Posted on 09/01/2012 7:17:07 PM PDT by Hojczyk
A crowd of thousands cheered Mitt Romney at a rally here during the opening leg of a cross-country campaign swing on Saturday, testing for the first time whether he can sustain political momentum coming out of the Republican National Convention.
A line of people that stretched for five city blocks awaited Mr. Romney as his motorcade pulled into the Union Terminal. Inside there were so many people that the campaign had to redirect a few hundred of them into a small overflow room, where they crammed in shoulder to shoulder.
Mr. Romney has often failed to spark much of a connection with his audiences, and enthusiasm for him along the campaign trail has often been in short supply.
But inside a soaring Art Deco-styled rotunda here, the candidate, joined by Senator Rob Portman and Representative John Boehner, the House speaker, delivered a vigorous and sharply focused speech that sent the audience into ear-splitting roars.
Mr. Romney added new punch lines to his denunciation of President Obama’s first term as a betrayal of the promises he made and a failure to lead.
“One of the promises he made was he was going to create more jobs. And today, 23 million people are out of work or stopped looking for work or underemployed,” Mr Romney said. “Let me tell you, if you have a coach that’s 0 and 23 million, you say it’s time to get a new coach. It’s time for America to see a winning season again, and we’re going to bring it to them.”
In the last few weeks, Mr. Romney has relied on his running mate, Representative Paul D. Ryan of Wisconsin, to infuse energy into his campaign rallies.
(Excerpt) Read more at thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com ...
But Obama only has two options.
Go all out negative on Romney in his speech - Never works
OR
Try to recreate 2008’s Hope & Change with soaring rhetoric - Won’t wash this time around.
Clinton might get the base enthusiastic, but he provides a stark contrast in terms of economic record. Not exactly what you want at a convention. I can also see Clinton screwing everything up for Obama and then walking out the fire exit, flipping Hussein the bird, and then jetting to Vladivostok only to return when the whole thing’s over.
Corey Booker will be interesting, seeing as he’s “dead” to the Democrats. I might flip to Fox for a minute or two during the embarrassing freakshow. I’d forgotten how fun it was to make fun of idiots like Kerry.
Between Eastwood’s “empty chair” imagery and the rain-eroded sand sculpture of a seated Obama in Charlotte today, “progressives” must be busy tonight filling up seats in the stadium.
Be careful with this analogy. Once Palin joined the ticket the crowds were very big as well but it did not translate into votes.
Talking about in 2008 of course with McCain.
I hope he winds up in Ft. Levinworth for not being a citizen and deliberately concealing it.
Makes sense to me. But the Drive By Media will try to pump it up.
“Be careful with this analogy. Once Palin joined the ticket the crowds were very big as well but it did not translate into votes.”
Actually, McCain was up by 4-5% just before the financial crash. That swing in the polls started with the nomination of Sarah Palin.
Anyone notice there are NO COMMENTS on the NYT blog? BWAHAHA!
Are you sure McCain was up in the polls? I don’t recall him ever leading except for the convention bounce that faded after a week.
....and the reality..>
His campaign is built on sand and will be washed away in a voting Tsunami.
“Once Palin joined the ticket the crowds were very big as well but it did not translate into votes.”
I don’t think that’s fair, they got a lot of votes, it’s just that Obama got more.
Obama and the dems did increase the pool of voters very much in 2008, hope & change was real, even if not to us.
Too bad he was such a cr*ppy pres once in office.
Of course WE knew he would be, him being a communist and all.
It’s regrettable the media did not see fit to actually vet the guy while he was running, and in fact covered up for him. Hillary Clinton did not get a fair shake, I hate her, but I have to say it because it’s true.
Now all those people who supported Obama in new-record numbers, the young, blacks, have gotten the short end of the stick on his watch.
I don’t expect the droves to return, esp. since most people really don’t care about politics AT ALL.
My God, that sand sculpture is pathetic. A four year old could do better.
Note to Romney: Disband the presidential sand-sculpture department. It’s probably a waste of money anyway.
How does the headline writer know the crowds represent merely a post-convention “bump”?
So the bump caused huge crowds? How long will this last NYT? Idiots
But they’ll have lots of homosexuals and muslims there!
He’s up 48% to 44% now!
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