Yep, I am a numbers/data guy. I generally support Democratic candidates but have voted Republican a few times in my short voting career. I personally try and cut through all the BS coming from either side and just look at the raw data and come to my own conclusion on what is going on. The big deciding factors for me are candidate's tax plans and their proposed economic agendas. Then Social programs (social security, medicare, etc) and education, then foreign policy/national security. I personally dont really care much about social issues (abortion, gay marriage) because I think the government shouldnt be sticking their nose in that arena so in that respect I am pro-choice and support gay marriage (which I used to be against).

Oh, my. I don't think Mr. Ryan is a very good speaker. In contrast to Sarah Palin's speech at the last convention, which I thought was very well-delivered. Paul Ryan, you've somehow managed to combine condescending and boring.

One thing we did notice, we didn't see one person of color in the crowd. You're in Florida, and there aren't even any Latinos for you to parade in front of the camera??

as soon as ron paul dropped out of the race it was over for me. romney and obama both make me equally sick. my vote would be for gary johnson.

Keep It Classy Repubs

Probably won't help them get that swing vote but you never know...

The two nut throwers were removed from the arena...and offered their own talk shows on FOX News.

That's awful. But you can't condemn an entire party for a couple of crazies.

As everyone here knows, I'm a moderate Democrat. But I never vote for a party. Ever. So I try to keep things objective if I can. These assholes were thrown out of the convention, as they should have been. End of story.

And what about that asshole from Yahoo? The guy gets picked up on tape saying that the Romneys are partying while Black people were drowning in New Orleans. Was that called for?

Assholes like him are the reason that many Black people have no use for White liberals. I'm glad he got fired.

I think it's a fake hate crime. Why else would the story die down so quickly? It has been two days and we have heard nothing more, which is very suspicious.

Just like the story about the Tea Party surrounding a black congressman when Obamacare was passed and using the "N" word. But the story was never confirmed nor caught on video in an age when just about everything is.

After the Duke Lacrosse fiasco(and even Tawana Brawley), you really have to be skeptical about many of these stories.

No, you really don't. There are disgusting people of all walks of life. Glad these were dealt with handily.

Please note my comments above, though. We searched and searched every shot of the crowd and couldn't find one Asian, one Latino, but finally spotted one black man in the crowd. Thousands of people, and they're all white? How does that represent America?

^^^well there was NM Gov. Martinez lol

But you are absolutely right.

SB,

You're absolutely right. AND, who do they get as their "surprise" speaker tonight? An old white guy: Clint Eastwood.




TIS

Sounds like the racial makeup of a Yankees home game.

The Yankees aren't running for the country's highest position. By not including a large segment of the nation's population at their convention they are doing themselves a lot of harm. One Condi Rice just doesn't cut it.

Ok. And if there were a lot of blacks in the crowd, you all would be crying they're plants, nothing more than window dressing for show.

Blacks aren't a "large segment" of the population. That's why they're called a "minority".

Perhaps you missed the Mia Love speech? Yeah. I'm sure you did.

Or Marco Rubio? I think he's a minority. Susana Martinez? Pienso que ella es Latina!

Well, the Fox pundits were underwhelmed again just like they were about Christie's speech. Megyn Kelly just said that "tonight he was Romney and we'll find out if that is good enough for the country."

Don't make the mistake of trying to talk for me.

Blacks and Latinos make up over 25% of the population. I'd call that a large segment.

Extremists watch Fox News. People who watch that network are either extreme conservatives who live and die by the gospel according to Hannity, or extreme liberals looking for anything to pick apart.

One should be able to listen to the speeches and draw their own conclusions without help.

SC.

Then we should do away with affirmative action because they're minorities in name only.

How can anyone tell the racial makeup of the crowd? Especially Latinos, who are not always mestizo.

And I don't see how you can look at the crowd tonight and conclude racism without doing the same to sporting events, or even this board? How many African Americans post here? Are we a bunch of white racists because we congregate on a message board where I'll bet minorities, blacks in particular are underrepresented.

I don't understand how you can even compare the two, but then again I don't understand how anyone can support the Republican agenda.

SC,

I compare the two because I find the whites who are most vocal about racism are the ones who have the least amount of interaction with blacks or other minorities in their day-to-day lives.

And it is a valid comparison. Don't say the GOP is racist because blacks don't attend their convention and then say black absence in other aspects of life is not relevant.

Again, I cannot follow any logic in your thinking.

And what about the Republican agenda do you not like?

Washington Post Article



Black Republican's take on convention

What was that Clint Eastwood thing about?

Ha ha ha! It took me a few minutes to realize he was talking to the empty chair. I was wondering what the hell he was doing.





TIS

I think he is still backstage talking to the water cooler.

I'd say about twenty minutes too long.

I liked the idea of having him appear and speak, but the idea of an old man talking to an empty chair on stage was kind of bizarre.

It makes total sense. Absence of blacks should mean racist crowd whether it's a political gathering, sporting event, message board one likes to frequent, or the demographics in your own zip code or town.

^^^i think the word you want to use is segregated instead of racist. Thats a pretty big generalization.