convention

At the official kickoff of his reelection campaign, President Obama offered a tacit (although unintended) admission of four years of failure, declaring, "We have to move forward, to the future we imagined in 2008. ... That’s why I’m running for a second term as president of the United States."  This peculiar yet revealing emphasis on the future, the past, and the imaginary neglects only two things:  the present and reality.  Lacking laudable achievements to tout in the present, Obama wants voters to focus on the future they imagined in the past.

President Obama's top strategist, David Axelrod, said today on Fox News Sunday that, under Obama, we've had "29 straight months of job growth." Yet, according to the federal government's own figures, 29 months ago, 58.5 percent of Americans were employed. Today, only 58.4 percent of Americans are employed. In other words, any job growth over the past 29 months hasn't even kept up with population growth.

Tampa
A few hours before Mitt Romney spoke to the Republican convention last night, his campaign did something clever. It’s normal procedure before a major speech is to release excerpts so the evening TV news shows can preview the address. The Romney team did so, only these excerpts were dull and uninteresting.

Here are excerpts of the remarks Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney plans to deliver this evening in Tampa, Florida:

Four years ago, I know that many Americans felt a fresh excitement about the possibilities of a new president. That president was not the choice of our party but Americans always come together after elections. We are a good and generous people who are united by so much more than divides us.

Here are the remarks Marco Rubio plans to deliver this evening at the Republican convention in Tampa, Florida:

In 1980, I watched my first Republican Convention with my grandfather.

He was born to a farming family in rural Cuba. Childhood polio left him permanently disabled.

Because he couldn’t work the farm, his family sent him to school, and he became the only one in the family who could read.

Here's video of Paul Ryan's address last night at the Republican convention:

Excerpts released by the Romney campaign from Paul Ryan's address tonight to Republican convention in Tampa, Florida:

During the primetime speeches last night by Ann Romney and Chris Christie, something peculiar did not happen. Barack Obama’s name was not mentioned. Why?

The first day of the Republican convention had two highlights, one at its beginning, one at its end.

Here are New Jersey governor Chris Christie's remarks at the Republican convention, as prepared for delivery:

This stage and this moment are very improbable for me.  

The Romney campaign released these excerpts of Ann Romney's speech, which she'll deliver tonight at the Republican convention in Tampa: 

After President Obama's remarks this morning on the tropical storm headed toward New Orleans, a reporter asked whether it's appropriate to continue campaigning. Obama did not answer the shouted question.

But the truth is, the question would be relevant regardless of the storm. For more than three decades, incumbent presidents have resisted campaigning during the opposing party's convention--no matter what party the president was a member of.