Stan Honda / AFP - Getty Images

Delegates watch campaign videos of presidential candidate Mitt Romney after RNC chairman Reince Priebus gaveled the convention to order at the Tampa Bay Times Forum on Monday.

TAMPA, Fla. -- With Hurricane Isaac moving west of Tampa, Republican convention organizers said tonight they are “full speed” ahead with the next three days of events.

“We expect no change over the next three days,” said Russ Schriefer, a Romney adviser, on a conference call with reporters. “We are full speed planning ahead with our Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday schedule.”

Schriefer, however, said the campaign is monitoring the storm’s path closely and are leaving open the possibility of more changes. 

“Our thoughts are with the people in the path of the storm,” Schriefer said. “We hope they are spared any major destruction." 

Tuesday’s events will begin at 2:00 pm ET with convention business, then the roll call, and nomination of the vice-presidential candidate.

Tuesday night will be highlighted by the keynote speech of New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and Ann Romney, the wife of presumptive Republican nominee Mitt Romney. Both will speak in the prime-time broadcast televised hour between 10:00 pm ET and 11:00 pm ET. They will be the only speakers in that window.

But Schriefer also pointed, in particular, to former Sen. Rick Santorum’s speech earlier in the evening. The former Pennsylvania senator is expected to focus his speech on “work,” and possibly hit on welfare.

Santorum’s speech is “going to be particularly good,” said Schriefer, who noted that he had read both Santorum’s and Christie’s speeches. Santorum will stress his family upbringing, being a son of immigrants and “how work is such an important part of the tradition of this country,” Schriefer said, stressing that Santorum was a “leader in the fight to reform welfare in 90s,” and that he “believes strongly in dignity of work.”

“It’s going to be very good,” Schriefer said.

Schriefer also addressed the potential controversy with Ron Paul delegates. Paul said yesterday he wouldn’t “fully endorse” Romney and his delegates gamed many of the rules at state conventions to get an outsized delegation on the floor of the convention.

“In terms of disunity, we are a big party,” Schriefer said. “We have people with different opposing viewpoints. I don’t think this a particularly divisive point of view people are divided on. We are all united in defeating Barack Obama. I guarantee that, on Thursday, we’ll be 100 percent united behind Mitt Romney and defeating Barack Obama for the good of the country.”

BOSTON -- Ohio Sen. Rob Portman will reprise his role playing a Democratic candidate in debate prep, multiple sources tell NBC News.

Portman will play President Obama in debate preparations for presumptive GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney, a role he played in 2008 in preparations for that year's nominee, Arizona Sen. John McCain.

Portman has been playing Democrats in debate preparation for nearly two decades, having assumed the roles of Al Gore, Joseph Lieberman and Hillary Clinton in previous elections.

Portman has long been a leading Romney surrogate on the campaign trail and the fundraising circuit, particularly in his native Ohio. He was considered an odds-on favorite to become Romney's Vice Presidential nominee until earlier this month, when Romney selected Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan instead.

In June, Obama campaign officials said that Senator John Kerry (D-MA) would play Romney in Obama's debate prep. Kerry has experience in presidential debates during his own ill-fated 2004 run. His familiarity with Romney, the former governor of Massachusetts, were seen as logical reasons for the choice.

NBC's Andrew Rafferty contributed reporting from Tampa, FL.

JANESVILLE, WI -- Paul Ryan's sendoff to the Republican convention on Monday was mostly a family affair, as a well-wisher brought a photo of Ryan's late father to a farewell rally.

Alex Moe/NBC News

David Green (middle), shows off photo he brought of the bowling team from the 1960s with Paul Ryan's father, Paul Murray Ryan (far right).

“That’s my dad,” Paul Ryan exclaimed as he took the black-and-white photo from a man in the crowd.

“That’s my dad’s bowling league. Look at that. That’s my dad right there,” Ryan said and eventually handed the photograph to a staffer: “Be careful with that.”

Longtime family friend, 87-year-old David Green, brought the photo of the late Paul Murray Ryan, taken back in the 1960s, to show his son, who could be the next vice president of the United States.

Memories like this were shared all morning Monday.

The seven-term Wisconsin congressman, Paul Davis Ryan, has never forgotten his roots and today, the family man returned to the small Wisconsin town he has called home for the past 42-years to say thank you.

“Hello, Janesville. It's good to be home,” an emotional Ryan told the crowd inside his former high school’s gymnasium a few blocks from his home here. “I want to thank our neighbors on Courthouse Hill for indulging all of this and for their patience. We really appreciate that.”

(A security perimeter of several blocks has recently been put up around Ryan’s home.]

He continued: “And I want to thank everybody in the broader community. Thank you. I know this has put a lot in Janesville, and I want to thank you, and I want to just tell you how proud I am to come from Janesville, Wisconsin.”

Just two days before the biggest speech of his life, the presumptive GOP vice presidential nominee returned to the town where he was born and raised – and is currently raising his family – for a send-off rally before flying to the Republican National Convention in Tampa, FL.

The congressman was joined by his wife, Janna, and three children: Liza, Charlie, and Same (who wore a Romney-Ryan cheesehead), for the first time since the weekend he was tapped as Mitt Romney’s VP.

“Life has changed since I last saw you,” Janna said on the ropeline and was even given a bumper sticker by an attendee that read: “Romney Ryan and ME!”

“I love it! I love it!” she exclaimed.

Ryan’s mother, Betty, and brother, Tobin, were also in attendance at the rally inside Joseph A. Craig High School.

“It’s -- I don’t have words for it,” Ryan said when asked what it was like to be a rockstar here in his town.

And many in the crowd had very fond memories of Ryan throughout the years.

Family friend, Julie Lyons, wearing a “Team Janna” homemade t-shirt to support the family behind the politician, recalled how “normal” Ryan is and how he just liked to be “one of the kids.”

"We have traveled with them [The Ryan’s] to different places," Lyons said, who has twins the same age as Ryan’s 10-year-old daughter. “I’d say all the parents, including Paul, are always very involved in the kids activities and whether it is riding paddle boats or fishing or cookouts, he is one of the kids."

And Mary Kanavas, whose husband was in the Wisconsin State Assembly and knows the Ryan’s, says no one loves their hometown as much as Ryan.

“There are many people that are from many places in the world but Ryan eats it, breathes it, sleeps it, walks it -- he loves this town and I think that is what people are so excited about,” she said. “He is an honest to God child of Janesville and I think he will make them very proud.”

TAMPA, Fla. – The task before Mitt Romney as he accepts his party’s presidential nomination this week in Florida is to convince the narrow segment of remaining undecided voters to boot President Obama from office, and then, decide on Romney as a suitable alternative.

This week’s Republican National Convention is one of three major opportunities – the other two being his selection of a running mate, and the presidential debates – Romney can count on to reach a large national audience. And for the former Massachusetts governor, that means changing perceptions about his personality and politics after a withering summer of attacks from the president’s re-election team and supportive super PACs.

Shannon Stapleton / Reuters

Delegates look at an image of U.S. Republican presidential candidate and former Massachusetts Mitt Romney displayed during the opening session of the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Florida, August 27, 2012.

