TAMPA, Fla. – Paul Ryan stressed what he said was a shared desire with Mitt Romney to confront the nation’s most difficult challenges in an upbeat, if ideologically unflinching, speech accepting the Republican vice presidential nomination.

The Wisconsin congressman joined other Republicans on the second night of the Republican National Convention in attempting to refocus the fall campaign on big issues, deploying diverse GOP voices to make a broad appeal to independents.

Ryan, former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez received rock star welcomes from delegates in Tampa with speeches extolling nominee-in-waiting Mitt Romney and the virtues of leadership. 

"When Gov. Romney asked me to join the ticket, I said, 'Let’s get this done,'" Ryan said in his speech formally accepting the party's vice presidential nomination. "And that is exactly, what we’re going to do."

Ryan’s speech was both a plea for unity – he urged voters to “come together for the sake of our country” – and an emotional and ideological appeal, a type of clarion call that has endeared Ryan with conservatives.

Related: Future leaders on display at GOP convention

It was arguably the most important speech of Ryan’s political career, leveling an indictment of President Barack Obama on taxes, entitlements and energy while acclaiming Romney as a decisive leader and the best-suited candidate to lead a turn around in the economy.

"These past four years we have suffered no shortage of words in the White House," he said. "What’s missing is leadership in the White House!"

The Wisconsin congressman's speech punctuated a prime-time lineup of speakers geared at painting the GOP as a party of principle and opportunity.

Rice, the former top diplomat for President George W. Bush (who was the subject of a tribute earlier in the evening, along with his father, President George H.W. Bush), weaved together her personal narrative about overcoming segregation and other barriers into a case for American exceptionalism.

Her reflection about overcoming Jim Crow laws to become secretary of state proved to be one of the evening's most emotional moments.

"The essence of America -- that which really unites us -- is not ethnicity, or nationality, or religion," she said. "It is an idea, and what an idea it is:  That you can come from humble circumstances and do great things.  That it doesn't matter where you came from but where you are going."

Both Ryan and Rice seemed to uniquely stir passions among the Republican delegates. Rice’s speech in particular won plaudits from political observers on the left and right for its broad themes and relative lack of rhetorical firebombs.

An address from Martinez was sandwiched between Rice and Ryan. Her speech was one that made overtures to women and Latinos, and one which told the story of her own conversion from the Democratic Party to the GOP.

Slideshow: Republican National Convention

Win Mcnamee / Getty Images

Republicans gather in Tampa, Florida to officially nominate Mitt Romney and his running mate, Paul Ryan, as the party's candidates for the 2012 presidential election.

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She downplayed political parties, and kept with a theme emphasizing the primacy of solutions over politics.

"This election should not be about political parties. Too many Americans are out of work, and our debt is out of control. This election needs to be about those issues," Martinez said. "And it is the responsibility of both parties to offer up real solutions and have an honest debate."

Earlier in the evening, delegates heard harsher criticism of Obama.

In his speech, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee made a direct appeal to his party's conservatives, mocking Obama and prominent Democratic leaders for "radical, left-wing" leadership.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty mocked Obama for his semi-regular golf games on weekends, and South Dakota Sen. John Thune said he could easily defend the president in a game of pick-up basketball -- because Obama would always go to his left.

The evening also featured a tribute to the retiring Texas Rep. Ron Paul, who has attracted a devoted following in his two bids for the Republican presidential nomination.

But the carefully scripted speeches in the 10 p.m. to 11 p.m. ET hour on Tuesday and Wednesday were more likely to foreshadow Romney’s acceptance speech during Thursday’s culminating night of the Republican National Convention.

Romney aides said Wednesday that the former Massachusetts governor’s speech -- tied into the need for Romney to reverse negative public opinion toward him – was mostly finished. Romney watched the evening’s speeches just a few paces away from the site of his speech tomorrow, at a nearby hotel.

TAMPA, Fla. -- Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee served up red meat to Republicans at their national convention, rallying conservatives behind the party’s nominee-in-waiting, Mitt Romney.

Huckabee leaned on standard Republican tropes -- from mocking House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman-Schultz to decrying "radical left-wing" policies -- in a pitch firmly directed toward the GOP's right wing.

