CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Mitt Romney would be elected president if the election were held today, the Republican National Committee's chairman boldly predicted Monday.

RNC Chairman Reince Priebus predicted a Romney victory based on projected wins in several swing states (polls of which are less definitively optimistic for Romney).

"I feel real good that if the election was held today, we’d be winning today. If the election is tied, we’re going to win the election," Priebus said during a press conference today kicking off the GOP’s "rapid response" effort during the Democratic National Convention.

"Independents are not going to suddenly have an epiphany," Priebus continued, "and decide that everything is great."

Pressed by a reporter on which states Romney would win if the election were held today, Priebus doubled down.

"For one, I think we win Wisconsin today," Priebus said of his home state, adding: "I think we win Florida today. I think we win Virginia. I think that we win Iowa."

Priebus said Romney would be close in Ohio, a state he called a "toss-up."

Yet demonstrating the GOP’s not-so easy electoral map in November, Romney winning Wisconsin, Florida, Virginia, and Iowa would still leave him short of the 270 electoral votes needed to win the presidency, especially if Romney doesn’t carry Ohio.

The GOP will hold press conferences several times daily this week, inside a television studio nestled in the basement of Charlotte’s NASCAR museum.

"Today, the thrill and pixie dust of Barack Obama’s presidency is gone. Americans feel no hope, and have seen a change for the worst," Priebus told reporters. "Democrats are dispirited.  Enthusiasm is clearly on the Republican side."

Priebus was joined today by Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT). Other officials slated to participate in the GOP effort here include Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell and South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley.

LAKELAND, Fla. -- Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan called for "accountability," both for President Barack Obama and themselves, on the heels of accepting the GOP presidential nomination.

The newly-minted Republican presidential and vice presidential nominee held a sendoff rally here near Tampa, Romney's first public appearance since last night's address to the Republican National Convention.

“We want to be held accountable for the promises we made last night, and the night before. Paul Ryan and I both spoke to the American people about what we’ll do if we become president and vice president," Romney said, urging Americans to also measure Obama by the promises he has either kept or discarded.

Ryan, who accepted the vice presidential nomination on Wednesday, told the crowd of roughly 2,000 supporters that he felt he and Romney had emerged from Tampa offering a "our fellow countrymen a very clear choice" in visions of leadership for the next four years.

Romney said he was "embarrassed" by the tributes and stories about his life told last night by members of his church, his family, and by those touched by his tenure at the Olympics in Salt Lake City or at the statehouse in Massachusetts. He said some of the stories were "overly generous," but he appreciated them nonetheless.

Romney and Ryan will now part ways -- on newly unveiled official campaign planes -- for separate campaign stops to round out the week. Romney will head to South Louisiana to tour storm-damaged areas with Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, and Ryan will stump in Virginia at a campaign stop originally envisioned as a joint appearance for the ticket.

TAMPA, Fla -- Former Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice said her successor, Hillary Clinton, has done a "fine" job.

It's the overall strategy of the Obama administration, Rice said, that has led the U.S. astray.

"I think she's done a fine job. The problem isn't Hilary Clinton, who's great," Rice told members of Ohio's delegation to the Republican National Convention.

"The problem is that we've chosen to speak with a muted voice about America's role in the world.  We've chosen to try to lead from behind. That's an oxymoron in my mind."

Clinton had long been a lightning rod for conservatives, but has won plaudits for her work as the nation's top diplomat.

But Rice, who some Republicans had hoped would be Mitt Romney's running mate, was more unsparing toward President Barack Obama, a likely target during her speech tonight before the convention.

Rice told delegates here that America has been "leading from behind" during the Obama administration. She said that, like many in the U.S., countries abroad are unsure if America can regain its place as the world's dominant economic and military power.

"We are united by a belief that you can come from humble circumstances and you can do great things. And today people wonder: Is that still true? Are America's best days behind us?" Rice said. 

"And I want to tell you, as a former secretary of state, it's not just something that Americans wonder, it's something that people around the world wonder too.  Because when the United States is not feeling strong and confident at home, it shows abroad.And when the united states is not willing to speak with a robust voice for free peoples and free markets, the world is a pretty chaotic place.