Slideshow: Republican National Convention

“I think if the election were held tomorrow, Obama would win the election,” said Steve Schmidt, a senior adviser in 2008 to that year’s GOP nominee, Arizona Sen. John McCain. “And in the balance of days left in this election, Romney has to change the dynamic of the election.”

Republicans will help Romney execute his game plan in a series of speeches and events throughout the week. Organizers hope to project the convention’s overall theme, “A Better Future,” in speeches and events spread across the convention’s abbreviated, three-day schedule. Republicans will weave the theme of Monday’s canceled session (“We Can Do Better”) into the three remaining days’ themes -- "We Built It," "We Can Change It," and "We Believe in America."

Those themes represent the tasks at hand. Republicans must convince voters that Obama hasn’t done well enough to merit re-election. But Romney will arrive in Tampa with some of the worst personal approval ratings of any presumptive Republican nominee; 44 percent of voters said in the August NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll that they held a negative opinion of Romney, while 38 percent expressed a positive opinion.

For Romney, the convention is as much an exercise in re-introducing himself to voters and softening impressions as it is making the case against Obama.

"He needs to introduce himself to people. Even though he’s the nominee, he lost the summer pretty decisively," said Bob Shrum, the veteran Democratic presidential strategist.

Shrum said the Obama campaign, over the course of the summer, had efficiently "shattered the central rationale for Romney’s campaign, that he’s a businessman who knows how to create jobs."

To do that, Romney will lean on surrogates like former Olympic athletes, who will pay tribute to Romney’s successes as head of the 2002 Salt Lake City games. Other speakers will include members of Romney’s church, fellow Mormons who are expected to pay tribute to acts of charity undertaken by Romney, a former bishop in his faith.

Another closely watched-speech with potential to move the needle will be the Wednesday night speech by Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan – whose selection represented Romney’s first major decision in the general election. The Republican running mate is expected to fete Romney, as well as make the case for entitlement reforms.

Modern conventions in both parties are carefully scripted to drive a message to a nationally televised audience, leaving for a narrow margin of error for speakers. The primetime lineup has been carefully selected, but the risk that a single speaker could veer off-message hangs over Tampa almost as much as the impending tropical storm.

“You’re supposed to vet the speeches, and you’ve selected the speakers,” said Republican operative Frank Donatelli, the head of GOPAC.

An impolitic remark could hijack news coverage away from the central messages of each night. The GOP is also hoping to avoid what happened in 1992, when several hard-charging speeches by conservatives were blamed for turning off swing voters from President George H.W. Bush’s re-election bid.

But most pivotal of all is Romney’s own acceptance speech, which will be nationally-televised address Thursday night.

Romney has said he’s begun drafting the speech, and appeared to join his wife, Ann, on Sunday in practicing their convention appearances. The Romneys headed to Brewster Academy, a prep school near their home in New Hampshire, for several hours on Sunday afternoon to practice their speeches.

But he’s overall been generally guarded about the contents of his and Ann’s speeches.

"I like my speech. I really like Ann's speech," he told reporters after a second day of practice on Monday morning.

The national spotlight for Romney will offer a personalizing opportunity for the former Massachusetts governor. But he’ll also have to explain his rationale for running, and make the case against a second term for Obama.

“He needs to bring definition to the race,” said Schmidt. “Why's he running for president? I think it's an unanswered question right now. “

A successful convention might mean a bounce for Romney; McCain led Obama in the immediate aftermath of both of their respective conventions in 2008. Republicans argue that advantage only diminished due to the financial crisis in the fall of that year.

This year, a different obstacle hangs over Romney’s bid to leave Tampa with more energy than Obama: next week’s Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, N.C.

TAMPA, Fla. -- Monday's official session of the Republican National Convention lasted just over 33 seconds, gaveled into recess until Tuesday.

Mark Wilson / Getty Images

RNC Chairman Reince Priebus bangs the gavel to start the Republican National Convention at the Tampa Bay Times Forum on August 27 in Tampa, Fla.

Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus opened the convention promptly at 2 p.m. ET, and immediately thereafter ordered the convention into recess. The effective cancellation of Monday's activities came after inclement weather plagued the west coast of Florida for most of Monday.

There were a few extracurricular activities beyond the abbreviated official business.

Republicans started their clock tabulating mounting U.S. national debt over the course of their convention. (The clock approached about $15 million 10 minutes after the convention had been called to order.)

Priebus also called for a moment of reflection for first responders keeping the convention safe and handling the impact of Tropical Storm Isaac.

A reverend also delivered a short invocation that, among other things, paid tribute to the late astronaut Neil Armstrong.

Beyond that, a half-full floor of delegates were treated to a short, inspirational film about nominee-in-waiting Mitt Romney. 

The NBC Politics team is pleased to offer our app and mobile users a live stream of the 2012 Republican National Convention for your convenience. Watch the latest convention speeches and events in real time, on the go, on your iPad or iPhone. Today's session will begin at 2:00 p.m. and last for approximately five minutes due to severe weather conditions in Tampa.

Click here to watch the live stream. 

TAMPA, Fla. -- Ohio Republicans stressed the primacy of their state's role in deciding elections, underscoring for them the importance of working to elect Mitt Romney this fall.

Josh Romney, son of the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, along with with Ari Fleischer, former presss secretary to President George W. Bush, addressed the Ohio delegation at a breakfast held here on the day the convention was set to begin, and then quickly recess. The message was clear: Ohio holds the key to Republicans winning back the White House.

"It is a thrill for me to be here with the most important delegation, in the most important state, in the most country in the world," said Fleischer.  He later added, "You have a profoundly important job ahead of you, and boy do you know how to do it in Ohio. We need you to deliver the Buckeye State for Mitt Romney."

Ohio Sen. Rob Portman and Rep. Pat Tiberi were also on hand to deliver a similar message.  Buckeye State politicians will be well represented on the convention stage this week with Portman, Gov. John Kasich and House Speaker John Boehner all speaking.  It is their responsibility, Portman said, to introduce voters in their state to Romney, which has been inundated with negative political ads from both sides.

"If you're an Ohio citizen, what have you heard about Mitt Romney?  Mostly attack ads from Barack Obama...We need to explain to people who they are and why they're doing this," Portman said of the Republican ticket.

The freshman senator was quick to voice his praise for the selection of Rep. Paul Ryan as the Republican vice presidential nominee.  Portman was on the shortlist and was largely thought to be a top contender for the job, but on Monday he said Mitt Romney made a "terrific" choice.

"He's an ideas guy, he's got a reformer's heart. He's in this for all the right reasons.  It's not about him, it's not about ego, it's not about partisanship, it's about helping America," he said of Ryan.

And while there were plenty of kind words for Ryan, Fleischer also gave praise to the currently elected vice president. 

"Right after this convention, of course, the Democrats have their convention, where I plan to go to Charlotte because I want to put the name of Joe Biden in nomination to be vice president of the United States," Fleischer joked. "We have a ticket that keeps giving us gifts on the other side.  Joe Biden doesn't know what state he's in, Joe Biden doesn't know what century it is."

Josh Romney's presence at the breakfast was also a sign of the importance his father places on Ohio.  He stressed his dad's emphasis on family, calling him a hero.  And while Mitt Romney's speech on Thursday is thought to be in part an introduction of himself on a personal level, Josh Romney said the address will largely focus on the thing he entire campaign has been based around -- the economy.

