* Biggest TV audience to date for Republican
* He has hard act to follow after Ann
* Big speech culminates Tampa convention
By Steve Holland
TAMPA, Fla., Aug 30 (Reuters) – Mitt Romney faces a critical
test in his White House bid on Thursday when he addresses the
Republican National Convention, an opportunity to convince
millions of Americans that he can forge a path to economic
rebirth and provide better leadership than President Barack
Obama.
It will be Romney’s biggest television audience to date as
much of the nation tunes in, giving some voters their first
extended look at the 65-year-old former Massachusetts governor
who unsuccessfully sought the Republican nomination in 2008.
Romney, who can often come across as stiff, faces the
challenge of making Americans feel more comfortable with him.
He has a hard act to follow after the ringing “you can trust
Mitt” endorsement delivered by his wife, Ann, on Tuesday night,
a speech that was widely viewed as one of the most significant
ever given by an aspiring first lady.
Romney got a strong testimonial on Wednesday night from his
vice presidential running mate, Wisconsin Congressman Paul Ryan,
who generated the most enthusiasm so far at the convention with
his address.
“After four years of getting the run-around, America needs a
turnaround, and the man for the job is Governor Mitt Romney,”
said Ryan.
As portrayed by Democrats, Romney is alternately a heartless
corporate raider, wealthy elitist, tax evader and policy
flip-flopper who should not be trusted with the keys to the
White House.
Despite the attacks, Romney is running even with Obama in
the polls in a race that is too close to call. A Reuters/Ipsos
poll on Wednesday showed the two men tied at 43 percent each.
But Obama has the advantage over Romney in likability, an
important characteristic that may mask other problems that the
Democratic incumbent has in persuading voters to give him four
more years.
Arizona Senator John McCain, the Republican presidential
nominee in 2008 who lost to Obama, said Romney needs to
accomplish two tasks: one, convince Americans “that they believe
in him and trust in him, and two, that he has a concrete plan to
get our economy back on the right track.”
“We’ve got to reduce the unfavorables, and many Americans
will be looking at him for the first time,” McCain told Reuters.
LONG JOURNEY
Romney’s big speech culminates a long journey. After failing
to win the Republican nomination in 2008, he plotted a return to
the political arena. This year he was tested time and again by a
series of conservative alternatives from Newt Gingrich to Rick
Santorum. He outlasted all of them.
Romney has some inherent advantages in his race against
Obama. He is topping the Democrat in campaign donations, and the
weakness of the U.S. economy, with a staggering 8.3 percent
unemployment rate, gives him a lethal argument for change.
Even so, Romney is far from closing the deal. It is unclear
whether his economic proposals for tax cuts and deregulation of
industries would rekindle growth and keep taxpayers dollars
flowing into the Treasury to pay for expensive government
entitlement programs, such as the Medicare health insurance
program for seniors, which he wants to reform.
Romney’s convention speech offers him a chance to break
through the blizzard of negative television ads about him.
Republican delegates at the Tampa convention recommended
Romney be himself in his speech, talk about his background as a
businessman and Olympic organizer, and offer a way forward.
New York State Senator Mike Nozzolio said Romney needs to
explain to voters in an understandable way that he is
“competent, directed, focused, and can make the message appeal
to folks around the kitchen table.
“He’s going to be the guest of millions of Americans in
their living rooms, and this is a wonderful opportunity for
people to understand what he knows and where he wants to take
us,” Nozzolio said.
Donna Gosney, of Boone County, West Virginia, wearing a
plastic coal miner’s helmet festooned with political stickers,
said Romney simply needs to say what he would do to reignite
substantial job growth.
“We’ve got 2,000 reasons in Boone County to vote for Mitt
Romney. They’re all miners without jobs,” she said.
Frank Steed, of Navarro County, Texas, said Romney should
not worry about trying to appear warm and fuzzy.
“He is who he is,” said Steed. “And I think he ought to be
proud of that. He’s a businessman. He’s not a politician.”
Article source: http://in.reuters.com/article/2012/08/30/usa-campaign-idINL2E8JU0OH20120830