TAMPA — After a day of suspended animation, the Republican convention will spring to life Tuesday, with a busy agenda that includes the formal vote on the nomination of Mitt Romney, a speech by Romney’s wife, Ann, and a keynote address by one of the party’s stars, Gov. Chris Christie (New Jersey).
It is a chance for Republican party leaders to return to their carefully planned schedule, after the threat of Tropical Storm Isaac forced cancellation of most of Monday’s events. But the storm could still haunt the convention: It is now bearing down on New Orleans, and that threat could distract TV viewers and require a more subdued tone at the political gathering, which is the formal launch of the fall 2012 campaign.
Karen Tumulty
He wasn’t out to make Republicans love him. He was out to prove to them that they didn’t have to.
Dan Balz
Can Romney reintroduce himself? What roles will Christie, Santorum and Ryan play? Will Romney-Ryan take the lead?
Dan Balz
THE TAKE | He needs a big week in Tampa to show voters he really can fix the economy.
Joel Achenbach
Romney’s running mate believes that much of what government does is toxic to the American psyche.
GRAPHIC | Do politics drive voters' spending habits? A study highlights characteristics that are seen more among the GOP than Democrats.
Graphic
Political Geography: Swing counties along Florida's I-4 corridor
Tuesday’s most important business will likely be done in the afternoon, as the GOP holds a roll-call vote to formally nominate Romney and his running mate Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.). There’s no danger that either man will lose the vote. But that moment, too, presents a worry to party bosses, since it could allow unhappy supporters of Rep. Ron Paul (R-Tex.) to ruin the choreography by shouting for their man.
In the evening, Republicans will begin making the rhetorical case for Romney — and themselves.
Speakers include House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio); Mia Love, a Utah mayor vying to become the first black woman elected to Congress as a Republican; former senator Rick Santorum (R-Penn.), an upstart presidential candidate who was Romney’s strongest challenger for the nomination but has become an effective surrogate for the candidate; and former congressman Artur Davis (D-Ala.), who gave the speech seconding Obama’s nomination at the Democratic convention in 2008 but now opposes the president. Davis ran for Alabama governor as a Democrat in 2010 and lost. He recently declared himself a Republican, saying he was disappointed by Obama’s failure to unite the country.
Tuesday’s agenda also features some of the GOP’s energetic new governors, many of whom have pursued aggressively conservative agendas in their states: Wisconsin’s Scott Walker, South Carolina’s Nikki Haley, Ohio’s John Kasich, Virginia’s Robert F. McDonnell and Oklahoma’s Mary Fallin.
All of the speeches will build toward the 10 p.m. hour, when the network television coverage will begin.
Ann Romney — a talented politician and her husband’s most effective surrogate — will give her address, intended to show her husband’s personal side.
Christie will follow with the convention’s keynote, the most important address yet for a governor who spent years as a federal prosecutor. In New Jersey, Christie has achieved remarkable success working with a Democratic state legislature, pursuing a strategy of browbeating Democrats in public and making deals through party bosses in private. During his term, the state has made changes to public-sector pensions and to the system of teacher tenure. Christie is also well-known for his pugnacious demeanor: Earlier this year, he got in a shouting match with a passing heckler on the Jersey Shore. He is likely to channel some of that spirit Tuesday on behalf of the famously even-keeled Romney.
Both Mitt and Ann Romney are scheduled to fly to Tampa from Boston on Tuesday morning, where the former Massachusetts governor has spent three days off the campaign trail preparing for his own convention speech.
Mitt Romney will visit with family and supporters at the candidate’s secured hotel, a Marriott a few steps from the convention hall. He is expected to watch his wife deliver her prime-time speech and then fly to Indianapolis on Wednesday to address the American Legion convention. He returns to Tampa on Thursday to deliver his acceptance speech.
Rucker reported from Boston.
It is a chance for Republican party leaders to return to their carefully planned schedule, after the threat of Tropical Storm Isaac forced cancellation of most of Monday’s events. But the storm could still haunt the convention: It is now bearing down on New Orleans, and that threat could distract TV viewers and require a more subdued tone at the political gathering, which is the formal launch of the fall 2012 campaign.
Karen Tumulty He wasn’t out to make Republicans love him. He was out to prove to them that they didn’t have to.
Dan Balz Can Romney reintroduce himself? What roles will Christie, Santorum and Ryan play? Will Romney-Ryan take the lead?
Dan Balz THE TAKE | He needs a big week in Tampa to show voters he really can fix the economy.
Joel Achenbach Romney’s running mate believes that much of what government does is toxic to the American psyche.
GRAPHIC | Do politics drive voters' spending habits? A study highlights characteristics that are seen more among the GOP than Democrats.Graphic
Political Geography: Swing counties along Florida's I-4 corridor
Tuesday’s most important business will likely be done in the afternoon, as the GOP holds a roll-call vote to formally nominate Romney and his running mate Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.). There’s no danger that either man will lose the vote. But that moment, too, presents a worry to party bosses, since it could allow unhappy supporters of Rep. Ron Paul (R-Tex.) to ruin the choreography by shouting for their man.
In the evening, Republicans will begin making the rhetorical case for Romney — and themselves.
Speakers include House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio); Mia Love, a Utah mayor vying to become the first black woman elected to Congress as a Republican; former senator Rick Santorum (R-Penn.), an upstart presidential candidate who was Romney’s strongest challenger for the nomination but has become an effective surrogate for the candidate; and former congressman Artur Davis (D-Ala.), who gave the speech seconding Obama’s nomination at the Democratic convention in 2008 but now opposes the president. Davis ran for Alabama governor as a Democrat in 2010 and lost. He recently declared himself a Republican, saying he was disappointed by Obama’s failure to unite the country.
Tuesday’s agenda also features some of the GOP’s energetic new governors, many of whom have pursued aggressively conservative agendas in their states: Wisconsin’s Scott Walker, South Carolina’s Nikki Haley, Ohio’s John Kasich, Virginia’s Robert F. McDonnell and Oklahoma’s Mary Fallin.
All of the speeches will build toward the 10 p.m. hour, when the network television coverage will begin.
Ann Romney — a talented politician and her husband’s most effective surrogate — will give her address, intended to show her husband’s personal side.
Christie will follow with the convention’s keynote, the most important address yet for a governor who spent years as a federal prosecutor. In New Jersey, Christie has achieved remarkable success working with a Democratic state legislature, pursuing a strategy of browbeating Democrats in public and making deals through party bosses in private. During his term, the state has made changes to public-sector pensions and to the system of teacher tenure. Christie is also well-known for his pugnacious demeanor: Earlier this year, he got in a shouting match with a passing heckler on the Jersey Shore. He is likely to channel some of that spirit Tuesday on behalf of the famously even-keeled Romney.
Both Mitt and Ann Romney are scheduled to fly to Tampa from Boston on Tuesday morning, where the former Massachusetts governor has spent three days off the campaign trail preparing for his own convention speech.
Mitt Romney will visit with family and supporters at the candidate’s secured hotel, a Marriott a few steps from the convention hall. He is expected to watch his wife deliver her prime-time speech and then fly to Indianapolis on Wednesday to address the American Legion convention. He returns to Tampa on Thursday to deliver his acceptance speech.
Rucker reported from Boston.