The biggest speech of Mitt Romney's life

Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney speaks at the American Legion National Convention, Wednesday, Aug. 29, 2012, in Indianapolis.

/ AP

(CBS News) TAMPA, Fla. - Mitt Romney faces a significant empathy gap against President Obama - most people simply don't believe that the wealthy former Massachusetts governor understands the problems they face. They are more likely to trust him than the president when it comes to the economy, however - the number one issue of concern to voters.

So who needs empathy?

"There's really only one issue in this campaign, and if he's going to win, it's not whether he's likeable and has a wonderful family, but rather that he can convince people he would be better on the economy than Barack Obama," says Stephen Hess, a staffer in the Nixon and Eisenhower administrations now at the Brookings Institution.

Hess wrote speeches for three people who were, or became, presidents, and he has advice for Romney ahead of his speech accepting the Republican presidential nomination Thursday evening: Don't listen to those who say you have to paint a warm and fuzzy self-portrait.

"If I were writing his speech, it would be a tough, hard speech about the economy, about jobs, about what he thinks he can do, why he thinks he can do it, and virtually about nothing else," he said. "You might as well cut to the chase."

Dan Schnur, who was John McCain's communications director in his 2000 presidential run, said Romney's message Thursday, "doesn't need to be 'I feel your pain.'"

"It needs to be 'I've got your back,'" he said.

According to top Romney advisers, his speech has been, "designed specifically to be congruent" with the remarks by vice presidential candidate Rep. Paul Ryan Wednesday night. In that speech, Ryan cast Romney as prepared "to meet serious challenges in a serious way, without excuses and idle words." Ryan's speech, like the remarks offered by New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie Tuesday night, was about taking touch challenges head on and not worrying about whether doing so makes you unpopular. There's a not-so-subtle criticism of President Obama in that message, of course - the man who McCain's 2008 campaign famously dismissed as a celebrity unprepared to lead.

Watch: Paul Ryan's full RNC speech
Ryan: We "won't duck the tough issues"
Watch: Ryan vows to reapply "founding principles"

It's worth noting, however, that the last three American presidents - Mr. Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton - are widely seen as having won office in part based on their likeability and relatability. Bob Shrum, a longtime Democratic insider who wrote Ted Kennedy's concession speech at the 1980 Democratic National Convention, said Romney has "got to deal with the fact that he's seen as stiff and disconnected," and the Democratic message that he favors the wealthy over the middle class.

In a well-received speech on Tuesday, Romney's wife Ann seemed to help humanize her husband by making the case that, despite their wealth, the couple had been through struggles. But Shrum said that speech won't much matter in the end.

"I think the Romney speech is really important because with the possible exception of Paul Ryan, Americans who don't join us in the political class aren't going to watch the Ann Romney speech," he said. "They were watching The Weather Channel."

One way Romney will attempt to relate to his audience is by discussing what has been something of an off-limits topic during the campaign: His Mormon faith.

"Generally, his faith is important to him," Romney adviser Kevin Madden said Wednesday. "I think this is a speech where he is going to talk a lot about what's informed his values, what's informed his outlooks, and of course his faith is an important part of that, it's an important part of who he is as a husband and father. And so I think you can expect some of that."

Successful acceptance speeches can give candidacies a major lift coming out of the convention, as demonstrated by the boost enjoyed by George H.W. Bush in 1988 and Al Gore in 2000. And while Romney is unlikely to see a huge bump in this era of a dramatically polarized electorate, a good speech could help him gain crucial ground ahead of next week's Democratic National Convention. Polls show the two men now essentially tied nationally, though Mr. Obama has a small edge in a majority of swing states.

Paul Glastris, the former chief speechwriter for President Clinton who now edits the Washington Monthly, said both candidates face the same fundamental problem. "Neither of them have offered terribly specific or convincing arguments for why their policies would help the economy in the near or middle term," he said.

Glastris argued that Romney also faces a "human being gap" against the president.

"Barack Obama is not everyone's idea of the average guy - he's exotic and educated and has a certain air of standoffishness," he said. "But he speaks in normal modern American jargon. He's relaxed with himself. And he's recognizably of this moment and this era. Mitt Romney is a kind of personality that's a little bit of a weird throwback, who's awkward and self-conscious, and when he speaks there's a kind of nervousness and jitteriness to him. So his task, and the task of the speechwriters, is to find language where he can talk about himself in a way that flows naturally and that is neither too much braggadocio or too unspecific."

