Mitt's Message Of Reassurance

That was the message of Mitt Romney's convention speech last night.

The speech did not serve up red meat - but then, the GOP over the past three years has produced enough red meat for an all-you-can-eat Brazilian churrascaria.

Liberal commentator Ed Kilgore complained in a tweet that the speech contained nothing for him to object to. That's a feature, not a bug. This country is filled with people disappointed by President Obama's record in office, but desperately frightened by the congressional Republican party. They want an alternative, but a safe alternative. They want a way to vote for better economic management without culture wars, without radical change, without rewarding the financial oligarchy that has enriched itself during these years of weak recovery.

Mitt Romney showed them that way. He told the story of his own life in a way that was quiet, ordinary and autumnal - a John Cheever short story on the stage, tinged by nostalgia for the children who grew up too fast.

Then he offered a vision of his future government that emphasized jobs and prosperity, rather than ideological death struggle.

Absent from the speech were the rancor and apocalyptic fervor that have gripped so much of the Republican party since the election of Barack Obama. The Mitt Romney on that stage was not angry at Barack Obama - just terribly, terribly disappointed.

It remains true that Romney is heavily burdened by his party's previous choices -and his own. This most pragmatic candidate has pledged himself to a radical program, symbolized by his choice as running mate of that program's leading author.

Last night, he reassured - but can one speech allay fears stoked over three harrowing years?