TAMPA, Fla. — He did it, he really did it. Mitt Romney became human. And presidential.
On the most important night of his political life, Romney finally opened up about himself. He talked of his parents, his early years, his wife and children. He even talked of Mormonism and Bain Capital — subjects he had avoided like the plague.
In accepting the GOP nomination, a goal he sought for six years, Romney shed the shell that has kept him too distant from too many voters. His performance was both masterful and tactical and could earn him a second look from those who found him hard to figure and thus impossible to support.
Equally important, that soft side did not come at the expense of a determination to get America back on track. Again out of character, he was downright fiery in hailing the nation’s founding principles of life and liberty and promising a new burst of innovation and progress.
Those who watched him saw a man pass the litmus test — he was presidential. As he segued from his life to the nation’s, it was possible, easy even, to imagine Mitt Romney in the Oval Office, analyzing and acting to solve our crushing problems.
Like a surgeon, he also carved up President Obama.
“President Obama promised to slow the rise of the oceans and to heal the planet. MY promise . . . is to help you and your family,” Romney said.
The audience was with him from the start, primed two by two nights of speeches that aimed to fire them up and erase any hesitation about their nominee, of which there was plenty.
So much so that sometimes it must suck to be Romney. He’s richer than Rockefeller, has a big, beautiful family and his virtues are widely acknowledged.
Yet even though he secured the GOP crown of nomination, he remains the Rodney Dangerfield of politics. Respect? Fugeddaboutit!
Fixing that deficit by filling in the blanks of Romney’s life was the clear goal of the night. Fellow Mormons told tales about his quiet charity and compassion, and business people told how he had changed their lives through the investments of Bain.
The testimonies on both were moving, especially those from parents who were helped and comforted by Romney as their children lay dying. Now, dead children are not the usual stuff of political conventions, but Romney is not your typical nominee.
The doubts, of course, were not a secret to Romney’s team, which has tried to compensate for the fact that their leading man lacks star power. This would not be a serious problem, except Obama, albeit a lousy president, oozes star power. He’s a true celebrity, in both the wattage of his aura and the emptiness of his campaign.
To overcome this deficit, Romney’s image makers surrounded the candidate with a power-packed lineup. From Chris Christie to Condi Rice to Marco Rubio and Paul Ryan, and, last night, Clint Eastwood, the aim was to use the reflective light of others to make Romney shine brighter.
But none of this would matter if Romney himself didn’t step up his game, and he did when it mattered most. By emphasizing the problems of debt, deficit and entitlement spending, he has made the campaign about big things and big ideas. With Obama refusing to seriously engage on those issues, Romney and Ryan have framed the campaign on terms that are the most important and also favor them.
Their challenge is America’s, for avoiding the problems will certainly make them worse, and change the country’s character forever. Yet the courage to engage, and to lead, will not matter much without victory.
Obama will fight ruthlessly and without honor to hold onto power. Romney must be resolute, but with honor, to deserve the Oval Office.
With his performance last night, and with his party newly energized, he made victory more than possible. He made it likely.