"To those who question how once-rivals can now be united, it’s quite simple -- we have Barack Obama to thank," said the former 2008 presidential candidate, who sparred with Romney in that year's GOP primaries, in a bid to stir conservatives' passions.

Huckabee passed on running for the Republican presidential nomination a second time in 2012, leaving a void in the primary field this cycle for a visible social conservative like this former Southern Baptist preacher.

It was one of the most direct and pointed speeches targeted at President Barack Obama and it riled up delegates as the convention built towards vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan’s acceptance speech Wednesday night. 

"No small differences among us in our party approximate the vast differences between the liberty-limiting, radical left-wing, anti-business, reckless-spending, tax-hiking party of Barack Obama, Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi, versus an energized America who knows that we can do better," said the former Arkansas governor.

That hard-hitting rhetoric was largely typical of Huckabee's speech, which included jokes about the president's Nobel Peace Prize and Vice President Joe Biden's charitable giving -- along with jabs directed toward a familiar Republican bogeyman, the media.

Huckabee also made reference to his role as a socially conservative leader in an attempt to rally Catholics, a group whom Republicans have courted this cycle, partially by attacking new Obama administration rules about requiring insurers to cover contraception.

"The attack on my Catholic brothers and sisters is an attack on me," he said.

Huckabee made no mention, though, of one of his sharpest differences of late with Republican leaders, over the candidacy of Todd Akin -- the Republican Senate candidate in Missouri whose controversial comments about rape prompted most GOP leaders to call for Akin to end his campaign. Huckabee has stood by and defended Akin.

Slideshow: Republican National Convention

Win Mcnamee / Getty Images

Republicans gather in Tampa, Florida to officially nominate Mitt Romney and his running mate, Paul Ryan, as the party's candidates for the 2012 presidential election.

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TAMPA, Fla. -- The Republican National Convention played host Wednesday evening to a tribute to Rep. Ron Paul, and signaled a potential passing of the torch to his son, Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul.

Though the retiring Texas congressman was not in attendance for tonight's tribute, a series of lawmakers participated in a video toasting the career of Ron Paul, whose supporters have been a noticeable presence at the convention.

"Whether people want to admit it or not, Ron Paul changed the conversation," Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said in the video.

Acolytes of Paul's brand of libertarian conservatism appeared as well, including Sens. Jim DeMint of South Carolina, Mike Lee of Utah and Rand Paul of Kentucky, and Reps. Jimmy Duncan of Tennessee, Justin Amash of Michigan and Walter Jones of North Carolina. Ron Paul and his wife appeared as well.

The Romney campaign had assented to the tribute as part of an overall effort to placate dedicated supporters of Paul, a two-time presidential candidate who sought to win enough delegates in a sufficient number of states to at least have his name put forth for nomination.

That effort prompted rules changes at the outset of this convention aimed at guarding against similar efforts to use the arcane delegate allocation rules to a grass-roots candidate's advantage.

But while the elder Paul appears set to exit the national stage, his son, Rand, appears poised to at least inherit supporters of his father, if not grow that coalition.

Rand Paul was welcomed to thunderous applause by supporters, some of whom chanted his name at the conclusion of the speech.

His speech continued the Republican "You Didn't Build That" attack, but featured one of the most forceful rebukes of President Barack Obama's health care reform law.

"I think if James Madison himself -- the father of the Constitution -- were here today he would agree with me: The whole damn thing is still unconstitutional!" he said.

Like his father, Rand Paul also broke with some Republican orthodoxies on foreign policy on a night set to feature some high-profile attacks on the Obama administration's national security record.

"Republicans must acknowledge that not every dollar spent on the military is necessary or well-spent," he said, drawing some cheers. (Many Republicans have sought to undo automatic defense spending cuts stipulated by the 2011 debt ceiling agreement.)

Rand Paul also won thunderous applause for warning against allowing curbs to civil rights in the name of national security.

"To thrive we must believe in ourselves again, and we must never -- never -- trade our liberty for any fleeting promise of security," he said.

