Last Thursday Chenae and I had a chance to attend Mitt Romney’s speech, “Faith in America”, at the George Bush Library in College Station, TX. We felt extremely lucky to be able to get tickets to the speech since the auditorium at the Bush Library only seats about 300 people. We got great seats, 5th row right in the middle.
It was interesting to watch the media circus around the event. We even got to see the one lone anti-mormon protestor almost get in a fight with a FOX camera man for trying to stick his sign behind a reporter during a live report. Both before and after the speech we got to talk to a number of “important” individuals such as Glen Beck, Dr. Richard Land (a Southern Baptist Convention big whig), a number of invited pastors, Carl Cameron (Fox News political correspondent), Jonathan Martin (Politico.com blogger), and Spencer Zwick (Romney’s National Finance Manager). Everyone was very friendly and willing to talk about their reaction to the speech.
We talked to Spencer Zwick before the speech and asked him if he had read it already. He told us that he had and that he thought it was going to go over very well. He also told us that usually before a big speech or debate that Romney gets a little anxious, but that we was surprisingly relaxed as they flew down to Texas. Spencer asked him how he could be so laid back on the eve of such an important event and Romney told him that although he didn’t know if giving this speech would be good or bad politically but that he felt personally that it was the right thing to do. He said that once the decision was made to give the speech he had felt very peaceful regardless of the outcome.
I thoroughly enjoyed the speech itself. First off, it was a historical moment, regardless of political outcomes, and I’m really grateful to have had the opportunity to be there. Although Romney is not a pound on the pulpit, emotional speaker, which at times leads some to label him as plastic, he’s a very powerful speaker in person. His delivery was articulate, passionate and sincere. I loved the focus on the religious heritage of our country and quotes from Samuel Adams, John Adams, and Abraham Lincoln. It’s a moving speech that combines and unifies a variety of important themes pertaining to religion, freedom, and politics. I know there are those that take issue with Romney on a variety of issues but I came away from last Thursday’s speech with a strong impression that Romney would make a great president if given the opportunity.
Monday, December 10, 2007
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
Mat,
ReplyDeleteThat's awesome that you and Chanae were able to go to the speech. I read it before I saw or listened to any of the actual delivery and I was really impressed with the whole thing (it didn't seem quite as powerful to me on the few clips I saw of it on the news). I like Romney a lot more after having read it.
What a cool opportunity to get to go to that! Thanks for letting us in on a little of it.
ReplyDeleteI liked the speech and I knew you would somehow find a way to be there--you must be living right. I think the vision he has for our country is inspiring.
ReplyDeleteI agreed with his comments that all religious traditions tend to improve their adherents. I think that's a healthy way to view religious pluralism, rather than bogging down on differences.
I know some folks wish he would have reached out a little more to people who don't have religious faith. The speech probably felt exclusive to that group. Of course, he can't be all things to all people in one speech and the secular humanists weren't his target audience.
I was impressed that he wrote most of it himself with help on the historical aspects. Some English-snobs are complaining that the speech was "boilerplate." I had to look that term up. It means standard language found in legal documents, etc. that can be reused on many occasions. I'm sure he used some common speech phraseology but most Americans don't read or hear this stuff that often so I think it is no crime. I just think the critics are just hyper-sensitive since worrying about language is their specialty.
I didn't hear or see the speech, but that Romney, he's a handsome guy.
ReplyDelete