Hope and Change
“Hope and Change” comes under intense scrutiny starting Tuesday.
The Democratic Convention beginning in Charlotte, NC will cover many issues, but predictably go light on the incumbent president’s actual record in office. He needs to talk not to Republicans but to Democrats and independents and convince them he can fix the economy.
President Obama can’t and won’t talk about his record but instead swing his political ax with the partisan crowd and the largely adoring media at his opponents.
He not only must challenge Mitt Romney, but his feisty running mate.
Paul Ryan a Brilliant Choice?
The Democrats are well aware that Paul Ryan was a brilliant choice for the Republicans. He brings youth and energy, but right from the start, he nipped the Medicare issue in the bud for Democrats and more than likely brought Florida’s 29 electoral votes into the GOP column next November by soothing senior voters concerns about the entitlement’s future.
Score one for the Romney-Ryan team out of the gate.
Ryan was funny, he related, he engaged the audience both on television and in the arena. He was seen in a far different light than previously on CNN, etc. in Washington. He was made human with human feelings and a wonderful family and mother.
Democrats to Stick It to The Wisconsin Budget Expert
It will now be harder for the Democrats to stick it to the Wisconsin budget expert after seeing his tearful mother, a widow, glowingly watching her son accept his national role on the ticket in Tampa. No one is going to catch him off guard or flatfooted when it comes to delving into the details of the federal budget, the deficit and the impact that it has upon Americans.
The Democrats will still attempt to paint Ryan as the man shoving granny off the cliff, but that image has been effectively nullified along with the GOP’s renewed image as a conservative party, a pro-life party, a low-tax party, a small government party and a local government rather than federal government-oriented party voters can trust to fix the fiscal mess the country is in.
That is the problem facing Democrats this week with speakers from the political past such as Washington-insiders former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and decades-entrenched former Delaware Senator and lifelong Washingtonian politician, Joe Biden. Throw in former President Bill Clinton who, like New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, cannot help but promote himself and policies from 20 years ago.
Are you better off than you were four years ago?
The Republicans spent much of heir convention talking to those outside their base. They are well aware the election will be won with independents and disgruntled moderates and Democrats. Much like the Reagan v Carter election of 1980, the real question is, “Are you better off than you were four years ago?”
Can the Democrats silence that growing question among undecided voters? Pollsters in 1980, much like this year, called it a dead heat shortly after Labor Day and the two conventions. It wasn’t until after the three presidential debates in October that it became apparent aforementioned undecided’s had actually made their landslide Reagan decision.
You can see the Obama strategists already aging before our eyes thinking merely about the one Biden v Ryan debate in early October. What will the three Romney v Obama debates be like without a teleprompter?
Obama must deliver some sort of convincing argument that George W. Bush is still the culprit of the bad economy and Bill Clinton is now the man to fix it.
Will that work?
Who will forget Ann Romney at the Tampa convention last week saying with stirring conviction, “I commit to you, he will not fail.”
Barack Obama and the speakers before him are forced to go negative against the rising opposition. They must convince Americans to look beyond the economy and 23 million unemployed to Republicans “hating women” and Romney’s tax returns.
Will that be enough?
There will not be an “I am Barack Obama, let me tell you the great things that I have done for America.”
There won’t be because he can’t.
Great Accomplishments of America
He cannot list the great accomplishments of how America has gotten better. He cannot say that gas prices are cheaper because they are twice what they were. He cannot say your groceries are less expensive because they cost a lot more. He cannot say you are getting more money in your paycheck because you are getting less.
There isn’t a thing he can deliver about his own record that gives any reason to vote for him with substance over rhetoric and more promises of “hope and change.”
So Obama and the democrats can only get out the ax and chop away in personal as well as generalized terms.
Twelve hours after Barack Obama delivers his acceptance speech, the new job numbers will be released.
*** Look for a second visit with R. Emmett Tyrrell of The American Spectator next Saturday.