Ryan's speech, in keeping with convention tradition, was light on specifics. Hess said Romney would be smart to try to offer more details than his running mate - something Romney has generally been reticent to do so far.

"The more specific he can be, the more he can convince people he has a plan," he said. "If he comes out with glorious generalities, he just sounds like another politician - and of course, that's the claim against him."

One issue Romney appears to have successfully dealt with is the conservative criticism that he is what conservatives derisively call a "RINO" - a Republican in Name Only. Newt Gingrich disdainfully described Romney as a "Massachusetts moderate" during the primary, and Rick Santorum called Romney "the worst Republican in the country to put up against Barack Obama" due to the health care law Romney signed in Massachusetts. Thanks in large part to his decision to tap Ryan as his running mate, Romney appears to have put those concerns to rest and should be received rapturously in the Tampa Bay Times Forum.

It's the rest of the country that's the far larger challenge.

"Romney has to convince the American people that they can trust him," said Schnur. "Voters like Obama but they don't think he knows how to fix the economy. They think Romney knows more about the economy, but they don't think he's going to look out for their interests. He's got one hour to change their mind."

[phwtb100]

"by Shallow_RepubsAre_CRETINs August 31, 2012 1:08 AM EDT
LMAO!...Under the last Republi-'con' we had in the White House, the nation was in a ripple effect "nose dive", in terms of unemployment, starting in January 2008 and continuing up to November, December 2008, and January 2009, when...

November 2008 = 714,000 jobs lost
December 2008 = 750,000 jobs lost
January 2009 = 1.6 million jobs lost

Total = 2.1 million jobs lost in 3 consecutive months."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Aaaaaa Shallow, I hate to point this out to you but... you just made a MAJOR point in FAVOR of the Republicans. Those 'high profile' months of November, December and especially January, you are referring to above, all have 1 VERY IMPORTANT single point in common.

Are you ready???

BARACK HUSSEIN OBAMA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Those were the months OBAMA was taking over as President!!!

You bet people lost their jobs, just like they have CONTINUED to lose their jobs over the past 4 years he has been in office. ANYONE with ANY common sense can figure that one out. But, then again, we all know common sense never plays too strongly in a DEM whit's dream world.

[Starseed319]

"Crowned" and "anointed" - headline words used by ABC and WSJ yesterday to describe Mitt Romney's ascension to the throne/pulpit of the RNC. This should be a HUGE red flag to every American who hasn't yet drank the kool-aid of the right wing conservative movement. The hatred and veiled racism that cause these same folks to vilify Obama as a Socialist/Muslim/Foreigner have blinded them to one very important fact that concerns me about their "anointed and throned" figurehead: What influence will his Mormon commitments and beliefs have on the White House and national policy if he is elected? Look up Mormon on Wiki, and decide for yourself if the history and doctrines of Mormonism should not give you pause. Have we become so "politically correct" in our culture that we are afraid to question this for fear of being branded a "bigot" or "anti-religion"? As citizens we have the right to a know through civil discourse and debate what level of influence the Mormon institution will have on this man if he is "anointed and throned" the leader of this country! As a woman and a strong believer in the separation of church and state, and individual freedom, I am VERY concerned about what I am witnessing with the RNC and their candidate. Since the Democrats seem to be ignoring this issue to protect themselves from controversy, we are left to depending on the media and other concerned citizens to raise the issue and get the questions on the table. Theocracy is a form of government in which official policy is governed by immediate divine guidance or by officials who are regarded as (or claim to be) divinely guided, or is pursuant to the doctrine of a particular religion or religious group, and the Mormon institution has done this in the past when they settled in Utah (Zion), but what is most disturbing is that according to their doctrines they believe still to this day that they have the divine right to do so. Oh, and they also believe that women are "given" to men and should stay in the home, and that their religion is the supreme and pure Christianity as revealed to Smith through a cosmic revelation written on gold tablets. Really?

[sjbm2]

Freedom of religion. We have active muslims and Atheists in politics. I just want someone to do the job. Shame on your prejudice you should be ashamed.

[Starseed319]

I can't decide who is the Anti-Christ: Romney, Ryan or Rubio. They all seem to qualify.

[Starseed319]

Rubio was eloquent as he spoke for the GOP, but he made a fatal Freudian slip at the climax of his speech: We need more government and less personal freedom. Did anybody else catch that or has the Koolaid kicked in?

[marcie10000]

Matt Taibbi's Rolling Stone article sums up Mitt. And it is clear Mitt worships the church of money.

