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发帖数: 29846 | 1 Sunday, 26 Aug 2012 08:50 AM
Undaunted by Mother Nature, Republicans are set to descend on Florida as
Mitt Romney's team works to cram four days of events into three after the
threat of Tropical Storm Isaac forced the soon-to-be nominee to cut short
his national convention.
Officials say they hope to begin laying out a revised schedule on Sunday.
As aides in Tampa scramble, Romney is taking a rare day off the campaign
trail at his lakeside vacation home in New Hampshire, receiving updates on
the storm and making final preparations for the Thursday speech with which
he will accept his party's presidential nomination.
"The safety of those in Isaac's path is of the utmost importance," Romney
tweeted after Republican officials announced they had called off Monday's
convention proceedings.
Because of possible storm surges and flooding Isaac could bring, convention
organizers said they were making contingency plans to move delegates who
have been booked into beachfront hotels to other locations if necessary.
They indicated the schedule shift also was meant to prevent overburdening
emergency response personnel at the height of the storm.
The GOP made the announcement late Saturday, saying that while the
convention would officially be gaveled into session on Monday as scheduled,
events would be postponed until Tuesday.
With Isaac boring down on the coast, President Barack Obama, who was
spending the weekend at the Camp David presidential retreat in Maryland,
dispatched the Federal Emergency Management Agency to establish a command
center and move more resources into the state. Vice President Joe Biden
scrapped a planned campaign trip into Florida that was to counter the start
of the GOP convention.
Republicans hope to use this week's convention to cast Romney as a
determined leader with the know-how to fix the country's economy. They also
want to introduce him as a family oriented figure to counter the image of
him as a ruthless businessman as Democrats have sought to brand him.
Romney and his wife, Ann, looked to show off the more personal side with a
joint interview airing Sunday.
"I wish everyone could see him how I see him, because as a mother, I've seen
him, how compassionate he's been with me, as a wife and my raising these
small children and how he always valued my work as being more important than
his," Ann Romney said in the "Fox News Sunday" interview taped at the
family's summer home in New Hampshire.
The candidate described his wife as his "best friend, obviously, and my
counselor throughout my life," according to an advance transcript.
While the Romneys reveled in their convention, Obama was due to travel next
week to college towns in Iowa, Colorado and Virginia to court young voters
and college students. The president's nomination for a desired second term
was to come a week later in Charlotte, N.C., during a Democratic convention
beginning Sept. 4, right on the heels of the Republican convention.
In an interview with The Associated Press published Saturday, Obama sought
to portray Romney as someone beholden to "extreme positions" on economic and
social issues. Obama took pains to paint Romney and his running mate,
Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan, as ideologues at a time when voters seem
frustrated by government gridlock.
After a near-constant travel schedule since he was announced as the GOP vice
presidential candidate, Ryan was also taking a rare break. Following a
Saturday evening fundraiser in Manchester, N.H., he returned home to
Janesville, Wis. Aides said Ryan planned a quiet Sunday. Then, before flying
to Florida, he was to appear at a Monday rally in his hometown that was
likely to offer him a hero's sendoff.
A few of Romney's former presidential rivals were holding events of their
own in Tampa. Herman Cain and Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann — both have
endorsed Romney — were appearing at a joint event. Texas Rep. Ron Paul, who
hasn't conferred his blessing on the presumptive nominee, was anticipating
thousands at a University of South Florida rally. |
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