Drunkblogging the Convention Finale!
5:08PM Good evening. I have a Hendricks martini to get me started, and a very large bottle of vodka of a brand I won’t admit sitting next to a large and full ice bucket.
But you know what really tops it off? Seeing Jeb Bush deliver red meat. He can do that?
5:10PM Are those parachutes on Jeb’s tie?
This post is mostly just a tech test, as I had problems with the first one. Have to get warmed up for Clint, anyway.
5:15PM Part of me is still shocked they let anyone with the last name Bush speak tonight.
5:23PM This Romney video is nearly — nearly — Reaganesque.
5:24PM The problem with watching this on C-SPAN is you don’t get any cutaways from the musical interludes. Should I change to Fox, CNN, or — Lord help me — MSNBC?
5:28PM “Sure, I’ll come on at 8PM Eastern,” I said. “There’ll be some big names on by then,” I thought.
“Kill me now,” I’m blogging.
5:32PM This year’s RNC has been declared a machete- and charisma-free zone.
At least until Clint shows up.
5:40PM On Twitter, Kira Davis says, “Sorry Mr Bennett. I know you’re just trying to help, but you’re creeping me out.”
5:44PM OK, I’m moved.
5:47PM I’m having sushi and I swear that’s just too much wasabi in my eye.
5:53PM “When things went wrong, we would not blame others.”
Surely that’s an allusion to somebody…
6:00PM If Mitt Romney spoke about anything half as well as his friends speak about him, even Chris Matthews would have thrown in the towel back in May.
6:17PM At this point I would settle for Clint Eastwood in drag.
6:25PM So we have a liberal Democrat endorsing Romney? Call it a wash, because Obama will get the exact same thing next week from Charlie Crist.
6:27PM There’s something –everything– inherently wrong with covering the Doobie Brothers at the RNC.
6:31PM This Tyler Hicks guy has a haircut like Gomer Pyle and hips like Hillary Clinton.
And a voice like Michael Bolton.
BAM.
6:33PM Girls who can shoot are hot. As if you didn’t know.
6:35PM DO YOU BELIEVE IN MIRACLES???
I love that. 1980 US hockey will never get old.
6:42PM Welcome to the Mixed Feelings portion of the program. It’s touching to see Olympians with such great stories to tell, but do we really want to bring them into partisan politics?
6:48PM I was driving to San Francisco to visit friends some years ago, taking I-80 across Wyoming and Nevada as I always did. And I remember being incredibly pissed off, just absolutely cheesed, that I lost 45 minutes, maybe an hour, getting re-routed around all of Salt Lake City because they were widening the highway for the Olympics.
Man, does that little hissy fit seem petty with a little perspective.
6:54PM Seriously, it’s just the wasabi.
7:02PM Here he comes…
7:03PM Eastwood. Yeah.
7:03PM First commenter with a “made my day” joke gets banned.
7:03PM “Save a little more Mitt.”
7:04PM “There’s a lot of conservative people” in Hollywood, “they just don’t go around hot-dogging it.”
7:05PM “I haven’t cried that hard since I found out there were 23 million unemployed people in this country.”
7:06PM This is the Eastwood that is real, but I’m thinking people might have been hoping for a little more Hollywood Eastwood.
I’ll take the real thing, thanks.
7:07PM “What do you mean, ‘shut up’?”
7:07PM Clint is warmed up and owning this crowd.
7:08PM Empty suit, empty chair — it’s all Obama.
7:09PM “You’re getting as bad as Biden.”
Unfair. Biden cast votes in the Senate.
7:11PM “I’m sorry — I can’t do that to myself, either.”
It’s a fun schtick.
7:12PM “Politicians are employees of ours.”
7:12PM “When somebody does not do the job, we’ve got to let them go.”
7:14PM Short. Sweet. Done.
I hope I’m saying the same thing on November 6.
7:14PM Here comes Rubio…
7:15PM Rubio 2012 makes me think of Bush 1996, when I said out loud, “This guy is going to be President someday.”
7:16PM “The only people who thought I could win all lived in my house. Four of them were under the age of ten.”
7:17PM Oh, and a personal message to Rubio Birthers: Sod off.
