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| Version 4 | Version 5 |
|---|---|
| Romney-Ryan convention message plays well with swing state media | Romney-Ryan convention message plays well with swing state media |
| (4 months later) | |
| When Mitt Romney took to the stage in Tampa last week to cap three days of conventioneering his real audience was not the entire nation of America. Instead, like all political advertising in the close 2012 race, it was geared toward a narrow band of swing states that will decide the election. | When Mitt Romney took to the stage in Tampa last week to cap three days of conventioneering his real audience was not the entire nation of America. Instead, like all political advertising in the close 2012 race, it was geared toward a narrow band of swing states that will decide the election. |
| Forget California, New York or Texas. Those states are already either red or blue. Instead it is the "purple" America of Ohio, Virginia, Florida, Colorado, Iowa, New Hampshire, Wisconsin and Nevada that really matters. So, how did the convention play there? | Forget California, New York or Texas. Those states are already either red or blue. Instead it is the "purple" America of Ohio, Virginia, Florida, Colorado, Iowa, New Hampshire, Wisconsin and Nevada that really matters. So, how did the convention play there? |
| CLEVELAND PLAIN DEALER (OHIO) | CLEVELAND PLAIN DEALER (OHIO) |
| "Fortunately, rain reduced the Republican tedium in Tampa, Florida, by one day. … An absence of drama or uncertainty at both political parties' conventions has turned them into drab affairs." | "Fortunately, rain reduced the Republican tedium in Tampa, Florida, by one day. … An absence of drama or uncertainty at both political parties' conventions has turned them into drab affairs." |
| – Brent Larkin | – Brent Larkin |
| COLUMBUS DISPATCH (OHIO) | COLUMBUS DISPATCH (OHIO) |
| "Republicans, for example, haven't polled well lately with young voters. The GOP's restrictive cultural agenda won't change that. But Paul Ryan could win some young voters with his Medicare plan. … They would have choices, which is what younger Americans, especially those between the ages of 25 and 40, are all about. Choices in phones, electronics and apps are the way of their world. His Medicare-choice ideas shouldn't be scary to them. They may appreciate that he's trying to keep the program from going belly-up before they get a chance to enroll." | "Republicans, for example, haven't polled well lately with young voters. The GOP's restrictive cultural agenda won't change that. But Paul Ryan could win some young voters with his Medicare plan. … They would have choices, which is what younger Americans, especially those between the ages of 25 and 40, are all about. Choices in phones, electronics and apps are the way of their world. His Medicare-choice ideas shouldn't be scary to them. They may appreciate that he's trying to keep the program from going belly-up before they get a chance to enroll." |
| – William McKenzie | – William McKenzie |
| TAMPA BAY TIMES (FLORIDA) | TAMPA BAY TIMES (FLORIDA) |
| "(Romney) played on fears about the weak economy, characterized Obama as a failure who cannot lead the nation to prosperity and argued he has the business experience to create millions of jobs. It was a credible performance that ended a perfunctory Republican National Convention, but Romney's broad promises remain vague and unconvincing." | "(Romney) played on fears about the weak economy, characterized Obama as a failure who cannot lead the nation to prosperity and argued he has the business experience to create millions of jobs. It was a credible performance that ended a perfunctory Republican National Convention, but Romney's broad promises remain vague and unconvincing." |
| – editorial | – editorial |
| MILWAUKEE JOURNAL-SENTINEL (WISCONSIN) | MILWAUKEE JOURNAL-SENTINEL (WISCONSIN) |
| "The speech included some memorable lines including the one about college grads lying in their beds at home and "staring up at fading Obama posters and wondering when they can move out and get going with life". His delivery, halting at first, was powerful by the end. He was sunny and optimistic. … Whether you like the new, "severely conservative" Mitt or the old moderate Mitt – the version we prefer and the one that seemed to shine through Thursday night – you just aren't sure you can trust him. And because he has provided so few details of his plans for the country, those questions persist." | "The speech included some memorable lines including the one about college grads lying in their beds at home and "staring up at fading Obama posters and wondering when they can move out and get going with life". His delivery, halting at first, was powerful by the end. He was sunny and optimistic. … Whether you like the new, "severely conservative" Mitt or the old moderate Mitt – the version we prefer and the one that seemed to shine through Thursday night – you just aren't sure you can trust him. And because he has provided so few details of his plans for the country, those questions persist." |
| – editorial | – editorial |
| COLORADO SPRINGS GAZETTE (COLORADO) | COLORADO SPRINGS GAZETTE (COLORADO) |
| "About 150 people spread out in lawn chairs and on the grass. But the crowd may as well have been at the national convention in Florida – every time the 4,000 delegates at the RNC applauded and cheered, so did the Republicans at the park. They cheered and hollered and whistled and laughed right along with the telecast on C-SPAN, when Romney said they needed to repeal "Obamacare," when he said the country needed to build its energy industry, and when he said the country deserves better." | "About 150 people spread out in lawn chairs and on the grass. But the crowd may as well have been at the national convention in Florida – every time the 4,000 delegates at the RNC applauded and cheered, so did the Republicans at the park. They cheered and hollered and whistled and laughed right along with the telecast on C-SPAN, when Romney said they needed to repeal "Obamacare," when he said the country needed to build its energy industry, and when he said the country deserves better." |
| – from a news story on a "watch party" in Colorado Springs | – from a news story on a "watch party" in Colorado Springs |
| LAS VEGAS SUN (NEVADA) | LAS VEGAS SUN (NEVADA) |
| "If the GOP primary season was a test of what kind of Republican the rank and file favor as a candidate, clearly the business Republican won. … Although Romney's support largely held steady even as the popularity of his individual opponents spiked, he had a hard time finding a way to directly appeal to the base of the Republican Party. | "If the GOP primary season was a test of what kind of Republican the rank and file favor as a candidate, clearly the business Republican won. … Although Romney's support largely held steady even as the popularity of his individual opponents spiked, he had a hard time finding a way to directly appeal to the base of the Republican Party. |
| He had, perhaps, an even more difficult time explaining his previously moderate positions on such issues as abortion and immigration. In that regard, he's likely relieved to be speaking to the general electorate." | He had, perhaps, an even more difficult time explaining his previously moderate positions on such issues as abortion and immigration. In that regard, he's likely relieved to be speaking to the general electorate." |
| – Anjeanette Damon | – Anjeanette Damon |
| MANCHESTER UNION-LEADER (NEW HAMPSHIRE) | MANCHESTER UNION-LEADER (NEW HAMPSHIRE) |
| "Political party conventions are giant, taxpayer-funded parties that have outlived their usefulness and should be eliminated. That Congress routinely votes to spend tens of millions of dollars on them is a sign of the members' own immaturity and helps explain the fiscal problem we have and they can't seem to fix. … The events are misleadingly named presidential nominating conventions; in reality they are taxpayer-funded bacchanals that play no real role in nominating a president." | "Political party conventions are giant, taxpayer-funded parties that have outlived their usefulness and should be eliminated. That Congress routinely votes to spend tens of millions of dollars on them is a sign of the members' own immaturity and helps explain the fiscal problem we have and they can't seem to fix. … The events are misleadingly named presidential nominating conventions; in reality they are taxpayer-funded bacchanals that play no real role in nominating a president." |
| – Charles Arlinghaus | – Charles Arlinghaus |
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