The former top adviser to President George W. Bush maintained that she is not concerned by the lack of foreign policy experience at the top of the Republican ticket, saying that success abroad takes the same leadership qualities Romney exhibited in the private sector. 

"The details about what you do about Iran on any given day or what you do about china on any given day.  Any smart person can figure that out.  But if you don't have the basic principles in place...then you can't be a great foreign policy president," she said.

The Stanford professor continued to say she has no plans to return politics, but her high-profile seat during Tuesday night's floor speeches along with her speech tonight will cause plenty of speculation about a possible future spot in the Romney administration.

TAMPA, FL -- Just hours after addressing the Republican National Convention herself Monday night, Ann Romney was back at it again bright and early Tuesday morning, making her pitch to a group of women voters.

Slideshow: The 2012 Republican National Convention

"So many of the women in this nation have got to figure out, am I going to go in that voting booth and vote for my children’s future?" Mrs. Romney asked the several hundred women at a breakfast just a few blocks from the GOP convention. "That’s what they have got to ask because this is going to be an economic question for them. We’re OK. We’re OK. The next generation is going to be paying for our debts."

With Mitt Romney struggling with the gender gap -- President Barack Obama is leading among females 51 percent to 41 percent according to the NBC News/WSJ poll --  his wife appears to be taking on the role of helping try to reduce that.

Charlie Neibergall / AP

Ann Romney, wife of U.S. Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney, addresses the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Fla., on Tuesday, Aug. 28, 2012.

Not only did Ann, who wore a light pink suit, share personal stories about her and Mitt Romney's 42-year long marriage -- their love, struggles, and family -- all five of her daughters-in-law appeared on stage with stories of their own.

"One thing I really love about Ann is she’s a really modern feminist. She’s kind of the 21st century woman. She is so comfortable in her own skin and I promise that’s for real," Andelyne Romney, son Ben's wife, said.

Making her debut on the campaign trail, Janna Ryan, wife of the vice presidential nominee-in-waiting, Rep. Paul Ryan, also gave very brief remarks inside the Hyatt Hotel.

"I have to say it again, wasn't Ann great last night. So good," Mrs. Ryan said, giving Americans the first glimpse of America's potential next Second Lady. "Ann's story is an inspiration for millions of women across this country and her friendship is an unexpected blessing in this campaign. It is a privilege to join you and Mitt on this campaign."

And Mitt Romney himself, via video, joined the conversation as well to talk about "his sweetheart."

"By the time I get to town, the delegates may have decided to nominate Ann instead. And wouldn’t that be interesting?," Romney joked. "And do you think if Ann were the nominee, the press would write stories about how my job is to humanize Ann? I don’t think so."

Updated 6:21 pm. - TAMPA, Fla. -- Republicans formally nominated Mitt Romney for president on Tuesday, minting the former Massachusetts governor as the party's official opponent this fall versus President Barack Obama.

Romney has been the presumptive Republican presidential nominee since late spring, when his major opponents ended their campaigns for president. But he will be able to shed the "presumptive" qualifier when he formally accepts the nomination during his Thursday night speech.

David Goldman / AP

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker speaks as as Mitt Romney is nominated by the state delegates for the Office of the President of the United States at the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Fla., on Tuesday, Aug. 28, 2012.

Republicans held the roll call of state delegations late Tuesday afternoon, delayed from its initial scheduled vote during Monday's hurricane-canceled session. Convention Secretary Kim Reynolds presided over the vote.

"I am truly honored to annouce these votes for a man who happens to be my brother, and whom I love: Mitt Romney, the next president of the United States," said Scott Romney, the brother of Mitt Romney, in leading Michigan's delegation in casting its votes.

Shortly thereafter, Republicans nominated Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan as their vice presidential candidate by acclimation.

Slideshow: The 2012 Republican National Convention

There were occasional outburts of cheers for Texas Rep. Ron Paul when some states' delegates voted for the retiring congressman. Some delegates abstained from voting in instances, suggesting their dissenting opinion from Romney.