Slideshow: Republican National Convention

Win Mcnamee / Getty Images

Republicans gather in Tampa, Florida to officially nominate Mitt Romney and his running mate, Paul Ryan, as the party's candidates for the 2012 presidential election.

Launch slideshow

Mia Love sees the campaign that President Obama and Vice President Joe Biden are conducting as “disrespectful,” quoting the so-called “war on women,” and Biden’s recent comments on the campaign trail when he told a crowd that Republicans “want to put ya’ll back in chains.” 

“Well, when you think about it, let's look at the 'war on women,' I mean, he's tries to politically get women to vote for men,” the Utah congressional candidate said. “And if you think about Joe Biden's comments, "They want to put ya'll back in chains," I think it's absolutely disrespectful to the office that they hold. I deserve a president that sees me as a human being.”

But Love feels that her race won’t be a factor in her effort to become the Republican’s first African-American congresswoman, saying that her race and gender “doesn’t matter.” 

Asked how the Republican Party reaches out to groups its struggling with like African Americans, Latinos, women, and young voters, Love said the GOP just needs to focus on what she says American’s care about, which is the economy.

“I think that what they need to do is continue doing what the Republicans are doing right now, what Mitt Romney is doing, and that's focusing on the economy,” Love said. “That's what people really care about.”

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, Fla. -- The Republican National Convention has in some ways become as much of a showcase for the GOP's potential 2016 contenders as it has for this year's nominee, Mitt Romney, through the first full day of speeches.

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker received a hero's welcome from gathered delegates during his speech Tuesday. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie delivered a barnburning keynote address that touted his own accomplishments as much as Romney's.

And while Romney’s running mate, Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan, will surely tout the top of the ticket, he may end up doing as much to burnish his own credentials for a future bid for higher office when he accepts the vice presidential nomination Wednesday evening. 

Related: First Thoughts: Mixed messages

If Mitt Romney is elected this fall, many of the featured Republicans this week will have to put their own presidential ambitions on the back burner, presumably waiting until 2020 for their chance to make a bid for the White House. But if President Obama wins a second term in November, the party will have had ample opportunity this week to size up some of their top contenders for four years from now. 

Jason Reed / Reuters

Republican congressional candidate and Saratoga Springs, Utah, Mayor Mia Love addresses delegates during the second day of the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Florida, August 28.

Perhaps no speaker this week represents both the future of the party and the delicate balance between ambition and assisting Romney this year than Ryan, who has been a loyal soldier for Romney since joining the Republican ticket earlier this month, gladly taking a backseat to Romney on policy issues where their differences could be politically thorny. 

Slideshow: The 2012 Republican National Convention

But Ryan's star power has long been evident in the GOP, and even Romney has hailed him as an "intellectual leader" of the party. While Ryan's rock star status could well electrify Republican delegates on Romney's behalf, his speech could preserve his national brand well past 2012.

Other representatives of the GOP's deep bench took the stage on Tuesday, with some mixed results. 

Christie's keynote speech -- a slot traditionally reserved as a launching platform for future leaders -- last night seemed to do that much; he referenced himself over 30 times, but only mentioned Romney eight times. While Christie rebuffed efforts to draft him into the presidential race this cycle and eventually endorsed Romney, his appearance Wednesday morning before the delegation from New Hampshire -- which traditionally hosts the first presidential primary -- did little to quell speculation about his future ambitions. 

Walker mixed boasts of his successes in curbing collective bargaining rights for public workers in Wisconsin with effusive praise for Romney and especially Ryan, the home-state congressman whose ambitious fiscal work links his governing philosophy with Walker's.

While conventions are not solely meant as coronations for presidential nominees, and down-ballot candidates -- such as Mia Love and Ted Cruz, two featured speakers last night -- must be mindful of their own electoral prospects, rank-and-file Republican voters might take solace in their party's future when looking at the deep bench of GOP stars on display this week. 

Related: GOP headliners cast Romney as relatable and decisive

Among the other speakers on Tuesday who could have future political ambition were Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, the runner-up against Romney in this year's presidential primary. (Santorum's speech only mentioned Romney a handful of times, and seemed to dwell more on his erstwhile campaign than the battle ahead. He said he and his family "shook the hand of the American Dream" during their travels across the country last year.)

