‘I am the granddaughter of a Welsh coalminer,’ said Ann Romney, as she introduced herself to America last night, auditioning for the job of First Lady. She did pretty well, and if she were the actual candidate then the Republicans would be home and dry. Whatever her roots, she is now the millionaire owner of an Olympic dressage horse and had to be accepted by a party grassroots which is more on the wavelength of the tea party. ‘I read somewhere that Mitt and I have a “storybook marriage”,’ she said. ‘Well, in the storybooks I read, there were never long, long, rainy winter afternoons in a house with five boys screaming at once. And those storybooks never seemed to have chapters called MS or Breast Cancer.’ She was diagnosed with MS in 1998, and breast cancer in 2008 — a reminder that her life has not been entirely easy.
She worked the camera brilliantly, acting our all of her lines and proving a better podium speaker than most of our MPs.
Britain’s best politics newsletters
You get two free articles each week when you sign up to The Spectator’s emails.
Already a subscriber? Log in
Comments
Join the debate, free for a month
Be part of the conversation with other Spectator readers by getting your first month free.
UNLOCK ACCESS Try a month freeAlready a subscriber? Log in