Ryan Lyin'

++That was the quickest deconstruction of a political speech I have seen. By the time night fell,CNN remarked they were being flooded about the lies Paul Ryan told,almost every print and electronic media outlet debunked Ryan point by point. Even Ezra Klein, who doesn't like political combat from his wonk perspective, chose his words carefully saying basically great speech but all lies. FOX News had the predictable header saying "Dazzling" but then shocked everyone by saying it was deeply dishonest and another Fox contributor thought Paul Ryan was trying to set a record for lying. And finally the media has begun to actually say the GOP candidates are lying not just about Obama's record but also their own positions. 

++Ratings for last night's Convention fell dramatically. To gin up excitement about tonight's Romney speech,the special guest is 82-year old Clint Eastwood who was attacked by Karl Rove as being a tool of the "Chicago" gang who used their corporate supporters to cut his Superbowl ad for Chrysler . Clint is also for same sex marriage and choice. But the Convention does not make these distinctions when they need an audience for the nominee.

++So far commentators have criticized the GOP Convention for not having an affirmative message on the economy. One talking head referred to Mitt Romney as the "Tin Man candidate invaded by Archie Bunker." 

++Tonight is the night that Romney must soar. He just can't give an A speech, he has to show some spark that indicates he actually could be president. While the base loved Paul Ryan, his speech was shallow and didn't resonate even with the lies. Romney has to turn a phrase and he has to seem plausible both from a policy side and as a character.

++The draft of his speech spells out a five point plan for generating jobs. He also highlights small businesses which he claims Obama has stifled. He clams he will make America energy independent by 2020, which may actually be later than it will be. He will stress eliminating regulation. On not avoiding the tough issues, he promises to protect the poor, the weak and the seniors. There is no talk about what either his or Ryan's budget will do to those. He will try to bridge the gender gap by listing all the women who have influenced him and his support of all the Republican women and his choice of a female Lt.Governor when he was in Massachusetts. He will emphasize his risks--none--in creating Bain Capital and his pride in creating Staples, Sports Authority and another company involved in education. Nothing about leveraged buy-outs. 

++He will be speaking to "white Democrats" or those who he said have lost their enthusiasm for President Obama. Here he reverts to the language of Obama failed and didn't fulfill his promise to create jobs and the economy. Here is an old trick from the early days of the campaign when he would put on the graphic that showed the recession started under Obama even though the global collapse was at the end of the Bush administration. There is this amnesia that run through the whole Convention and maybe the whole nation. 
He also advocates ending Obamacare but as an unnecessary regulation on small business. He is trying to reach the swing voters who voted for Obama by laying out a framework how we all were hopeful--not mentioning that the GOP decided from Day One  to oppose anything Obama did. I don't know whether people will pick this up when he tries to make the case how basically Obama has let us down--except not me.

++This could either be delivered powerfully or just seem to be a word salad. The first could put him in real contention ,the second would just be another Ryan speech which will be mauled by the press. It will be interesting to hear. The text reminds me of the Compassionate Conservative promising a full employment economy. Every person who wants a job will get one. He claims. He will also keep using the whooper that Obama took the work requirement out of welfare. In fact Obama hasn't even granted the waivers yet.

++Nate the great Silver projects a four point bounce from the Tampa Convention for Romney, even though for the second straight day Gallup shows Obama picked up a point.

++The Obama campaign hit Ryan fast and hard after the speech pointing out the myriad lies. There is a sleeping time-bomb in the Ryan use of the closure of the Janesville GM plant in Wisconsin. The UAW president slammed Ryan over this since the union negotiated hard over stopping the closure of that plant. But in his statement was a side comment that if production picked up for the car company, there was a provision to put the plant back into operation. It would be wonderful if that happened during the campaign. The NPR report on the car industry, the reporters talked about the plants now reaching over capacity and that old ones will need to be opened.