Ann Romney, Chris Christie very different Republican warm-up acts
The speech by the candidate's spouse, now a regular part of US politics, was especially important for a man seen by many as chilly
Surrounded by giant-size family photos, Ann Romney offered a glowing testimonial to her husband. Jabbing an accusing finger, Chris Christie painted a grim portrait of America under Barack Obama.
Each in their own way attempted something important: to warm up a US presidential nominee whom voters find distinctly chilly and persuade them to fire a president that many still find personally likeable.
Mitt Romney is finally the Republican nominee, winning an overwhelming, enthusiastic, inevitable vote of delegates at the Republican National Convention on Tuesday that belied his long, difficult road: losing to Senator John McCain four years ago and fending off a series of rivals in a brutal nomination fight this year. In the end, Republicans cast aside doubts about Romney's conservative credentials and bet that American voters would be persuaded that his business acumen was just what the United States needed.
Christie, the pugnacious governor of New Jersey, delivering the convention's keynote address on Tuesday night, roused the audience: "It's time to end this era of absentee leadership in the Oval Office and send real leaders to the White House," he said. "Mitt Romney will tell us the hard truths we need to hear to put us back on the path to growth."
A political convention is a lot of things: a campaign rally, a rubber stamp, a gathering of tribes. But above all, a political convention is a show, more specifically, a nationally broadcast television show.
The most important hour, the lone slice of prime time carried by the national broadcast networks, featured two of the Republican Party's leading luminaries, Romney's devoted wife and Christie. One sweet, the other tart; she the velvet glove, he the clenched fist.