RI Political Experts Give the Grades to the GOP Convention
Saturday, September 01, 2012
How did Romney Perform?
Romney, who as usual did not describe a single specific policy detail or proposal (because when he does people realize all the policies he proposes are going to hurt them) did not come off as an evil corporate zombie made of wood, so it was a good performance for him. What it says about a candidate's quality when the bar is that low is another story. B Aaron Regunberg, Progressive Activist and GoLocal MINDSETTER™
Romney was competent but not inspiring. He may not need to be both to defeat Obama in 2012. B Don Roach, former GOP Candidate for City Council in Warwick and GoLocal MINDSETTER™
On substance, I believe he succeeded in making his best case thus far that the country is on a downward spiral and electing him represents the best chance to reverse it. Stylistically, he managed to appear very comfortable but commanding on the stage which he needed to show to the audience, both in the hall and the millions watching at home on TV. Donna Perry, Executive Director of RISC and GoLocal MINDSETTER™
A smiling Mitt Romney, son of a moderate Republican governor of Michigan (who would likely be in the Olympia Snowe caucus of the GOP today), offered some genuinely moving personal anecdotes, stern warnings to Iran and Russia, celebrated the contributions of American women (despite selecting a man as his running mate), invoked Neil Armstrong and the Greatest Generation, and offered vague, misty-eyed, general platitudes about the greatness of America and Americans, and compared Obama to Jimmy Carter. Interestingly, his line toward the very end about caring for children and the elderly did not attract much applause. C- Dan Lawlor, GoLocal MINDSETTER™
Steady, sincere, and substantive, Romney came across as highly competent as he focused on his adoration for American ingenuity, his career in the business sector, and Obama’s failures – not to mention a touching segment on his personal family life, which could only have helped to eradicate the media’s portrayal of him as an unlikable and out-of-touch individual.Grade A – Travis Rowley, Chairman of the RI Young Republicans and GoLocal MINDESETTER™
Highlight of the GOP Convention
NJ Governor Chris Christie’s take no prisoners’ remarks were a highlight moment because he’s authentic and unapologetic, and he conveyed that “guy in the street” frustration with a down economy, vanishing jobs, and the President’s shortcomings in handling the country’s problems. Donna Perry, Executive Director of RISC and GoLocal MINDSETTER™
Condi Rice gave a well-delivered speech. I guess it's gutsy when the woman who failed to prevent 9/11 despite obvious warnings and designed the wildly ineffective strategy for the Iraq War can take to task the guy who got Osama bin Laden and who brought the Iraq War to an end. Aaron Regunberg, Progressive Activist and GoLocal MINDSETTER™
Highlight of the GOP Convention – No Democrats were allowed to be there. Travis Rowley, Chairman of the RI Young Republicans and GoLocal MINDESETTER™
Attacking Obama's 2008 rhetoric using 2012 realities. Simply crushing. Don Roach, former GOP Candidate for City Council in Warwick and GoLocal MINDSETTER™
Low Part of the GOP Convention
The homeless of Tampa who were harassed and displaced while hundreds of thousands of dollars were spent on catered dinners and parties (sadly, a scenario likely to be repeated at the Democratic Convention). Dan Lawlor, GoLocal MINDSETTER™
There were two ugly incidents. “They are happy to have a party when black people drown,” was what Yahoo! News Washington bureau chief David Chalian was caught saying about Mitt and Ann Romney while referencing Hurricane Isaac. Other members of the media also stayed true to the Left’s quest to convince as many people as possible that – even if they agree with the content of Republican speeches – the GOP is the party of racism. Travis Rowley, Chairman of the RI Young Republicans and GoLocal MINDESETTER™
The Rhode Island GOP delegation reportedly got stuck on an uncomfortable 2 hour bus ride to nowhere as they were trying to get from their hotel to the Convention site this week and that’s a big blunder on the part of convention organizers! Rhode Island’s delegation deserved better…. Donna Perry, Executive Director of RISC and GoLocal MINDSETTER™
It's bad when the racist, xenophobic core of your party gets away from you, such as when some of your delegates threw nuts at an African American camerawoman and said, "This is how we feed animals," or when a large portion of your crowd tries to yell a Puerto Rican woman offstage with chants of "USA, USA." Aaron Regunberg, Progressive Activist and GoLocal MINDSETTER™
Perhaps Tampa during hurricane seasons was not the best idea. Don Roach, former GOP Candidate for City Council in Warwick and GoLocal MINDSETTER™
How Did Paul Ryan Perform?
Ryan gave a passionate argument for the Party’s view that the country is collapsing under its own fiscal weight and that Obama is not competent to handle it, and he solidified his status as the central figure of a new generation of conservatives. Donna Perry, Executive Director of RISC and GoLocal MINDSETTER™
Ryan took the fight to Obama...and kicked his butt. A- Don Roach, former GOP Candidate for City Council in Warwick and GoLocal MINDSETTER™
Ryan spoke about living on the same street he grew up on, the values of his family, joked about his Ipod, legitimately spoke of young people's frustrations and sunk hopes, and blamed the economic crisis on the President and the danger of "central planners" - if you weren't alive between 2000 and 2008 you might believe him on the last part. D Dan Lawlor, GoLocal MINDSETTER™
Ryan gave a hateful speech premised on a number of incredibly brazen, bald-faced lies and distortions. That's not unusual, of course--the entire Romney campaign is using the same playbook--but this time his disregard for the truth was so obvious that the media actually called him out on it. D Aaron Regunberg, Progressive Activist and GoLocal MINDSETTER™
Delivered with humor and enthusiasm, Ryan’s speech was a smart synthesis of conservative ideology and policy promises, earning strong applause for reminding the crowd that “our rights come from Nature and God, not from government,” and for vowing to repeal ObamaCare’s “2000 pages of rules, mandates, taxes, fees, and fines that have no place in a free country.” Grade A. Travis Rowley, Chairman of the RI Young Republicans and GoLocal MINDESETTER™
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Comments:
Michael Trenn
9:42am on Saturday, September 01, 2012
Regunberg hated everything about the Republican Convetion--what a freakin' shock that is! Mindsetter is right; this guy has hid mind absolutely set in good old Democrat concrete. I don't think I need to remind anybody that, a few short decades ago, it was the Democrats who were yelling at Hispanics and throwing things (teargas, high-pressure water) at Black people. Their surface change to this "equality" party is suspicious. It is the Republicans who had the whole panoply of America on display through the Convention. Let's see the Democrats put up some new faces, instead of the same tired old radicals.
