Mitt Romney to deliver most important speech of his political life at Republican National Convention

Mitt Romney to deliver most important speech of his political life at Republican National Convention


Mitt Romney’s political reinvention will culminate Thursday when he finally accepts the Republican Party’s nomination for President.

In the moments before the balloons drop from the ceiling of the Tampa Bay Times Forum, Romney will deliver the most important speech of his political life — a moment at least six years in the making and one that will sound very different from his convention address from four years ago.

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Romney took the St. Paul stage in 2008 far from the prime-time spotlight. Vanquished in the presidential primaries by John McCain, he was given 11 minutes to tout the nominee and the woman who came out of nowhere to best him to be the Arizona senator’s running mate: Sarah Palin.

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Romney, who was elected governor of Massachusetts in 2002 as a moderate, changed several of his political positions, most notably on abortion and gun control, to make him more palatable to the GOP’s conservative base.

His moves to the right weren’t enough in 2008, with primary opponent Rudy Giuliani saying they left him looking like he had no ideological core — a charge that has followed him ever since.

But now, armed with a giant war chest that crushed a weak primary field, Romney returns to a GOP convention as his party’s leader, and will try to make the case to the American public that he should be the next White House resident.

The former private equity CEO’s central campaign pitch is that he has the goods to fix the slumping economy, so expect his best fastball on that subject Thursday night.

Romney will also likely repeat some of the notes he sounded in his speech in Minnesota four years ago. Then, he accused Democrats of promoting government dependency and ignoring the importance of American workers and business owners.

“They think that we have the biggest and strongest economy in the world because of our government,” Romney said in ’08. “They’re wrong. America is strong because of the ingenuity, and entrepreneurship, and hard work of the American people.”

That theme is likely to be amplified this year, with Romney seizing upon President Obama’s “You didn’t build that” remark to suggest the Democrat is dismissive of American business and entrepreneurs.

Romney may tread more lightly on social issues, especially in light of the uproar created by Missouri Rep. Todd Akin’s now-notorious comments about “legitimate rape.” And though the first days of the 2012 GOP convention have featured very little discussion of foreign policy, Romney is expected to hit President Obama there on multiple fronts. He may have offered a sneak peak of this part of his acceptance speech when he spoke to the American Legion in Indianapolis, Ind., on Wednesday, warning about the dangers posed by Iran, North Korea and other rogue nations.

Romney also raised eyebrows in Indiana by joking about Hurricane Isaac.

“I appreciate this invitation to join you on dry land this afternoon,” Romney quipped, quickly switching to a more serious tone: “Our thoughts are of course with the people of the Gulf Coast states.”

The candidate, who is considering a trip to the Gulf Coast, returned to Tampa by nightfall Wednesday to watch his running mate’s RNC address — and put the finishing touches on the speech that may be his last, best chance to introduce himself to the nation.