“It takes leadership that you don't get from reading a poll. You see, Mr. President, real leaders do not follow polls. Real leaders change polls.” New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, Republican National Convention, August 28, 2012.
Last night New Jersey Governor Chris Christie gave the American Voter a good dose of reality during his keynote address. His theme — that it is better to be respected than loved — was what we needed to define the issues in this year’s Presidential Election. Christie said:
“You see, I believe we have become paralyzed, paralyzed by our desire to be loved. Now our founding fathers had the wisdom to know that social acceptance and popularity were fleeing, and that this country's principles needed to be rooted in strengths greater than the passions and the emotions of the times. But our leaders of today have decided it's more important to be popular, to say and do what's easy, and say yes rather than to say no, when no is what is required.
In recent years -- in recent years we as a country have too often chosen the same path. It's easy for our leaders to say, ``Not us, not now'', in taking on the really tough issues. And unfortunately we have stood silently by and let them get away with it. But tonight, I say enough.
Tonight, I say together, let's make a much different choice. Tonight, we are speaking up for ourselves and stepping up. Tonight, we're beginning to do what is right and necessary to make America great again. We are demanding that our leaders stop tearing each other down and work together to take action on the big things facing America. Tonight, we will do what my mother taught me. Tonight, we are going to choose respect over love.”
…..
“Now we ended an era of absentee leadership without purpose or principal in New Jersey. I am here to tell you tonight, it is time to end this era of absentee leadership in the oval office and send real leaders to the White House. America needs Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan and we need them right now.
We have to tell each other the truth, right? Listen, there is doubt and fear for our future in every corner of our country. I have
traveled all over the country, and I have seen this myself. These feelings are real. This moment is real, and it is a moment like this where some skeptics wonder if America's greatness is over. They wonder how those who have come before the before us had in the spirit and tenacity to lead America to a new era of greatness in the face of challenge, not to look around and say “Not me'', but to look around and say “Yes, me.'' Now, I have an answer tonight for the skeptics and the naysayers, the dividers and the defenders of the status quo. I have faith in us. I know.
I know we can be the men and women our country calls on us to be tonight. I believe in America and her history, and there's only one thing missing now. Leadership. It takes leadership that you don't get from reading a poll. You see, Mr. President, real leaders do not follow polls. Real leaders change polls.”
Of course not everyone was thrilled with Christie’s remarks. Some thought he did not do enough in attacking Barack Obama by spelling out his failed record and tyrannical policies. Other thought his respect vs. love theme did not fit well with Ann Romney’s remarks. As an example of this Ed Malloy, the mayor of Fairfield Iowa stated in an opinion piece on Fox News:
“As an elected official I also know that you can’t more a city, state or country forward without compromise and bi-partisan leadership. Governor Christie knows that as well and cited accomplishments in New Jersey that were made in that way. He knows that one of his challenges of governing in a “blue state” is to work with leaders of the opposite party. So I was pleased to hear Governor Christie let his tough guard down during the speech and admit to conciliatory politics and shared accomplishments. We need more of that from both parties.
A powerful speaker, Governor Christie can move people with his oratory style to embrace his themes and point of view, but his attitude and demeanor in this speech was too aggressive and overbearing. Ann Romney told us the most important thing she wanted to convey tonight was love — love of country, love of family and her individual love of her husband. Chris Christie followed with the statement that as a nation “I believe we have become paralyzed by our desire to be loved.” No room for love in a tough guys world.
The truth about this speech in my opinion is that Governor Christie means well and is an effective executive for his state. His message to the country though about being tough and telling the truth misses the point that our problems are complex and the truth about them is more nuanced. They deserve our resolve to work together within the framework of our constitution and the government it outlined to find solutions through compromise and commitment. We can’t bully our way to solving our problems. We need to inspire the greatness of our citizens and challenge our leaders to produce results for our nation.”
