The theme for this year’s Republican National Convention in Tampa, Fla., is “We Did Build That!”
It’s an interesting choice of a theme. There are a lot of options this year. Mitt Romney is running against a president who simply hasn’t got much or very little right. Even the death of Osama bin Laden, it turns out, is something that he bungled, since we saw him “spike the football” about it when his poll numbers started looking scary–incidentally, they haven’t gotten any better since then.
But it’s a worthy message, one that puts the question of economic freedom front and center, appropriate since it will be front and center in November.
On Monday night, potential first lady Ann Romney will be speaking, though Politico’s Dylan Byers is reporting that NBC, ABC and CBS will not be airing that portion of the convention. Why not? What sitcom is more important than this? The liberal media is afraid of a strong Republican woman speaking in this election cycle, in which their only hope of winning is making the “War on Women” plausible to independents and people who pay little attention to politics. These stations should take a week off from their regular schedules and broadcast this beautiful and courageous woman.
It’s too bad for the liberal media, however, because we will also be hearing from Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers and Gov. Nikki Haley that same day, two outstanding leaders of whom the Grand Old Party is justifiably proud.
In fact, despite liberal attacks and smear campaigns to the contrary, the Republican Party will be showing the world its diversity. Sen. Kelly Ayotte, former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Gov. Mary Fallin, Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi and House candidate Mia Love will all be speaking directly to the country, not mediated by any biased commentators.
It just goes to show that conservative principles are universal. The Democrats, on the other hand, are the ones who support special interests and special privileges. The GOP is pro-family (universal), they are pro-homosexual (particular). The GOP are pro-life (universal), they are pro-abortion (particular). The GOP are pro-equality (universal), while the Democrats are pro-affirmative action (particular). It is the Republican Party that is no respecter of persons: We don’t care who you are–if you believe what we believe, the door is wide open.
But there are some surprises on the roster for the convention.
The biggest one to me is Sen. Rand Paul, who ran as an anti-establishment candidate for Senate and won almost in spite of the party. Sponsored by Sen. Jim DeMint and brought to prominence by his father, Rep. Ron Paul, he’s a tea partier, and here he is on the main stage of the establishment! I’m particularly enthusiastic about this selection, as it will bring together the disparate strands of conservatism in our country and give a megaphone to a man who will, I suspect, play a major role in the party for decades to come.
The keynote speaker, of course, is New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie. This is another interesting selection. The obvious choice would be someone like Marco Rubio, a Floridian and a handsome, youthful and articulate member of the fastest-growing demographic in the country, Latin Americans. Selecting Christie, however, has the benefit of speaking to the Reagan Democrat crowd, the moderates and independents who will ultimately decide the fate of our country this November. Christie speaks in a direct style that is appealing to blue-collar voters and makes him appear much more human and personable than the average politician. Having him speak will demonstrate that the Republican Party is no longer the country club party.
With that said, we should all be happy about this lineup of speakers. After being on the ground for the past 60 hours, the GOP attendees certainly are.
As for the party platform this year, the faithful are also pleased. It is a striking contrast with the Democratic platform, which has, for the first time in American history, added a plank supporting homosexual marriage. To call this new and unprecedented is also to call it extreme. The Republican platform rightly opposes this illegitimate institution and gives religious voters a clear choice between social experimentation and tested tradition.
Controversially, the platform also includes support for banning all abortions. This is another brave choice. Following the ridiculous and ignorant comments of Rep. Todd Akin earlier this week about children conceived in rape, it would have been easy to back down from what we know to be right and duck the issue altogether. Gov. Robert McDonnell deserves commendation for keeping it in. Democrats will go on record, for all of history to read, as advocating the killing of children conceived in rape; we won’t.
Unfortunately, Tropical Storm Isaac looks to be hitting Florida just in time for the convention, putting many people in danger and distracting from the event altogether. I pray that no one gets hurt, and that this convention will get us all excited and ready to help this country recover from Hurricane Barack.
Armstrong Williams content can be found on RightSideWire.com. He is also the author of the new book “Reawakening Virtues.” Come join the discussion live 4-5 p.m., 6-8 p.m. ET at www.livestream.com/armstrongwilliams or tune into S.C. WGCV 4-5 p.m., Sirius/XM Power 128, 7-8 p.m. and 4-5 a.m. ET, 6-7 p.m. D.C. a.m. 730 WTNT, 7-8 p.m. WGNU a.m. 920 St. Louis. Become a fan on Facebook and follow him on Twitter.