TAMPA — A day after officially nominating former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney as their presidential candidate, Republicans turned their attention Wednesday to his running mate, Rep. Paul Ryan, and reached out to the Hispanic and women voters they need to counter President Obama’s advantage with those key groups.
Ryan, 42, who is in his seventh term as a congressman from Wisconsin, is scheduled to address the Republican National Convention here and a nationwide television audience Wednesday night. His main aim: to assure voters he is worthy of being a heartbeat away from the presidency.
The Obama campaign, seeking to shape perceptions of the staunchly conservative lawmaker before he takes the stage, released an online campaign video Wednesday criticizing what it called Ryan’s “out-of-step views from a bygone era.”
Romney, who appeared before the convention delegates Tuesday night after a speech by his wife, Ann Romney, was making a day trip Wednesday to Indianapolis to address the American Legion Convention. He planned to focus on veterans’ issues as convention speakers, notably Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and former secretary of state Condoleezza Rice, addressed defense and foreign affairs.
Meanwhile, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), a son of Cuban immigrants and one of the GOP’s highest-profile Latinos, took to the airwaves Wednesday to defend Romney and Ryan against perceptions that their policies are hostile to Hispanics, the nation’s fastest-growing voting group.
“The Republican Party does have a challenge,” Rubio acknowledged on ABC’s “Good Morning America” program. “We can’t just be the anti-illegal immigration party. We have to be the pro-legal immigration party, and I think Mitt Romney has done that.”
Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, a leading Latino Democrat, was scathing in his criticism of the GOP’s outreach efforts.
“You can’t just trot out a brown face or a Spanish surname and expect people are going to vote for your party or your candidate,” Villaraigosa told reporters Tuesday. “Window dressing doesn’t do much for a candidate. It’s your policies, your platform. This is a party with a platform that calls for the self-deportation of 11 million people.”
Rubio, 41, is slated to introduce Romney on Thursday night when the nominee gives his convention-capping speech. Other prominent Latino Republicans on the list of scheduled speakers after the convention reconvenes Wednesday at 7 p.m. Eastern time include Puerto Rico Gov. Luis Fortuno and New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez.
Following up on her Tuesday night speech, Ann Romney was joining Janna Ryan, the vice presidential nominee’s wife, at “Women for Romney” events on Wednesday.
Obama, concluding a two-day campaign swing aimed at young voters, scheduled an appearance Wednesday afternoon at a pavilion in Charlottesville near the University of Virginia. He had hoped to speak on campus, but school officials rejected that idea on grounds it would disrupt classes that are just resuming for the fall semester.
Ryan, 42, who is in his seventh term as a congressman from Wisconsin, is scheduled to address the Republican National Convention here and a nationwide television audience Wednesday night. His main aim: to assure voters he is worthy of being a heartbeat away from the presidency.
The Obama campaign, seeking to shape perceptions of the staunchly conservative lawmaker before he takes the stage, released an online campaign video Wednesday criticizing what it called Ryan’s “out-of-step views from a bygone era.”
Romney, who appeared before the convention delegates Tuesday night after a speech by his wife, Ann Romney, was making a day trip Wednesday to Indianapolis to address the American Legion Convention. He planned to focus on veterans’ issues as convention speakers, notably Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and former secretary of state Condoleezza Rice, addressed defense and foreign affairs.
Meanwhile, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), a son of Cuban immigrants and one of the GOP’s highest-profile Latinos, took to the airwaves Wednesday to defend Romney and Ryan against perceptions that their policies are hostile to Hispanics, the nation’s fastest-growing voting group.
“The Republican Party does have a challenge,” Rubio acknowledged on ABC’s “Good Morning America” program. “We can’t just be the anti-illegal immigration party. We have to be the pro-legal immigration party, and I think Mitt Romney has done that.”
Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, a leading Latino Democrat, was scathing in his criticism of the GOP’s outreach efforts.
“You can’t just trot out a brown face or a Spanish surname and expect people are going to vote for your party or your candidate,” Villaraigosa told reporters Tuesday. “Window dressing doesn’t do much for a candidate. It’s your policies, your platform. This is a party with a platform that calls for the self-deportation of 11 million people.”
Rubio, 41, is slated to introduce Romney on Thursday night when the nominee gives his convention-capping speech. Other prominent Latino Republicans on the list of scheduled speakers after the convention reconvenes Wednesday at 7 p.m. Eastern time include Puerto Rico Gov. Luis Fortuno and New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez.
Following up on her Tuesday night speech, Ann Romney was joining Janna Ryan, the vice presidential nominee’s wife, at “Women for Romney” events on Wednesday.
Obama, concluding a two-day campaign swing aimed at young voters, scheduled an appearance Wednesday afternoon at a pavilion in Charlottesville near the University of Virginia. He had hoped to speak on campus, but school officials rejected that idea on grounds it would disrupt classes that are just resuming for the fall semester.