1. Artur Davis (pictured above) (turncoat black Alabama congressman who recently switched from huge Obama supporter in 2008 to the gop-er party): A-. I don't like political turncoats at all (see Joe Lieberman, Colin Powell, Charlie Crist). I've often said in this space that if you see fit to cast your lot behind one of these two terrible, corrupt, extremist, out-of-touch political parties, then at least have the character to stick with that choice and not abandon it when switchin' sides is in your political best interests. That said, Davis in my opinion gave the best speech I saw tonight. In his words were messages that talk very successfully to those of us in middle America who do not wish to embrace the gop-er right-wingers, but who also see a modern incarnation of the democrat party which is very foreign to us and which we cannot possibly support (likely ever again).
2. Nikki Haley (South Carolina governor): B. Not a lot that the sometimes-tea-party favorite Haley had to say exactly resonated with me, but I thought she seemed (and surprisingly so) very comfortable on tonight's prime-time stage. Right at home. Truth be told, I could see this right-winger broad running for president someday, and perhaps even (although against the odds) successfully. Too much focus on her unique experiences in South Carolina, but all in all, she did a good job for herself politically tonight.
3. Chris Christie (New Jersey governor): C. And that grade may be fairly charitable on my part. I fully expected a highly entertaining spectacle from the off-the-cuff, often-hot-headed NJ Gov in his headliner speech tonight, but I found it full of cliches and fairly boring. His talk of "principled compromise" did resonate with me, but most of the rest of it seemed fairly typical. Not that it was bad. Just mediocre. (Sorry, gop-ers, he ain't no Reagan). Which means a "C" grade.
4. Rick Santorum (former PA senator and failed gop-er presidential candidate this year): D. Add to my various surprise above and below that the right-wingers put this guy in prime time, and his speech did nothing to question that sentiment. This guy is your prototypical deranged right-winger, all too happy to focus on a bunch of social conservative agenda issues that most Americans simply don't care much about, especially in the face of a $16 Trillion National Debt and a "New Normal" 8% unemployment rate that seems unending. Santorum's sub-par speech focused way too much on his own family (I thought he wasn't a candidate anymore?) and said something (more like several things) that were positively right-winger zany for every decent, resonating thing that he happened to spout (there were a few, but I can't even recall them now). BUST.
5. Ann Romney (pictured at top) (spouse of gop-er presidential nominee, Mitt Romney): B+. She's not a politician, and it showed at times (her snickering for no good reason at various times in her speech), but all in all, I was surprised at how effective this non-politician, potential First Lady-to-be was in her speech. She was natural in the setting and natural on her feet tonight. Her speech (wonder who wrote for her? -- give that gal or guy a big raise!) adeptly propped up her Old Man while (for a so-called "non-political speech") taking plenty of tacit and not-so-tacit shots at the failed Obama presidency. One could argue she deserves something in the "A" range, but I'm Old School to the last, I grade on the damn curve, and I've already given out my one "A" for the night. Regardless, it's undeniable that Mitt's Old Lady did a hell of job kicking off this event tonight for the Old Man.
I'M THE RAGER, AND I APPROVED THIS POST.
Posts
