The Democratic National Convention got
off to a rousing start in Charlotte, N.C., this week, and First Lady
Michelle Obama
got rave reviews for telling her family’s life story. Speaker
after speaker derided Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney,
and the party delegates roared their approval.
The focus turned to former President Bill Clinton last night. Vice President Joe Biden and President Obama wrap things up
tonight. Clinton had the misfortune of having to compete with the NFL’s season-opening game between the Dallas Cowboys and
the world champion New York Giants.
You can’t help but be amused at how the networks analyzed coverage of the opening night of the Democrats’ pep rally. It depended
on their political slant — liberal, conservative and everything in between. An independent media appears to be fading from
the American scene.
MSNBC’s liberalism came through loud and clear. Lawrence O’Donnell really got carried away.
“There is now no question who the best
speechmaker in the history of the first ladyship is, and that is
Michelle Obama,” O’Donnell
said. “We have to remember that most first ladies up until the
television age never gave a speech, but still, among those
who have, there has never been a speaker who could deliver what we
just saw.”
Chris Wallace, an analyst on the conservative Fox News, called the First Lady’s speech “masterful and heartfelt,” but noted
the difference in tone from the Republican convention.
“I’ve got to say, listening closely to the speech one of the things that struck me was it was all about government...,” Wallace
said.
“When she talked about ways to build the middle class, it was all about the auto bailout and student loans and health care
reform, once again, all government programs…That was a subtle subtext to the entire speech.”
Jim Rutenberg of The New York Times
talked about “a parade of officials telling voters that Mitt Romney does
not get it and
with a rousing speech from Michelle Obama making the case that
President Obama does.” He said Romney was hit hard on immigration,
health care, Medicare, foreign policy and the 2009 automotive
industry bailout.
Rutenberg did note that the convention program never addressed the disappointment of wavering Obama voters who are dissatisfied
with his handling of the economy. He said Republicans will be certain to remind them of that omission.
Karen Tumulty of The Washington Post
said it was obvious the Democrats are making a serious effort to appeal
to women, Latinos
and young people. Republicans are trying to woo those same voters,
and that has proved to be difficult so far. Tumulty also
talked about the class warfare Democrats are waging against
Romney.
“One speaker after another mocked
Romney’s wealth, his past inconsistencies on issues such as abortion,
and his party’s dedication
to policies that would shrink government and benefit the richest
of Americans...,” she said.
Julian Castro, the mayor of San Antonio, delivered the keynote speech and joined the class warfare battle against Romney.
“I think he’s a good guy. He just has no idea how good he’s had it.”
David Lauter of the Washington Bureau
of the Los Angeles Times said the two parties definitely agree that
women and Latinos
will decide the outcome of the 2012 election. He said Republicans
emphasized “general themes of opportunity and enterprise,
almost to the exclusion of specific policy proposals.”
“By contrast, the challenge for Democrats is to convince those voters (women and Latinos) that Obama’s presidency has made
their lives better despite the poor economy...,” Lauter said.
The selection of U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan of
Wisconsin as GOP vice presidential nominee has made reform of Medicare a
central issue
in the presidential campaign. Democrats have apparently decided
the president’s health care reform law is an issue worth touting.
Both are controversial, and it will be interesting to see whether
they help or hurt on Election Day.
About one issue there is little doubt. The state of the economy and who can best fix it will be the major factor that determines
who wins.
The Brookings Institution, a nonprofit
public policy organization based in Washington, D.C., talked about the
economy’s effect
on presidential elections back in February. It said, “whether
fairly or not,” voters hold sitting presidents responsible for
the state of the economy.
Incumbent presidents have run for re-election 10 times during the postwar period, the opinion piece said. Seven have won and
three have lost.
The winners were Dwight Eisenhower in 1956, Lyndon Johnson in 1964, Bill Clinton in 1996 and George W. Bush in 2004. Brookings
said they ran with full employment and low inflation, and won easily. The other winners were Harry Truman in 1948, Richard
Nixon in 1972 and Ronald Reagan in 1984.
“The winners all had strong job markets going for them,” Brookings said.
The losers were Gerald Ford in 1976, Jimmy Carter in 1980 and George H.W. Bush in 1992. Brookings said each had to confront
tough economic issues.
The two nominating conventions will soon be faded memories, and Obama’s re-election chances will be primarily determined by
how well Americans are faring when Nov. 6 rolls around.
Jim Beam, the retired editor of the American Press, has covered people and politics for more than five decades. Contact him at 494-4025 or jbeam@americanpress.com