[hypnotoad72]

ROMNEY/RYAN IN 2012!

Because you hate being in the middle class and are tired of being in it!
(but the only direction is down...)

[cubscout09]

hillzhaveays,
*The top 10% dips well below $200,000 AGI and includes most of the upper middle class.
*A progressive tax would have the wealthiest bearing their fair share of the load. Many, like Romney aren't. (Less than a 15% tax rate)
*ACA levies a 3.8% income tax on top earners, like Romney ($750,000)

[sjbm2]

Thank you as a Moderate independant I am so tired of the haters...I want my children to be successes not jealous whiners. Thes posts are very depressing and mean spirited.If this is what the Dems have become they need to be voted out. I am signing off May you haters learn to live with diversity.

[Smilestoo]

This is the icing on the cake.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/catholic-priest-rev-benedict-groeschel-defends-child-sex/story?id=17114892#.UD_oSY59nHh

[TimeToEvolve]

These fake Christians in the church and at the RNC are pathetic, disgusting excuses for human beings plain and simple.

[smdonromney]

Mitt Romney in his own words:

"I believe that since Roe v. Wade has been the law for 20 years we should sustain and support it."
"Roe v. Wade has gone too far."

"I don't line up with the NRA."
"I'm a member of the [NRA]."

"I like mandates. The mandates work."
"I think it's unconstitutional on the 10th Amendment front."

"I respect and will protect a woman's right to choose."
"I never really called myself pro-choice."

"I saw my father march with Martin Luther King."
"I did not see it with my own eyes."

"I supported the assault weapon ban."
"I don't support any gun control legislation."

"I think the minimum wage ought to keep pace with inflation."
"There's no question raising the minimum wage excessively causes a loss of jobs."

"I will work and fight for stem cell research."
"In the end, I became persuaded that the stem-cell debate was grounded in a false premise."

"I would like to have campaign spending limits."
"The American people should be free to advocate for their candidates and their positions without burdensome limitations."

"I'm a strong believer in stating your position and not wavering."
"I changed my position."

"Detroit needs a turnaround, not a check."
"I'll take a lot of credit for the fact that this industry's come back."

"I'm not in favor of privatizing Social Security or making cuts."
"Social Security's the easiest and that's because you can give people a personal account."

"I'm not trying to return to Reagan-Bush."
"Ronald Reagan is... my hero."

"I've been a hunter pretty much all my life."
"Any description of my being a hunter is an overstatement of capability."

"If Massachusetts succeeds in implementing it, then that will be a model for the nation."
"What works in one state may not be the answer for another."

"It was not my desire to go off and serve in Vietnam."
"I longed in many respects to actually be in Vietnam and be representing our country there."

"It's a tax cut for fat cats."
"I believe the tax on capital gains should be zero."

"It's not worth moving heaven and earth spending billions of dollars just trying to catch one person."
"He's going to pay, and he will die."

"The TARP program... was nevertheless necessary to keep banks from collapsing in a cascade of failures."
"When government is... bailing out banks... we have every good reason to be alarmed."

"These carbon emission limits will provide real and immediate progress."
"Republicans should never abandon pro-growth conservative principles in an effort to embrace the ideas of Al Gore."

"Those... paying taxes and not taking government benefits should begin a process toward application for citizenship."
"Amnesty only led to more people coming into the country."

"When I first heard of the Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy, I thought it sounded awfully silly."
"Don't Ask, Don't Tell has worked well."

- Mitt Romney

[TimeToEvolve]

Is Mitt Robbed Me going to try to out lie Lyin' Ryan? That is a tall order. However, he might just come on and say how he is going to try to do pretty much what Bush Cheney tried to do but he will do it better.

Even more war, even more tax cuts for the rich. A bigger dose of the failed "free market". More racism, less civil, gay and women's rights. Cut Social Security and Medicare and help for women, children and families. He will make us miss the Bush Crime Family.

[Smilestoo]

This puts the icing on the cake.

[Smilestoo]

This is the desert for tonight.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/catholic-priest-rev-benedict-groeschel-defends-child-sex/story?id=17114892#.UD_oSY59nHh

[kiki418]

OMG - just how much money do the rich really need?
ANyone care to actually fact check either candidate? Obama has done MORE for this country than Romney could or will - proof is in Romney's record at Bain - greed, greed, greed!

[TimeToEvolve]

I agree, Obama has been a huge success considering the hand the Republicons left him. And their sworn plan since 2008 to make him fail. Well, by doing this the Republicons have sealed their death certificate.