How is the battle for president going?

Cal Jillson, Ph.D., Professor of Political Science

"The Republican Party's principal task, humanizing Mitt Romney, was always going to be an uphill slog. Unfortunately, much of the attempt was made outside of prime time to a limited audience. While Romney's acceptance speech was well received, his passive affect when sitting with family in his box contributed rather than addressed his reputation for woodenness."

One of the nation’s foremost political experts, he regularly provides journalists thoughtful insight on Texas and U.S. politics. He is the author of the forthcoming Lone Star Tarnished: A Critical Look at Texas Politics and Public Policy.

Matthew Wilson, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Political Science

"Romney gave a solid speech that should provide some momentum going into the fall campaign.  He will never match his running mate for rhetorical power and ability to excite the base, but he emphasized the ticket's critical message for the fall campaign: that his experience and judgment position him to fix an economy that has only deteriorated under Obama.  More interestingly, Romney finally on this night of the convention openly owned his Mormon faith, with testimonials from Church leaders and an explicit mention of his Mormon upbringing in the acceptance speech.  This reflects an important departure from his approach in earlier phases of the campaign."
 
"The other thing that was very clear, both from his speech, from Ryan's the night before, and from the whole tenor of the convention, is that the ticket is eager to combat the whole "war on women" narrative.  Romney talked more about his mother and her bid for office than he did about his more famous father, and that wasn't by accident."

Professor Wilson specializes in religion and politics, as well as public opinion, elections and political psychology.