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Viewers tuning into the Republican National Convention have heard Ann Romney speak lovingly of her husband and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie pledge "a new era of truth telling." What they haven't heard is talk of offshore tax havens, Missouri Senate candidate Todd Akin, or questions about President Barack Obama's birthplace - the kind of divisive issues that have bedeviled Mitt Romney in the weeks before formally accepting his party's presidential nomination.

TAMPA - The following are the remarks as prepared for delivery by Luis Fortuño, Governor of Puerto Rico. The actual remarks may differ. The Hon. Luis Fortuño Governor of Puerto Rico (Remarks as Prepared for Delivery) August 29, 2012 Thank you. Buenas noches Puerto Rico! Buenas noches America! As a proud American serving the nearly 4 million American citizens of Puerto Rico, I am honored to be with you tonight. We gather to celebrate the hopes and dreams of every American. We all believe in the greatness of this nation, and this greatness lies within each of us. Hard-working Americans...

TAMPA, Fla. -- The Republicans who are assembled here have been told time and time again that Barack Obama's great advantage over Mitt Romney is likability. And many of the 15,000 or so journalists who endured the gusts of rain on Monday and groaned in the sun on the 1.5-mile walk from the nearest parking lot to the metal detectors outside the convention press center have been writing and soundbiting that the chief task of the Romney campaign is to introduce Romney's personal background and character to the public to improve his favorability ratings. Both talking points are true,...

It was one line --- a total of nine words --- in a lengthy speech in Roanoke, Va. As he tried to make a point that successful people have received help in various ways, President Obama said, "If you've got a business --- you didn't build that." But more than a month later, with Republicans rallying in Tampa at their national convention, that line has become a centerpiece of the GOP's campaign to try to oust Obama in November. Speaker after speaker has portrayed the line as an affront to people who have built businesses and as evidence that the...

Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) on Wednesday night electrified the Republican Party with a speech that combined lacerating attacks on President Obama with homespun values and a tribute to GOP candidate Mitt Romney. In a 35-minute address that drew thunderous applause from Republican delegates, Ryan condemned the Obama presidency and presented an optimistic vision of the future under Romney’s leadership. The core theme of the speech amounted to four words: "We can do this." Ryan said the Romney-Ryan team would fix the nation's problems, not blame others. “Our nominee is sure ready,” the vice-presidential nominee said. “His whole life has prepared...

From Paul Ryan’s convention speech yesterday: >>>President Barack Obama came to office during an economic crisis, as he has reminded us a time or two. Those were very tough days, and any fair measure of his record has to take that into account. My home state voted for President Obama. When he talked about change, many people liked the sound of it, especially in Janesville, where we were about to lose a major factory. A lot of guys I went to high school with worked at that GM plant. Right there at that plant, candidate Obama said: “I believe that...

TAMPA, Fla. — When Mitt Romney was searching for a ticket mate, Republicans pleaded: Don't pick another Sarah Palin. So it may come as a surprise that, in at least one important way, he ended up doing precisely that with Paul D. Ryan. Like Palin four years ago, the Wisconsin congressman has captured the heart of the Republican convention. The thunderous response to his speech Wednesday night was the latest indication.

Wisconsin Congressman Paul Ryan, Mitt Romney’s running mate, was treated as a rock star tonight at the Republican National Convention – and for good reason. His soft-spoken manner played intimately, even in an arena of 22,000. When protesters began chanting against Ryan, the crowd drowned them out with thunderous applause. Ryan brought fire to a campaign lacking in it – and he also brought credibility on serious issues. Democrats will have a significant problem painting Ryan as unsympathetic or insincere. Tonight showed why.

Paul Ryan’s speech brought more than just cheers to the convention hall Wednesday night, it picked a fight. The VP candidate’s speech had RNC delegates at a fever pitch from the beginning. It brought a packed convention arena to its feet with over a dozen standing ovations. By many reports and reactions, Paul Ryan can count his keynote a resounding success. And while the speech was filled with conservative buzzwords, what really hat had the faithful cheering were the well timed one-liners about President Obama and his record. Convention delegate and lifelong Republican Mark Mitchell told TheBlaze, “That speech is...

Transcript @3:15: "This is Chris Matthews. Andrea, could you ask the secretary...her speech was so overpoweringly positive...was it kind of a rejoinder to all of the birtherism and the narrowness that she has heard in her party?" @5:15 (Andrea)"Do you feel that there has been a very troubling question of race and of prejudice in this campaign by the birther movement and those who espouse it?" (Condi) "The birther movement is an extreme and there are extremes on both sides of the political spectrum. The great majority of the people here and the great majority of people in America believe...