"He knows what it's going to take to get this economy back and going again and that's what his speech will be about it.  And that's really what he knows, that is what he is very good at is understanding how the economy works, understanding how to create jobs.  That's what he's done all his life," said Josh Romney.

TAMPA, Fla. -- The problem with Washington is that it is not using the freshest ingredients, according to one former Republican presidential hopeful.

Herman Cain, the former CEO of Godfather's Pizza who led the GOP primary for a time last fall, fired up a crowd of Tea Party supporters at megachurch here Sunday night at the TeaParty.net Unity rally.  And though none of the speakers gathered here will appear on stage during the Republican National Convention, the rally was meant to be a show of force of their impact on this year's election.

"The way you make the best pizza, like Godfather's Pizza, you use the best ingredients," Cain told reporters after his speech. "You use the best beef, the best pepperoni, the best sausage, the best cheeses, the best dough. In the United States of America, we don't have the best ingredients in Washington D.C."

Robyn Beck / AFP - Getty Images

Former candidate for the Republican nomination in the 2012 US presidential election Herman Caine speaks at a Tea Party Unity Rally at The River at Tampa Bay Church in Tampa, Florida, on August 26, 2012 ahead of the Republican National Convention.

Though the event was held at The River Church, the focus was more so on the importance of Tea Party principles than it was on faith.

Minnesota Rep. Michelle Bachmann, who also ran for president, addressed the more than 500 attendees as did conservative radio host Neal Boortz and Rep. Jason Chaffetz, who spoke on behalf of Mitt Romney.

"We are not an unwanted, second class political party.  We are the conscious of the United States Constitution, and we don't apologize for that," Bachmann told the enthusiastic crowd.  She said the tea party influence can be seen in the Republican party's draft platform, which includes a call to audit the Federal Reserve and strictly prohibiting abortion.

But it was Cain who was the headliner and who received the loudest reception.  Despite leading the Republican presidential primary for much of October, the former businessman said he is not disappointed about his absence from the the list of speakers at the RNC.  He told the crowd that his goals have not changed since his run for office, stating, “I’m still on a mission to defeat Barack Obama!”

Slideshow: Republican National Convention

Cain was quick to voice his praise for Romney's choice of Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan as his running mate. "He didn't make the safe choice, he made the bold choice," Cain said after his speech.

He also defended the presumptive GOP nominee over a recent joke he made in his home state of Michigan, where, touting his hometown roots, Romney quipped, "No one's ever asked to see my birth certificate."

"I just think it was a good joke.  I dont think he was trying to bring up the birther issue.  hey, cut the man some slack, he's running for president.  he can crack a joke every once in a while," Cain said.

Two storms in two weeks… First Akin, now Isaac… Raising the specter of Hurricane Katrina… The revised schedule: The only official activity today is gaveling in the start of the convention at 2:00 pm ET… New WaPo/ABC poll shows the presidential race deadlocked… But Romney acknowledges that the Obama ads have done damage… Obama ties Romney to House GOP… Florida ad spending surpasses $100 million… Ryan stumps in Janesville… And poll shows McCaskill leading Akin.

TAMPA, FL -- Last week, Mitt Romney and Republicans were battling a political storm over Todd Akin’s controversial remarks about abortion and rape, which dominated the political conversation and further highlighted the GOP’s gender gap. And this week, they’re battling an actual storm that has already canceled today’s convention activities and speeches, and that threatens to divert the media’s attention to a potentially much bigger story. Romney and the Republicans already lost one week with Akin, and they can’t afford to lose another because of Tropical Storm (and soon-to-be Hurricane) Isaac.  

*** Katrina’s specter: While Tampa has avoided a direct hit, Isaac risks presenting an even bigger problem for the convention planners here -- becoming a hurricane and slamming into Louisiana, Mississippi, and the Florida Panhandle on Tuesday. And politically, it has raised the specter of Hurricane Katrina. The New York Times: “Republicans were wary of the optics of television coverage split between the revelry and partisanship surrounding Mr. Romney’s nomination and the threat of the storm making landfall in Louisiana or Mississippi seven years to the week after Hurricane Katrina left an American city in ruins.” The paper adds, “It is the second consecutive time Republicans have had their conventions disrupted by the August storms.” 

*** The revised schedule: For now, Republicans maintain that Isaac isn’t going to disrupt the remaining part of the convention. "Until we ... can predict the weather, we're going to continue with our Tuesday/Wednesday/Thursday schedule," Romney adviser Russ Schriefer said yesterday on a conference call with reporters. Could that change? "As soon as we have any more info....we'll let you know." So here is the revised schedule:

Slideshow: Republican National Convention

Monday: RNC Chair Reince Priebus will gavel in the start of the convention at 2:00 pm ET and then will immediately announce a recess for the rest of the day.

Tuesday night (for the schedule beginning at 9:00 pm):  NV Gov. Brian Sandoval, Texas Sen nominee Ted Cruz, Artur Davis, SC Gov. Nikki Haley, Ann Romney, and NJ Gov. Chris Christie.  

Wednesday night (for the schedule beginning at 9:00 pm): PR Gov. Luis Fortuno, Tim Pawlenty, Mike Huckabee, Condi Rice, NM Gov. Susana Martinez, and Paul Ryan.

Thursday night (for the schedule beginning at 9:00 pm): Kerry Healy, FL Sen. Marco Rubio, and Mitt Romney. 

*** Deadlocked: Just in time for the convention, a new Washington Post/ABC poll finds the presidential race essentially even, with Romney at 47% among registered voters and President Obama at 46%. The Washington Post’s take: “The findings continue a months-long pattern, with neither the incumbent nor the challenger able to sustain clear momentum, despite airing hundreds of millions of dollars in television ads — most of them negative — and exchanging some of the harshest early rhetoric seen in a modern presidential campaign.”

Adrees Latif / Reuters

A security official stands guard outside the venue for the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Florida August 26, 2012. Tropical Storm Isaac forced Republicans on Sunday to rewrite the script for their national convention in Tampa as party officials scrambled to make sure candidate Mitt Romney's message to voters would not be blown off course.

*** Romney blasts Obama’s “campaign of personal vilification”: Despite this new poll, Romney -- in two recent interviews with print/online publications -- has acknowledged the toll the Obama campaign’s ads have taken on his favorability numbers. "I do think that the president's campaign of personal vilification and demonization probably draws some people away from me," Romney told USA Today in response to a question why he was no better than tied against Obama. “What has been the focus of the Obama ads?” Romney added to Politico. “Do they talk about my record in Massachusetts? Do they talk about my policy? No, they’re all personal attack ads that in some respects say not only outrageous, but entirely wrong things. People don’t know me, and they haven’t had a chance to see me yet, [so] they might believe those things.” Flashback to Romney’s “TODAY” interview on Jan. 30 when asked about his campaign’s attacks on Newt Gingrich: "There's no question that politics ain't bean bags, and we have made sure that our message is out loud and clear.” 

