One problem: the timing.
Aboard the USS Wisconsin in Norfolk, Va., Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney introduced Paul Ryan as his running mate at 9 a.m. Saturday.
After weeks of buildup and speculation, the big reveal came at a time where younger voters were probably sleeping off hangovers and soccer moms cheering on their kids.
Yes, I'm 23, so you may think I come with a younger person's "time" bias. While I'm not up at 5 a.m. every morning making lunches or waking kids up for school, I do wake up for work at 3 a.m.
For a weekday, when folks are settling into their desk chairs, 9 a.m. is not at all early. On a Saturday when people are catching up on sleep after a long week, going grocery shopping or getting some fresh air, it is.
No doubt the vice presidential announcement is big news. It would be whenever it is made. But for a campaign that admits it wants this to change the scope of the election, a Saturday morning reveal doesn't make sense.
When news came out late Friday night that the official unveiling would come Saturday, so did the leaks. News organizations called up their sources and thus the initial reports of Paul Ryan as VP broke after midnight Saturday.
That's not quite the time where there is a captive audience.
Saturday is also a day where newsrooms are not as highly staffed. On a local level, there simply aren't as many newscasts. Whereas most local stations have a full morning block, noon, and three evening newscasts during the week, they typically have them just at 6 p.m., 11 p.m., and some an hour or two in the morning on Saturdays.
Cable networks don't have their big players on the air on the weekends. There is no Piers Morgan, Sean Hannity or Rachel Maddow to break down the news on the evening gabfests. There's no Shepard Smith or Anderson Cooper digesting the news. While the VP choice will get plenty of chatter on the Sunday political shows, it won't be as fresh or breaking anymore.
While the cable nets could bring in the big names or have special reports for the VP news, you have to wonder if the audience will be as large to watch them. Saturday is a night on which broadcast networks have virtually stopped competing. Folks go to the movies, theater, baseball game, or out to dinner. If you have tickets for an event you bought months ago, you're not staying home to learn more about Paul Ryan. But if you watch Hannity or Anderson five nights a week after work as routine, you sure would have.
Breaking news can't be avoided on Saturday when it's a death or disaster. It can when it's an announcement that has been in the works for months.
The Romney campaign went through a meticulous process of vetting candidates yet did not vet when it could reach the largest audience.
News websites peak at the noon hour on a weekday, when people are surfing the web at their lunch breaks. Saturday is a down day, where traffic is at its lowest points.
If the Romney campaign wanted to generate the greatest amount of buzz, an announcement on Monday or Tuesday at 10 or 11 a.m., following the Olympics, would have done a better job.
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