Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, now the GOP Presidential nominee, has given his acceptance speech, and it was a masterful performance in many ways.
He seemed more relaxed and happy than he has ever been in a public speech before tonight, and the teleprompter certainly helped, even though the Republicans have constantly attacked Barack Obama for using a teleprompter.
He certainly wowed the crowd at the convention, but the question is whether he convinced the American people that he is up to the job of being our President for the next four years, as he failed to be specific on his plans, used high powered rhetoric instead, and left us wondering who the “real” Mitt Romney is! At the same time, he seemed ready to commit US military forces against Iran and Syria, at a time when we can ill afford further military intervention, with our longest war in Afghanistan still raging, and the nation tired of war.
An odd but telling moment was when Romney talked about caring about the sick, the poor, the elderly, and the needy, and the convention audience remained totally silent in reaction. This was embarrassing, and showed that the well healed delegates were not what George W. Bush promoted when he ran for President in 2000—“compassionate” conservatism!
At least, Romney told fewer lies in his speech than his running mate did last night, when Paul Ryan told at least six lies or mistruths in his speech, and even Fox News Channel called him out on many of these distortions or pure fabrications.
So the battle is on, and now Romney and Ryan will face two accomplished debaters in Barack Obama and Joe Biden in October, and we shall see how they perform under fire, when they will be questioned on specifics and on their manipulation of the truth on so many areas of policy!