Thank you so much for following my instruction in a timely manner.
7:18PM “You will hear from another man who understands what makes America exceptional.”
7:21PM “These ideas don’t move us forward. His ideas move us backwards.”
This is what people “move to America to get away from.”
Chills. I have chills.
7:21PM “Hope and change has become divide and conquer.”
7:25PM I can’t bring the snark right now. Rubio is just that good.
7:27PM “When you’re young and you’re in a hurry, the meaning of moments like this escape you.”
7:29PM “But that’s not just my story. That’s your story.”
7:32PM Let Americans yet unborn “write that we did our part.”
7:33PM Marco Rubio might not have paid for this microphone, but he owns it.
7:33PM Wow.
Just.
Wow.
7:34PM Oops. Ann needs to be beaming, but she got caught looking bored. None of that on the campaign trail now.
7:35PM Question is: Can Romney connect? Will he let us past the veneer?
7:37PM “I accept your nomination for President of the United States.”
And so it begins, and I don’t mean the speech. With those words, he unleashed a flood of campaign dollars.
7:37PM “I’ve chosen a man with a big heart from a small town.”
7:38PM Romney is opening with Ryan, not with Romney.
What are the odds Obama will do something similar a week from now?
7:39PM “We’re united by so much more than what divides us.”
Good lines, but his delivery is a little rushed so far. I’d have given him a medium-strength beta-blocker before going on tonight.
7:40PM OK, whew — he’s slowing down and finding his comfort zone.
7:41PM “This was the hope and change America voted for… it’s what Americans deserve.”
7:43PM “You did it because you’re an American, and you don’t quit.”
7:43PM “I wish President Obama had succeeded because I want America to succeed.”
Butthurt line of the night.
7:46PM “God bless Neil Armstrong.” -Mitt Romney
“Done. Duh.” -God
7:47PM Is that cheers or boos for Detroit? Heh.
7:49PM OK, we’re past the veneer now.
It’s not the wasabi.
7:49PM It’s true: GOP women rock.
7:52PM “Ann would have succeeded at anything she wanted to do.”
But as a total slacker who never worked a day in her life, all she did was raise five boys.
7:54PM Mitt is painting a picture, not of the pastoral America of the past, but of the suburban America of right now. The one Obama is trying to force back into the decrepit cities the progressives have already destroyed.
7:56PM “I figured it was bad enough I might lose my investors’ money, but I didn’t want to go to hell, too.”
I’m actually LOLing.
7:57PM “These are American success stories.”
This works. We’re hungry for those. It’s been too long.
7:59PM I keep hearing Romney say he believes in free market, like a nun working the Rosary. It wasn’t until just now that I ever heard him explain why, to any satisfaction.
Again, we’re finally past the veneer.
8:00PM “This President cannot tell you you’re better off than when he took office.”
8:00PM Cripes, but the MSM is going to rip him to shreds for this speech. They’ll have to.
8:03PM I thought Mitt was building to a rousing finish, but he just blew a bunch of pent-up energy attacking Obama. Can he earn it back for the finish?
8:04PM “I have a plan to create 12 million new jobs.”
Stupid line. Promise to unleash the private sector, don’t throw a number out for the media hounds to chew up.
8:04PM On the plus side, now he has a five-point plan, and not a 50+ point plan. Three would be better, but five is good.
8:06PM “Today, women are more likely than men to start a business, and they need someone who understands what they do.”
8:07PM “President Obama promised to slow the rise of the oceans.” [LONG PAUSE FOR LAUGHTER] [LOOOOOONG PAUSE]
“My promise is to help you and your family.”
8:08PM “No, Mr. President, America has freed other nations from dictators.”
Now that was nicely turned.
8:09PM “We’re still talking, and Iran’s centrifuges are still spinning.”
8:09PM FLEXIBILITY!
8:10PM I’m not yet certain Romney is right on China, but he’s sure as shite right on Russia (and our allies).
8:13PM This had better be the big finish this time, because he can’t waste another one.
8:14PM Cue the balloons. I’ll have a couple thoughts to wrap it up in just a moment.
8:24PM The speech overall was good. It was reassuring. It went a long way towards making Romney seem human, American, one of us.