In addition to Ryan, some second-tier contenders in 2016 -- South Dakota Sen. John Thune, Ohio Sen. Rob Portman and Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul -- will speak earlier Wednesday evening. 

And one of the GOP's pre-eminent stars, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, will introduce Romney during Thursday night's primetime session. 

Of course, there are also difficulties for politicians looking to preserve their future political opportunities while another candidates sit atop their party's ticket. Every Republican this week has expressed effusive confidence in Romney as the nominee; if any Republican even hinted at running in 2016, it would imply an assumption that Romney won't win in 2012.

"I am not running for president today. I am not running for president period," Walker said, for instance, at a forum this morning organized by the Washington Post.

Democrats may too suffer from showboating to some degree during their convention next week in Charlotte, N.C. The critical difference for them? Win or lose in 2012, Obama won't be on the ballot in 2016.

TAMPA, Fla. -- Out of all the speakers, all the proclamations, and all the political rhetoric, one topic was barely mentioned here last night, if at all: foreign policy.

That will change somewhat tonight when Arizona Sen. John McCain and former Bush Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice address the Republican convention. According to Romney officials, McCain's speech -- which daughter Meghan McCain said would be "red meat to the lions" on MSNBC -- will focus on defense matters, while Rice's will concentrate on foreign affairs.

Slideshow: The 2012 Republican National Convention

But that's pretty much it. 

Tonight's other key speakers -- Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, Sen. Rob Portman, South Dakota Sen. John Thune, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez -- will discuss domestic issues affecting the middle class, organizers say. And tomorrow's final night will be a build up to Mitt Romney's acceptance speech. 

(That said, Romney will talk about defense and veterans' issues in his upcoming speech today before the American Legion in Indianapolis.)

This lack of attention to foreign policy and national security is a departure from past political conventions. Four years ago in Denver, Democrats devoted the theme of their Wednesday program to the issue (the title of the night was "Securing America's Future"). And given that McCain was the GOP's nominee in the 2008 cycle, foreign affairs was a dominant theme in the Republican convention in St. Paul.

And in 2004 -- just removed from the 9/11 attacks and the start of the Iraq war -- both the Democratic and Republican conventions had a heavy focus on defense and foreign affairs. (Remember John Kerry's "reporting for duty" speech? Or George W. Bush's finale? Or Rudy Giuliani's?)

Of course, one obvious explanation for this change is the focus on the economy. Indeed, almost every poll shows that jobs and the economy rank as the public's top concern. "Obviously, the economy is No. 1," said a top Romney official in response to a question why there's so little attention to national security and foreign affairs at the GOP convention.

Another reason is the truncated schedule. "We only have three nights," an additional Romney official replied. "That's a piece of it." 

A third reason is President Barack Obama's strength on these issues, especially compared with his standing on the economy. In fact, the most recent NBC/WSJ poll found the president's approval rating on foreign policy at 54%, versus 44% on the economy.

And so guess what's a big Thursday theme of next week's Democratic convention in Charlotte?

According to the Boston Globe, it will be national security. 

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."

Mixed messages: Both Ann Romney and Chris Christie gave fine speeches, but they created a disjointed message… Christie raises the bar for Romney… Last night showcased the GOP’s governors and its diverse candidates/officials… Isaac slams into Louisiana… Previewing Ryan’s speech… Is it really Mitt Romney’s party?... On the trail: Romney delivers speech to American Legion conference  in Indianapolis, while Obama stumps in Charlottesville… And did the Sea of Galilee story claim its first victim?

TAMPA, FL -- Ann Romney humanizing her husband and delivering a well-received speech, check. Chris Christie hitting the Democrats and President Obama, as well as making the case that leadership requires tough choices, check. Individually, last night’s two primetime speeches here at the Republican convention accomplished what they set out to do. But taken together, they represented a clash in tone -- with Ann Romney telling the audience she wanted to talk about the power of love, and with Christie declaring, “Tonight, we’re going to choose respect over love.” Christie later added, “Our ideas are right for America, and their ideas have failed America.” Either speech could have concluded the night, but the two addresses didn’t mix well; it was like a meal of blueberry pancakes and ribeye steak, or a dessert of pickles and ice cream. There wasn’t a unifying message, so the parts seemed greater than the whole. Make no mistake: The Romney campaign can take pride in both speeches. And the time constraints and Monday’s cancellation didn’t give them a better alternative. But two polar-opposite addresses created a disjointed message.

