Obama's Convention Speech Delivers Polling Bump

Thursday night was a big night for the president. It was Barack Obama's greatest chance to make the case for a second term in the White House. His opponent, Mitt Romney had had the same opportunity the week before, yet his speech failed to result in any significant boost in the polls. This was Obama's chance to capitalize.
            Obama took the stage on the final night of the DNC after strong speeches from his wife, former President Bill Clinton, and the Vice President. Many were hoping that this speech would be where President Obama outlined the path for the future, and his plan for success.
             Instead he made a powerful speech, in which he barely touched upon the issues. His populist speech was appealing to many, yet wasn't the kind of speech some voters wanted to hear. Obama's speech was extremely popular in the arena, and also moderately popular in the polls.
              Many argue that former President Bill Clinton outlined Obama's plan for the future, according to a recent poll by the Pew Research Center, almost 30% of surveyed DNC viewers thought Clinton's speech was the highlight of the DNC, compared to just 16% saying Obama's speech was the highlight.
               Romney received virtually no convention bump, so this was Obama's time to capitalize. Going into the convention, they were tied, but the latest Reuters/Ipsos poll, the president had a four point advantage over his challenger. While both speeches were full of jabs, and hope, neither outlined a clear path for the future. Polls show that in the end, people liked Obama's speech slightly better than Romney's, but Obama's speech was still a mediocre end to a stellar convention.

RNC 2012: The Weird, The Wonderful, The Underwhelming, and The… Well… Wrong

This year's Republican National Convention (RNC) has come to a close. The convention featured many speakers, all who tried to make the case for Mitt Romney. The event had been scaled down from the original plans of four days full of speakers, to just three full days, due to the outburst of Hurricane Isaac, which threatened to hit Tampa, the site of this year's Republican Convention. Isaac caused cuts to many speakers, including Donald Trump, who announced his support for Romney earlier this year. The Republican Convention was opened for ten minutes on Monday, just enough time for RNC Chairman, Reince Preibus to call the convention to order, and start the National Debt Clock. The convention came to a close on Thursday, after speeches from Mitt Romney, Ann Romney, Paul Ryan, and many other notable figures. The main speeches can be boiled down into about four categories, weird, wonderful, underwhelming, and wrong.

The Weird:
Famed Director Clint Eastwood's speech was, by all definitions of the word, weird. Eastwood is a longtime conservative and one time mayor of Carmel-by-the-Sea, and up until the day of his speech, he was a surprise speaker. Eastwood's bizarre speech supporting Romney featured him repeatedly telling an empty stool that was supposedly Barack Obama to "shut up". Eastwood's absurd speech countered, and some say even overshadowed, Mitt Romney's acceptance speech in it's memorability.

The Wonderful
Ann Romney's speech to the GOP Convention was a wonderful part of convention, taking the focus off politics, and putting it on Mitt Romney personally. Ann Romney's speech served as a way to humanize Mitt Romney, into a loving parent of 5 boys, rather than a robotic, elitist politician, which many political ads portray him as. Ann Romney's speech also served as a way to connect to female voters, who have been more hostile towards Mitt Romney than men. Ann Romney tried to court women by sharing the image of motherhood, and even stated "I love women". While an obvious attempt to court voters, Ann Romney's speech was a refreshing break from the politics, and rhetoric surrounding the convention.

The Underwhelming

Mitt Romney took the stage at the Republican Convention in Tampa, the moment the entire convention hall had been waiting to hear. His speech criticized Obama, but didn't give his views on anything. While his speech tried to frame himself as a good person, and roused the GOP delegates in the arena, it didn't do very much for the American people. In a poll on CNN's Facebook page, just 40% of repondents said that the speech made them more supportive of Romney, while 60% of respondents said that the speech made them less supportive, or didn't make a difference.

The Wrong
Paul Ryan delivered a powerful speech, in which he ruthlessly attacked President Obama. The only problem was that at times, it was a little less than factual. Ryan attacked Obama for coming to his hometown of Janesville, Wisconsin, and promising that under a good government a local business like the car factory Ryan was talking about, would be around for 100 years. Ryan said that the plant closed before the year was over. Although technically this is true, Paul Ryan leaves out one crucial part: the plant closed under Bush, not Obama. He went onto attack Obama for not listening to a bi-partisan group created to reduce the national debt. The only problem here, Paul Ryan also supported throwing out the groups proposal! Next Ryan went on to say that President Obama cut $716 billion from Medicare. Again true, but Ryan leaves out more critical information: his plan also sought to cut $716 billion from Medicare. Paul  Ryan's speech gave fact checkers a field day, and the Obama Team scrambling to spread the facts.

