The American Voter Won at the Conventions

Now that the Republican and Democratic conventions are behind us, undecided or ambivalent voters should have a clearer picture of which candidate will get their vote. We saw two stark differences between Charlotte and Tampa that went beyond the location of the cities and the palette of the rooms. We heard from the candidates, supporters, and Americans, all whom shared the personal stories behind the political platforms. 

So which party won at their convention?  

I don't think it was about which party "won," but more about what American voters stood to gain from the conventions. 

Voters had the opportunity to digest the information from both conventions and decide for themselves who they will cast their vote for in November. Voters also had the opportunity to distinguish between fact or skewed interpretations of the facts. Hopefully voters researched convention speeches on non-partisan websites and verified the accuracy of the information being touted by both parties and on both stages.  

With the conventions behind us, let's hope that undecided voters have now decided which candidate will receive their vote.  And let's also hope that unregistered voters have decided to register and vote. Either one of those scenarios make us all winners because as President Obama recently told voters in Las Vegas, don't boo, vote. 

From my point of view, I watched both conventions with an open mind. The testimonials and hearing the personal stories of everyday, middle-class Americans that shared personal stories was a nice touch by both sides.

I appreciated Romney's diverse choice of speakers and thought it helped to offset the lack of diversity in the crowd. But I think that Romney and Ryan's speeches did not lay out a clear plan on what changes they will implement if elected into office. I also thought Mitt Romney's decision to leave out the troops in his acceptance speech was something that many voters took notice of and expressed anger about on Facebook, Twitter, and elsewhere.  

On the other hand, I loved how personal Mrs. Obama's speech was.  I felt energzied after hearing Julian Castro's passion and message.  Finally, former President Bill Clinton reminded many of us what our country was like years ago and how much more work we need to do. 

With less than 60 days remaining until election day, and as the forthcoming debates between the candidates approach, I think that voters will have a clearer picture as to which candidate is the right candidate for them. 

This post is part of a weekly conversation with our Moms Matter 2012 political bloggers. To see the original question and what the other writers have to say, see Which Convention 'Won'?

Photo via DonkeyHotey/Flickr