By H. Darr Beiser, USA TODAYRepublican vice presidential nominee, Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, speaks at the Republican National Convention on Wednesday night in Tampa.
By H. Darr Beiser, USA TODAYRepublican vice presidential nominee, Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, speaks at the Republican National Convention on Wednesday night in Tampa.
"I accept the calling of my generation to give our children the America that was given to us, with opportunity for the young and security for the old," Ryan told the crowd in the Tampa Bay Times Forum before turning his attention to his top-of-the-ticket running mate, Mitt Romney."His whole life has prepared him for this moment — to meet serious challenges in a serious way, without excuses and idle words," Ryan said. "After four years of getting the run-around, America needs a turnaround, and the man for the job is Gov. Mitt Romney."Ryan was far less kind to President Obama, blasting him for failing to revive the economy and pledging to bring down the "Obamacare" health program."We have a plan for a stronger middle class, with the goal of generating 12 million new jobs over the next four years," he said. "In a clean break from the Obama years, and frankly from the years before this president, we will keep federal spending at 20% of GDP, or less. That is enough. The choice is whether to put hard limits on economic growth, or hard limits on the size of government, and we choose to limit government."The speech came one day after former Massachusetts governor Romney was formally nominated to lead the ticket and Ryan, chairman of the House Budget Committee, was approved as his running mate by acclamation."The present administration has made its choices," Ryan said. "And Mitt Romney and I have made ours. Before the math and the momentum overwhelm us all, we are going to solve this nation's economic problems. And I'm going to level with you: We don't have that much time."But if we are serious, and smart, and we lead, we can do this."After the speech, Ryan's family joined him on the stage to rousing cheers. Romney will take the stage for Thursday's finale.Other Day Two headliners included former secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Arizona Sen. John McCain, the party's 2008 nominee, and former Arkansas governor and current conservative media personality Mike Huckabee.McCain pressed the case of Romney as world leader and commander in chief. McCain said that under Obama, the country has "drifted away from our proudest traditions of global leadership" and exacerbated international problems."I trust (Romney) to know that our security and economic interests are inextricably tied to the progress of our values," McCain said. "I trust him to know that if America doesn't lead, our adversaries will, and the world will grow darker, poorer and much more dangerous."Huckabee hammered at Obama for failing to create jobs, saying that "with Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan we will do better.""Mitt Romney turned around companies that were on the skids; turned around a scandal ridden Olympics that was deep in the red into a high point of profitable and patriotic pride; and turned around a very liberal state by erasing a deficit and replacing it with a surplus," Huckabee said.McCain and Huckabee took ample shots at President Obama; Rice made no mention of him. But she had good words for Romney and Ryan."Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan will rebuild us at home and they will help us lead abroad. They will provide an answer to the question, 'Where does America stand?' " she said. "The challenge is real and the times are hard. But America has met and overcome tough challenges before. Whenever you find yourself doubting us — just think of all the times that we have made the impossible seem inevitable in retrospect."But on this night, Ryan was to be the star.Romney campaign political director Rich Beeson told USA TODAY that Ryan's addition to the ticket finally gives Romney a teammate against the "double team" of criticism from President Obama and Vice President Biden. And Ryan strengthens the ticket demographically, Beeson said."You've got a Generation Xer," he said, adding that he believes Obama's advantage among younger voters is fading. "And Wisconsin became a tossup the day (Republican) Gov. Scott Walker won his recall," Beeson said.After 14 years in Congress, Ryan has become the Republican Party's brand name for conservative economic policies: low taxes, reduced spending and entitlement overhaul, all wrapped into a GOP budget plan that bears his name.Ryan, 42, now must sell voters on a different proposition: his own readiness to become president of the United States."Can he step in and do the job? That's really the only thing that matters," said Romney pollster Neil Newhouse.Speeches aside, the now three-day conservative fest has had its struggles. The convention started a day late amid concerns Isaac would hit the city just as the convention was supposed to kick off Monday.The storm dodged Tampa and instead took on the coasts of Louisiana and Mississippi. Mitt Romney tweeted his concern Wednesday morning: "Support the #Isaac relief effort by donating to the Red Cross. Text REDCROSS to 90999 or click here: http://rdcrss.org/PSpvi2." A Red Cross appeal appeared on large video screens in the hall during Wednesday's proceedings.Tuesday brought a mini-revolt from a small but vocal group of Ron Paul supporters. Backers of the Texas congressman and former GOP presidential contender objected loudly to new party rules designed to discourage insurgent presidential candidates from amassing delegates.Paul backers, believing they were being squeezed out, chanted "Object! Object!" RNC Chairman Reince Priebus declined to recognize them, saying at one point, "Guys, we will proceed with the order of business."That wasn't the only problem in the hall: Convention organizers later ejected two people from Tuesday night's session for allegedly throwing nuts at a black CNN camerawoman, and saying, "This is how we feed animals.""Yesterday two attendees exhibited deplorable behavior," said a Republican statement posted by Talking Points Memo.And there have been logistical problems. After the Tuesday sessions, delegates were to board shuttle buses destined for parking lots at a football stadium miles away and, from there, board buses to their hotels. But after Tuesday night's session recessed, thousands of delegates descended on the shuttles at once."It was like a mob," said Sally Beach, an alternate delegate from Florida who said she didn't reach her hotel until after 3 a.m. Convention spokesman Kyle Downey said Wednesday that organizers were "working closely with our transportation management company" to fix the problems.Contributing: Gregory Korte; David Jackson; Paul Flemming, Tallahassee (Fla.) Democrat; Jackie Kucinich; Krystal Modigell; Associated Press
For more information about reprints & permissions, visit our FAQ's. To report corrections and clarifications, contact Standards Editor Brent Jones. For publication consideration in the newspaper, send comments to letters@usatoday.com. Include name, phone number, city and state for verification. To view our corrections, go to corrections.usatoday.com.