Ann Romney to Show the Softer Side of Mitt at Tuesday RNC Speech
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The Republican National convention finally got fully underway in Tampa, Florida Tuesday following a truncated first day because of Tropical Storm Isaac. The storm skirted Tampa and is now heading for the Gulf Coast. It's expected to make landfall tonight or early tomorrow, possibly as a category 1 or 2 hurricane, and may end up being the most exciting thing about this convention.
There's even some talk that the convention could be shortened because of the storm but that's only a contingency at this point, says Ben White, Wall Street reporter at Politico and author of the "Morning Money" column.
White expects a "more subdued tone at the convention" if the storm worsens and is upgraded to a hurricane.
"They Republicans don't want to be seen to be cheerleading when people are really in harms way," White explains. "They remember Katrina very well seven years ago… how bad a memory that is for Republicans and how George Bush handled that."
He told The Daily Ticker that Mitt Romney is expected to arrive in Tampa Tuesday, just in case he has to give his speech accepting the nomination before Thursday, as scheduled, because of the storm.
Romney accepts his party's nomination Thursday night with a much-anticipated speech."This is important opportunity for him in prime time on the networks to deliver his message .... to introduce himself to people who might not have been paying attention."
On the schedule tonight at the convention: the roll call vote of the states to nominate Mitt Romney and speeches by his wife Ann and New Jersey Governor Chris Christie who gives the keynote.
"Ann Romney will try to bring down the gender gap at least a little bit and put some more human touches on mitt Romney," says White. He expects Christie, who's giving the keynote speech to stress the message of less government and more tax cuts.
Asked what tomorrow's headline covering the convention will look like, White says it will be something like "an introduction to the softer side of Mitt Romney" highlighting Ann Romney's speech. "People don't really know her" White explained, adding that's not the case with Chris Christie.