Clint Eastwood will be speaking at the Republican Convention in Tampa on Thursday according to Fox News. The network’s website is reporting that a GOP source confirmed “that Eastwood is indeed the mystery speaker”. Thursday night’s line-up has a “To Be Announced” speaker scheduled ahead of Senator Marco Rubio and GOP Presidential nominee Mitt Romney himself. Eastwood’s name was floated earlier this week as the speaker along with former VP nominee Sarah Palin, Donald Trump and even a hologram of former President Ronald Reagan. No stranger to politics, Eastwood served as the Mayor of Carmel, California from 1986 to 1988....

Catholic bishops in 2010 badly wanted to buff the Church’s battered image. So they ditched their usual succession system and picked the jovial Tim Dolan as their president. Their investment has paid off in spades: Democrats confirmed Tuesday that the cardinal will give the benediction at their convention in Charlotte, N.C., next week — a coveted task Dolan had already agreed to perform for the GOP on Thursday. Reviving the authority and status of the Catholic Church has been the focus of Dolan, the most visible and influential U.S. Catholic bishop in decades. At a polarized time when many bishops...

Patricia Carroll, the CNN camerawoman who was assaulted with peanuts and called an animal by two attendees at the Republican National Convention, told Journal-isms on Thursday that "I hate that it happened, but I'm not surprised at all." Carroll, who agreed to be named for the first time, said she does not want her situation to be used for political advantage. "This situation could happen to me at the Democratic convention or standing on the street corner. Racism is a global issue," she said by telephone from Tampa. Carroll said no one took the names of the attendees who threw...

By all accounts, Ann Romney gave a terrific speech last night. Well, maybe not by ALL accounts. It did not go over too well in DUmmieland. While Ann was speaking about love, the feeling was not exactly mutual. Witness this THREAD by DUmmie Aviation Pro, the elegantly titled "F*** Off...." Of course, the original has the letters instead of the asterisks. In fact, you may want to track the number of asterisks in this DUFU. It may set a record. So let us monitor the DUmmie F*** Off Focus Group, in Bolshevik Red, while the commentary of your humble...

Don't get too excited by this result, because Republicans weren't exactly blowing the doors off on favorability with registered voters before the conventions started, either. However, Democrats are, for the first time since Gallup began surveying on this question, doing worse than Republicans. And also for the first time, Democrats find themselves underwater — and not by a narrow margin, either (via Instapundit): In the lead-up to this year's presidential convention period, 44% of registered voters held a favorable view of the Republican Party and 43% of the Democratic Party. While the Republicans' favorable rating is similar to where it...

Seems like fact checkers need to do some fact checking of their own assumptions. Paul Ryan's speech last night included a reference to a GM plant in Janesville that closed, which Ryan used to criticize Barack Obama for failing to meet his campaign promises. A number of "fact" checkers jumped all over Ryan's anecdote to claim that he lied about the circumstances of the plant's closure. We'll just take one example, from the AP's "fact" check: RYAN: Said Obama misled people in Ryan's hometown of Janesville, Wis., by making them think a General Motors plant there threatened with closure could...

1. Dazzling At least a quarter of Americans still don’t know who Paul Ryan is, and only about half who know and have an opinion of him view him favorably. So, Ryan’s primary job tonight was to introduce himself and make himself seem likeable, and he did that well. The personal parts of the speech were very personally delivered, especially the touching parts where Ryan talked about his father and mother and their roles in his life. And at the end of the speech, when Ryan cheered the crowd to its feet, he showed an energy and enthusiasm that’s what...

2012 Republican Convention: Protesters Dressed as Vaginas Greet Delegates (Video) 10:48 AM PDT 8/27/2012 by Paul BondPro-choice protesters accost delegates at the Republican National Convention as they arrive to party with country star Rodney Atkins. TAMPA, Fla. -- Giant, walking vaginas have descended upon the Republican National Convention. Several demonstrators from the feminist group Code Pink wore frilly pink costumes while others adorned with cardboard cutouts resembling the sexual organ were milling about Sunday looking for Republicans. [...]A Florida website called Shark-Tank.net captured video of some of them during their preparation (video below). The protesters carried signs saying such things...

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Alternate headline: "So far, so good."I assume most of this is due to Ann, whose speech dwelled entirely on Mitt, versus Christie, who didn't mention him until 16 minutes in. But even so, this is interesting: Romney had a 43-percent favorable and 44-percent unfavorable rating in nine battleground states heading into the convention, according to an average compiled by Real Clear Politics.A survey conducted by Wilson Perkins Allen Opinion Research in nine battle ground states Tuesday evening found Romney’s favorable rating among likely voters had jumped to 48 percent. His unfavorable rating dipped to 39…New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s speech...