Thursday, August 30, 2012

Weak speech



I just listened to Mitt Romney's speech to the RNC. He essentially made three point, first that he created jobs at Bain capital, second that Obama has failed to deliver on his promises, and third that he will make America better again.  In his attempt to differentiate himself from Obama, the most dramatic moment was when he said “Obama promised to  begin slow the rise of the oceans, and to heal the planet”, then he paused, long enough for his Republican audience of climate deniers to grow nervous. And then he added that his promise was “to help you and your family”.  But how? What will his program be? He listed some points they were vague. An energy policy focused on fossil fuels, renewables mentioned as an afterthought , Charter schools, every parent should have a choice, trade agreements and if other countries aren't fair with us we won't stand for it, sanctity of life, traditional marriage, less war with more global dominance. Less government regulation and taxation of businesses.  One might like to know what his vision is, but like George H W Bush, it looks like Mitt Romney just doesn't do “the vision thing”. When you don't have vision, there's always rhetoric, but his speech struck me as weak  in real rhetoric as well.  I listened because, although I knew there would be stuff to disagree with, I thought it would be interesting. So lacking in content was his speech, even the stuff to disagree with was at a minimum.