Campaign "optics"

... Even before he was president, Obama was a rock-star candidate. By now it's practically a scripted part of his stump speech that someone in the audience shouts, "I love you!" and the president replies, "I love you back!"

There's a wound-up passion in the crowd that has become a signature part of the Obama brand. An event in Mansfield, Ohio, last week had about 2,000 people in the audience, smallish by Obama standards.

For Romney, crowds are more often in the hundreds. And he has tried to turn the president's glitz and glamour against the Obama campaign.

If Obama's campaign optics suggest, "This guy's a big deal," Romney's optics convey, "This guy's a problem solver."

"I'm very concerned about how we can get Americans back in good-paying jobs with a bright and prosperous future. And let me tell you, I know how to do it," Romney said Saturday in Evansville, Ind., where his only public appearance was a low-key stop at a barbecue shack. ...

... The crowds don't just sound different. They look different. When I asked Tyree Gelzer, 8, about this at an Obama rally in Orlando, the look on his face said, "Duh." His answer to why he and his family came out to see Obama: "Well, he's the first black president."

At Romney rallies, it can be difficult to find any people of color in the crowd. The Republican Party acknowledges this challenge. That's one reason the list of Republican convention speakers out this week includes New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez, South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, and former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. All three have broken racial and gender barriers. ...NPR