Donna Brazile: GOP’s Etch-A-Sketch convention
Voters watching Mitt Romney accept the Republican Party’s nomination to be president Thursday night were waiting for the beef: any vision, plan or single new idea. But all they got served was overcooked red meat: false bravado, reckless attacks and a rehash of failed policies of the past.
It was an expected ending to the Romney Reinvention Convention, where not even Madison Avenue ad executives could Etch-A-Sketch the impression out of voters’ minds that Romney’s an empty suit with public and private sector experiences that destroyed things rather than build them.
Given a chance to speak directly to the American people, the entire Republican Party apparatus spent several days tearing down President Obama without offering any substantive reason why Romney should be president.
Chris Christie talked about Chris Christie and the hard truths that Paul Ryan then failed to explain. Instead, Ryan lied. A lot: about his plan to “voucherize” Medicare and his fiscal chicken hawk record that shows he voted for two tax cuts unpaid for, two wars unpaid for and a prescription drug giveaway to the drug companies, unpaid for.
Nary a mention of Afghanistan or veterans. And Clint Eastwood talked to an empty chair.
Meanwhile, the president was in Colorado and Iowa, talking with students and explaining how he’s helping millions of them pay for college so we have a skilled work force to keep us competitive. He was monitoring the storm Isaac and ensuring that states and local communities had the federal resources they needed to prepare and protect folks and property in its path.
And he’ll continue to take his case for re-election directly to the American people in the run up to the Democratic convention in Charlotte, talking about the big issues, like education, fuel economy and clean energy, infrastructure and responsible tax reform and deficit reduction. He’ll continue explaining there’s a clear contrast in visions for the future for our country and choice in this election.
The last four years have been about making tough choices to help a country and economy recover, and laying the foundation for a path forward to restoring middle-class security.
Republicans failed to make the case for a Romney presidency in Tampa, and now Democrats have their chance to make it for Obama in Charlotte.
There won’t be an empty seat or empty suit when they do.
Donna Brazile, a CNN contributor and a Democratic strategist, is vice chairwoman for voter registration and participation at the Democratic National Committee. She is a nationally syndicated columnist, an adjunct professor at Georgetown University and author of “Cooking with Grease.” She was manager for the Gore-Lieberman presidential campaign in 2000.
Related articles
- Mitt Romney vs. stubborn facts (cnn.com)
- Mitt Romney’s Etch-a-Sketch Speech Lands with a Thud (alternet.org)
- Low Favorability Trails Romney (abcnews.go.com)
