During MSNBC's live coverage of the Republican National Convention on Tuesday, MSNBC political analyst Howard Fineman -- formerly of Newsweek -- complained that Chris Christie's speech was "nasty, and it was mean in tone," as he asserted that the speech failed to explain why Mitt Romney should be elected President. Shortly after 11:00 p.m., Fineman observed:
And I'll say one other thing about Chris Christie's speech. I thought it was very tough and aggressive toward the Democratic Party. It was a tough, combative speech, but it was nasty, and it was mean in tone. Which might be fine for Chris Christie and make him feel good, it might score some points for the base, but does nothing for what -- as Chris (Matthews) was saying -- the main objective of this convention has to be: to tell us who Mitt Romney is and why he will be a better steward of the economy, open him up, talk about him, explain him. This speech did none of that tonight.