Republican Version of the Wizard of Oz

Tuesday night at the convention was an odd interpretation of the Wizard of Oz.  Chris Christie tried to give Mitt courage while Ann Romney proclaimed that her husband had a heart.  Yet we were left with the strange feeling that there was a huckster behind the curtain.  Every effort was made to hide the yellow(gold) brick road leading to the (Bain) Capital.  Fortunately we all acknowledge that Mitt has a brain, so we were spared a third speech.

Christie's topic of political courage, mainly his own,  does little to help Romney.  No examples were given of Romney's political courage.  Nor is this surprising.  When Romney draws a line in the sand he makes sure it is close enough to the water to be wiped out with the tide.  Christie's speech like Santorum's earlier, was the opening volley in the 2016 nomination fight if Romney is defeated.  In fact with the exception of Ann Romney's speech,  Mitt was scarcely mentioned.  He has the numbers, but he does not embody the heart and soul of this convention.

Heart was his wife's department.  She gave a good speech.   But the media gushing, let alone Erin Burnett's tear, was a bit much.  Each 4 years we seem shocked that with coaching and rehearsal a candidate, or his spouse, can read a speech, prepared by professional writers, from a teleprompter.  So we are not seeing Ann's heart, but rather, the campaign staff's goals.  The speech confirms concern over the gender gap.  Half of it was directed straight to women.  That seemed patronizing, but I am not the intended target.  It may have scored.

The rest of the speech was to undercut Romney's negatives.  Ann mentioned three times that he makes her laugh.  We had a common man anecdote with a basement apartment and makeshift furniture.  But the speech should have had far more personal stories. Finally we are told we can trust him.  From the speech we know that focus groups consider Romney a humorless, untrustworthy rich guy that does not understand their problems.

One line near the end of the speech is perplexing. "He will take us to a better place, just as he took me home safely from that dance."  After the election I hope he clicks his heels and takes her safely to any one of their homes, so long as it is not 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.