I think Mayor Malloy misses the point. Ann Romney was talking about the values, compassion, and greatness of her husband. Her job was to give Mitt Romney a more human face to the electorate, as job she did very well. Her rating on Twitter’s Political Index poll was the highest in their history her Twitter Political Index, which tracks Twitter favorability, rose from 45 to 83. Of course you must remember that Twitter’s social networking is biased towards younger people and children who tend liberal and Democrat. But, a boost of 28 points is still something to consider. Will these Twits vote for Romney? Probably not – that’s for the adults in the room who do vote.
The following best indicates Ann Romney’s theme of love:
“And I want us to think tonight about the love we share for those Americans, our brothers and our sisters, who are going through difficult times, whose days are never easy, nights are always long, and whose work never seems done. They're here among us tonight in this hall. They are here in neighborhoods across Tampa and all across America.
The parents who lie awake at night, side by side, wondering how they will be able to pay the mortgage or make the rent.
The single dad who is working extra hours tonight so that his kids can buy some new clothes to go back to school, can take a school trip or play a sport so his kids can feel, you know, just like other kids.
And the working moms who love their jobs, but would like to work just a little less to spend more time with the kids, but that is just out of the question with this economy.
Or how about that couple who would like to have another child but wonder how they will afford it? I have been all across this country and I know a lot of you guys.
And I have seen and heard stories of how hard it is to get ahead now. You know what? I have heard your voices. They have said to me, I am running in place and we just cannot get ahead.
Sometimes, I think that, late at night, if we were all silent for just a few moments and listened carefully, we could hear a collective sigh from the moms and dads across America who made it through another day, and know that they will make it through another one tomorrow. But in the end of that day moment, they are just aren't sure how.
And if you listen carefully, you'll hear the women sighing a little bit more than the men. It's how it is, isn't it? It's the moms who have always had to work a little harder to make everything right. It's the moms of this nation, single, married, widowed, who really hold the country together. We're the mothers. We're the wives. We're the grandmothers. We're the big sisters. We're the little sisters and we are the daughters.”
From above the snippet Ann Romney’s speech it’s not hard to see what even the left-leaning Twits on social networking loved her remarks. They were right up their alley of peace and love. Please do not think I am criticizing Mrs. Romney, I am not. Ann Romney had a job to do in bringing a human, compassionate face to Mitt Romney and she did it very well.
But, when it comes to leadership and governance it was Governor Christie who told us the truth, however uncomfortable it is. Love will not reduce the size of government. Love will not curtail the selfish interest of the public sector and teachers unions. Love will not reduce our national debt or deficit. Love will not reduce the size of government and solve out illegal immigration problem. Love will not get 50 million Americans off food stamps or create the millions of private sector jobs needed to grow the economy. Love will not better educate our children or get us back to two parent families.
To accomplish all of the above we need Christie’s tough love — a love based on leadership and telling the American People the truth. Love alone will not get a person addicted to drugs or alcohol off of substance abuse. Our addiction is to government hand-outs and relying on Washington, D.C. or the state capitol for our daily needs. To get off this addiction we need Christie’s tough love. Only this will restore the American Dream.
There were other speakers at the Republican Convention; many were women who are rising stars in the party. There was Nikki Haley (the governor of South Carolina), Susana Martinez (the governor of New Mexico), and Kelly Ayotte (Senator from New Hampshire). All are conservatives and all are smart and attractive. But one of the upcoming stars of the Republican Party, who spoke last night is Mia Love, the mayor of the mayor of Saratoga Springs, Utah.
Mia’s profile and backstory alone have made her a compelling presence in the
conservative movement. She is a first-generation Haitian-American, a Mormon and a small-town Utah mayor. Love, who is black, is also running for Congress in mostly white Utah. If elected, she would be the first black Republican woman ever to serve in Congress.
In her address Tuesday night, the mayor of Saratoga Springs presented herself to the nation as the embodiment of the American dream — and touched on themes of self-reliance, small government and fiscal responsibility.
"My parents immigrated to the U.S. with $10 in their pocket, believing that the America they had heard about really did exist," Love said. "When times got tough they didn't look to Washington, they looked within. So the America I came to know was centered in personal responsibility and filled with the American dream."
