Romney is in nearly the identical position Reagan was 32 years ago. Carter had lost the support of the American people. The media and Democrats were portraying Reagan as out of touch with the American people and uncaring of their needs. Even worse for Reagan, he was being portrayed as to far too dangerous in an era that featured a nuclear freeze movement.
Reagan’s eventual victory occurred in no small part because of his convention performance followed up by his debate performances. Despite the caricatures, Reagan proved not to have the devil’s horns and presented an image of far kinder man than voters were led to believe.
In doing so, Reagan gave more than enough voters the comfort to make a change and in convincing fashion they did.
In that context, on Romney’s big night, he held serve against Reagan’s convention performance. His entrance into the arena provided a mental image on par with a President walking to the podium in the House Chamber to give a state of the Union Address. His shaking of hands and smiling at people belied claims he didn’t have a common touch.
...Romney... spoke of people’s aspirations, not government’s abilities. Knowing that the Nation’s achievements are the sum of individual achievements, Romney engaged voters in participating in the recovery, not just getting the bill for their government’s efforts no matter how wayward they may be.
In the final analysis, this speech was valuable to Romney because Americans could plainly see his values – values that were not unlike their own. In the same way that Vice Presidential nominee Ryan emphasized, Romney spoke on common ground with the voters who need to be comfortable with change.
While this election is far from over, if Romney can continue to make that connection with voters, that change will be sure to come.
