Quick follow up on convention speech analyses

It seems like both Fox and CNN are saying that the Anne Romney speech was the home run for the first night of the convention.  I stand by my quick analysis.  Her speech was a B - it will ultimately be graded on whether it moved or started moving the needle for women voters on Romney.  I thought Chris Christie's speech was far more powerful.  Of course the bar is higher for him, given that he's a politician and she's not.  But his speech really carried weight (no pun intended). It was moving and focused and it spoke to the issues.  It set the tone, the theme for the Republican convention.

I'd even say Artur Davis hit a better note than Anne Romney.  Her speech was good, but it wasn't the best of the night.

One parting thought:  CNN's Wolf Blitzer noticed Romney didn't smile enough.  Can you say NITPICKING?

Quick-Grading the Convention Speeches

Winning speech.                                       Photo: Via ABC

Scott Walker's speech seemed to wake up the convention. B+

Rick Santorum's speech was dry and unexciting. C-

John Kasich's speech was energetic and insightful but not highly inspiring. B-

Artur Davis' speech was quite good, focused on the right target but unfortunately under-received by the crowd. A-

Nikki Haley's speech was good and had some excellent of examples of Obama as a roadblock. B

Anne Romney's speech started weak but grew in strength as it went along.  It was well received. But did it make a dent in women's opinions of Romney?  Maybe a little.  B

Chris Christie. The keynote speech, was funny, passionate, forthright and well-spoken. A

Artur Davis - from Obama to a Republican

This is the guy who seconded Obama's nomination in the Democratic party.  His conversion to the Republican party is perhaps not stunning when you listen to his evolution of his beliefs but certainly a moral and rhetorical victory, well-timed for the GOP with regard to the 2012 election.