David Frum's Blog, page 194

Message To Mitt: You're Not Everyman

Ari Kohen, a former professor of mine, chides the Romneys for playing up the idea of Mitt as an everyman. Kohen wishes Romney would acknowledge his privileged circumstances in life.

RNC Diary: Fighting Tyranny With Potato Chips

That's a big basket of sweet potato chips you're looking at. Here at Tampa's Riverside Sheraton, one is deposited on the table of every lunch party as soon as they sit down. Good news for those who worry that Michelle Obama's reign of terror has destroyed America's cherished food freedoms.

Some Hope For Israelis And Palestinians

Michael Kuplow, writing at his Ottomans and Zionists blog, is less than optimistic about the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, but also features a piece of optimism that you shouldn't miss.

Iran's Chummy Talks With India

What news from foreign countries will we be talking about in two months? To keep readers abreast of the latest developments abroad, Brian Stewart will provide semi-regular commentary for the blog, highlighting global alerts that merit attention.

RNC Diary: In The Thick Of Things

The Daily Caller team is based in the same outer Tampa hotel as the Daily Beast. I just ran into publisher Neil Patel in lobby. He quipped, "It's great to have a hotel equally close to both Democratic and Republican conventions."

Gun Safety For Moronic Bureaucrats

Three year old Hunter Spanjer, who is deaf, has been

RNC Diary: About That Altruistic, Selfless Senior Citizenry

Last night, Chris Christie claimed that America's senior citizens are not selfish. This morning, I wandered into a suburban Tampa coffee shop between appointments to sit at my computer for a moment. It looked empty and quiet. Mistake! In fact, owner, waitstaff and the sole customer -- a man of about 75 -- were all engaged in a loud, friendly conversation that went something like this:

RNC Diary: Ace Buzzkillington, Reporting

I got some negative feedback for my unenthralled response to Chris Christie's convention speech. But if anybody thinks my reporting was disenchanted, let me introduce you to some Nobel-prize-winning buzzkill: VS Naipaul's almost super-humanly grouchy reporting from the 1984 Republican convention in Dallas. (H/T Kapil Komireddii)

RNC Diary: Culture Shock For Tampa's International Visitors

Foreign dignitaries seem mostly to be stashed at the Embassy Suites in distant North Tampa (although from the the perspective of the Daily Beast operation, that hotel seems positively mid-town). I had breakfast there today with a Canadian cabinet minister and spotted former Australian prime minister John Howard and a top pollster to David Cameron. The hotel operates as a quasi-international zone for Republican-friendly foreign politicos. (I spotted a clutch of German CDU/CSU types as well.) I...

Ann Romney Scores, Chris Christie Misses

I can't remember a better convention speech by a would-be First Lady than Ann Romney delivered tonight. She was herself warm and charming - and she was thus utterly convincing when she argued for her husband's character and capacity for empathy. She is so human -- a splendid survivor of two terrible diseases -- that when she speaks for her husband's humanity, she carries all before her.