Mitt Romney's Convention Speech Gets Tepid Response: Gallup

Early polling results following the Republican National Convention suggest that any bounce that Mitt Romney got from the three days in Tampa was marginal at best.

The latest set of data came from Gallup on Monday morning.

Republicans overwhelmingly said the convention made them more likely to vote for Romney, although most would likely be voting for their nominee anyway. Democrats as predictably said the convention made them less likely to vote for Romney. Independents, a key group in any presidential election, were essentially split, with 36 percent saying the convention made them more likely to vote for Romney and 33 percent less likely -- although 30 percent said they don't know or that the convention made no difference.

This may say as much about the diminishing impact of conventions as it does about Romney's performance itself. The numbers for the Massachusetts Republican mirror those for John McCain in 2008 and George W. Bush in 2004, Gallup notes.

Still, even some conservatives see Romney's speech in Tampa as something of a missed opportunity, as underscored by the Wall Street Journal editorial board in Sunday's paper:

He and Paul Ryan promised to help the middle class, but they never explained other than in passing how they would do it. In his acceptance speech, Mr. Romney tossed out his five policy ideas almost as an afterthought. Energy got one sentence, education scored big with two. Neil Armstrong received almost as much speech time as what Mr. Romney would do specifically to spur faster growth and raise middle-class incomes.