Former Gov. of Massachusetts Mitt Romney was formally selected as the presidential candidate of the Republican Party at the Republican National Convention last week in Tampa, Fla.
The convention, held at the Tampa Bay Times Forum, ran from Monday Aug. 27 to Thursday Aug. 30, concluding with Romney’s acceptance speech.
Delegates and alternate delegates arrived in Tampa in the midst of Hurricane Isaac. Though the convention opened on Monday as originally scheduled, the session was forced into recess until it reconvened on Tuesday afternoon.
Among those that spoke at the convention were former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, former Gov. of Arkansas Michael Huckabee, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, Ann Romney and actor Clint Eastwood. Eastwood publically endorsed the Romney-Ryan campaign in August at a fundraiser in Idaho. His speech at the RNC was met with shouts of “Go ahead, make my day,” a phrase made famous by the 1970s movie, Dirty Harry, in which he starred.
Personal friends of the Romney family shared stories about Romney’s volunteer work, his experiences within Mormonism and his guidance of a young man with lymphoma. In his acceptance speech, Romney discussed his goals for the country’s future and his business experience, and told numerous personal anecdotes.
Student reactions to the convention and Romney’s speech were varied. Sophomore Sarah Prunty said, “After watching Mitt Romney speak I am definitely able to view him in a more humanistic light. He seemed to really be trying to step away from some of the negative stereotypes of himself that dominated the early campaign.”
“I agree that Romney was trying to make himself seem more welcoming, but I don’t think that he focused enough on the issues,” sophomore Sheena Mooney said. “He seemed to spend a lot of time talking about himself, his faith and about all the ways Obama went wrong. He didn’t clearly state what he would have done differently.”
The Democratic National Conference ends today. The Lamron will provide similar coverage in the next issue.