This year’s RNC was, well, a political show. It is difficult for these types of things not to be, however we at least got to see what the party is running on. The issues brought to the front were free trade, energy independence, education (parent’s choices therein), reducing taxes on small businesses (thereby increasing job growth), and repealing Obama care.
Lets begin with former Democratic candidate for Alabama governor turned Republican Artur Davis. He stated the increase of the size of government, the glorification of occupy wall street, and the minimizing of the “genius of men and women who make jobs out of nothing” as reasons for his change of party. He also noted the fact that the president “rammed through a healthcare bill that took over one-sixth of the economy” without the approval of half of the country’s political representatives. Clint Eastwood undermined his eloquence by having an empty chair onstage, which he referred to as “President Obama”. However, he redeemed himself when he spoke of the employment rate being a “national disgrace” and when he said, “ I never thought it was a good idea for attorneys to be president anyway”.
Paul Ryan’s speech gave actual facts and figures, which was refreshing. He mentioned the stimulus, $831 billion (largest amount ever spent by the federal government), which failed. He also mentioned the $716 billion funneled out of Medicare in favor of Obama care. Condoleezza Rice’s speech was powerful as always. She focused on foreign policy (not surprising since she was the former Secretary of Sate) and stated support for the military (“peace really does come through strength”). Rice noted that the USA has ratified three free trade agreements (all negotiated during the Bush administration) and China has ratified fifteen with eighteen more under negotiation. She also mentioned the train wreck that is our current education system, stating, “The crisis in K12 education is a threat to the very fabric of who we are” and “We need to give parents greater choice, particularly, particularly poor parents” and continued to note that this is the civil rights issue of our day.
Marco Rubio, despite making the worst mistake he possibly could have immediately before bringing Romney onstage, gave a vibrant speech typical of his career. He is noted for his defense of the middle class, and stated that those who want to make America more like the rest of the world actually divide it. Whether or not this is true is up to personal interpretation. Ann Romney began her speech with enthusiastic expressions of love and excitement. Though the first few minutes left much to be desired, Ann minimized the rumors about their privileged beginnings. Her grandfather was a Welsh coal miner; he immigrated to the United States, settled in Michigan, and eventually became mayor of their town. Ann and Mitt got married young and lived in a basement apartment. She stated that Mitt Romney “was not handed success, he built it” and “dreams fulfilled help others launch new dreams”. This ideal is expressed in the John and Abigail Adam’s Scholarship in Massachusetts, in which the top 25% of students who graduate from High School get four years of college tuition free. Couple that with the fact that Massachusetts has the best education system in the country, and it all sounds quite appealing.
Finally, Mitt. His speech was peppered with tired phrases like, “we are united by so much more than what divides us.” However, the media has insisted on portraying the Romney’s as people who are out of touch with American society. There are others more politically knowledgeable than I, but to me that insinuated a family like the Kennedy’s, who are practically American royalty. However, his story was quite different. His father never graduated from college, he instead apprenticed as a plaster carpenter. He moved to Detroit, led an auto company, and became the governor of Michigan. Mitt Romney started a business with a group of friends, and this helped to start Staples, Sports Authority, Bright Horizons (a child learning center), and Steel Dynamics (a steel mill). I don’t know how many jobs these businesses have created, but I am sure it is around the same number as Romney plans for, 12 million. Romney and Ryan have a five-step plan, which includes giving children’s parents a choice in what school they attend and to cut the deficit.
At the end of the day, it was the same political jargon we are all tired of hearing. However, I appreciated the candid nature of the convention, clearly the numbers are not working against them.