*** Obama ties Romney to the House GOP: Meanwhile, Obama gave his own print interview over the weekend, telling the AP that Romney has embraced the “extreme positions” of House Republicans. "I can't speak to Gov. Romney's motivations," Obama said in the interview. "What I can say is that he has signed up for positions, extreme positions, that are very consistent with positions that a number of House Republicans have taken. And whether he actually believes in those or not, I have no doubt that he would carry forward some of the things that he's talked about." Obama added, "We aren't where we need to be. Everybody agrees with that. But Gov. Romney's policies would make things worse for middle-class families and offer no prospect for long-term opportunity for those striving to get into the middle class.” 

*** FL ad spending surpasses $100 million: Given that we’re in Florida for the GOP convention, here is something to chew on: Out of the nearly $550 million spent on ads in the general election, one-fifth of that amount -- $110 million -- has been spent in the Sunshine State. In fact, Florida ($110 million), Ohio ($108 million), Virginia ($80 million), North Carolina ($56 million), and Colorado ($51 million) account for $405 million out of the grand total of $550 million. 

*** Ryan’s send-off rally: At 12:20 pm ET, Paul Ryan attends a send-off rally in his hometown of Janesville, WI -- at the high school he attended. Per the campaign, Ryan “will talk about the values his hometown taught him and how they're needed in Washington right now.” Ryan also will preview the remarks he’ll deliver at the GOP convention on Wednesday.

*** Poll: McCaskill now leading Akin: Turning back to the Akin story, a St. Louis Post-Dispatch/KMOV-TV/Mason-Dixon poll shows that the embattled congressman is now trailing Claire McCaskill by nine points among likely voters, 50%-41%, National Journal reports. “In late July, before winning a contentious, three-way primary, Akin led McCaskill, 49 percent to 44 percent.” In the presidential contest, the poll shows Romney leading Obama, 50%-43%.

Countdown to Dem convention: 7 days
Countdown to 1^st presidential debate: 37 days
Countdown to VP debate: 45 days
Countdown to 2^nd presidential debate: 50 days
Countdown to 3^rd presidential debate: 56 days
Countdown to Election Day: 71 days

*** Monday’s “Daily Rundown” line-up (live from Tampa): Gov. Mary Fallin (R-OK), Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) and Rep. Aaron Schock (R-IL) on the convention kickoff… Veteran GOP consultant Mike Murphy on Romney's reality for the homestretch… Latest on Isaac's path and preparations along the Gulf coast… The Washington Post's Dan Balz, NBC's Kelly O'Donnell, NY1'S Errol Louis and Priorities USA Action's Bill Burton on what a storm-altered GOP convention means for Romney-Ryan and Obama-Biden..

*** Monday’s “Jansing & Co.” line-up: Chris Jansing interviews MSNBC’s Chris Matthews, Time’s Michael Scherer, Roll Call’s David Drucker, Texas Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, Dem strategist, former RNC Chairman Michael Steele, Wyoming Sen. John Barrasso (R); and NBC News’ Michael Isikoff.

*** Monday’s “MSNBC Live with Thomas Roberts” line-up: MSNBC’s Thomas Roberts talks with Florida Congressman Connie Mack IV, Florida Congresswoman Kathy Castor, Meghan McCain live from Tampa, and Power Panelists Joy-Ann Reid, Hogan Gidley and Jimmy Williams.

*** Monday’s “NOW with Alex Wagner” line-up: Alex Wagner’s guests include Deputy NYC Mayor Howard Wolfson, the New York Times’ Jodi Kantor, The Nation’s Ari Melber, New York Magazine’s John Heilemann, Mother Jones Washington Bureau Chief David Corn, The Nation’s Ari Berman, former Rep. Joe Sestak (D-PA), and MSNBC’s Martin Bashir.

*** Monday’s “Andrea Mitchell Reports” line-up: NBC’s Andrea Mitchell interviews MSNBC’s Tamron Hall (who is reporting live from New Orleans on preps for Tropical Storm Isaac, VA), Gov. Bob McDonnell, L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, Romney campaign adviser Vin Weber, Former RNC chair Michael Steele, Fmr. PA Gov. Ed Rendell, The Washington Post’s Chris Cillizza, Politico’s John Harris and NBC’s Tom Brokaw, Kelly O’Donnell, Luke Russert and John Yang.

*** Monday’s “News Nation with Tamron Hall” line-up: Anchoring from New Orleans, Tamron Hall interviews the Washington Post’s Anne Kornblut, Jonathan Collegio from American Crossroads, Democratic strategist Chris Kofinis, Meet the Press moderator David Gregory.

Romney leads among registered voters 47-46% in a new Washington Post-ABC poll. Obama’s approval among all adults in the poll is at 50% now with 47% disapproving. 

“When it comes to cracking jokes, President Obama and Mitt Romney can dish it, but they can’t take it, their supporters say,” the Boston Globe writes, adding, “Only a week ago, it was the Romney campaign crying foul and Obama’s team lamenting the demise of political humor after the president made a joke about the Romneys’ now-infamous 1983 drive to Canada, during which the presumptive GOP nominee crated the family dog on the roof of a car.”

AP: “The threat of Tropical Storm Isaac left delegates to the Republican National Convention recalibrating Sunday but insistent that the show will go on with just a few modifications due to the weather. The GOP postponed most of Monday’s lineup, cramming four days of events into three with hopes for a major send-off for Mitt Romney on Thursday.”

Romney did interviews in Ohio Sunday before the convention, with Fox News, Politico and USA Today. On FOX, he accused the president of character assassination. 

Politico: “Mitt Romney conceded President Barack Obama has succeeded in making him a less likable person, but he offered a defiant retort to those hoping he will open up this week: ‘I am who I am.’”

He added, “I don’t think everybody likes me. I don’t believe that, by any means. But I do believe that people of this country are looking for someone who can get the country growing again with more jobs and more take-home pay, and I think they realize this president had four years to do that. … He got every piece of legislation he wanted passed, and it didn’t work. I think they want someone who has a different record, and I do. 

More: “I was voted the president of my fraternity,” he said. “They don’t call them fraternities at Brigham Young University. They’re called Service Clubs. It was the Cougar Club. But you don’t get voted to be head of your group if you don’t get along with people, if you don’t connect with people.”

And: “Certainly, their ads have some impact or they wouldn’t be running them. But there would be an opportunity for people to get to know me better during the debates and during the time in the campaign season when people are actually paying a lot of attention to the candidates." 

Politico’s take: “His language, his approach, his mannerisms convey: I am not asking you to trust me to see into your soul, or to feel your pain, or bring you hope and fuzzy change. I will bring you concrete, measurable, profitable change — the kind you can authentically take stock of, and even measure in your family’s bank account.”

‘I am who I am,’ and all business” is on the cover of the Tampa Bay Times from the Politico interview.

USA Today: “Mitt Romney calls campaign attacks by President Obama and his allies ‘vituperative’ and ‘vicious’ and ‘absurd’ and ‘sad.’ Also: Effective.”

Romney: "I do think that the president's campaign of personal vilification and demonization probably draws some people away from me.”

But: “Romney defends the welfare ads as accurate, accusing Obama of offering state waivers as a political calculation designed to ‘shore up his base’ for the election.” He also said he doesn’t regret his birth certificate joke: "I understand some people don't think we should ever joke.”

