RNC: The Aftermath

The Republican National Convention was an event filled with impressive rhetoric, controversial speeches, shameless mudslinging and, of course, a massive red, white and blue balloon drop. But after the balloons settled, how did the RNC affect Romney's chances in the election? As I mentioned in a previous post, conventions usually boost a presidential candidates poll numbers by a significant amount.

However, this year the Republican outlook doesn't look so good. So far, polls do not show a serious or meaningful jump in approval for Romney. Based on early data from different polls as well as TV ratings, Romney's boost from the RNC will be mediocre; and the same blog predicts President Obama's chances of winning the election to have increased over the course of the week.

What caused this flop for the RNC? I think that the majority of speakers attempted to attract voters with disparaging Obama comments and comments about family values but they did not successfully appeal to a new constituency. Instead of converting voters, the GOP probably just strengthened their existing supporters.  Paul Ryan's lie-filled speech and Clint Eastwood's rambling "speech" might have negatively affected the overall message of the convention. Perhaps Romney's speech failed to adequately deliver.

What do you think prevented the RNC from being fully successful? How important will this be to the election as a whole?