The 36-year-old mayor, who is in an uphill race against popular incumbent Democratic Rep. Jim Matheson, described President Obama's vision for the country as a "divided one" that she said is "pitting us against each other based on our income level, gender and social status."
"His policies have failed. We are not better off than we were four years ago, and no rhetoric, bumper sticker or Hollywood campaign ad can change that," she said. "Mr. President, I am here to tell you we are not buying what you are selling in 2012."
Convention organizers sought to put the spotlight on Love's personal story by airing a short video before her remarks.
This is Love's story: Her parents left Haiti for the U.S. 39 years ago. Her father worked several jobs to support the family, including paying for his daughter to attend the University of Hartford, where she graduated with a degree in fine arts.
"I remember taking my dad to college with me on the first day of orientation and he looked at me very seriously, and he said, 'Mia, your mother and I have done everything we could to get you here. We've worked hard. We've never taken a handout. You're not going to be a burden to society. You will give back,'" Love said in an interview Tuesday with Fox News.
"It actually stayed with me," she said.
Love, who was born in Brooklyn, N.Y., and raised primarily in Connecticut, moved to Utah in 1997 and married Jason Love. She converted to Mormonism and served on the Saratoga City Council for six years before running for mayor.
Love, a favorite among the Tea Party movement, champions fiscal responsibility and limited government. Her chief mission, she says, is to run a "fiscally sound city."
"It's not rocket science," she told Fox News. "The most I've done is really step out of the way and allowed the economy to thrive, allowed businesses to come and add resources."
I hope Ms. Love makes it to Congress, we need more conservative women like her. You can watch the compete video of Mia Love’s speech by clicking here.
In two weeks, if you have the stomach for it, you will watch a convention that I can only describe as the Vagina Monologues. Last night in Tampa, FL, Ann Romney wowed the crowd. She was personable, personal, and did her best to make her husband relatable. At the same time, the Democratic National Convention was rounding out its list of speakers. While Ann Romney, Chris Christie, and the rest of the Republicans are focused on the future of this country and the way to create jobs, the Democrats are turning their convention into a celebration of the right to kill babies.
Hiding behind the euphemism of “women’s health” and the “war of women,” the Democrats intend to trot on stage all manner of radical abortion supporters, from Cecile Richards of Planned Parenthood to Nancy Keenan of NARAL to Sandra Fluke who still insists tax payers subsidize the sexual habits of Americans.
The Democratic Convention has turned into an abortion fest where speaker after speaker will try to convince Americans that Mitt Romney wants to send women back to the fifties, as Barack Obama’s campaign website claims, and will try to distract from terrible economic news that will be pouring out as third quarter economic results begin rolling out.
But here’s the most galling part — a media that has spent weeks portraying the Republican Party as fringe because of its nominee’s position on abortion, will totally ignore that more Americans agree with Mitt Romney than they do the abortion on demand position of Democrats.
The Speakers at the Democratic National Convention have opposed the Born Alive Infant Protection Act, the Partial Birth Abortion Ban, and even mild efforts to ensure sanitary conditions at abortion clinics for those who do decide to kill their children. But the media, I have no doubt, will dance around the fact that the Democratic Convention will pull out all the stops to convince women their vaginas are in danger as they celebrate their ability to kill kids and lament restricts on doing so.
As J. Robert Smith writes in American Thinker the Democratic Party is a party of factions:
“The Democratic Party is the party of factions-as-claimants. Democratic factions are all unified around big government. What they want -- be they gays, feminists, movement blacks and Hispanics, academics, the upscale leftist white inbred, among others -- is ever bigger chunks of the big government pie.
Another way of putting it: the Democratic Party is the party of bands of jackals and vultures, all ripping at taxpayers' caresses -- and one another, if they can't carry off enough meat.”
America has an 8.3% unemployment rate, a $15 trillion dollar national debt, and escalating energy costs but don’t expect to hear much about that.
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