(Reporting from inside the convention hall in Tampa)
Mitt Romney is not known for giving great speeches. That’s Barack Obama territory. But Thursday night in Tampa, on the grandest stage of all, Mitt Romney delivered in the clutch. To use a sports analogy, Mitt Romney, a candidate who is normally a singles hitter, smashed a homerun.
How did he do it? Romney kept to a theme that was very pro-America. He brought down the house with the line, “In America, we celebrate success. We don’t apologize for success.”
Throughout his speech he celebrated this country’s entrepreneurial spirit and the virtues of capitalism. In short, he was Mitt America tonight.
The line of the speech most certainly was when Romney said, “President Obama promised to slow the rise of the oceans and to heal the planet. My promise is to help you and your family."
It was a masterful stroke on so many levels. He gave the base a red meat line that got them out of their seats but far more importantly he personalized his campaign by simply stating how he wants to help your family. It was a genius line and a human moment for Mitt Romney.
Romney showed more of a human side tonight in other areas, too. He seemed to get teary eyed when talking about Ann and the young boys at home years ago. He spent a good part of his speech talking about family, love, relationships, values and parenting. You could make the argument that he gave more time to those themes than to public policy. It was smart for him to do that. He needed to do that.
The Brody File also thought Romney served himself well by highlighting the importance of women who he chose to serve with him in government. He highlighted strong women governors but we enjoyed the part when he said the following:
“When my mom ran for the Senate, my dad was there for her every step of the way. I can still hear her saying in her beautiful voice, “Why should women have any less say than men about the great decisions facing our nation?”
The line received a standing ovation.
Mitt Romney has always looked like a president. Tonight he sounded like one, too.