His first two minutes were rushed, but then he got the feel of the words, of the crowd, of the room, of his own skin. And he delivered it well.
Structurally, the speech had some problems in the second half. He had a theme going that Obama had tried, that we had all wanted him to succeed, but that it hadn’t worked. Mitt was killing Obama with kindness. But then Romney seesawed back to partisan attacks on Obama’s policies. And then he detailed a strangely State-of-the-Union-like laundry list of policty details. Those included an easy-to-ridicule promise of “12 million new jobs.” He should have stuck to the themes of the first half of the speech.
Did I mention the first half was almost pitch-perfect? We got inside the tan, under the perfect hair, and beyond the stage-managed businessman with his Keynote presentation. (I know the facade well — my own dad wore it much like Romney does.) We finally got to see a real human who gets choked up talking about his parents, his wife his kids. Hell, Mitt made me want to be as good a husband as his father was — moving stuff. All that is what made the second half a little jarring and a little less comfortable.
But the big finish was big, it was rousing, and it was inspiring.
If Americans were looking for someone they could be comfortable with, or at least tolerate, on their bigscreen TVs for the next four years, I think Romney passed that all-important test.
I don’t expect a big bounce in the polls. There simply aren’t enough undecideds left to provide one. But for voters who were sour on Obama, but unsure about Romney, he provided a good dose of reassurance tonight.
And that’s not just the wasabi talking.
5:15PM Part of me is still shocked they let anyone with the last name Bush speak tonight.
If these people were prejudiced by a person’s name, they would be liberals. Jeb gave a good speech.
Yeah – Jeb gave a good speech. If you are into education-and his version of fixing it. Otherwise…meh. (And, mind you, I LIKE Jeb – he was a damned good Fla governor and I wished he was still around when Isaac was heading our way.) I understand that education is his passion, but…disaster is his talent. He’d make the best head of FEMA we’ve ever had. He’s got some good ideas on education, don’t get me wrong – but they aren’t enough. Just more of the same, piled higher and deeper.
Where is Neil Bush and where do I find the remainder of the Shaker Vodka American Wheat ?
karl rove looking cute with gimme some loving in the bkgrnd ?..
Bourbon for me tonight.
I have a Hendricks martini to get me started
Would that be a Christina Hendricks martini?
S’yeah, I wish.
I always wondered how to spell that.
On MSNBC you get cutaways from the actual speeches.
On Fox you get Bill O’Reilly interviewing John McCain.
How bad is the music, really?
Oh, wait, you meant t.v.? Internet is different, of course. No anchors, just speakers.
c-span. no talking heads, no breakaways, nothing but coverage.
Yes, c-span totally rules.
And their camera people, producers, etc. they still give you a good show. It’s not just a camera pointed at the stage.
Awful watching the nets, ALL OF THEM on Tuesday,
Wonderful watching c-span the next 2 nights.
Look, I want to see THE CONVENTION, that’s, you know why I’m watching.
I’ll do the same for the dims, as much of it as I can stand.
I went with Fox. Those other two I can’t tolerate anymore.
Watching on C-Span, no O’Reilly, no foaming at the mouth, just the convention.
Same here. Can’t stand the incessant liberal incoherence.
C-SPAN is the only way to watch any political event! I am not a child and do not need some left-wing activist “reporter” telling me how I should think. You just get gavel to gavel coverage with NO commentary until the event is over.
careful. big brother is watching. free thinking is not allowed.
Clint sighting!
Mitt befriends a dying 14 year old boy. PBS is basically commercial and interview free during this well deserved love-in for Mitt. It’s wonderful to finally hear the truth about him.
These personal stories, meh. All I want is a competent executive.
Two words: Bain.
That’s not even two syllables.
That’s why this is the drunkblog.
Here in TX, hon, it IS two syllables!
If memory serves, one of Sam Goldwyn’s (of MGM fame) more famous quotes was “two words: Im-possible!”
わさびは、あなたの目の中に入らない。
Yes. But that is one of the few things both sides agree on. So what is your point?
それはちょうど良いアドバイスだ。
Some truth in what you say..
感謝
um, what’s the big deal over talking about a baseball glove, and how did this manage to do all of this stuff?
