Tuesday was a great, long day at the RNC

Wow, what a day. Tuesday was a LONG day at the Republican National Convention, but an exciting day and one that was very energizing to me.   We got the morning off to a great start with a breakfast for the entire California delegation (delegates, alternates and guests).   Speaker of the House John
Boehner was our featured speaker.  He told us how he built his business before deciding to go into public service.  It turns out the theme of the entire day was “We Built It”.  This of course, is a rebuke to Barack Obama’s statement to entrepreneurs that they hadn’t built their businesses.  The theme of the
entire day was celebrating the success of America’s entrepreneurs and small
business people, and the successes they have built. 

At breakfast, we also heard from Congressman Darrell Issa.  He recalled President Reagan’s famous words to Mikhail Gorbachev, to trust but verify.  In the case of this administration, Congressman Issa has been leading the investigation into “Operation Fast and Furious”, where he has uncovered many lies and misstatements by the administration trying to cover up this failed operation.

In the afternoon, we had the roll call of states by delegates to nominate Mitt Romney.  Each state delegation leader would announce the delegate totals from their state.  Former Governor Pete Wilson announced all the California delegates were voting for Mitt Romney, as we all cheered and waved signs for Mitt.  Fun times.  Some of the state speakers were pretty funny as they viewed this as a time to also insert an advertisement for their state, hyping some aspect of it.

After a break from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m., the evening session got down to business.  The planners put together a great diverse group of speakers, with many Hispanic, black and women speakers featured.  We heard from five Governors, all of whom have been elected quite recently.   They were from the states of Oklahoma, Virginia, South Carolina, Wisconsin and New Jersey.   What impressed me was that they all shared a similar story.  It went something like this:  when we came into office, our state budget deficits were bleeding red, and thousands of jobs were disappearing.  Each talked about cutting government spending, reducing government interference, and not raising taxes.  In each case, budget deficits
have fallen and employment has rebounded.  

Governor McDonnell of Virginia told us that unemployment is running 1%
lower in the 29 states with Republican governors than those with Democratic
governors.  Job growth has been faster in those states.  Budget deficits have
fallen more rapidly in those states.  All pretty impressive statistics supporting the Republican vision.

A real crowd favorite was speaker Mia Love of Utah, who is running for Congress.  A black Haitian-American, she is currently the Mayor of her town.  She was introduced by a short video, highlighting her family and her work as a personal trainer.   She then delivered a great rousing talk, defending the American free enterprise system. This young lady is poised to go places!

For me, without a doubt, the highlight of the evening was Ann Romney’s talk.  It was fantastic.  It was heartfelt, it was sincere, and she told America about the Mitt Romney that she loves.  She talked candidly about the struggles and
challenges they have had to overcome. She talked about how Mitt was there by her side as she battled MS, and then later breast cancer.  She told us
about Mitt’s many quiet acts of charitable service.  She told us we don’t hear about those because they weren’t done for political gain, but for the joy of giving service. 

The conclusion of her talk was wonderful.  Looking at America straight in the eye, she told us:  I “make you this solemn commitment:  This man will not fail.  This man will not let us down.  This man will lift up America”.   It was moving.  It was powerful.  It told us what we need to know about the Mitt Romney that no one knows as well as Ann Romney.

The RNC website has links to all the videos of the talks.  I would highly recommend watching Ann’s talk.  It was one of the best I have ever heard:   http://www.youtube.com/user/gopconvention2012/videos