Post GOP Convention Thoughts

The 2012 Republican National Convention is over and Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan are the GOP standard-bearers for president and vice-president.
So, some thoughts.
For a political convention, this one was very much a positive one. The theme to take out of it is that the current occupier of the White House, the Dear Leader, President Obama, had three-plus years to do a good job and he has not. It is time for a replacement.
One of the reasons that it was positive is that no one attacked the Dear Leader, President Obama, personally. And it was not put out there that it was in fact an assault on his abysmal record rather than going after him as a person. It does not work and will not work. The record is what the speakers went after.
Were there jabs?
Of course. It is a political convention after all.
Such as the senate Minority Leader, Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) suggesting that the Dear Leader, President Obama, was auditioning for the PGA (Professional Golf Association) tour. After all, the Dear Leader, President Obama, does like his golf. And very little does stand in the way of that.
Oh, BTW, did you know that pretty much everything said against the policies of the Dear Leader, President Obama, was raaaaacist?
Remember, as The Other McCain notes, there are five aaaaa's in raaaaacist!
If you relied on the "coverage" from DNCNBC, er MSNBC, then yes, everything was raaaaacist! Even mentioning the Dear Leader, President Obama, and golf.
I really do not want to continue on writing about a SCOAMF* of a "news" network.
But I will write what I think is the stark difference between the Democrat party and the Republican party.
One of the charges leveled is that the overwhelming majority of the assembled delegates and alternates were White. Yes, they were. For you see, the Republican party does not put a quota on favored groups and how they should be represented. Yet at the Democrat convention, if you dare to watch, there will be the requisite number of Blacks, women, union people, homosexuals, all other  minorities that they will feel compelled to add in. Its not real. It is phony. As more people of color and the like gravitate to the GOP, the faces in the delegations will change.
But a real contrast is the impressive slate of elected and those running for office the GOP did put on of color.
Here are a few.
As I noted here, congressional candidate Mia Love, Black, woman, Mormon.
Those that are holders of elected office.
Congressmen Tim Scott of South Carolina, Allen West of Florida, two Black men elected in the deep South. Govs. Susana Martinez of New Mexico and Brian Sandoval of Nevada. Texas senate candidate Ted Cruz. And he will be Sen.-elect Cruz come November 7. Of course Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida. Gov. Nikki Haley of South Carolina, an Indian-American.
If I left anyone out, please let me know.
Now some did not speak, but were there at the convention. And some were not at the convention itself.
But, keep in mind that many of these people were elected in the eeeeevvvvviiiiilllll, raaaaacist South. And really, it is harder for a person of color to win in non-set-aside districts and statewide than if "safe" areas.
As more people see these people, many will give thought to joining the GOP. It will not happen overnight, but the best outreach is to support these kind of candidates.
But back to the convention itself.
Closing night was great.
Yeah, I had to actually watch the Clint Eastwood mystery speaker bit again. But doing that made me realize that at a gut level, he was speaking truth and while not in any way a polished political speech, you saw someone who's heart really aches for his nation. And who said this memorable line:

“When somebody does not do the job, we have to let them go.”

And that is the election for many of us in a nutshell.
But what about the candidates themselves?
Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wisc.) made a stellar speech and laid out the vision of a Romney/Ryan administration. It was not all wonkishness, but let's face it, he is a wonk. And he did not run whatsoever away from his budget plan or medicare reform. 
Before the man of the hour delivered his best speech, evah, there was a lot to "humanize" Mitt Romney.
Look, Mr. Romney is old-school.
He is not one to boast of himself, a wonderful quality, and his relationships with people. He is not Dr. Phil and or Oprah. But in this day, it is important for people to know that he is not the eeeeevvvvviiiiilllll businessman. He did not rub his hands together a la Snidley Whiplash and hope people died. He did not smile and get happy when businesses failed even with the help of Bain Capital investments. At the end of the day, Mr.Romney realizes that he is one very fortunate dude and he has done his level best to share that good fortune with many, many people. And he is a great husband and father and grandfather. And that was successfully done last Thursday night.
And of course, what can we say about Dirty Harry's performance?
To the left and some blue-blood or just boring Republican types, it was bordering on boorish.
What it really was about that a man who has seen a lot in his nation over his 82 years of life is seeing an unhappy nation. He thinks, like many of us, it is time for a real change. Not just talk and or hype. But the real deal. And he made clear, Mitt Romney is the one to deliver that real change.
Then Mr. Romney took center stage.
He hit it out of the park. He made the case in the clearest, concise way possible why he should be the next president of the United States. There was not wonk there. There were broad themes and as it should be at a speech of this nature. The crowd at the convention hall were seemingly hanging on every word. Because like many of us, they sense the urgency of the American people.
What we saw this week in Tampa was an energized, focused Republican party. One ready to put aside real differences. One that realizes the importance of what this election means. One with a real message and that is what made it a positive convention.

*SCOAMF-Stuttering Clusterfark Of A Miserable Failure