Mitt Romney and Barack Obama's Speeches

While watching both Governor Romney and President Obama give their speeches at their respective national conventions, I felt that both of them were quite effective. Both candidates spoke often about "believing in America" and what they were going to do to make America. Each of them did have their own strenth and weaknesses, however. I would give Governor Romney a B+ in effectiveness for his own base and about a C as far as trying to convince someone who was on the fence to vote for him (in comparison to President Obama). Romney is a poised speaker, he had many good things to say about past leaders (including Neil Armstrong). He spoke on how America has the freedom of religion, life and business, which was extremely important for him to mention to the right wing voters. He also talked about how he wishes President Obama would have succeeded in many of his plans because he wants America to succeed. I believe this was important for him to mention that there is a bigger picture than one man doing the job. It wouldn't just be him as president, it is America as a whole. Romney also did bring up how he had appointment females in his offices, but I did not think that was an effective part of his speech. To me this seemed like much more of a political talking point than him actually proving that he was "pro-women." His effectiveness truly showed at the end when he talks about restoring America to it's prosperity that it deserves and speaking of "That America." He used a specific rhythm in his speech at the very end that proud the crowd to their feet and was moving. As far as President Obama's scores, I would give him an A- for talking to his "base" and an A- for people who are on the fence. I truly don't believe that anyone could watch Barack Obama speak and truthfully say that he's not an effective speech giver. It is almost unbelievable how good he is at it (possibly to his own detriment for those who think he might be just a little bit "too smooth"). Some things that were quite effective in his speech is that he brought up certain hot topics and his plan for them. He spoke on not letting foreign countries control our oil prices, brining tuition costs down for college, making sure veterans can find a job when they return from war, and opening more plants so that our products can still be "Made In America." I thought that this was one of his major effective aspects of his speech, that he incorporated so many tangible improvements. These things are people can actually see and not some nebulous political talking point. He had the crowd roaring. Some things that I didn't think were as effective in his speech was when he talked about workers "building a business." I just though this was comical in regards to his slip up of saying "you didn't build that." However, to be completely honest if I watched these two speeches and had no prior knowledge of their politics, President Obama's speech was, in my opinion, much more effective in getting those swing voters.