Flashback to Jan. 30, Today Show, when Romney was asked about his campaign’s attacks on Gingrich ahead of Florida: "There's no question that politics ain't bean bags, and we have made sure that our message is out loud and clear.”

Romney also told USA Today, "We won't be talking about my life. We'll be talking about policy." But his campaign team is certainly concerned about his image problems. Said pollster Neil Newhouse: "Even more than a ballot bounce we are looking for an image bounce, we are looking for voters to learn more about who Mitt Romney is, what he stands for, his character and something they can connect with.” 

And he himself put the personal on display on FOX: “Beginning the effort two days before the weather-delayed start of the convention in Tampa, Romney put his family-man qualities on display Sunday in a television interview at his lakeside home in Wolfeboro, N.H. Romney made buttermilk pancakes with his wife, Ann, for Fox News Sunday host Chris Wallace and strolled the grounds of his family’s vacation compound with a young grandson on his hip,” the Boston Globe writes. “Romney discussed policy, yes, but devoted more time to personal matters, showing off the household ‘chore wheel’ and laughing about his struggle -- at age 65 -- to keep up in the annual ‘Romney Olympics.’”

Political Wire: “New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) ‘wasn't willing to give up the New Jersey statehouse to be Mitt Romney's running mate because he doubted they'd win,’ the New York Post reports. ‘Romney's top aides had demanded Christie step down as the state's chief executive because if he didn't, strict pay-to-play laws would have restricted the nation's largest banks from donating to the campaign -- since those banks do business with New Jersey. But Christie adamantly refused to sacrifice his post, believing that being Romney's running mate wasn't worth the gamble.’” 

Ron Paul doesn’t want to “fully endorse” Romney.

Party town? Stip clubs “all braced for a windfall from the Republican National Convention — three times a Super Bowl weekend was the industry number thrown around — but at least early Sunday morning many wondered if conservatives were being, well, conservative,” the Tampa Bay Times writes.

The Obama campaign is out with another Medicare ad, hitting Romney for wanting to change the entitlement to a voucher program. One problem with the ad is that it implies that the changes will take place for current seniors, when it does not.

The Obama team is out with a snarky web video previewing the Republican convention, calling it a “convention reinvention” and “the do-over.” 

The Obama campaign on Romney’s birth certificate joke: “Throughout this campaign, Governor Romney has embraced the most strident voices in his party instead of standing up to them,” Obama spokesman Ben LaBolt said in a statement. “Governor Romney’s decision to directly enlist himself in the birther movement should give pause to any rational voter across America.”

Former Republican Florida Gov. Charlie Crist endorsed Obama. The political world shrugged with this announcement over the weekend. It’s really striking how quickly things can change. It was just four years ago when Crist’s endorsement was credited with John McCain’s win in the Florida GOP primary.

Shawn Thew / EPA

The stage crew works on the teleprompter during final preparations for the Republican National Convention at the Tampa Bay Times Forum on Sunday.

TAMPA, Fla. -- Republicans will convene their convention on Tuesday, squeezing their canceled Monday programming into the span of three days.

Convention organizers seemed not to forsee any additional delays to the convention, though they said they would continue to monitor an impending hurricane.

The new schedule maintains the primetime schedule, with a lineup of Ann Romney and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie speaking on Tuesday evening, former Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice, New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez and vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan on Wednesday, and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio and Mitt Romney on Thursday.

Slideshow: Republican National Convention

Romney strategist Russ Schriefer wouldn't fully rule out the possibility, though, of adding a Friday session to the convention if inclement conditions force further postponement of convention activities.

"We are planning on Tuesday-Wednesday-Thursday," he said. "It's a hypothetical question"

Convention organizers argued that Monday's planned theme -- "We Can Do Better" -- could be weaved into the remaining three days of the convention as it's currently scheduled. Some speeches will be shortened to accommodate for the changes.

Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus will call the convention to order on Monday, as had been planned, but will shortly thereafter gavel the convention into recess. Organizers called this a "very, very brief session -- probably no more than five minutes," and expressed doubts about whether many, if any, delegates would attend.

The roll call vote to formally nominate Romney for president is scheduled for Tuesday.

At a joint campaign event in Michigan on Friday with running mate Paul Ryan, presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney made a reference to President Obama's birth certificate.

But it was something he didn't mention at this rally -- not far from Detroit -- that was almost as striking: the auto bailout, or even the U.S. auto industry.

For as many times as Romney has stepped foot in Michigan this cycle -- for either a primary or general election campaign stop -- the son of a former auto executive has made sure to mention his love for cars, and to explain his opposition to the 2008-09 actions taken across two administrations to support Chrysler and General Motors. 

But on Friday, despite Romney's home state overtures, he left out any reference to the troubled industry.

A possible reason for this omission is that Romney and Ryan have different positions on this particular issue, with Romney opposing the auto bailout and Ryan having voted for it.

It shouldn't be surprising that a presidential candidate and his running mate might not see eye to eye on every matter. After all, Romney and Ryan hail from different states, are different ages, and have different life experiences.

“No two people agree on every single issue, and we share the same principles. We apply them to our problems, and I am really excited about this,” Ryan said aboard his campaign plane Thursday night as he was flying to Michigan.

Still, there are at least four differences between Romney and Ryan -- on the auto bailout, abortion, Medicare, and the looming defense cuts -- that potentially undermine either some of the attacks Romney has made against President Obama or positions that Romney has taken.

The auto bailout
On perhaps no single issue has Romney's rhetoric and Ryan's voting record been as divergent as on the auto bailout of General Motors and Chrysler: While Ryan voted in favor of a bailout in Dec. 2008, Romney -- whose eyes were already starting to focus on a second presidential bid -- wrote a New York Times op-ed headlined: “Let Detroit go Bankrupt.”

Although Romney has long pointed out he did not write the headline that accompanied the piece, its central tenet was straightforward: no bailout money for automakers. He argued instead for the carmakers to go through managed bankruptcy first and exhaust their private sector options. If that failed, the federal government could then step forward to help, but don’t throw good money after bad bailing out failing companies.

At a campaign event prior to the Michigan primary in February, Romney doubled down on his opposition to the bailout, telling an audience in Grand Rapids that President Obama effectively handed over the automakers to the UAW union following the bailout. And he accused the president of "crony capitalism" for intervening in the market -- an intervention which Ryan supported.

In Janesville, the town Ryan was born and raised, there was once a big GM plant that has since been put on standby. Interestingly, Ryan blamed Obama for shuttering it, though it closed during the tail end of the Bush administration.

“A lot of my high school buddies worked at that GM plant. That GM plant was shut down in 2009.  I remember President Obama visiting it when he was first running, saying he’ll keep that plant open. One more broken promise,” Ryan told the crowd in North Canton, Ohio.

Abortion
Romney vowed throughout the campaign to select a running mate who opposes abortion rights, and he did just that in tapping Ryan.

But after Rep. Todd Akin's controversial remarks on abortion and rape, Democrats have seized on a clear difference between the two men: Romney opposes abortion except in the cases of rape, incest or when the mother’s life is at stake, while Ryan’s single exception for abortion has been when life of the mother is at risk.