Michael Trenn
9:42am on Saturday, September 01, 2012
Sorry, his mind (such as it is)
Aaron Regunberg
10:21am on Saturday, September 01, 2012
Wow, Michael. Your response to modern-day GOP racism and xenophobia is that Democrats also used to be racist and xenophobic? True, but not a very effective justification what's happening today in the Republican Party.
Good stuff.
Todd B
10:40am on Saturday, September 01, 2012
You gotta love the "Repbulicans are racist" blind chant.
Marco Rubio, a Republican and one of the only two Latinos serving in the United States Senate, begins to work with Dick Durbin to develop a bipartisan permanent legislative solution to immigration reform.
President Obama--who did nothing to permanently address the immigration issue during the first half of his administration when he had majorities in both U.S. House and Senate--sees that a rising young Latino politician is beginning to make progress on the matter. In order to prevent a bipartisan (and permanent) solution, Obama issues an executive order that may be illegal.
But hey, why do we need to support a permanent bipartisan legislative solution to the problem when we'd need to share the credit with Republicans? This way, we can get the votes of Latino voters by issuing a temporary executive order right before the election. And if anyone challenges the legality of the executive order, we can just call them racists!
jon paycheck
10:50am on Saturday, September 01, 2012
funny thing how all the pundits trash eastwood and the gop convention.
i was at a high school football game last night (which i assume represents mainstream america) and 2 people mentioned to me that they thought clint eastwood was great and the media pundits completely missed the point of it all.
it reminds me of how the candidates fight to be on the local sunday morning talk shows...BUT NOBODY WATCHES THEM!!!
the pundits are so out of touch.. maybe more than most politicians.....
maybe thats why fox news ranks higher than all the other stations.
jon paycheck
10:59am on Saturday, September 01, 2012
just a thought but maybe the editors need to meet and have a chat with rowley and regunberg.
there is so little objectivity left in their comments. there is no room for even listening to the other side. its just vitriole for one other. its getting to be areal lack of civility.
this is a reflection of the us congress.
hey, we are all human beings and i am as guilty as anyone of going overboard . and for that i do disagree with many posts but am sorry when i have crossed the line in the past and will try not to in the future and encourage others to do the same.
lets all try to listen a litle more and think more before speaking..
Christopher McAuliffe
12:23pm on Saturday, September 01, 2012
I don't know who Aaron Regunberg is, but he clearly is a master of demagoguery over honesty. If he had any business talking about this subject, he would understand the context of the USA chants. Apparently none of your 'analysts' identified the glaringly obvious low-point of the convention, which was the 11th-hour rule change and attempts to strip duly elected delegates of their credentials in favor of RNC/Romney-approved peons... believe me, this is a major scandal that will reverberate in the Republican party for years. Maine Gov. Paul LePage even boycotted the convention over it. After Maine's delegates were stripped, Paul supporters and a few other honest folks began challenging the decision from the floor, while Romney supporters attempted to drown them out with chants of USA. Priebus, attempting to ignore the whole thing, sent a speaker to the podium... she had absolutely nothing to do with the fracas on the floor. But why let the facts get in the way of lazy smears that seem to work year after year?
Todd B
9:02pm on Saturday, September 01, 2012
@Christopher: Offering a logical, fact-based argument or offering a substantive response to an argument requires understanding the reasoning behind the people who disagree with you. That takes a willingness and ability to put yourself in the shoes of someone else with whom you disagree. For some, it also requires work.
Unfortunately, some people don't have the capacity or the willingness to understand others. Or perhaps they do, but they just want to 'stir the pot'. It then becomes easier to reject the arguments of political opponents by calling them "racists, Nazis, communists, anti-American, etc."
Michael Trenn
12:08am on Sunday, September 02, 2012
Mr. Regunberg: I didn't mean anything about the Republican Party. I was talking, first of all, about you, a dyed in the wool liberal, who hates all things Republican. The reference to the Democrat Party is meant to point out how utterly hypocritical they are. It was only recently that the Dems had a Senator, Robert Byrd, who had been an important member of the Ku Klux Klan in his youth. I did not see any racism or xenophobia on the stage at the Republican Convention. I saw people of many different ethnic/racial backgrounds who ARE the Republican Party in 2012. It obviously drives you liberals nuts to see us being more diverse thatn the Demmies are.
tom brady
8:21am on Sunday, September 02, 2012
MISLEADING HEADLINE; Where are the experts?
Blais Hazelwood
4:31pm on Tuesday, September 04, 2012
With all do respect to the columnists above, Doesn't GoLocal have access to Darrel West, Wendy Schiller, or anyone else up at the Taubman Center who's credibility would carry weight? Joe Flemming even? Anyone? Not being mean just when you say Political Experts people expect a lot more! I still love GoLocal anyways!