Touted as the not-so-secret ingredient in the campaign to humanize her husband, Ann Romney lived up to her advance billing and delivered a warm and personal speech about life and love with Mitt Romney.
“I could tell you why I fell in love with him — he was tall, laughed a lot, was nervous — girls like that, it shows the guy’s a little intimidated,” she said to laughter from the convention audience.
Boston Globe editorial page editor Peter Canellos was among those charmed, calling her remarks, “the best convention speech by any candidate’s spouse – and certainly the most important.” Convention delegates said Ann succeeded in making Mitt more likeable.
Romney stressed that her speech was about love, not about politics or party. But of course it was all about the “p” words, and some pundits were not convinced that she did the best job. “Ann Romney gave a wonderful speech,” said Slate’s John Dickenson. “Was it a great political speech? I’m not so sure.”
Dickenson found that Ann Romney failed in a key area, that of storyteller of the marriage. Absent were specific tales that demonstrated Mitt’s caring qualities, such as during her miscarriage or her ongoing struggle with multiple sclerosis, stories she has shared elsewhere, but did not come up in her Tampa address.
He also noted that she suffered in comparison to Elizabeth Dole who was called on at the 1996 Republican Convention to render her husband, Robert Dole, more likeable. How many Americans knew that Dole was regularly voted the most beloved member of the US Senate by the chamber’s employees until Elizabeth told the story? If there are such stories about Mitt Romney at Bain Capital or on Beacon Hill, voters did not learn about them last night.
Ann Romney also did not help her husband escape the critique of being out of touch with the struggles of the average American. Ross Douthat argues in The New York Times that “her speech was actually most effective when it was confirming the impression that Romney is less a relatable 21st century kind of guy than an unusual sort of throwback – “the last of the WASP aristocrats, the latter-day heir of the Cabots and Saltonstalls and pre-Texas Bushes, offering himself up to serve a country where his species long ago ceased to rule.”
The Washington Post reported “despite a calculated effort to portray Ann Romney as an ordinary, Costco-loving budget hunter, she also is the more public consumer of the couple’s vast wealth than her husband.”
Nevertheless, Romney made a blatant — but effective — pitch to women voters. The GOP also reached out to women through its convention programming. Women officeholders got key speaking slots. But the party’s platform-writing with inclusion of points such as defining a fetus as a person, told a different story. With the culture wars renewed on issues such as abortion and rape, the Republicans face an uphill slog: President Obama still retains a substantial lead among women voters.
In the weeks ahead, comparisons to First Lady Michelle Obama are inevitable. Obama is vastly more popular than her reserved husband, and Romney is likely to find herself on a similar trajectory. A July NBC/Wall Street Journal poll found that 45 percent of voters had no opinion or held a neutral view of her. Another 32 percent viewed her in a positive light; 22 percent had a negative view.
In the afterglow of Ann Romney’s convention speech, these numbers have nowhere to go but up. Her husband still has his work cut out for him. An ABC News/Washington Post poll released last night found that Mitt Romney has the lowest personal popularity of any major party candidate since 1980: 51 percent of those polled view him unfavorably.
–GABRIELLE GURLEY
MUNICIPAL MATTERS
Abington’s Conservation Commission approved a plan to mow 10 to 12 acres of town-owned conservation property for agricultural use and then sell the bales for some cash for town coffers.
The Quincy Licensing Board, reconsidering a previous unanimous vote in favor, turned down a license for a restaurant after members of a nearby Catholic church said the scantily-clad waitresses at the proposed pub would be immoral.
The Lowell Regional Water Authority is called “a place out of control” at the trial of a former
employee accused of stealing gas from the agency, the Sun reports.
Ashby and Pepperell pass a property tax override for their regional school district.
NATIONAL POLITICS/WASHINGTON
California Democrats unveil a pension reform plan that critics say doesn’t go far enough, Governing reports.
ELECTION 2012
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie tells GOP delegates that Democrats are content to “whistle a happy tune while driving us off the fiscal cliff, as long as they are behind the wheel of power.” Politico calls the speech a roadmap for Republicans. Elizabeth Warren, writing a convention rebuttal for the Boston Herald, is not impressed with “Scott Brown’s party.” The Telegram & Gazette reports that the Brown-Warren race is a hot topic in Tampa. Bill Weld does another interview, this time with WBUR, and describes himself as coming from the libertarian wing of the GOP. A black CNN camerawoman is allegedly harassed at the convention, Talking Points Memo reports. The Herald’s Peter Gelizinis slams Mitt Romney’s Costco ploy.
Boston Magazine profiles Elizabeth Warren. The Globe profiles Paul Ryan.
The Newton Tab endorses Elizabeth Childs in the Republican primary in the Fourth Congressional District.
The Chronicle of Philanthropy takes a look at Mitt Romney’s stand on nonprofits.
The National Review profiles the Massachusetts delegation at the GOP convention.
Several police and fire unions, including some from Fall River, endorsed US Rep. William Keating in the new 9th Congressional District over his primary opponent, Bristol District Attorney Sam Sutter, who lives in Fall River.
The Wall Street Journal editorial page accuses Todd Akin of “playing for pro-life sympathy to save his own career,” at the expense of Republicans everywhere.
A federal court throws out Texas’s redistricting maps.
BUSINESS/ECONOMY
Massachusetts home sales have their best July in seven years.
Verizon outages caused by a homeless man’s torched mattress continue to plague thousands of homeowners, businesses, and municipal offices, the Eagle-Tribune reports.
Fidelity makes it official: Abigail is the heir apparent, the Globe reports.
The Deutsche Bank Championship in Norton this weekend, which features the PGA’s top 100 players, is expected to pump $60 million into the region’s economy, according to some business estimates.
The Worcester Tornadoes, however, seem to owe a lot of money to businesses all over town, NECN reports.
To put to rest charges of favoritism, Windover Construction in Beverly decides not to pursue a state tax break in connection with a development project, the Salem News reports.
EDUCATION
The Boston Teachers Union vows to fight an attempt by the school system to unilaterally impose an evaluation system, the Globe reports.
The athletic director at Merrimack College in North Andover, as well as his wife, also a college employee, resign after a hush-hush outside investigation, the Eagle-Tribune reports.
American universities are creating a new caste system, Niall Ferguson writes in Newsweek.
TRANSPORTATION
Customer service ranks high in MBTA curriculum, the Globe reports.
ENERGY/ENVIRONMENT
Hurricane Isaac swamps a levee in New Orleans, USA Today reports.
Members of a Fairhaven group opposed to wind turbines have found dead birds and bats near the base of two town-owned turbines.