What's more, in 2011, Ryan co-sponsored a bill with Akin, "The Sanctity of Human Life Act," which declared that every life begins at fertilization. Critics argue that such "personhood" legislation would outlaw all abortions -- even the cases of rape and incest.

Ryan now says he is “comfortable” allowing exemptions for rape and incest.

“I'm proud of my record” on abortion, Ryan told reporters on Aug. 22, just two days after the Akin comments were made. “Mitt Romney is going to be president, and the president sets policy. His policy is exceptions for rape, incest and life of the mother. I'm comfortable with it because it's a good step in the right direction."

Medicare
As soon as Romney selected Ryan as his running mate, it elevated Medicare to a key campaign issue. The reason why: Ryan's budget substantially transforms Medicare by giving future seniors a voucher or premium support, which can be used to purchase private health insurance or access to traditional Medicare.

Romney and Republicans have countered by accusing President Obama's health care law of making $716 billion cuts to Medicare.

“My plan stays the same. No adjustments, no changes, no savings. The president’s plan cuts Medicare,” Romney said on Aug. 16, scribbling on a white board with a dry erase marker as he spoke. “Excuse me, well let’s see, I’ve got, there we go, by $716 billion. Cut.”

But there is one hitch: Ryan's budget includes the same $716 billion in cuts.

Yet Ryan has adopted this same GOP attack on Medicare.

“Medicare should not be used as a piggy bank for Obamacare. Medicare should be used to be the promise that it made to our current seniors. Period. End of Story,” Ryan said in Florida last week. ”Here is what Mitt Romney and I will do: We will end the raid of Medicare. We will restore the promise of this program, and we will make sure that this board of bureaucrats will not mess with my mom’s health care or your mom’s health care.”

“We want this debate on Medicare. We want this debate, we need this debate and we are going to win this debate,” Ryan added to reporters on his plane this week.

The defense sequester
Romney has attacked Obama over the looming, automatic defense cuts –- “the sequester” -– that were contained in the Budget Control Act that Congress passed to avert the debt-ceiling crisis.

But Ryan voted for the Budget Control Act that contained those very defense cuts, if Congress couldn’t agree on a compromise deficit-reduction deal. 

A Ryan spokesman says Obama should be blamed on the looming defense cuts, because he abdicated his responsibility to bring Congress together to achieve a bipartisan deal. (Of course, that thinking cuts both ways.) “The president instead went AWOL on the campaign trail and the result is the devastating defense cuts that the president insisted on,” Ryan spokesman Michael Steel has said.

TAMPA, Fla. — No state has loomed larger in presidential politics in recent years as Florida, and this year is no exception.

Mitt Romney's path to the White House, like George W. Bush and John McCain before him, runs through Florida, the host to this week's Republican National Convention in Tampa.

Related: GOP elders describe high stakes for Romney in Tampa

The Sunshine State seems will assume just as important of a role in deciding the presidential election as it had in recent cycles, contributing to Republicans' decision to place their quadrennial gathering here, rather than other contending host cities: Phoenix and Salt Lake City.

"I think it's a huge advantage," said Florida Republican consultant Brian Hughes of the convention's placement. He noted that every network affiliate throughout the state would provide extensive coverage of the convention.

"It really energizes the base. You've got every key activist in the base on the Republican side engaged in this," Hughes said, adding that independent voters won't be able to escape the week's festivities and speeches, either.

Recommended: Some prominent Republicans won’t be in Tampa

Indeed, President Barack Obama and the Romney campaign -- joined by their supporting super PACs -- have already spent $110 million on advertising in Florida alone, according to NBC News ad-tracking sources, accounting for almost a fifth of all ad spending in the entire election. Team Romney and Team Obama are about even, at $55 million to date.

The GOP convention will be a carefully-staged operation engineered to selling the party and Romney to a national audience. But now, it will be a shortened affair after convention organizers canceled the first day of activities due to an impending hurricane.

But at the same time, Republicans hope the week full of fanfare and heavy local media coverage will help deliver Florida in November for Romney, for whom the path to 270 electoral votes is slim without this swing state. If Romney were to lose Florida, he would need to sweep every single of the 8 states rated a "toss-up" on NBC’s battleground map: Colorado, Iowa, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio, Virginia and Wisconsin.

Romney won the state's late January primary, and Florida, in many ways, serves as a microcosm for the general election.

Florida was one of the states hardest hit by the collapse of the housing market in 2008, sending the state spiraling into an especially deep recession. The unemployment rate for the state is 8.8 percent, higher than the national rate of 8.2 percent.

The economy in Florida "will likely be a real drag on President Obama," said Democratic Rep. Kathy Castor, whose district includes central Tampa.

"People's property values have not recovered, and if people had savings, it would have been in their home," she said. "For all the talk about jobs and innovation and education, people may look at what they're worth and decide on that basis."

But if the state is a perfect example of the dangers for Obama, it's also a state that illustrates some of the challenges that Romney most overcome.

Obama led Romney by three percent, 49 to 46 percent, in a Quinnipiac University/CBS News/New York Times poll released last week. But Obama's lead is also built, in part, upon advantages he holds with women and Hispanics, mirroring his edge the president holds with those two groups nationally.

Obama leads 53 to 41 percent among Florida women, and 61 to 31 percent among Hispanics (despite the Republican sympathies of the state's large Cuban American population). To compare, in 2008, Obama beat Arizona Sen. John McCain (R) in Florida 52-47 percent among women voters, according to exit polls, and 57-42 percent among Latinos.

The convention's lineup will put some of the GOP's rising women and Latino leaders in the spotlight, including Florida Sen. Marco Rubio (R), a conservative darling whom many conservatives Romney had hoped Romney would pick as his running mate. Rubio will introduce Romney before the presumptive Republican nominee's acceptance speech.

The convention will also give Romney and the rest of the Republican Party a chance to make their case for Medicare reforms in a state where seniors and retirees exert an outsized influence in elections.

Presumptive vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan's two budgets as chairman of the House Budget Committee propose major changes to Medicare, principally by turning it into a system where seniors would receive a voucher — or premium support – to seek health insurance. (A later version of Ryan's plan would allow retirees to maintain traditional Medicare.)

The fact that Romney and Ryan have promised no changes for Americans over the age of 55 hasn't stopped Medicare from becoming a central issue in the campaign, even moreso in Florida. Ryan last weekend took his case on Medicare to seniors at The Villages, the sprawling retirement community just about two hours from Tampa.

And in the end, geography could prove decisive in determining the winner of Florida's 29 electoral votes in November.

Hillsbrough Country — which encompasses Tampa — and adjacent Pinellas County — which includes much of St. Petersburg — have emerged as a bellwether for the rest of the state.

"I find it hard to think they'll speak to the hardworking voters here of central Florida," Castor said of the Romney-Ryan's regional appeal. "People are independent-minded…They would really have to moderate their message. What is their vision besides large tax cuts for corporate America and the top one or two percent?"

Even at the apex of his political strength, Obama only bested McCain by about 10,000 of 430,000 votes cast in Hillsbrough in 2008; Obama's 53-45 percent victory in Pinellas was more comfortable.

George W. Bush won Hillsbrough in both of his presidential campaigns, but split the difference in the slightly more Democratic Pinellas County. Bush lost Pinellas in 2000, but won by 226 votes in 2004.

