Paul Ryan speech today

Paul Ryan speech today,For much of the night, it appeared that convention planners had deliberately designed a snooze-fest intended to make Paul Ryan's acceptance speech look better.

The painfully unfunny Tim Pawlenty, the achingly dull Rob Portman, and depressingly banal John Thune all emerged to remind us they wouldn't have been better vice-presidential picks than Ryan. John McCain took the stage to lament the wars he didn't get to start after losing the 2008 presidential election, fervently hoping Mitt Romney will make up for lost time. Republicans you have never heard of enjoyed their 15 minutes of fame, though it often seemed much longer.

In the early going, the only positive moments were an artfully done (even if foreign policy-free) video tribute to Ron Paul, a cautious but well-received address by his son Rand Paul, and George HW Bush doing an impression of Dana Carvey doing an impression of him. (If you're curious, the 41st president nailed it.)

But as the program moved toward prime time, the speakers picked up the pace. Mike Huckabee started slow, as if Romney's censors had edited out the former Arkansas governor's charm. But his attack on the Obama administration's HHS contraceptive mandate was powerful, and his attempt to rally evangelicals behind a Mormon and a Catholic was sincere. Condoleezza Rice gave one of the strongest speeches of the convention. Susana Martinez, the first-term governor of New Mexico, was likeable, down-to-earth, and impressive.

Paul Ryan, nevertheless, remained the star of the show. Ryan is still honing his skills as a big event speaker and attack dog, but he did a good job delivering some of the most effective and specific anti-Obama barbs heard yet in Tampa.

"College grads shouldn't have to live out their 20s in childhood bedrooms, staring up at fading Obama posters," he zinged. "There is no shortage of words from the White House. What is missing is leadership from the White House," was another good Ryan line. Finally, on Barack Obama's tendency to blame his predecessors: "The man assumed office nearly four years ago. Isn't it time he assumed responsibility?"

You could quibble with some facts: the GM plant Ryan mentioned actually closed down before Obama took office, though Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker has pointed out that the president said he would save it. The line itself serves as a reminder that Ryan himself voted for the auto bailout. But overall, Ryan did what he needed to: he galvanized the conservative base without frightening swing voters, all while amplifying the ticket's attack on Obama's economic policies.

The biggest blunder of the night was spending so much time reliving George W Bush's presidency. Bush himself appeared in an innocuous video. McCain channeled Bush on steroids. And for all Rice's rhetorical talent, she was essentially promoting warmed-over Bushism and a revisionist take on the 43rd president's "forward strategy of freedom", which didn't grapple with the general failure of his foreign policy in the Middle East.

Romney and Ryan should want to get clear of Bush.

source: guardian