*** Christie raises the bar for Romney: So if there’s criticism of Christie’s speech, it wasn’t in the substance -- but rather in the fact that it wasn’t the lasting moment after Ann Romney’s address. In a way, it was classic New Jersey: an interruption. One thing that Christie’s keynote speech did was raise the bar for Romney on Thursday. “You see, Mr. President -- real leaders don’t follow polls,” he said last night. “Real leaders change polls.” But is that a message more suited for Romney or Christie himself? After all, Romney is a politician who has often taken the easier path in politics (running as a supporter of abortion rights in Massachusetts, opposing them when he started eyeing the presidency, downplaying his health-care law, not answering if he would overturn President Obama’s new deportation policy for young undocumented immigrants).

*** Showcasing the GOP’s governors and its diverse candidates: But if the convention planners achieved one goal from last night, it was showcasing the party’s young governors and its diverse candidates and officials. Look at the governors who spoke last night: John Kasich, Mary Fallin, Bob McDonnell, Scott Walker, Brian Sandoval, and Nikki Haley. (In fact, Walker probably brought the crowd to its feet more than any other speaker last night.) And then there was the diversity: Mia Love, Kelly Ayotte, Ted Cruz, and Artur Davis. (Outside of Ann Romney, Christie, and Walker, Love’s short speech might have been the most impressive of the night.) Other things that struck us: Rick Santorum’s speech didn’t deliver the way the Romney campaign had seemed to promise (the welfare attack on Obama fell flat with the audience), and Cruz (with his walking around the stage) appeared to try too hard.

*** Isaac slams into Louisiana: We’ll say a final word about last night: It came as Hurricane Isaac slammed into Louisiana and the Gulf Coast. “Hurricane Isaac spun into the southern Louisiana coast late Tuesday, sending floodwaters surging and unleashing fierce winds as residents hunkered down behind boarded-up windows,” the AP writes. “New Orleans calmly waited out another storm on the eve of Hurricane Katrina's seventh anniversary, hoping the city's strengthened levees would hold.” Ann Romney asked the audience to “hope and pray” that everyone on Gulf Coast was safe. But outside of that, the references to Isaac were sparse. 

*** Previewing Ryan’s speech: We now turn to tonight’s schedule of activities at the GOP convention, which will be highlighted by Paul Ryan’s speech accepting the party’s vice-presidential nomination. Already a full-fledged star in the Republican Party, Ryan has the potential to rock the crowd here in Tampa. After all, he can do it with biography (his family, the loss of his father, his love of hunting) as well as policy (the Ryan budget). And it will be the biggest speech of his political career so far. But let's also not get too carried away about the VP nominee speech; Palin's was the exception. (Beyond her, name another impactful VP nominee speech. The memorable convo speeches are almost all keynotes, spouses and top of tickets, not the VP.) The Romney camp says that, in Wisconsin, it will hold 20 watch parties of Ryan’s speech, and that there will be a special event in his hometown of Janesville. Meanwhile, the Obama campaign has produced this web video before Ryan’s speech tonight. Other stories we’ll be watching tonight: Will Mike Huckabee say anything about Todd Akin? And how will Condi Rice be received? We can’t think of her ever making a true public political speech before… 

*** Wednesday’s schedule (the theme is “We change it”):

7:00 pm ET hour: Mitch McConnell, Rand Paul
8:00 pm hour: John McCain, John Thune, Rob Portman,
9:00 pm hour: Luis Fortuno, Tim Pawlenty, Mike Huckabee
10:00 pm hour: Condi Rice, Susana Martinez, Paul Ryan

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie addresses the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Fla. on Tuesday, Aug. 28, 2012.

