I watched the end of the Republican National Convention last night, having skipped the previous parts. I caught Clint Eastwood, Marco Rubio and Mitt Romney, and they were all fairly competent speakers. Clint was quite good, coming off as a sly old man with a wicked sense of humor. Rubio really played up the “American Dream” thing from the immigrant’s perspective. A little too much for my taste, but I suppose it’s important, given how many people in the US are immigrants or from immigrant families.
As for Romney, he did a pretty good job on the podium, but the focus on women was over the top. Sometimes, you really don’t need to let the opposition write your script for you, and I’m skeptical about how many women’s minds he could change. When it comes down to it, people vote according to what they perceive to be in their economic interest. That isn’t the entire story, but it’s the biggest one, and single mothers are going to fill in the bubble next to the guy they think will deliver the most goodies. As for married and older women, I think it will break down according to whether they’re on the dole (which includes government jobs as well as welfare) or not, with the ones who are generally voting Democrat and the others voting Republican.
In fact, the overt pandering to women on the part of Republicans comes off as a bit disingenuous, not to mention supplicating. But I suppose such are the times we live in, with a hollowed out real economy and the artificial inflation of female wealth and power that has accompanied the great sellout of the American worker, accomplished through massive outsourcing of industry and turning a blind eye to illegal immigration.
So while Mitt Romney’s speech was compelling in a generic American sort of way, there was something sorely lacking: gratitude for his base. For all the talk about immigrants and women, there wasn’t a discernible a nod to the ordinary American men who will be his most dependable voting block.
I suppose that’s about all we can expect these days. The Republicans know that most of us will vote for an ungrateful party rather than one that openly despises us. In years past, I might have chosen to simply sit this one out (as I did last time) and refuse to vote for either candidate, but the antics of the Obama administration regarding Title IX and other such strong-arm feminist tactics have given me enough motivation to want to see them thrown out of office.
In the end, what I took away from it is that while the Republicans may prefer to ignore us, at least they won’t be kicking us in the teeth if they carry the election.
