Hillary, though, which gives you potentially until '24 (!) to develop your baton carriers.....

Yeah, I thought Rubio really shined last night. Of course, he's as crazy as any Tea Partier, it's just that he doesn't yell and scream when he's doing it.

Good analysis of the Romney speech (once you get past the discussion of Dirty Harry):

http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/j ... night.html

He's going to stand up to Putin? Putin is reportedly one of the world's richest men. Certainly one of the richest leaders. Maybe richer than Mitler even.

I thought "In America we celebrate success. We don't apologize for success."

In Russia, TV watch you.

I recall back twenty years ago when I spent a couple weeks in Russia on behalf of the CIA, TV really did watch us....

In Russia, success celebrate you.

Romney signs outnumbering Obama signs probably 10-1 in Colorado's 5th Congressional district which includes both my homes. But the Springs area is home to three major military installations plus the Air Force Academy and Focus on the Family and a number of other conservative organizations. Salida on the other hand is left-leaning by a small margin.

Jeepers, Obama picked up 2 points during the Republican Convention through yesterday's Gallup polling. Granted, that doesn't measure last night's speeches, but it contains a full day post the Ryan speech. It'll be interesting how the polls shape up between now and Monday. We are now reaching the point in the calendar where polls matter.

The big question is whether ROMNEY'S MONEY can defeat OBAMA'S ELECTORAL COLLEGE ADVANTAGE.
If I had to bet right now, I would say money is going to win.
Why do I say that? I've seen how Romney has overwhelmed his primary opponents with money at the end of each primary/caucus. Granted, he's not facing Herman, Michelle, or Newt this time. But he has unlimited funds and while there may be diminishing returns on those final dollars spent, that flood of big money will probably put him over the top in Ohio, Virginia, Wisconsin, Colorodo, Ohio, iowa, and Florida. When I say UNLIMITED funds, I mean he could spend half a billion more than Obama.
On the other hand Obama, incredibly, basically needs to win just ONE of those states. But that doesn't mean he's going to do it.

Today's Gallup, which includes a full day of polling after Romney's speech, has it 47-46% Obama. That's a two point gain for Obama during the Republican Convention. Makes you wonder if conventions are relevant anymore. The TV ratings were way down from four years ago.

Perhaps the ratings were down because so many of the speeches were boring, like the candidate. A good scandal would have livened things up.

Demos are smart to keep their comvention to 3 days.

Ugh, the Republicans were able to keep Sarah Palin and Donald Trump away from their convention, why can't we keep Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi out of the arena? Ugh I'm watching Harry on MSNBC right now, please get this guy away!

Trying to decide whether to watch Michelle's speech or "Dawn of the Dead".

"...an undead army of flesh-eating zombies taking over every major city of the United States...."

The Democratic party sounds interesting, but what about "Dawn of the Dead"?

Female former-foodstamp-recipient blackhawk helicopter pilot speaking now....

Hmmm: "Running for their lives, Peter, Roger, Stephen and Frances find refuge in a remote shopping mall, only to discover they have to fight a motorcycle gang, too."

Wow, she lost a leg in Iraq.... This woman is an amazing story.

Oh that's the woman running for Congress in Illinois, she really is a pretty amazing story.

I thought the Teddy Kennedy video was very touching.

A good start to the convention....

What a speech by Tammy Duckworth, the war vet!

Booorrrinnnggg.