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.”

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.

*** 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.