*** Is this really Romney’s party? Don’t miss this analysis from the Tampa Bay Times’ Adam Smith: “Mitt Romney on Tuesday officially became the leader of the Republican Party. What's unclear is how much it's really his Republican Party. Talk to delegates in and around the Tampa Bay Times Forum, and they're more likely to gush about Chris Christie or Marco Rubio than their nominee. Ask them to explain Romney's agenda and ideology and they point enthusiastically to running mate Paul Ryan's. ‘The party's not defined by the top of the ticket anymore. The party is defined by the broader community of people who choose to associate and participate,'' said Matt Kibbe, chairman of FreedomWorks, the grass roots organizing group aligned with tea party conservatives. ’It's not so much about Mitt.’”

*** On the trail: The day before his big acceptance speech, Romney addresses the American Legion’s national conference in Indianapolis, IN… And President Obama finishes his two-day swing to college towns, speaking in Charlottesville, VA  30 minutes later at 3:30 pm ET.

*** Did that dip in the Sea of Galilee claim its first victim? Arizona held its primaries last night, and David Schweikert (R) defeated Ben Quayle (R) in the state’s member-vs.-member contest.Taegan Goddard's Political Wire spots this in the Arizona Republic's write-up  of the race. “As ballots rolled in, Quayle campaign volunteer Paul Gorman attributed the loss to fallout from a recent story about Congress members partying in Israel, including one who stripped naked to swim. Quayle was on the trip but said he only took a brief, reverent dip in the Sea of Galilee.” The race was always going to be tough for Quayle, but the timing of the Sea of Galilee story sure didn’t help. In other news out of Arizona, we have our Senate match up -- Jeff Flake (R) vs. Richard Carmona (D).

Countdown to Dem convention: 5 days
Countdown to 1^st presidential debate: 35 days
Countdown to VP debate: 43 days
Countdown to 2^nd presidential debate: 48 days
Countdown to 3^rd presidential debate: 54 days
Countdown to Election Day: 69 days

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“Mitt Romney strode into the Tampa Bay Times Forum for the start of the Republican convention on Tuesday night as perhaps the least-known presidential nominee in recent history. Everything from his religion—barely spoken about on the campaign trail—to his business career—the subject of intense disagreements—translated as opaque. His looks and bearing registered as presidential, but there was precious little to fill out the suit,” the Boston Globe’s Canellos writes. “But by the time Romney took the stage for the first time, later in the evening, his profile had begun to come into greater focus. And he had his wife of 43 years to thank for it.”

“Her mission was to soften her husband's image, but before she spoke about the ‘boy I met at a dance,’ Ann Romney made a strong pitch for the support by women that has so far eluded Mitt Romney's Republican party,” USA Today writes.

No Mr. Nice Guy… “Chris Christie tells the GOP to stop being the nice guys,” USA Today has as its headline.

The New York Daily News: “Christie took his sweet time getting around to mentioning the party’s presidential nominee, but made sure he gave his national audience a warmer, homier version than his local caricature — that of the gruff, finger-pointing blowhard who’s not afraid to shout down a heckler at the Jersey shore.”

The Washington Post's Dan Balz: "Christie had a tough assignment on Tuesday night. He was the wrap-up speaker on opening night of the Republican National Convention and had the misfortune of appearing after Ann Romney, whose testimony in behalf of her husband connected with the audience, and then the visit to the convention hall by the nominee. But it was Christie who helped inject some much-needed energy into an arena that had been surprisingly subdued through the early evening. He came on stage punching the air. He clapped as he approached the lectern, returning the welcome he received from the delegates as if to say: Wake up, Republicans. He demanded that they stand up, and they did." 

“A convention shortened by a day due to Hurricane Isaac’s passage through the nearby Gulf of Mexico created a compressed speaking schedule and a slightly incoherent juxtaposition,” theGlobe’s Johnson writes. “It pitted a passionate wife speaking of the boy she met at a high school dance against a brash, street-fighting politician urging the country to follow his lead in solving its problems.”

