Ann Romney urges Americans to 'trust Mitt'

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney swept to the Republican presidential nomination Tuesday night, praised lovingly by his wife from the stage as the "man American needs" and cheered by a hall packed with convention delegates eager to propel him into the fall campaign against President Barack Obama.

The hall erupted in cheers when Romney strolled onto the stage and shared a kiss with his wife of more than 40 years.

"This man will not fail. This man will not let us down," Ann Romney said in a prime-time speech that sounded at times like a heart-to-heart talk among women and at times like a testimonial to her husband.

"It's the moms who always have to work harder, to make everything right," she said, and she vouched firmly for her husband: "You can trust Mitt. He loves America."

"I read somewhere that Mitt and I have a "storybook marriage. Well, in the storybooks I read, there were never long, long, rainy winter afternoons in a house with five boys screaming at once," she said in a prime time turn at the podium.

"A storybook marriage? No, not at all. What Mitt Romney and I have is a real marriage," she added in an appearance meant to cast her multimillionaire-businessman-turned politician in a softer, more likable light.

Ann Romney defended her husband's success in business, offering a character testimonial to counter Democratic attack ads that have worked to paint her husband as wealthy and out-of-touch.

"Mitt doesn't like to talk about how he has helped others because he sees it as a privilege, not a political talking point," she said. "And we're no different than the millions of Americans who quietly help their neighbors, their churches and their communities. They don't do it so that others will think more of them. They do it because there is no greater joy."

New Jersey's governor, Chris Christie, had the  job of following Ann Romney before the cheering crowd.

"Mitt Romney will tell us the hard truths we need to hear to put us back on the path to growth and create good paying private sector jobs again in America," said Christie, delivering the convention's keynote address, rousing the Republican audience.

"It's time to end this era of absentee leadership in the Oval Office and send real leaders to the White House," he said.

Earlier, Republicans nominated Romney for president, culminating a long primary fight and setting the stage for a close contest against President Barack Obama.

In the state-by-state roll call of convention delegates, Romney won 2,061 to 190 for Ron Paul, a libertarian-leaning Texas congressman.

Republicans also nominated Wisconsin congressman Paul Ryan for vice-president. Ryan was nominated by acclamation at the Republican convention on Tuesday. There were no other candidates.

Romney arrived in Tampa on Tuesday as Republican National Convention organizers prepared to showcase him as a man who understands everyday Americans and a leader who can fix the economy. 

But with New Orleans and much of the Gulf Coast waiting fearfully to see where a massive storm makes landfall, politics became an awkward enterprise and no one knows what sort of party the GOP gathering will turn out to be.

After a one-day weather delay, the convention proceeds according to its latest script: delivering Romney the presidential nomination he fought years to achieve, calling the party to unify around him and setting the stage for the final stretch of the hotly contested campaign to unseat President Barack Obama.

Attendees bring disagreements to the floor

As attendees and delegations gather on the convention floor, it is clear their views are far from uniform.

Social conservatives, fiscal conservatives and tea party members have trickled in wearing buttons and t-shirts that signal their particular brand of Republicanism. Some of these factions remain skeptical of Romney, and how he plans to address the differences among members of the party's base.

Paul supporters have already erupted into cheers of "seat Maine now!" and are speaking out against new rules designed to limit the ability of insurgent candidates to amass delegates to future GOP conventions.

They could raise a ruckus by waving Paul signs and shouting his name during a convention that hopes to remain focused on Romney and his running mate, Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin.

Reid Davis of Dallas, who has served in the U.S. Army, is among those that can't hide their disdain for the party's de facto leader.

"'A lot of my brothers died in combat to choose who our leaders are. Taking away grassroots voice is sickening," he said of the rule changes, adding that he "100 per cent" cannot support "flip-flopper" Romney. 

"It would be no different than an Obama administration," he told CBC News' Andrew Davidson.

Organizers watch the skies as Isaac declared hurricane

The gavel came down on Monday — signalling the official opening of the convention before a cavernous, mostly empty hall —only to give way to a recess period that was lifted Tuesday afternoon. 

Some attendees were defiant in the face of Isaac, which has now strengthened into a hurricane, despite admitting to concern for friends and family.

Roger Vilry, a delegate from New Orleans, said the convention show should go on regardless of the threatening weather. And if attendees are not directly affected, there is no need to tone down the jubilation that normally takes place at national conventions.

"I don't think there's any optics or any problem having a party because we're here in Tampa, and in New Orleans we have parties at funerals," he said.

But the CBC's Michael Colton reports that the top brass has been watching the sky a bit more cautiously, using words like "nimble" and "flexible" to describe their response plan.

• Isaac forces Republican convention planners to be 'nimble' 

"We're going to monitor the storm as it proceeds and see what happens over the next few days," said party spokesman Russ Shriefer.

Republicans plainly had more at stake in their convention week — Democrats meet next week in Charlotte, N.C. — but the Obama campaign also had to recalibrate its tactics as Gulf residents fled their homes or hunkered down.

Organizers remain saddled with the question of how to proceed with a political festival — one devoted both to scoring points against Obama and firing up excitement for Romney — under the shadow of a dangerous storm crawling toward the Gulf Coast.

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