"Every poll that's looked at Florida in recent weeks — at the core of them, they're all within the margins," Hughes said. "It's a dogfight."

TAMPA, Fla. – Republican elders said Sunday that this week’s Republican National Convention here in Florida offered Mitt Romney an opportunity to re-introduce himself to voters heading into the height of the fall campaign season.

As GOP heavyweights gather in Florida for a hurricane-shortened convention, some of the party’s most influential voices laid out on “Meet the Press” the stakes for Romney.

The convention offered Romney a chance “to reconnect with people,” said former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R) of the forthcoming convention.

Convention organizers canceled Monday’s activities due to safety concerns associated with an impending hurricane, leaving Romney and the GOP with one less day to drive its message about what they charge are the failures of President Barack Obama, particularly when it comes to matters of the economy.

But Republicans also acknowledged that Romney must use this national platform to reverse some of the damage done to his personal reputation over the summer. The Obama campaign and Democratic super PACs have spent tens of millions of dollars on television ads in key swing states taking aim at Romney’s private sector career, personal wealth and handling of issues important to women.

Related: McCain: Further delays to GOP convention 'could be harmful'

Exacerbating problems for the Republican brand has been this past week’s uproar over Missouri Senate candidate Todd Akin’s (R) comments about “legitimate rape.” Republicans have sharply distanced themselves from the conservative congressman’s remarks, while Democrats have sought to link those sentiments with Romney and the Republican Party as a whole.

“I'm surprised that we, the Romney-Ryan ticket, are neck and neck in the polls right now particularly with some of the setbacks we have experienced,” said Arizona Sen. John McCain, the GOP’s 2008 presidential nominee.

Jewel Samad / AFP - Getty Images

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney and his wife Ann arrive at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in Wolfeboro, New Hampshire, to attend Sunday services on August 26, 2012.

Recommended: Hurricane impending, Republicans cancel first day of convention

Convention organizers have laid out a daily theme here in Tampa meant to soften Romney’s public image and offer greater insight into his family and charitable work, among other personal details. The convention also revolves heavily around leveling an indictment of Obama’s economic policy during the last four years.

It’s a high-stakes act for Romney; the conventions are regarded as one of the few opportunities to sway undecided voters, whose numbers are dwindling in this especially competitive election.

“This is the big Etch A Sketch moment for Mitt Romney,” Florida Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, the chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee, said Sunday of the impending Republican festivities.

But there are also long-term stakes for Republicans this week in Tampa, particularly as it relates to closing the gap among women and Hispanic voters, with whom Obama enjoys a healthy advantage over Romney in the polls.

“My personal view is that we need to move beyond where we are,” Bush said of the current Republican rhetoric on immigration. He said that, on immigration, Republicans must change “not necessarily the core of our beliefs but the tone of our message and the intensity of it.”

But Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer (R), the chief proponent of a tough immigration law in her home state, said Republicans must emphasize “the rule of law.”

She added: “Certainly those kinds of issues are going to have to be discussed moving on into the future.”

Related: Jeb Bush on White House run: 'I'm not there yet in my life'

But Republicans overall stressed the primacy of the economy this election cycle, the issue on which Romney has an advantage over Obama in most polls.

“I think Mitt wins when it's about these big things,” Bush said. “When it's about the constant distractions, it'll be a very, very close race.”

TAMPA, Fla. – Arizona Sen. John McCain expressed concern Sunday that further weather-related cancellations of the Republican National Convention here could deprive the GOP of an opportunity to make its case to voters.

Speaking Sunday on “Meet the Press,” the 2008 Republican presidential nominee said that the decision by convention organizers to effectively cancel Monday’s session due to the effects of the impending Hurricane Isaac wouldn’t have much harm on Republicans.

Jacquelyn Martin / AP

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. attends a news conference about the Convention of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, Thursday, July 12, 2012, on Capitol Hill.

“It's Wednesday, Thursday night that are the big moments,” he said. “It's not that we don't want that first night, but I don't think it will be harmful if we lose the first night.”

But, the veteran senator added: “It could be harmful if we lose more than that.”

Recommended: Hurricane impending, Republicans cancel first day of convention

Republicans announced on Saturday that they had decided to delay the beginning of the convention until Tuesday; the impending storm threatens logistics and safety problems that made it unfeasible to convene for Monday’s activities.

But convention organizers haven’t yet released the revised schedule, and haven’t officially foreclosed the possibility of further weather-related changes to the schedule bleeding into Tuesday.

Related: GOP elders describe high stakes for Romney in Tampa

As things stand, Ann Romney and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie are scheduled to be featured speakers on Tuesday evening. Mitt Romney won’t speak until Thursday, though the formal roll call vote to nominate him for president is currently scheduled for Tuesday.

TAMPA, Fla. – Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush said Sunday that he’s “not motivated” to seek the White House and follow in the footsteps of his presidential brother and father.

Bush, whom many Republicans had implored to run for president this year, acknowledged on “Meet the Press” that 2012 would have offered a prime opportunity for him to seek the Republican presidential nomination.

Recommended: GOP elders describe high stakes for Romney in Tampa

But Bush, who had been scheduled to speak here on Monday night of the Republican National Convention before weather forced the cancelation of that day’s activities, would not rule out a future run for president, though he did not seem eager to do so.

“I don't think about it. I'm not motivated by it. It takes an incredible amount of discipline and ambition,” Bush told moderator David Gregory.

“I'm not there yet in my life,” the former Florida governor added.

Recommended: McCain: Further delays to GOP convention 'could be harmful'

Jeb Bush’s father, George H.W. Bush, served as president of the United States from 1989-1993, and his brother, George W. Bush, served as president from 2001-2009.

Updated 7:10 p.m. - TAMPA, Fla. -- Republicans announced Saturday that they had effectively canceled the first day of their convention for safety concerns associated with an impending hurricane.

Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus said in a statement that "the Republican National Convention will convene on Monday August 27th and immediately recess until Tuesday afternoon, August 28th."

That move essentially postpones the activities of the first of four scheduled days of the convention. But Priebus said in a conference call with reporters that the details of the revised schedule were not yet settled, and could be announced as soon as Sunday.

"The Republican National Convention is going to take place. We know that we will officially nominate Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan," he said.

Romney will now be formally nominated as the Republican Party's presidential candidate on Tuesday instead of Monday, said Russ Schriefer, a senior strategist for the Romney campaign.

"Right now, we expect that the roll call will just take place on Tuesday," he said.

Convention organizers had pushed ahead with the gathering as planned for much of the week, even as it seemed, for some time, that Isaac was on a direct trajectory toward Tampa.

Simultaneously, the Obama campaign said that a bracketing trip by Vice President Joe Biden to Tampa -- which they had postponed -- would officially be canceled.

The impending hurricane aside, Republicans already did some last-minute reshuffling for their convention order, moving Ann Romney's speech to Tuesday from Monday because major television networks hadn't planned to broadcast the first night of the convention.

Following that change, the main speakers on Monday had been set to be South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush.

Schriefer also dismissed worries that the constrained schedule would hamper the GOP's ability to drive its message in this key swing state.

