RNC Over, Hopes for More Policy Details Remain

As Mitt Romney moves into preparation mode for the upcoming presidential debates, voters and analysts are hoping for more details on how a Romney administration would address problems in the economy, details that were lacking in the Republican National Convention (RNC).

Voters gained a more intimate view of the former Massachusetts governor as Romney shared personal details about his life, his family, and his faith. However, many had expected more focus on the U.S. economy and what a Romney administration would do to fix it.

“I wished it had been more substantive than just him,” said teacher Susan Moore. “I want to know not so much who he is but what he is going to do.”

Susan was holidaying in New York from California with her husband, Richard, a financial adviser, who seconded her concerns.

Softening the image of a man critics describe as disconnected and unfeeling was an important hurdle to overcome for the Romney campaign, and by all accounts the RNC was a success.

In his acceptance speech, Romney was forthcoming about his upbringing, about going out on his own to start a business, and about the difficulties he and his wife, Ann, faced in bringing up five boys in a new community. 

It was an accessible Romney, little seen during the cut and thrust of the primaries, and further enhanced in an endearing speech by wife Ann and in testimonials from Olympians, fellow church members, and others.

Most moving was the nervous and unpolished elderly couple who described how Romney had spent hours with their son, a victim of cancer at the age of 14. It was a poignant testimonial to the man’s quiet generosity.

There is no doubt that it was important to humanize Romney, because in presidential elections personality counts, but details about what can be done to improve a stagnant U.S. economy were missing from Romney’s speech.

“It is just historically documented that people want to vote for somebody they like,” said political commentator David Brooks on PBS, “but I think he had to have a little more policy.”

Also missing were tax reform and entitlement reform, key areas of the campaign, Brooks said.

Perhaps that had been left to Paul Ryan, who in his acceptance speech succeeded in doing what vice presidents should do: that is, create no harm. He offered little insight into Romney’s plan for fixing the economy, however.

His speech was high on rhetoric, and his attacks on President Obama were slammed by fact checkers for drifting too far from the truth.

Ryan said that President Obama’s health care law was funneling money away from Medicare “at the expense of the elderly.” He accused Obama of doing “exactly nothing” about the deficit, and he claimed that American people were “cut out of the stimulus.”

FactCheck.org, an independent project run by the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania, was just one of the fact-checking groups that dismantled Ryan’s claims.

They quoted Medicare’s chief actuary who said that Obama’s Affordable Health Care Act would “substantially improve” Medicare’s finances; they referred to Obama’s plan for deficit reduction and to the fact that it was Ryan who had voted against the Simpson-Bowles proposal to reduce the deficit, and they noted that “more than a quarter of all stimulus dollars went for tax relief for workers.”

Ryan also said that Obama had failed a campaign promise to keep an auto plant in Wisconsin open, but fact-checking groups noted that Obama had actually not promised to keep the plant open and that the plant had closed before Obama took office.

Romney has outlined some of his strategies online including that he will reduce taxes, spending, regulation, and government programs, hand over more responsibility to the states, and sanction China for unfair trade practices.

But people want to know more than the statements provided on websites. Perhaps it will come out in the presidential debates, the first one taking place with PBS’s Jim Lehrer on Oct. 3.

According to CNN, Romney will spend this week preparing for the debate and sharpening his wits with Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) who has offered to help him prepare. 

Republican Danielle Collinsworth, visiting New York from Ohio, said that she thought the convention had been fine, and that as a Romney supporter she did not need to know more details. She added, however, “I think if people are asking to know more about it he should definitely talk about it.” 

Also in New York from Ohio, Republicans Jill Morris and friend Sue Holzapfel were of a similar opinion, although they held slightly different views on why there was no need to deliver more details.

Morris said that politicians “all tell you pretty much what they want you to hear anyway.”

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