Nomination Secure, Romney Pitch Starts
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Version 0 of 1. TAMPA, Fla. — Mitt Romney, a former governor of Massachusetts who has aspired to reach the White House since his father first sought the office four decades ago, was nominated by the Republican Party here on Tuesday as its choice to become the 45th president of the United States. The elevation of Mr. Romney at the Republican National Convention completed his six-year quest to navigate the contours of a changing party and opened a well-choreographed effort led by his wife, Ann, to swiftly reintroduce him to Americans in the hope of gaining the trust of voters and bolstering his campaign to defeat President Obama. Mr. Romney swept into the convention from backstage after watching his wife deliver a deeply personal speech that made a direct appeal to female voters, whom she assured: “You can trust Mitt.” He had arrived here on Tuesday, earlier than scheduled, with his campaign keeping a worried eye on Hurricane Isaac as it threatened the Gulf Coast and made landfall in Louisiana. The Republican gathering served as an opportunity not only to hammer Mr. Obama but also, perhaps more important, to humanize Mr. Romney in front of the wider audience he needs to win over before November. The leader of that effort was his wife of 42 years, who urged voters to take a chance on her husband to improve the lives of all Americans struggling in challenging economic times. “You may not agree with Mitt’s positions on issues or his politics,” Mrs. Romney said. “But let me say this to every American who is thinking about who should be our next president: No one will work harder. No one will care more.” As the audience listened intently, she added: “This man will not fail. This man will not let us down. This man will lift up America.” As the crowd of Republican delegates cheered, the Romneys embraced and took a quick stroll down the stage as “My Girl” from the Temptations boomed overhead. The real audience, though, was voters in swing states watching on television who have yet to be persuaded that Mr. Romney is the man to replace Mr. Obama. While the night was filled with tributes and testimonials aimed at building up Mr. Romney, it also served as a glimpse into the rising Republicans who are the future leaders of the party should he not win in November. Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey closed out the day with a keynote address that mentioned Mr. Romney only seven times and not until well into the speech. “I know this simple truth, and I’m not afraid to say it,” Mr. Christie said in his speech, which was deeply laden with his biography and aspirations. “Our ideas are right for America, and their ideas have failed America.” The prime-time network television coverage of the convention opened on Tuesday evening competing with images of driving rain and powerful winds in Louisiana during a week that marks the seventh anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. It remains an open question how much of Mr. Romney’s message will break through, and his campaign kept open the possibility of upending the convention schedule again if Hurricane Isaac warranted. The mood inside the convention hall was enthusiastic in a ritual way, with delegates cheering as speakers portrayed Mr. Obama as hostile to small-business owners, tolerant of increases to the national debt and out of touch with American values. A soundtrack of Mr. Obama’s own words played again and again, trying to use his own statements on the economy against him. But the efforts to give Mr. Romney a warmer image were aimed more at persuading wavering voters, especially women, who helped provide Mr. Obama with his substantial margin of victory in 2008. While other speakers testified to Mr. Romney’s character, Mrs. Romney was vital to the effort, giving glimpses into the challenges they had faced as a couple, including her own illnesses. “A storybook marriage? No, not at all,” Mrs. Romney said in what amounted to her national political debut Tuesday evening. “What Mitt Romney and I have is a real marriage.” While she essentially steered clear of directly mentioning politics, the rest of the program featured attacks on the president that were part of the Romney campaign’s increased emphasis on turning out conservative voters, especially white men and evangelicals, at higher rates than Senator John McCain did in 2008. After years in which Mr. Romney struggled to establish his credentials on the right of his party, conservatives now appear unified and energized, if more by the prospect of defeating Mr. Obama than by electing Mr. Romney. A party that has struggled to increase its appeal to female, Hispanic and black voters featured a diverse lineup of speakers on Tuesday, including the wife of the governor of Puerto Rico, who introduced Mrs. Romney. And former Representative Artur Davis of Alabama, an African-American who seconded the nomination of Mr. Obama at the Democratic convention in 2008, turned up on stage to offer his support for Mr. Romney. The program moved at an accelerated pace, a day after the convention’s first evening was canceled because of the storm. Gov. Nikki R. Haley of South Carolina raced through her speech as the evening wore on. “The hardest part of my job as governor of South Carolina,” she said, “has been this administration.” The roll call of the states took place five hours before the prime-time television coverage began, an effort by the campaign to avoid giving up precious network time and drawing even more attention to the still-smoldering tensions from the primaries. John H. Sununu, a former New Hampshire governor and a dean of the Republican Party, formally placed Mr. Romney’s name into nomination and hailed him as a leader who can “fix the unfixable.” As the crowd cheered, he added: “Mitt Romney is the right man at the right time and will be a great leader for our country.” Mr. Romney and his wife watched from their nearby hotel suite as New Jersey put him over the threshold of necessary delegates for the nomination at 5:40 p.m. The convention hall erupted in cheers, and the crowd chanted, “Mitt, Mitt, Mitt,” but it was not a unanimous response from the delegates, including some who folded their arms. When John A. Boehner, the speaker of the House, arrived on stage to read the final tally from all of the states and American territories, Mr. Romney had recorded 2,061 delegates. Representative Ron Paul of Texas, whose libertarian views have earned him a fervently loyal following, won 197 delegates as well as applause from his vocal supporters on the convention floor at the Tampa Bay Times Forum. Representative Paul D. Ryan of Wisconsin, one of the party’s leading voices on reshaping the size and role of government, was unanimously nominated as the vice-presidential candidate. The vote for Mr. Romney on Tuesday was simply a ratification of what Republican primary voters settled five months ago, but it reprised the hard feelings from some delegates, particularly those who traveled here to support Mr. Paul. While it was far from the contested convention that Mr. Romney’s aides had once feared, the strains highlighted the competing factions welling inside the Republican Party. When Mr. Paul arrived on the floor a few hours earlier, his supporters rose to their feet and loudly called on Republican officials to “let him speak.” Suddenly, a slow, orderly and largely symbolic process erupted in anger, presenting a raucous scene that even the most seasoned delegates said they had not seen in decades. The proceedings, if only for a few moments, harked to an era when contentious party conventions actually decided presidential nominees. Still, the efforts to humanize Mr. Romney seemed to be working, at least for some here who began learning more about their party’s standard-bearer. Representative Joe Wilson of South Carolina, who gained a national following among conservatives for shouting “You lie” at Mr. Obama during his health care speech before a joint session of Congress three years ago, said his earlier reservations about Mr. Romney had been resolved as he learned more about him. He said he had picked up a new biographical detail about Mr. Romney from the convention literature. “I didn’t know he had five sons,” Mr. Wilson said. <NYT_AUTHOR_ID> <p>Jim Rutenberg and Michael D. Shear contributed reporting. |