"Even though the time of the convention will be abbreviated...we will absolutely be able to get our message out," he said.

Bill Harris, the convention's president and CEO, said the convention organizers "will continue providing updates in the hours and days ahead."

BLOOMFIELD HILLS, Mich. — Presumptive Republican vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan was joined by a very special guest tonight at a fundraiser in a Detroit suburb: rockstar Kid Rock.

Michigan native Kid Rock, singer of the Romney campaign’s unofficial theme song ‘Born Free,’ joined Ryan — an avid rock music fan — and roughly 160 others at the affluent Oakland Hills Country Club here.

“I was going to come out, be a little wisenheimer and say, 'Guess which one is running for vice president,'” Kid Rock, who wore a white fedora, told the crowd inside a ballroom on the main floor about his original plan “Then they would introduce Paul and I would walk out and say hello.”

Ryan, the seven-term Wisconsin congressman, was not shy to admit he is a fan of the popular singer.

“So one of us is running for vice president but only one of us listened to 'Bawitdaba' on the way over here in the motorcade with the Secret Service,” Ryan said of Kid Rock's breakout single to laughs. “I’ve been listening to Kid Rock for a long, long time.”

While the campaign would not directly confirm if guests knew in advance Kid Rock’s presence tonight at the fundraiser within Bloomfield Township, where Mitt Romney's family once lived, one man did bring a large guitar to the country club asking for an autograph.

Guests paid anywhere from $500 to $20,000 to get a glimpse of the congressman and Kid Rock. No estimation was available by the campaign for how much was raised. It isn't the first time Bob Ritchie — Kid Rock's given name — has appeared at an event on Romney's behalf; Kid Rock and his band performed "Born Free" at a culminating rally for Romney shortly before the pivotal Michigan primary. 

Friday night’s event – the first of two fundraisers for Ryan tonight – followed a public campaign event featuring both Romney and Ryan in the state the presumptive GOP presidential nominee was born.

Ryan’s first fundraiser in The Great Lakes State had its share of politics and attacks as well.

He specifically mentioned former Democratic President Bill Clinton for the first time since being tapped as the VP candidate in an attempt to illustrate the difference between Clinton and President Barack Obama.

“What we want to do is not just beat up the other guy and try to win by default, that is what President Obama is going to do. He can’t run on his record, he didn’t moderate his positions like Bill Clinton did, he went hard to the left.,” Ryan said. “So he is going to have to divide, distract, demagogue, distort to try and win by default.”

And the harsh words for President Obama didn’t end there.

“You know he speaks to people as if they are stuck in their station in life. As if they are victims of circumstance outside their control and the government is here to help them cope. That is cynical. That is not freedom," Ryan said.

The Wisconsin lawmaker, who characterized Michigan as one of a “handful of states” that will determine the election, heads to the battleground state of Ohio on Saturday to campaign again with running mate.

Missouri Rep. Todd Akin again rejected dropping out of the Missouri Senate rate amid Republican fears that he's become too politically toxic to win. 

"We're going to be here through the November election, and we're going to be here to win," Akin said at a press conference in Missouri arranged on short notice. 

The conservative congressman has been under fire since last Sunday, when he said on a public affairs show that "legitimate rape" rarely leads to pregnancy. For that comment, Akin has apologized, but virtually the entire Republican leadership — including presumptive presidential nominee Mitt Romney — have urged Akin to step aside, and allow Republicans to name a different candidate for Senate.

Akin has spent the past few days in Tampa, the site of the forthcoming Republican National Convention, rallying social conservative leaders behind his flailing candidacy. 

"Our position on him and his candidacy has not changed," Tony Perkins, of the socially conservative Family Research Council, said Thursday on MSNBC.  "He has a very difficult road ahead of him, and I think he's still pondering his decision as to what he does, although at this point, he said he's going to stay in."

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, a prominent supporter of Akin's in a hard-fought, three-way primary, also came to the congressman's defense. 

"Who ordered this "Code Red" on Akin?" Huckabee asked supporters in an email on Thursday. "If Todd Akin loses the Senate seat, I will not blame Todd Akin … I'm waiting for the apology from whoever the genius was on the high pedestals of our party who thought it wise to not only shoot our wounded, but run over him with tanks and trucks and then feed his body to the liberal wolves."

The Missouri Senate race is crucial to Republicans' hopes of winning back the Senate. Incumbent Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill had been seen as vulnerable, though she's seen as having a political advantage after Akin's comments. She has refused to address the controversy over Akin's campaign fortunes, saying only that she expects to face him as her general election opponent. 

Akin could still drop out by Sept. 25, allowing the state GOP to name a replacement. Akin would have to ask a court to remove his name from the ballot in that instance, and pay for the cost of reprinting the ballots. 

Updated 12:48 p.m. — COMMERCE, MI — Mitt Romney cracked a joke about his own birth certificate while campaigning Friday here in his native Michigan, instantly and perhaps inadvertently inserting himself into one of the most divisive controversies in the Obama presidency.

In a riff on Friday about being back in the state where he was born and raised, presumptive GOP presidential nominee made a joke alluding to the "birther" controversies that have dogged President Obama. 

Expanding on his Michigander bonafides, he pointed out that he was born in nearby Harper hospital, adding:

"No one has ever asked to see my birth certificate," Romney said. "They know that this is the place that we were born and raised."

Romney did not mention President Obama or controversy over his place of birth, but many in the crowd of thousands here laughed knowingly at the line.

A Romney spokesman sought to soften the remark, telling reporters: "Governor Romney was just illustrating that he was born and raised here in Michigan."

The comment drew immediate attention for invoking conspiracy theories about the president's place of birth, voiced by some conservative quarters of the GOP. These theories have been vocally espoused by Donald Trump, the reality TV star and real estate mogul who's been an active ally of Romney's this cycle.

An Obama spokesman, Ben LaBolt, shot back: "Throughout this campaign, Governor Romney has embraced the most strident voices in his party instead of standing up to them.  It’s one thing to give the stage in Tampa to Donald Trump, Sheriff Arpaio, and Kris Kobach.  But Governor Romney’s decision to directly enlist himself in the birther movement should give pause to any rational voter across America.”

Trump had kept the so-called "birther" controversy alive long after it had been debunked, calling for President Obama to release his long-form birth certificate last spring to prove that he was a natural born American citizen. Romney's campaign has kept its distance from Trump's remarks, with Romney repeatedly saying he believes the president was born in the United States, and that he did not agree with Trump's comments.

(Obama has released his birth certificate, which shows he was born in Hawaii.)

The comment nonetheless was reflective of the personal nastiness that has seeped into the Obama-Romney campaign. 

Evan Vucci / AP

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney and his wife Ann arrive at the Oakland County International Airport Aug. 24 in Waterford, Mich.

The president, for instance, made a similar endeavor onto this turf when he joked about Romney putting a his dog on the roof of his car in the 1980s.

"During a speech a few months ago, Gov. Romney even described his energy policy this way, I’m quoting here, ‘You can’t drive a car with a windmill on it,'" Obama said earlier this month in Iowa during a trip to promote wind energy. 

"Now I don’t know if he’s actually tried that — I know he’s had other things on his car," Obama added in a joke he'd end up repeating several times that day.