HOW THE REPUBLICANS BUILT IT
EDITORIAL
NEW YORK TIMES
It was appropriate that “We built it,” the needling slogan of the evening, was painted on the side of the convention hall. Speaker after speaker alluded to the phrase in an entire day based on the thinnest of reeds — a poorly phrased remark by the president, deliberately taken out of context. President Obama was making the obvious point that all businesses rely to some extent on the work and services of government. But Mr. Romney has twisted it to suggest that Mr. Obama believes all businesses are creatures of the government, and so the convention had to parrot the line. ... That was far from the only piece of nonsense on the menu, only the most frequently repeated one. Conventions are always full of cheap applause lines and over-the-top attacks, but it was startling to hear how many speakers in Tampa considered it acceptable to make points that had no basis in reality.
THE LIKABILITY GAP
RUTH MARCUS
WASHINGTON POST
On the...measure of which candidate seems more friendly and likable, President Obama trounced Romney 61 percent to 27 percent among registered voters, with margins slightly larger in tossup states and among independents. Even 33 percent of Republicans found Obama more likable. ... Romney’s challenge with voters may be similar to that of Ronald Reagan in 1980, except that Romney needs to cross a threshold of minimum likability rather than that of competence. Portman and Graham both set the bar at Romney proving himself “acceptable” to voters. “It’s almost an acceptability standard,” Portman said, rather than persuading voters to “swoon” for him, as they did for Obama in 2008. In other words, Romney doesn’t have to make himself likable. Just likable enough.
Must-Read Op-Eds for August 28, 2012
Must-Read Op-Eds for August 27, 2012
MITT ROMNEY, STILL INHUMAN
CHRIS CHRISTIE'S BARN-BURNER
CHRISTIE, ROMNEY GET THE JOB DONE