Oh, who are you, my evil twin?
And yet to others, it is an illusion.
Hendrick’s Gin and Martini & Rossi Bianco Vermouth make an incredible Martini.
And as for the sushi, here in Minnesota we refer to it as ‘bait.’
P.S. I’m on Scotch for this one…
This guy from Staples is a hoot. “They just don’t get it.” That refrain could be a bumper sticker all by itself.
With the famous Obama “O” in “don’t.”
It looks like Chris Mathews is driking more than any of us.
Speak for yourself.
If Clint Eastwood isn’t Mystery Speaker a lot of people are going to go crazy.
My husband was crying. That never happens.
Can I say I’m watching the convention if I’ve got VodkaPundit on one screen and the South Carolina/Vandy game on another?
Why yes, that does qualify.
I’ve tried the c-span feed twice, and each time they are going on about Mitt…and then they say the word “government” and I realize why most people don’t give a damn about any of this…even though we should. Paint drying…no wait…Olympic events are more interesting than this. :-/
It might not be entertaining but as Clint Eastwood said, “Politicians are OUR employees”. We have a responsibility to give these guys a performance review every couple of years, don’t you know? “If they don’t do the job, we have to let them go”. It is time to get these Communists out of Washington so they won’t arrange things so we can’t fire them. Pay attention to this, it is our job as free people.
If they don’t cut this song short, Occupy Tampa is going to storm the hall.
with good reason.
+1
I need another Vodka Tonic = Now!
Is there an Olympic cocktail? Seems wrong-ish – but these guys deserve a toast.
Why on earth was Taylor Hicks wearing a suit?
Cause Clint Eastwood TOLD him to.
Just saw the bumper sticker:
“Romney / Ryan – the Comeback Team”
How about one with a little more balls:
“Romney / Ryan – Holy shit, it’s the fucking cavalry!”
Very un-Mormon. Not very Catholic, either.
And, my, how apropos.
Sounds an awful lot like MY Catholic family..
Or a version for us nerds:
Romney/Ryan 2012: “Rohan had come at last.”
I saw this and immediately recalled the text that preceded it. Nicely done.
I’m in Twitter Jail–again! Any help would be appreciated. @Taxpayers1234 In the meantime, I’ll enjoy the VodkaPundit drunk blog.
Oh good – the networks are here.
CLINT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Made my…martini!
Oprah – ZINGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG
The empty chair will not answer back… no *teleprompter*
I’m sorry to say, Clint is looking old. ;-(
I am sure Clint Eastwood is far more aware of that than you are. Lets see if you can do a stand up routine at 82 years old, if you have the strength to live that long. ABO2012
The fox web feed isn’t bad. No talking heads and I can multi-task.
Stephen, true about Rubio. He’s awesome, smart, great story and Hispanic. The GOP wants Hispanics bc we share the same values. I think Rubio can be the bridge bc he would be great no matter his heritage.
I’m rocking NBC – Brian Williams as a cut-rate Peter Jennings, and featuring Andrea Mitchell as Gollum.
rubio’s losing me with this god stuff. more economy and less theology, please.
He kept it short.
ditto on that.
According to your Constitution, you were given your life and your liberty by your Creator, whatever that may be to you. Marco Rubio thinks his Creator was God. Try to indulge him, he just might be right. ABO2012
Give Rubio eight years, and he’ll be President. He is fantastic. I can not snark him. He *is* the American dream!
Hell, I’m ready to write him in right now.
Won’t happen. If Romney was good, Ryan would be a shoo-in, If he was not, Republican Rubio would not have a chance.
He is awesome. We have so many good young leaders now that it’ll be hard to choose in future elections!
The NBC floor reporter just compared Romney’s entrance to “a wrestler on cable TV entering the ring to do battle.” I need a drink.
God bless your liver. Are you sober enough to have noticed Rubio’s unfortunate word reversal? did you loan him your martini? He’s a doll — it will all be okay.
Whizzed right by me. What was it?
He switched wanting government (more) with freedom (less), the first of three paired nouns — he got the other ones right. If he even noticed there was no sign. He’ll be backstage going “D’oh!”
