What Struck Me Most About GOP Convention: The Diversity of Talent and Ideas. Also the Unseen Side of the Character of Mitt Romney

No wonder Obama is left with nothing but empty negative attacks about a war on women and blacks in chains!

I'm still digesting the condensed convention in Tampa this week. What a rush it was. It's a shame that the rain storm known as Isaac caused the cancellation of the first day as there were so many good speakers who deserved their shot at prime time. In the end, 7 people in the U.S. died from the effects of Isaac. Democrats like the journalist who said on air that Mitt and Ann Romney were "happy to have a party with black people drowning,” should be ashamed. Perhaps in the days leading up to the Democrat Convention in Charlotte, NC Democrats should be more concerned with the death toll from shootings and stabbings in Obama's hometown of Chicago. Already this holiday weekend, two shootings just blocks from Obama's house yet the Dems will party on without even noticing as the death toll rises.

But after we got over the attempted distraction and hype about Isaac, the convention was just one solid ride from start to finish. A couple of things really stood out.

First, it's no secret that the liberal media does their best to hide the fact that the GOP has more women elected as governors of states than the Democrats. There are also more  GOP Hispanics, both male and female, elected to high office than Democrats. The Tampa Convention brought them out of the media blackout.

Night after night women, Hispanics and blacks came forward to tell their story of how they found success within the GOP. Who could fail to be moved by Condi Rice when she described how a black woman from Jim Crow era Alabama rose to become the Secretary of State?

But the speeches were not so much about minorities overcoming racial barriers but about WHY they were Republicans in the first place. Susana Martinez, the Governor of New Mexico described the philosophical conversion which led her to switch parties and become a Republican. She is now the first female Hispanic governor in the country. Then Mia Love, whose parents immigrated from Haiti and is the Mayor of Saratoga Springs Utah and a candidate for Congress talks in interviews about how the issues of concern for our future are not those which can or should be divided along racial lines. They are the concerns of all Americans regardless of race.

And of course there was the impassioned speech by Marco Rubio who described his own second generation American success. The message from all three nights was be you black, white or Hispanic you can make it in America and the GOP offers you a home!

Mitt Cares

The second thing we learned this week is that there's a lot more to Mitt Romney than we knew. Obama was going around the country during the GOP Convention telling audiences that "Romney doesn't care" about the sick or the injured but "I do care." That contrasts sharply with the testimonials we heard at the convention from parents of sick and dying children that Romney sought to help.

There was the story of David Oparowsky the 14 year old boy with terminal cancer. Mitt visited the boy regularly during their ordeal. Take a moment and read the story as told by his mother (video):

“David, knowing Mitt had gone to law school at Harvard, asked Mitt if he would help him write a will. He had some prize possessions that he wanted to make sure were given to his closest friends and family. The next time Mitt went to the hospital, he was equipped with his yellow legal pad and pen. Together, they made David’s will. That is a task that no child should ever have to do. But it gave David peace of mind. So after David’s death, we were able to give his skateboard, his model rockets, and his fishing gear to his best friends. He also made it clear that his brother Peter should get his Ruger .22 rifle. How many men do you know who would take the time out of their busy lives to visit a terminally ill 14 year old and help him settle his affairs?”

“David also helped us plan his funeral,” Pat Oparowski continued. “He wanted to be buried in his Boy Scout uniform. He wanted Mitt to pronounce his eulogy, and Mitt was there to honor that request. We will be ever grateful to Mitt for his love and concern.”

David's father Ted followed up his wife's remarks saying:

“You cannot measure a man’s character based on the words he utters before adoring crowds during times that are happy,” said Ted Oparowski. “The true measure of a man is revealed in his actions during times of trouble — the quiet hospital room of a dying boy, with no cameras and no reporters.”

Can Obama, who claims to care and claims Romney does not, point to a similar story in his ego-centered life? Or in Obama's mind does more big government programs enriching bureaucrats count as the same thing?

Next, there was the testimonial of Pam Finlayson (video). When her daughter was born three months premature and struggling for life Mitt wept with the family in the hospital infant ICU. In Pam's words, the story continues:

"During the many months Kate was hospitalized, the Romneys often cared for our two-year old son, Peter. They treated him like one of their own, even welcoming him to stay the night when needed.

When Thanksgiving rolled around, Kate was still struggling for life.

Brain surgery was scheduled, and the holiday was the furthest thing from our minds.

I opened my door to find Mitt and his boys, arms loaded with a Thanksgiving feast.

Of course we were overcome. When I called to thank Ann, she sweetly confessed it had been Mitt’s idea, that most of the cooking and chopping had been done by him."

26 years later Kate died from the complications of her lifelong struggle. The Finlayson's had moved away from Boston yet the Romney's, even though Mitt was preparing for his first run for President in 2008, called to offer their condolences.  Pam concluded her remarks:

"It seems to me when it comes to loving our neighbor, we can talk about it, or we can live it. The Romney’s live it every single day."

The GOP Convention offered the best counter argument to the false negative attacks coming from Democrats attempting to paint the GOP as racist, waging a war on women or Mitt Romney as uncaring.  But also, the speakers at the Convention laid out a series of contrasts with the Democrats over the big issues confronting the country. In the rush of the final weeks of this campaign, let's hope the country is able to put aside the phony attacks by Democrats and give the most serious and thoughful consideration to that campaign of ideas!