Romney Speech 'Solid, Workmanlike'

Mitt Romney delivered the biggest speech of his life in Tampa last night, and while his solid, heartfelt address did not disappoint, there were no surprises. Some pundits suspect Clint Eastwood's ad-libbed ramble will be the speech more people are talking about this morning.

• Romney's address was short on policy details, but he did a great job of making a coherent case for his candidacy, according to Jim Vandehei and John F. Harris at Politico. "One line captured it best," they write. "'President Obama promised to begin to slow the rise of the oceans and heal the planet. My promise is to help you and your family.' He managed to indict Obama without coming off as mean."

• Romney delivered "a workmanlike address where he made a strong case against the current incumbent and a slightly-less-strong case for himself," writes Chris Cillizza at the Washington Post. Romney "did well in casting himself as the anti-Obama" and there was a "genuinely human moment" when he talked about missing the joy of raising kids, he writes. "It was a speech that checked the boxes Romney needed to check."
• The speech "didn't soar, and wasn't intended to," writes Rich Lowry at Fox News. It lacked ideology, but ran on "biography and can-do optimism," and was pitched to voters "disappointed with President Obama but not outraged by him," he writes. "After this speech, you might not fervently believe in him, but you might hire him. And that's enough."
• Romney's speech was "polished and competent but only sporadically exciting," writes Niall Stanage at the Hill. Romney, "often criticized for his supposed lack of natural ease, spoke affectingly of his family," he writes, but his concern now must be whether "Eastwood’s peculiar performance delivered an August surprise that has damaged his biggest chance to present himself unfiltered to the American people."

(More Republican National Convention stories.)