Split papers: 

The New Orleans Times-Picayune: “Isaac moves in.”
The convention isn’t even on the front page of the Tampa Bay Times regular edition: “Isaac’s déjà vu.”
Bradenton Herald: On the left: “This man will not fail,” on the right: “Isaac hits land on coast of La.”
Miami Herald: “Romney sweeps to GOP nomination.”

The Wall Street Journal makes this point about Santorum’s speech: “Mr. Santorum, who consistently outpaced Mr. Romney among social-issues conservatives, reminded the party faithful – and television viewers at home – that the GOP also observes strict limits on abortion, fighting for the rights of the ‘born and unborn.’ The former Pennsylvania senator also stressed the importance of traditional marriage and the family. While those themes are enshrined in the party platform, Mr. Santorum is one of the few speakers to highlight those positions in his remarks Tuesday night.” 

The New York Times covers the party’s platforms that was adopted. “One party platform stated that Hispanics and others should not ‘be barred from education or employment opportunities because English is not their first language.’ It highlighted the need for ‘dependable and affordable’ mass transit in cities, noting that ‘mass transportation offers the prospect for significant energy conservation.’ And it prefaced its plank on abortion by saying that ‘we recognize differing views on this question among Americans in general — and in our own party.’ The other party platform said that “we support English as the nation’s official language.” It chided the Democratic administration for “replacing civil engineering with social engineering as it pursues an exclusively urban vision of dense housing and government transit.” And its abortion plank recognized no dissent, taking the position that “the unborn child has a fundamental individual right to life which cannot be infringed.”

“An attendee at the Republican National Convention was given the boot Tuesday for racially taunting a black CNN camerawoman, an incident the news network confirmed after it was reported on Twitter,” the New York Daily News writes.

Romney gets just a 40%-51% fav/unfav in the latest Washington Post/ABC poll. Obama was 50%/47%. “Mitt Romney accepts the Republican nomination for president this week with the lowest personal popularity of any major-party nominee in polls dating to Ronald Reagan’s presidency, a difficulty for Romney that’s persisted throughout this election cycle,” ABC writes.

Mike Huckabee to the Daily Beast, per Political Wire: "The sicker the patient, the less important is bedside manner. If you've just been diagnosed with a brain tumor, you honestly don't care if your neurosurgeon is a jerk. You don't care if he has a great personality. You want to know if you're going to cut my head open, can you get the job done?"

Politico: “Many Democrats believe that Romney's decision to inject welfare into the campaign — with a factually inaccurate ad claiming that Obama had reversed Clinton-era work requirements — was an unmistakable, if coded, effort to imply that the first black president stands for handouts for lazy people. Combined with a recent lead-balloon joke by Romney about controversy over Obama's birthplace, Democrats have concluded that Romney is making deliberate appeals to prejudiced whites.

More: “Many Republicans — with years of resentment over how they believe Democrats and the media seek to throw them on the defensive on racial issues — howled that Vice President Joe Biden was exploiting racial fears when he told a majority-black audience in Virginia that the GOP's Wall Street allies want to ‘put you all back in chains.’ All the talk of code words highlights one irony of 2012: Race is proving more toxic as a subtext to the election than it did in 2008, when Obama's status as the first African-American major-party nominee was usually celebrated, even by many Republicans, as a sign of racial progress.”

“Ryan's place in prime time on Wednesday offers him the chance to introduce himself to millions of Americans who are just now starting to tune in to a presidential race that is too close to call with 70 days left until the voting,” Reuters writes. “While Ryan, chairman of the House of Representatives Budget Committee, is well known in Washington, he is little known elsewhere.”

“Condoleezza Rice is back. Nearly four years after leaving the White House, the former secretary of state is injecting herself into the center of the heated 2012 political season. She's raising money for female congressional candidates, dishing endorsements in key races and is poised to become even more involved in Republican politics than at any moment since she left the Bush White House,” Politico says. “Tonight, she'll take on the full glare of the national spotlight with a prime-time speech here at the Republican National Convention. A Rice aide said the former secretary of state would outline her view of American exceptionalism while calling on Republicans to rally around Mitt Romney.”

Town Hall’s Guy Benson reports that Clint Eastwood will be making his way to the convention and might be the mystery speaker.