The fanfare on Romney's behalf at the convention hall made the delegate math of the Republican primaries earlier this year almost seem like an afterthought. Romney's battles with former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum had seemed, for a time, to threaten to transform the battle for the GOP nomination into a protracted delegate battle.

When Romney accepts the nomination, he'll be able to access and spend tens of millions of dollars he has raised in general election funds. This formal distinction will enable the former Massachusetts governor's campaign to spend millions more on organization and television ads heading into the height of the fall campaign.

Updated, 1:30 p.m. - TAMPA, Fla. -- Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said that Republicans "can't just trot out a brown face" to make inroads with the Latino community, an increasingly important growing bloc.

As the GOP prepares to showcase some of its rising Hispanic stars during the next two days of its national convention, the Democratic mayor dismissed Republican overtures toward Latinos as insincere.

"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 said at a press conference here organized by the Democratic National Committee.

"People are going to vote just like Anglos do, just like African-Americans do, and virtually every demographic group. They vote for people based on what they say, what they've done, and what they're going to do," he later added.

Among the Latinos speaking in Tuesday's Republican National Convention programming are Rep. Francisco Canseco, R-Texas. Sher Valenzuela, the Republican candidate for lieutenant governor of Delaware, Republican Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval and Texas GOP Senate nominee Ted Cruz.

But, other staunch opponents of illegal immigration -- like Iowa Rep. Steve King, who's speaking as well on Tuesday -- will also be among the featured voices in the day's program.

"I don't think it's going to do much for him, frankly," Villaraigosa said of the GOP's overall message.

The Los Angeles mayor predicted that President Barack Obama would win "close to 70 percent" of the Latino vote in his re-election effort; Romney advisers have set a goal in the upper-30th percentile in targeting Hispanic voters.

Latino voters are of particular importance in swing states like Colorado, Florida and Virginia -- a sign of shifting demographics that Republicans have worried would put them at a long-term political disadvantage unless they were to become more welcoming of Latinos.

Ryan Williams, a spokesman for Romney, said in response to today's Democratic bracketing event: "Today, as we learn that more than a quarter of Democrats believe President Obama does not have a clear plan for creating jobs, his surrogates in Tampa continued to launch false and baseless attacks against Governor Romney.  The facts speak for themselves – with 23 million Americans struggling for work, nearly one in six Americans living in poverty, and median incomes declining, the Obama campaign cannot defend a record of broken promises and failed policies.  Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan have a plan to strengthen the middle class by creating jobs and turning around our economy."

ABOARD THE ROMNEY CAMPAIGN PLANE -- Only hours before delivering her speech to a national audience, Ann Romney is ready to go (but her outfit is not).

While passing out home-baked Welsh cakes, her specialty, to the secret service and press corps, the former first lady of Massachusetts expressed confidence in the team that helped write her speech, and a bit of dismay that those same strategists would be also be helping to select her wardrobe.

“We’re having a great time. I’m excited about it,” Mrs. Romney said of the speech. “And the funniest thing of all is that Stuart Stevens, who wears his shirts inside-out, is advising me on what dress I should wear tonight. So I know I’ve come really full-circle now.”

“It was going to be like my wedding night -- I wasn’t going to let him know what I was going to wear. But now they have opinions,” Mrs. Romney said of her husband and his staff.

Mrs. Romney, who usually delivers her brief stump speech off the cuff, and almost never uses a teleprompter, said preparing for her speech with a teleprompter was “hard,” and said the ongoing process of refining the speech was exciting, if challenging.

“You know, I think you will see that my speech is heartfelt, and I think a lot of you have been covering me long enough and you know I've never gone off a written text. So this is a unique experience for me,” Romney said.

A reporter asked Romney what she hoped viewers at home would think as they watched the speech on television.

“How important this election’s going to be and how important it’s going to be for them to consider the right things to make their right decisions,” Mrs. Romney said, wrapping up the Q & A session.

“I think that’s it, guys. I’m just going to pass out the Welsh cakes now.”

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.