{"id":49907,"date":"2012-09-05T09:27:55","date_gmt":"2012-09-05T14:27:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/2012\/09\/05\/rnc-highlights-romney-shares-top-billing-with-eastwood\/"},"modified":"2026-08-27T14:00:00","modified_gmt":"2026-08-27T18:00:00","slug":"rnc-highlights-romney-shares-top-billing-with-eastwood","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/politics\/2012\/09\/05\/rnc-highlights-romney-shares-top-billing-with-eastwood\/","title":{"rendered":"RNC Highlights: Romney Shares Top Billing With Eastwood"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Overview<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The public paid far less attention to this year\u2019s Republican convention than it did to the GOP convention four years ago. Just 37% say they watched all or some of the Republican convention, down from 56% in 2008.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

And while there has been a modest increase in the percentage saying they view Mitt Romney more favorably in the wake of the convention, his acceptance speech was not the highlight of the event: As many of those who watched at least a little convention coverage cited Clint Eastwood\u2019s speech as the convention highlight (20%) as named Romney\u2019s speech (17%). One-in-five say there was no convention highlight, about the same percentage as four years ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The latest national survey by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press, conducted Aug. 31-Sept. 3 among 1,008 adults, finds that even among Republicans Romney\u2019s speech was not the standout event of the convention. A quarter of Republican convention-watchers (25%) said Romney\u2019s speech was the highlight, 19% named Eastwood\u2019s performance, 15% named Paul Ryan\u2019s speech and 13% cited Ann Romney\u2019s address.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

More independents who watched convention coverage cited Eastwood\u2019s speech than Romney\u2019s speech as the convention highlight (26% vs. 17%), while a plurality of Democrats (40%) said there was no convention highlight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Four years ago, GOP nominee John McCain\u2019s acceptance speech also was not the convention\u2019s signature event. Fully half (50%) named GOP vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin\u2019s speech as the highlight of that convention, while 17% cited McCain\u2019s speech, which is identical to the percentage citing Romney\u2019s speech in the current survey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Views of Romney: Before and After<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Currently, 25% say their opinion of Romney has become more favorable in the past few days, up from 18% during the week before the GOP convention (Aug. 23-26). There has been a comparable decline in the percentage saying their views have become less favorable (from 26% to 20%). Still, a plurality says their opinion of Romney has not changed recently (44% today, 46% before the convention).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There was a similar change in views of McCain after the 2008 Republican convention: 35% said they felt more favorably toward the GOP nominee, up from 28% before the convention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As was the case with McCain, most of the change in Romney\u2019s image has come among Republicans: In the <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

current survey, 53% say their view of Romney has become more favorable, up from 43% a week ago. Independents also have a slightly better view of Romney than did so before the convention (21% more favorable after, up from 15%).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The overall ratings of Romney\u2019s convention speech also are similar to those for McCain in 2008. Overall, 52% say Romney\u2019s speech was excellent (21%) or good (32%); 34% say it was only fair (21%) or poor (13%). Four years ago, 52% also gave McCain\u2019s convention speech positive ratings while 32% viewed it negatively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fewer Watch Coverage than in 2008<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Only about four-in-ten Americans (37%) say they watched even some coverage of the Republican convention: 17% say they watched all or most of it, while 21% watched some of it. Most watched just a little of the coverage (21%) or none of it (40%). In 2008, 56% watched at least some coverage of the Republican convention; just 21% watched no coverage, only about half the percentage as say that today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is far less interest in the GOP convention this year than in the 2008 Republican convention among Republicans, Democrats and independents. Four years ago, 69% of Republicans watched at least some convention coverage; 56% watched at least some coverage of the events in Tampa last week. Nearly half of Democrats (49%) watched at least some GOP convention coverage in 2008, but just 28% watched at least some of this year\u2019s convention. Interest among independents in the Republican convention also has fallen sharply, from 52% in 2008 to 34% in the current survey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

More generally, 29% of Americans say they are following news about the presidential campaign very closely, which is virtually unchanged from last week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Current interest in the presidential campaign is on par with interest in two other news stories \u2013 the economy and Hurricane Isaac. A third (33%) followed news about the economy very closely, 31% tracked news about the hurricane very closely, while 29% paid very close attention to the presidential campaign.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The public paid far less attention to this year\u2019s Republican convention than it did to the GOP convention four years ago. Just 37% say they watched all or some of the Republican convention, down from 56% in 2008. And while there has been a modest increase in the percentage saying they view Mitt Romney […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":52,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"sub_headline":"Fewer Watch Convention Coverage than in 2008","sub_title":"Fewer Watch Convention Coverage than in 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