When booing doesn’t hurt

We’ve all heard that Mitt Romney got booed when he
mentioned Obamacare in front of the NAACP in Houston
yesterday.

But he didn’t seem shocked. In fact, he smiled.

Maybe because he knows it gives him more conservative
street cred… but he also had to know that at a time when
we’re all sick of speeches, that little incident would
prompt a lot of us to download this one. And listen to
it. And to discover that for most of the speech, he was
NOT booed.

The applause was not overwhelming, but for example —
when he promised to give parents a choice of schools for
their children, including charter schools, “So that
parents and send their children to any public or charter
school they choose and I’ll make that a true choice,”
Romney said.

They weren’t delirious — but no booing on what is a
pretty controversial issue for a liberal-leaning
organization.

On defending family values, “As president I will
promote strong families and I will defend traditional
marriage.”

Applause, not boos.

And then, toward the end, as Romney thanked the
audience…

“I can’t promise you that I’ll agree on every issue,
but I do promise that your hospitality to me today will be
returned. We will know one another. “

[They didn’t exactly leap to their feet but if you
listen…]

He got the organ!

Candidates always prefer a friendly crowd — we all
want to be loved.

But if you want to get people to download your speech,
a little dramatic tension never hurts.

_