When the GOP planned the grand finale of their convention it is safe to say that they assumed the focus would be on Mitt Romney’s acceptance speech. Never in their wildest dreams could they have imagined that their nominee would be upstaged by a conversation between an octogenarian actor and an invisible president.
Mitt Romney gave what was probably the best speech of his political life. It wasn’t a great speech by anyone’s estimation. It was long on rhetoric and absent of any specific plan to move the country forward. But it was enough to bring the doubting party members on board. Romney did what he had to do to reach the party faithful.
But the conversation the next day was not about Romney but about Clint Eastwood and his conversation with an invisible Barak Obama. To call Eastwood’s rambling questioning of the invisible Obama “strange” would be a vast understatement. There were some funny moments; but when the invisible president supposedly told Eastwood and Romney to go “F” themselves the gag went off the rails. Unfortunately for the Republicans Clint Eastwood’s performance was the very first thing viewers saw when the national networks tuned in.
In the end the Republicans will not get the usual bump in the polls that historically come courtesy of the convention. The angry tone and the lack of a specific plan to move the country forward will not sway the undecided voters. In that regard this convention was a missed opportunity for the Republican Party.
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