Columns, pieces and posts
Some post-Tampa thoughts. 1. I think Charlotte is blending into Tampa and Tampa into Charlotte. The conventions were perversely scheduled—no time between them, no post-convention afterglow in which people could mull, consider, remember what was said, reflect upon a line, a gaffe, a revealing little stumble. The other day it was all Romney-speech-Romney-speech, soon it […]
Tampa, Fla. Two days in, I had no faith in this convention. The hurricane tore apart plans and affected everyone’s mood. Normal chaos became heightened anxiety. On the floor, the delegate seats had too much space between them, which removed the kind of animal density that speakers in big halls need. The weird, excessive security […]
Something so poignant about the end of a convention, something touching in a way you can’t put your finger on. Empty lobbies, empty cab lines, the long line at security at the airport, with people, especially cameramen, slackjawed with fatigue. At Delta check-in a couple had two huge bags open on the floor, their personal […]
I keep running into wonderful young people working their first convention, and they keep not asking me, “What is the secret to all politics?” I am here to tell them anyway. There is a secret theme song to all conventions, and it is in fact the secret theme song of all politics. You listen to the old […]
Mike Huckabee’s speech is the best of the convention so far. What a fabulous, old fashioned podium-thumper. He has been the only speaker tonight with the size to fill the room, the only one who can read a teleprompter without looking shifty-eyed, the only one with the confidence to go there at length on the meaning of such issues […]
People are talking about how subdued the floor is. Normally Republicans in convention are whomp-’em, stomp-em full of cheers. They interrupt the speakers too much! But last night Chris Christie said a few lines that you knew he knew would garner big applause, and he got what a young speechwriter this morning called “crickets.” It happened […]
A read on the first night of the convention: They lit the candle. They got past the ill luck of the storm and declared there’s a convention going on. Ann Romney was stunning, sweet, full of enthusiasm, a little shy, a little game for the battle. Her speech was fine. I think the headline was […]
From a Chris Christie aide: The governor’s speech will be “positive” in tone, “Republicans and Democrats working together.” He’ll speak briefly about where he comes from, who he is, what his parents taught him. He will make the case that the American people hunger for honesty, that they want candor from their political leaders, that […]
The vibe of this convention has been weird. There has been a constant sense of something impending, some doom about to be delivered. What everyone is hungry for, hopeful for, will be so grateful for, is: a sparkling opening at 8 p.m. that will chase the clouds away. A great Christie speech, a line, a […]
A guy who’s speaking at the convention told me he has been talking to “the professionals.” They told him to speak to the person in the living room, then they told him to speak to the people in the hall. They told him to speak to businessmen, and then they told him no, speak to […]