For a look at the DNC’s approach to benedictions and invocations, see this link: CLICK 😀. The woman (Jenna) who gave the benediction last night works with her husband in aid of the water crisis in Africa and had me at “St. Francis“.
And now for the women you have been waiting for:
I encourage you to watch both Ann and Michelle’s speeches (below). They are both charged with a strange task – imploring us to love the men that they love and do their best to inspire loyalty for their candidate-husbands.
Ann Romney, in an attempt to relate to the majority of American women, gets a little stuck on our relationships to each other as wives, mothers, even little sisters – proclaiming “I love you women”. But I have to agree with her critics in that she offers listeners little more than sisterly pillow talk that is just not as relatable as Michelle Obama‘s charges (with a comforting cadence) to not only trust her husband (as they both ask) but to do our own part! Inclusion is the name of the game and M makes us all feel like we can proudly pull some of the weight. In contrast to Michelle’s rallying invitation, it is hard to forget that Ann’s broader approach is more of a “leave it to the adults” one-way, guarded conversation.
Don’t get me wrong, I found Ann much warmer than I expected, but her giggling and the repetition of her main points – that she loves Mitt, etc. just did not do it for me. I just know there was much much more to her under the surface of that speech. The woman has had breast cancer and MS, multiple miscarriages, changed her religion, and raised 5 sons! If she was going for the women of America – candor to a degree she may have just not been comfortable with, might have served her better.
Call it a matter of taste, but Michelle also seems to take the whole thing more seriously on stage, with knowing mannerisms confirming that she has seen what it takes to get things done in the white house – while Ann epitomizes a dream of wife-hood that just isn’t even a real option for most American women today. Even if Ann and Mitt were the picture of what the contemporary woman was aspiring to, it is just unfortunate for the sake of their campagne that what they symbolize is a privilege that most voters won’t enjoy. Maybe they should have changed the topic all together from their own life – to look outward on the lives of others? At one point Ann mentions the joy of helping others when you are blessed with abundance – I think she could have drawn out this part of the speech as one of her more successful moments.
All this could be a wedge in the way of many women getting behind the Romneys as contemporary female voters (as a specific and powerful constituency) just do not identify with this Retro American Dream Team. It is great that Mitt was successful in business, and why wouldn’t Ann want to stay home with the kids? But this is not the case for the majority.
Particularly in light of Obama’s previous campaign, which worked tirelessly toward empowering those who were not historically taking advantage of their voice as voters, (the young, women, and minority voters) it seams that there is just no going back after that foundation was laid. Now that those constituents, who were once the minority, know what can happen when they show up to the poles – they have made even Texas into a swing state.
The more I have read about and listened to Ann Romney since her speech, the more I like her. So, no hard feelings – I just like Michelle’s husband more!
Ann – at the RNC
Michelle – last night at the DNC
Please feel free to comment, and God Bless the work of ALL government leaders who are trying their best to serve this nation!