I have to say that on nights like last night, I love twitter! It was like watching the GOP convention with a few hundred of your closest friends! I love the interaction and the jokes. You should hop on if you haven’t already. Follow me @KatMcKinley. Anyway, let’s get to it. Let me start by saying that whoever decided that Clint Eastwood should speak should be dragged to the woodshed and whipped. How bizzaro was that? I know many in my timeline thought he was hilarious, and just simply showing age at times, but I’m not fond of celebrities to begin with, so I think a better “mystery speaker” could have been found. By the way, I liked the tribute earlier to Ron Paul. There are so many things I love about Ron Paul, but his supporters are not one of them.
But let’s get to the meat of it. I knew Marco Rubio would be fantastic because I had just heard him speak in Houston a few weeks ago, and he was amazing. But he was beyond amazing last night. His story is so inspiring, and he is such a great speaker. One of the pleasures of twitter is that I got to see the reaction of the Cuban descent blogger Babalu, who I have followed for years. His dedication to the Cuban people, and highlighting the oppression in Cuba, cannot be measured. I hope he will not mind me telling you that as Rubio spoke, he private messaged me and wrote, “I’m in tears.” It was a touching moment. At the heart of our party, the very heart of it, is a deep and abiding love for freedom. It is this that binds us all together.
Great excerpts from Rubio:
“Our problem is not that Obama is a bad person. Our problem is that he is a bad President.”
“As for his old slogan, under Barack Obama, the only change is that hope is hard to find. Now, sadly, millions of Americans are insecure about their
future. Instead of inspiring us by reminding us of what makes a special, he divides us against each other. He tells Americans that they’re worse off because others
are better off, that richer people got rich by making other people poor. Hope and change has become divide and conquer. But in the end of this election, it doesn’t matter how you feel about President Obama. This election is about your future, not about his.”
“You see, for most of our human history, almost everybody was poor. Power and wealth only belonged to a few. Your rights are whatever your rulers allowed you to have, your future was determined by your past. If your parents were poor, so would you be. If you were born without opportunities, so were your children. But America was founded on the idea that every person has God given rights. Founded on the belief that power belongs to the people, that government exists to protect our rights and serve our interests, and that no one should be trapped in the circumstances of their birth. We should be free to go as far as our talents and our work can take us.”
“Yes, we live in a troubled time, but the story of those who came before us reminds us that America has always been about new beginnings, and Mitt Romney is running for president because he knows, if we are willing to do for our children what our parents did for us, life in America can be better than it has ever been.”
Read the full speech here. The whole thing was so inspiring.
The video showing Mitt’s family as the boys were growing up was truly adorable. They really are such a great family.
Then came Romney’s speech. I was nervous for him. I can’t imagine the pressure on someone when so much depends on one speech. I wondered after Rubio, how he could compete with that charisma. But Mitt hit all the right notes. He was Presidential, he was funny at times, and he was tough enough on Obama without being mean-spirited. The most touching part was when Mitt described how his Dad always left a rose on the nightstand for his Mom every day. His speech wasn’t about showing off, or being some new hope for America. It was plain spoken and straight forward:
“What is needed in our country today is not complicated or profound. It doesn’t take a special government commission to tell us what America needs. What America needs is jobs. Lots of jobs.”
Romney said that his plan would create 12 million jobs. He would keep our taxes low. He would cut the deficit, he would fight for free trade, lead us to energy independence, and help small business by getting rid of needless regulation.
Mitt Romney showed us who he was; a smart hugely successful man in his business and personal life, a man of faith, and a man who loves this country.
Simple.
The undecided voter saw a man ready to lead, ready to do the hard work, ready to bring our country back again.
Here is a transcript of Mitt’s speech, if you missed it.
I’m not one to get my hopes up, but after seeing Romney’s speech, I truly felt this was his time. A lot of conservatives weren’t happy with our pick. But I always understood why it needed to be Mitt Romney. He isn’t the most conservative nominee, but he is the most ready to be President. If being a good President is measured by how well this country prospers, and how well we lift people out of poverty, I predict that he will be one of our best Presidents.
I hope that the one take away that the independent voter got from our convention is how the other side lies about the GOP being anti woman or anti minority. I think Marco Rubio, Susana Martinez, Condi Rice, Artur Davis, Nikki Haley, Kay Alieanos, and Ted Cruz, among many others, laid rest that lie.
Cardinal Dolan gave the benediction. He will as well at the DNC Convention. Here is his prayer.