Ann Romney, conventional wisdom says, is her husband’s not-so-secret weapon. Well, yes and no. She humanizes him is the standard line and, wearing a lovely red outfit in her moment on the Republican convention stage on Tuesday, she was a smiling vision of warmth. But though she strings words together more fluently than the GOP presidential nominee, the words themselves — and often the tone — reinforce the idea that she and Mitt Romney were made for each other.
Archives for August 2012
Parsing the ‘American way’ in a night of contradictions at the RNC
Republicans, including “just joking” about birth certificates Mitt Romney, love to chide President Obama about his alleged foreign roots, but couldn’t stop getting misty-eyed over their hard-working immigrant forebears. Government programs equal the devil, but hey, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R), didn’t I hear you mention the G.I. Bill that helped your dad attend college? Ann Romney declared that all you need is love, but then Christie – him, again – said respect, not love is the answer.
That’s the way it went when the Republican National Convention finally revved up in Tampa on Tuesday night after a storm delay. It didn’t seem as though these folks talked among themselves, much less to Americans who may disagree with them politically, but still believe in America as a land of promise and opportunity.
Aug292012
Anthony Foxx: Q&A with Charlotte’s mayor and DNC host
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — With the Democratic National Convention set to start in Charlotte next week, a lot is riding on the shoulders of Charlotte Mayor Anthony Foxx. Sure, he sounded casual when he said he’s just “playing the role of the host of a large dinner party. I’m going to spend my time greeting as many of the 35,000 guests as I can.” But as a convention speaker, Foxx, a Democrat in his second term, will be more than that. The 41-year-old mayor is representing what has been called the New South, managing expectations about his own future and making the case for a president and friend he supports.
Aug262012
Phyllis Diller: Always funny, and always in control
I’m not sure what younger people make of those long-ago clips from the “Tonight Show” with Diller a court jester in funny clothes waving a cigarette holder and cackling on cue. But watching her back then, you knew that even though she was saying terrible things about her looks, her cooking and her husband, she was really, to use a more modern phrase, “building her brand” — Phyllis Diller Inc. When she died this week at the age of 95, you could read the real story
Aug212012