I caught that, too. but at least he didn’t mangle the words. I recall how Obama, the Communist, said corpsmen as corpse men. Slick talkers sometimes have more to say than their brains can process in time. I have personally never experienced getting my words juxtaposed(wow, I spelled that right the first try), but I know it can happen to the speaker best. ABO2012
Wasn’t Ryan the name of Clancy’s hero…who ends up Pres?
Jack Ryan.
john patrick “jack” ryan. ba economics. phd history.
In a hotel, don’t have a DVR, but did Rubio get the more government/freedom line backwards?
Besides that and a slight detour into Santormville, I think Rubio’s performance was pretty amazing. Putting him in the nominating spot was inspired.
Yes, I spotted that too. I was puzzled … did I hear what I just heard?
Ann Romney doesn’t look bored–she looks tired. MS is very exhausting for any of its victims, not to mention one who’s going to be First Lady.
I stand humbly corrected.
Only reason I know this is I have a friend w/MS. She falls asleep at the drop of a hat. It’s sad and frustrating for her.
You just know she’s not just tired but exhausted. It’s probably all she can do to stay upright.
This is one thing that worries me about the campaign and then his term in office – the physical toll on her health.
I also noticed Ann Romney’s fatigue. I suspect her family is going to be very much involved in making sure she gets the rest she needs. This lady is a survivor. If any of the liberal lamebrain media start to attack her, they will find the women of the USA pretty formidable. I remember Clayton Williams’ political gaffe when he was running for governor of Texas. The women of Texas kept him from winning the election.
What are the odds Obama will do something similar a week from now?
That crazy uncle with a crazy grin? Are you crazy?
The Republicans need to ride that albatross into the ground this fall. A constant comparison of Ryan to Sheriff Joe can only be a plus.
We are only a short time away from that magical, special night when “Biden Debate” becomes colloquial slang for “mortal butt-whupping”
Obambi cannot make references to his loving grandparents and familly (in Kenya) or any such thing.
Mitt’s mom was a feminist? Wowza! Awesome!
One of the themes tonight is normalizing Mitt’s Mormon identity.
“I wish President Obama had succeeded because I want America to succeed.”
That line will be listed as ‘false’ in the no-seriously-this-was-not-coordinated-even-if-it-looks-like-we-are-simply-regurgitating-a-DNC-press-release string of fact check articles tomrrow.
I. am. so. PSYCHED!
Zing: “…the best feeling you had [about Obama] was the day you voted for him.”
And he delivers it with a hint of sadness, of regret for what could have been. Mitt’s going to nice Obama to pieces.
This.
DRILL BABY DRILL!
Yes, concrete policy in opposition to the One. Good call, but expressed in a rousing manner.
Methinks the stock market will do a happy dance tomorrow.
stock market needs to stay subdued until Nov 7th, lest the media start spinning it as a plus for the failedwon.
He stuck the Carter knife in again. Beautiful.
If Romney wins, which is still in doubt, I believe he’ll make a good American President, even better than Michael Douglas.
Eastwood is a great actor/director. Not sure that his presence at the GOP convention means much, but maybe it will stir the grassroots – or ticket sales for films..
Strong military–he be talking Reaganese! YAY!!!
Thanks for drunk blogging – I would still want any of the “24″ Presidents instead of our choices
You’d prefer Carter?
President Logan would be my choice
he’d be an improvement over the current pResident. isn’t that a scary thought . . . . .
I didn’t find the speech all that rousing, but Romney is no great orator. Let’s pray the money gets unleashed NOW and we start to meet out opponent head on, and then some.
Why the hell is Juan Williams singing “America”?
hehe kidding…
Wouldn’t it be great to have a First Lady who can appear on TV without offending the majority of the country? I was impressed with Romney’s speech.
msnbc says romney’s speech was “intellectually dishonest” and “full of lies”. cnn says the speech “had no heart”. no word yet on romney’s courage nor any statement from toto.
In my very humble opinion…
Mitt and Clint had speeches that were similar in that they were littered with gold nuggets, good bits, one liners, and nice punches.
Mitt’s problem wasn’t intrinsic to his speeches–it was that Marco Rubio and Paul Ryan delivered speeches that were solid gold bullion through and through. Compared to himself, he did great. Compared to Rubio and Ryan he fell a little short.
