Another Storm Cloud for Romney as Obama’s Convention Ratings Remain Strong

Last updated on September 11th, 2012 at 01:30 am

The ratings are in for night three of the DNC and the news is not good for Mitt Romney, as President Obama’s popularity remains strong.

President Obama’s speech drew a combined viewership of 35.7 million. This was over 5 million more viewers that Mitt Romney drew for his speech in Tampa. More telling is where those viewers came from. While over 39% of Romney’s viewers came from Fox News, the majority of Obama’s audience came from four networks. NBC (7.377 million), CNN (5.562 million), MSNBC (4.547 million), and ABC (3.995 million).

To get more stories like this, subscribe to our newsletter The Daily.

Besides the fact that incumbency is a powerful thing, these ratings demonstrate that President Obama remains a popular and powerful political force. Despite four years of unending political attacks on his popularity, the viewership for President Obama’s speech was down roughly ten percent from 2008.

Four years of ceaseless lies, distortions, and personal attacks got the Republican Party just a ten percent drop in viewership. All of that Republican obstruction designed to make Obama a one term president managed to depress viewership by ten percent.

The fact that Romney could not compete with Obama for America’s attention is an ominous sign for the Republican Party. There is no tidal wave of support for electing Mitt Romney. There is no groundswell to boot Obama out.

When you combine the viewership for Obama’s speech with the initial polling that is hinting at a bounce for the president, a circumstantial case can be made for the idea that over the past two weeks Mitt Romney has lost ground.

The nightmare for the Republican Party is that the Obama brand remains strong, and his march to a second term pushes on.

Jason Easley

Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.

Awards and  Professional Memberships

Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association