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ProSense

(116,464 posts)
Fri Feb 24, 2012, 04:46 PM Feb 2012

Media Fixates On Near-Empty Stadium Rather Than Romney’s Speech

Media Fixates On Near-Empty Stadium Rather Than Romney’s Speech

Benjy Sarlin

Mitt Romney’s big speech in Michigan Friday was delivered before a crowd that organizers pegged at roughly 1,200.

<...>

In his opening remarks Romney referenced the size of the venue.

“I guess we had a tough time finding a large enough place to meet, and this certainly is,” he joked.

But humor didn’t prevent people from picking up the story. On Twitter, reporters from across the spectrum seemed far more interested in the optics of the event than the substance of Romney’s speech, in which he called for lower tax rates and entitlement spending as part of a broad reform package he released this week.

Conservative columnist Byron York of the Washington Examiner posted a brutal long distance shot of the 98% empty stadium. Neil King of the Wall Street Journal put up a photo of empty seats by Romney’s stage as well.

Empty seats are never a good look for a presidential speech, let alone one billed as a major address, but in Romney’s case the optics are made worse by the fact that he’s competing to unseat a president who has a history of filling stadiums with enthusiastic supporters. John McCain ran into a similar media frenzy in 2008 after delivering a widely panned speech before a small audience in front of a lime green background the same night that Barack Obama celebrated clinching the nomination.

http://2012.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/02/media-fixates-on-empty-stadium-rather-than-romneys-speech.php?ref=fpa


With Mitt, it's either or. Even conservative columnists are posting photos. From the TPM links.






Romney keeps offering up these "doing laundry moments, but it's not just the images, it's also his words.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1002347231

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1002347384

11 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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Media Fixates On Near-Empty Stadium Rather Than Romney’s Speech (Original Post) ProSense Feb 2012 OP
Good. Only 2 takeaways here. Ruby the Liberal Feb 2012 #1
We get more people at my daughter's middle school PTA meetings. JoePhilly Feb 2012 #2
It's hard to fill a stadium when your audience is the 1% qb Feb 2012 #3
Nice maximusveritas Feb 2012 #6
Good one!!! RKP5637 Feb 2012 #8
That's definitely DUzy worthy! hifiguy Feb 2012 #10
I just don't get the conservative teapublican voter Old and In the Way Feb 2012 #4
there is massive voter fraud happening Vincardog Feb 2012 #9
it seemed like a good idea at the time Enrique Feb 2012 #5
Oh come on! That American flag EASILY takes up 70 seats... n/t Earth_First Feb 2012 #7
What a diverse audience! And by that I mean one woman is wearing red Arugula Latte Feb 2012 #11

Old and In the Way

(37,540 posts)
4. I just don't get the conservative teapublican voter
Fri Feb 24, 2012, 04:57 PM
Feb 2012

In 2004, no one was showing up for Bush rallies...and Kerry was drawing huge crowds. Yet the election was close enough to steal again. This year, same thing. No one is showing up for Republican rallies or their primaries...yet, somehow they manage to turn out enough people to make their races competitive. Wisconsin has energized Democrats showing up, Walker doesn't...yet he is still going to be tough to kick out of office.

Either there is massive voter fraud happening or the typical Republican voter is totally uninterested in politics, yet manages to find their way to a voting booth every 2 years.

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