“Usually the convention is so straight and staid and symmetrical, even-Steven.  We were conscious of trying to make it not seem grandiose. We wanted it to seem inclusive, warm. It’s not like anything you’ve seen at a convention before.”
~Eddie Knasiak, RNC co-designers whose credits include projects for Ms. Winfrey, Martha Stewart and MTV 

This upcoming week the Republican National Convention will commence in Tampa, Florida although God is doing his best to stop them for the 2nd Presidential election in a row via some kind of Hurricane attack.  </sarcasm>

The Obama campaign put together a faux movie trailer that is pretty brutal entitled “The Do-Over”.  Watch it.  Some of the references in the trailer are referencing a NY Times article that describes the behind the scenes work being done to portray Mitt Romney as a “warm” to give him a chance to redefine himself.  In short it sounds like they’re putting together an MTV awards music show.

The NY Times writes HERE:

They hail from the Broadway stage, the control rooms of NBC and the design studios that created sleek sets for Oprah Winfrey and Jon Stewart.  Their craft is slick packaging and eye candy that audiences consume by the millions.  Their latest project? Selling the Mitt Romney story in prime time.

The campaign aides are determined to overcome perceptions that Mr. Romney is stiff, aloof and distant. So they have built one of the most intricate set pieces ever designed for a convention — a $2.5 million Frank Lloyd Wright-inspired theatrical stage.

The convention hall will have two musical stages — one for surprise acts and another for the house band, which will be led by G. E. Smith, the former musical director for “Saturday Night Live” and guitarist for Hall & Oates.

Esquire editorializes all of this … love it HERE:

People have been trying to humanize the Romneybot since he first stepped into politics against Ted Kennedy almost 20 years ago. They tried for two years when he was governor and, to most of the people around the State House, he went out as pretty much the same ice sculpture they’d sworn in. They tried for two years during the run-up to the 2008 campaign and, according to the one worthwhile anecdote in Game Change, by the end of the primary process, everybody wanted to spit on him. Did it look to any of you that his rivals this time around wanted to do anything else, either? No matter what they’re saying now, they all thought he was a slick bond-salesman who was buying the nomination. Newt Gingrich looked sincerely like he wanted to eat Romney’s heart in the marketplace throughout almost all of the debates.

You can see the “Podium facts and figures” – a list of everything they’re using on the stage – provided by the RNC HERE.

This sounds like if the behind the scenes folks from MTV, Saturday Night Live and the Daily Show will be able to compete with the who knows who … the people who built the Oscars?  I have no idea.  Bottom line – there has ALWAYS been a lot of pomp and circumstance in how our political conventions have been portrayed; Romney is hoping that this one will change how you feel about him.  Maybe they’re hoping all of this flash and bling will stop you from noticing that 7 birthers are speaking at the convention (source).

Politico has an exclusive video of the behind the scenes of the RNC; you can read their article HERE.

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