Romney Introduces "The Next President of the United States"

…Paul Ryan! Earlier this week, Mitt Romney announced that he had chosen tea party darling Paul Ryan to be his running mate in the upcoming presidential election. Romney's announcement was a rather safe choice, he didn't bring in a "maverick" like Sarah Palin, and Paul Ryan is a semi-popular senator in a key swing state: Wisconsin. While Paul Ryan is no Sarah Palin, as of yet, he has already drawn criticism for his stance on medicare, with many worried he will replace medicare with a voucher program. Ryan, a Tea Party darling, is perhaps most famous for writing much of the 2012 and 2013 Republican budget proposals. A new Washington Post/ABC Poll shows that only 38% of people surveyed viewed Ryan favorably, while this is a fifteen percent jump from before Gov. Romney's announcement, it still remains well below the 50% mark.

Bachmann's Terrorist Witch Hunt

Well, she's back in the news again! Six months after ending her presidential campaign, Michele Bachmann has made the headlines again, by accusing members of government of being Muslim extremists. Bachmann (R-Minnesota) and other members of the Republican Party have called on many high level officials in government, including Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's deputy chief of staff, Huma Abedin. In letters from Bachmann, written to various bodies of government Bachmann raised concerns about extremist infiltration of the U.S. Government. In some of these letters, Bachmann stated that Abedin should not have received security clearance, because some of Abedin's relations were supposedly connected to the Muslim Brotherhood. While Bachmann has been known for her outspokenness, and several major gaffes, none have been as serious as accusing someone, reputed to be a faithful civil servant, of having terrorist ties. In response to this, many Republican congressmen have been quick to distance themselves from Bachmann, including Speaker of the House, John Boehner who said such allegations were "pretty dangerous". Other members of Congress have also condemned Bachmann, including fellow Minnesotan Keith Ellison, a Muslim, have asked for evidence to support Bachmann's claims. Bachmann's unsupported claims show a sad example of a political figure trying to stay in the limelight after the expiration of their fifteen minutes of fame. One can only assume that Michele Bachmann is trying to remain unforgotten, either in the hopes of supporting her congress campaign, or a presidential bid in 2016.

Health Care Gains Strength, for a Full and Speedy Recovery

The very different reactions of House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (left), and Speaker of the House John Boehner (right)

With a 5-4 ruling, the Supreme Court found the individual mandate in Obamacare constitutional, and with it, one of President Obama's most important pieces of legislation has secured its place in history. In a vote that stunned many, Chief Justice Roberts, a Bush appointee, decided the law was constitutional, and that the government did have the right to tax individuals who could, but wouldn't, purchase healthcare. This decision may have bolstered the Supreme Court's reputation for impartiality, because a vote down party lines, would have suggested bias in the Supreme Court. President Obama hailed this as a victory, while Governor Romney promises that if elected he would work to repeal it

Obama's Healthcare Plan on Life Support

The Supreme Court will issue its decision on Obamacare any day now. There are three possible scenarios which could occur. One: the Supreme Court could uphold Obamacare, which would be considered a huge victory for President Obama, while deflating the opposition. Two: the Supreme Court accepts parts of Obamacare, but throws out the most critical part, the individual mandate, which requires all individuals to purchase healthcare, or pay a penalty. This would not yield a clear winner, but Obama could be thought of as the loser. Three: the Supreme Court kills Obamacare, in a huge victory for the bill's opposition, and an immense loss for Obama. The issue of healthcare has split America into two groups,  mostly divided along party lines. It will also be interesting to see if the justices of the Supreme Court votes along their known leanings.

Obama Kicks Off Re-election Campaign

President Barack Obama kicked off his campaign with stops in battleground states Ohio, and Virginia. In 2008 President Obama won both states, but the two are considered swing states, and could very well decide the next general election. Drawing from his popular message of "hope," and "change," Obama's new slogan is "Forward." Obama praised Romney as a person, but proceeded to attack Romney on his incapability to be president. The 2012 election for president has officially begun, and as of now it's anyone's game, and it will most likely come down to election day, before anyone can predict who will be president.