House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said Wednesday that Mitt Romney made a “calculated move” to get booed during his address earlier in the day before the NAACP.
“I think it was a calculated move on his part to get booed at the NAACP convention,” she told Bloomberg TV.
Well, that's one point of view but I think Romney was surprised but not intimidated by the booing. He kept his poise and gave a speech to the NAACP that would have gotten cheers at the Club for Growth and as my partner pointed out received a standing ovation at the conclusion. Romney did not antagonize, did not apologized, did not patronize. Essentially he told the NAACP that there was a problem that he could fix if they would but give him a chance. Edward Klein, author of The Amateur opined that it may have been a defining moment in the campaign and called Romney's performance "statesman like", a phrase we don't much hear relative to Obama. He further stated that in researching his book he spoke to hundreds of black business men, ministers, and politicians and to a man everyone expressed some disappointment in Obama.
No one expects Romney to win the black vote but if he can shave two to three percent of it off Obama's total it could make the difference in a tight swing state. It's not lost on the Romney people that what is said at a NAACP convention has a way of influencing white suburban independents. The fact that Obama has snubbed the NAACP will not be lost on these people either.
The Romney speech was a speech that Newark Mayor Cory Booker could have given, at least the parts on education. It could be that Romney plays one hell of a lot better in the black business community, if not the NAACP, than does Obama. As the public sees more of Romney it will begin asking itself which of the two men looks more presidential and I don't think Obama is going to like the verdict.
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