The Republican Party is hosting their giant, corporate wine and dine for the SuperPAC bundlers this week. Oh and I guess some delegates will be there too. Their job is to officially make Mitt Romney the nominee for President of the United States, and serve as a built in friendly audience for the candidate and his cronies.
So what can we expect to see? Here are my 10 Predictions:
#10 Ann's Speech will fail.
Ann Romney's attempt to re-re-re-re-introduce her Husband to the American people as a likable guy who is not at all awkward and weird, will just further cause Mitt Romney to act awkward and weird. She will talk about their time in High School. His commitment to his faith (see #6). Some vague generosity. His determination to work hard and make lots of money. All that will be discussed but there will not be any real personal story about who Mitt Romney is, how he struggled growing up, what software updates have been done on his CPU and why. We won't hear anything personal, except Ann's opinion of her husband.
Her speech will likely receive high marks from observers both at the convention and in the media, but ultimately won't change any minds about his dullness, awkwardness or his inability to connect and relate to normal people.
#9 Mike Huckabee will drag the Todd Akin story onward.
Huckabee will spend the vast majority of his speech talking about Abortion and why Mitt Romney is a step in the right (read: wrong) direction for America, even if deep down they'd all like to put woman back on an animal-like, never ending reproductive cycle that undermines so many cultures and third world countries around the world; they will pretend they are happy with Mitt Romney's incrementally bad stance.
#8 Alternative view points will be silenced.
The Ron Paul folks will ultimately be silenced even if they do attempt to voice their true opinions in the nomination vote. Ron Paul himself will not be given a chance to speak at all, and will probably hold his own protest rally somewhere near by, just as he did in 2008. OWS will also probably be on hand outside and kept as far away from the Convention as possible. Liberal leaning reporters and shows will be snubbed and even Tea Party viewpoints will likely be marginalized on stage, all while given lots of lip service.
#7 Someone will be trampled, injured, beaten or possibly shot.
It will probably be a protester. We have seen so much violence from these people over the last few years I fully expect someone to get hurt and not just by Hurricane Isaac. I expect at least one occurrence of Conservative on Liberal, or Policeman on Liberal violence. Though I do think the Hurricane will probably cause some damage, and flooding.
#6 There will be no mention of Mitt Romney's faith.
The words "Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints" or "Mormon Church" will not be uttered by anyone on stage. Instead vaguely Christian references will be made. Romney's faith will be talked about in general terms as he panders to evangelicals. He will use words like "Jesus" "God" "Faith" "Belief" "Christian" and "Traditional Moral Values" in order to convey his religiosity without mentioning his religion.
#5 Donald Trump will use his famous catch phrase.
Trump will no doubt walk on stage as an Obama impersonator is giving a speech. There will be some lame jokes and Donald Trump will say "President Obama...(smug pause)....You're fired!" the crowd will go insane, because they're straight out of the film Idiocracy, and then Trump will give some sort of speech in which the tenets of Birtherism are if not outright glorified, at least mentioned in passing.
#4 Bain is back, baby!
If recent news is any indication Mitt Romney will turn back to his experience at Bain (whether he actually says the name Bain is anyone's guess), as well as his experience as Governor of Massachusetts, despite the fact that he has spent the summer talking about how both of those parts of his life should be "off limits" in the campaign. Expect a big emphasis on his role in the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics throughout the Convention. Business experience will return as his #1 resume item.
#3 Return of Romney the Moderate.
On social issues they will try to once again shake the etch-a-sketch and recast Mitt Romney as a Moderate Republican. How could they even possibly attempt to do such a thing after this primary season and particularly this summer? They'll just pretend none of that happened. Also after this dramatic shift to the right, any moderation toward the center will look like a major change/improvement to the casual observer. We are already seeing this. Mitt Romney acts as though he should be showered with praise for suddenly (supposedly) supporting exceptions for Incest and Rape in anti-abortion legislation.
As if that makes his anti-choice views a-okay.
We won't see anything close to Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney. He will still be a Republican with Republican ideas, make no mistake. But now he will no longer try to portray himself a "severe conservative" as he has been doing. We will suddenly see a gear change. A moderation of his tone and rhetoric when it comes to social issues. His intention has always been to run to the right during the primaries then back toward the center after the convention. Once he officially has the nomination he will flip flop toward moderation in an attempt to seal the deal in the General Election.
How long it lasts is another issue.
#2 Mitt Romney + Singing.
There will probably be at least one attempt to get the crowd to sing God Bless America either with or without the candidate. Why would he try such a thing after Obama utterly embarrassed him with what was the best political ad of the year? Because he is obsessed with recreating a moment that once apparently inspired some guy one time to call Mitt Romney a leader.
From a report in the Boston Globe about Romney's time working for the 2002 Olympics:
Romney gathered hundreds of staffers and volunteers in an outdoor plaza and delivered a speech that several described as the most presidential moment of his Olympic tenure. While he addressed the fears many harbored of terrorists striking again during the Games, Romney invoked the glory of patriotism, public service, and facing down danger.
Zianibeth Shattuck-Owen, who served as a trustee and later as a luge manager, said of the speech, ''By the end, he had everybody singing 'God Bless America,' but not in a 'Kumbaya' kind of way. . . It was leadership.''
http://www.dailykos.com/...
Mitt Romney loved that moment and has been trying to recreate it ever since. So yeah, expect to see him try that again, and for it to work this time because it will be staged. It will not have the desired effect however. Which leads me to my final prediction.
#1 Epic Fail.
The whole thing will fall flat. All of it. The "Madmen" inspired set design. The re-branding of Mitt Romney as a Moderate. The "personal" story of Mitt's business dealings and experience. The Trump spectacle. The overt nationalism. Ratings will be low and the polls won't move hardly at all. Their convention will have the same problem their candidate has. For some reason the whole thing will feel awkward and weird. That sense of subtle phoniness will permeate through television sets across the nation and come across as fake.
So that's my predictions for the GOP's Republican National Convention this week in Florida. Feel free to add your own predictions in the comments!
8:31 PM PT: Regarding #5: Dkos User "Ted Hitler" linked in the comments to this TPM report about the recently revised schedule. According to the link the RNC managed to keep all of their headline speakers despite losing a day due to weather conditions. Yet Trumps name is not on the list.
http://2012.talkingpointsmemo.com/...
In regard to #6 user DharmaFarmer pointed out..
The RNC just announced that NY Cardinal Dolan (the one who bribed pedophile priests to leave the church) will deliver a closing blessing at the convention. I don't think Mitt thought this through - the irony of having a rep from the world's largest non-tax paying entity endorsing the non-tax paying candidate.
Which fits right in with hiding Mitt's LDS beliefs behind a broader religious veil.
8:42 PM PT: DKos User "Hound Dog" posted in the comments that the RNC has already frozen Ron Paul out of the convention and he is already planning a counter convention in Tampa. Apparently that news came out earlier today.