That’s just my opinion, and it’s worth what you paid for it.
Romney’s speech had a few good lines; his delivery was a bit wooden. I was pleasantly surprized by the crescendo ending. OK, usual US political rowsing stuff, but he had to do it and I didn’t know whether he could. I see Romney as a manager of people, but clearly he can be an operative himself if necessary.
I found some of the personal stuff a bit cloying myself, but I understand it is necessary to present the human side of a man characterized by his enemies as a souless money-maker. Like, wot’s wrong with making money?
Great line about ending dictatorships, as opposed to being one. Recalling Obewone’s promise to halt the rise of the oceans was brill – I await the campaign ad which shows Owe’s video saying that and then asking how that is important to the jobless in Chicago. He touched all the bases.
All-in-all, a very professional event. I do not see how Obama can do such an up-beat show at the DNC. Expect the Obama campaign to go seriously negative. No policy discussions – except maybe the 12 million jobs number; but attack is religious faith, suport of marriage, etc. More of the same from the Obama campaign.
I think MItt hit a home run.
Better than expected. Enough personal stuff. He took on Bain. Great line contrasting receding oceans and realistic goals. Enough high level policy stuff.
All in all, he didn’t seem like an evil rich person. Now they need more stories in the media about the many good deeds Romney has done in his life.
The speech certainly didn’t hurt him and probably helped.
The liberal shills online are already bashing Romney for the oceans remark, claiming BHO never said that, so I did a quick search and found both the transcript and video of his exact words. It’s from his 2008 convention acceptance speech if anyone cares.
They are also bashing Ann Romney for her appearance. My response is that she has MS and it’s been a long and stressful campaign. And by the way do they make fun of cripples and pull the wings off butterflies too.
It’s only going to get worse.
They have no problem making fun of a tiny Down Syndrome boy, so of course they’ll make fun of Mrs. Romney. A lot of them are heartless and way too many are soulless.
Much huffing and puffing, sneering and jeering at Daily KOS. Seems that a bunch of things got the lefties all fussed up. A fussed up lefty is a mussed up lefty so somebody at the Republican convention did something right.
Anyone else catch this after the Ann Romney speech, on the PBS live feed? Somebody please tell me you heard this too.
Ann was telling America’s women that her man is the rarity that we all need a man to be.
“This Man. Will. Not. Fail.” She pressed her lips closed and stood silent, with her eyes blazing hot.
“This Man. Will. Not. Let. You. Down.” Lips closed, she stands there, eyes blazing.
Ann completed her speech and Mitt came out and kissed her. Some time passed with the camera showing the families and kids and reactions and more Ann and Mitt. The sound announcer said, “Now we are going up to our panel members for commentary.” The camera shot stayed on the convention hall and commentator Gwen Ifell began talking, but not in a sharp TV political analyst’s voice, but rather thoughtful, maybe even pensive. This is how I remember it.
“Did you hear Ann Romney? She stood there and said to us, “This man will not fail… unlike Barack Obama. This man will not let us down… unlike Barack Obama. This man is one you can trust.”
The audio feed from the PBS panel was cut off. The camera continued looking at the convention crowd with a dead-air silences for several seconds longer. No mention of this was made by the PBS team and they did not talk about Ann telling us her husband will handle the presidency for our benefit. Unlike Barack Obama.
Man crush on Rubio alert?
Vodka Pundit: “Ann needs to be beaming, but she got caught looking bored.”
I noticed both Wed & Thurs that she sometimes looked less than enthusiastic, but I think it was the MS. Especially on Wed. after her speech. I suffer from MS myself, and while it’s hard to be sure, since nobody’s taping me, sometimes it’s hard to get a game face on, or much of an outgoing or enthusiastic face. Actually she gave an amazing performance all the way around, not just making her speech, but listening to everybody else’s speech, and acting like the next First Lady of the United States. I’m proud of her.
I thought Mrs. Romney looked a trifle unsteady on her feet right after her speech and assumed that’s why the governor came out on the stage so fast and put his arm around her. They did it well and perhaps others didn’t see it that way.