TAMPA, Florida (Reuters) - Mitt Romney faces a critical test in his White House bid on Thursday when he addresses the Republican National Convention, an opportunity to convince millions of Americans that he can
forge a path to economic rebirth and provide stronger leadership than President Barack Obama.
It will be Romney's biggest television audience to date as much of the nation tunes in, giving some voters their first extended look at the 65-year-old former Massachusetts governor, who unsuccessfully sought the Republican nomination in 2008.
Romney, who can often come across as stiff and robotic, faces the challenge of making Americans feel more comfortable with him.
He has a hard act to follow after the ringing "you can trust Mitt" endorsement delivered by his wife, Ann, on Tuesday to delegates gathered in Tampa, a speech widely viewed as one of the most significant ever given by an aspiring first lady.
Romney got a strong testimonial on Wednesday night from his vice presidential running mate, Wisconsin congressman Paul Ryan, who generated the most enthusiasm so far at the convention.
"After four years of getting the run-around, America needs a turnaround, and the man for the job is Governor Mitt Romney," Ryan said.
As portrayed by Democrats, Romney is alternately a heartless corporate raider, wealthy elitist, tax evader and policy flip-flopper who should not be trusted with the keys to the White House.
Despite the attacks, Romney is running even with Obama in polls in a race that is too close to call. A Reuters/Ipsos poll on Wednesday showed the two men tied at 43 percent each.
But Obama has the advantage over Romney in likability, an important trait that may mask other problems that the Democratic incumbent has in persuading voters to give him four more years.
With an eye to mounting costs of campaigning in the final 10-week sprint to the November 6 election, Romney broke away from the convention scene briefly to headline a lunch with big party donors in nearby St. Petersburg.
His pending moment in the spotlight was clearly on his mind. "I'm going to go prepare for a speech that I get to give this evening. In case you haven't heard, I'm going to be speaking tonight," he said jokingly.
There was no shortage of advice from Republican heavyweights as Romney headed for his convention's finale.
Arizona Senator John McCain, the Republican presidential nominee in 2008 who lost to Obama, said Romney needs to accomplish two tasks: one, convince Americans "that they believe in him and trust in him, and two, that he has a concrete plan to get our economy back on the right track."
"We've got to reduce the unfavorable, and many Americans will be looking at him for the first time," McCain told Reuters.
Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush -- son of former President George H.W. Bush, another politician known during his tenure for a sometimes aloof demeanor -- said Romney had to do more to reach voters on a personal level.
"What he has to do a little better, I think -- and I think he's more than prepared to do this -- is to connect with other people's aspirations and their hopes," he told CBS's "This Morning" program.
LONG JOURNEY
Romney's big speech culminates a long journey. After failing to win the Republican nomination in 2008, he plotted a return to the political arena. This year he was tested time and again by a series of conservative alternatives from Newt Gingrich to Rick Santorum. He outlasted all of them.
Romney has some inherent advantages in his race against Obama. He is topping the Democrat in campaign donations, and the weakness of the U.S. economy, with a staggering 8.3 percent unemployment rate, gives him a lethal argument for change.
Even so, Romney is far from closing the deal. It is unclear whether his economic proposals for tax cuts and deregulation of industries would rekindle growth and keep taxpayer dollars flowing into the Treasury to pay for expensive government entitlement programs, such as the Medicare health insurance program for seniors, which he wants to reform.
Taking a final shot at Romney before he takes center stage, Obama insisted the race should hinge not on personality but on stark policy choices.
"This isn't a matter of who is more patriotic or who is more empathetic towards people or who is nicer. It's a hard-headed assessment of what makes our economy grow," Obama told Time magazine in an interview published on its website on Thursday.
But Obama, offering a rare compliment to his opponent, said he admired that Romney "seems to walk the walk and not just be talking the talk" on his Mormon faith. Romney's Mormonism is a sensitive subject with some evangelical Christian voters who are an important part of the Republican base.
CHANCE TO COUNTER NEGATIVE ADS
Meantime, speculation swirled around the identity of a mystery speaker listed on the program only as "To Be Announced," just before Romney is introduced by Florida Senator Marco Rubio.
The buzz of blogs and twitter feeds centered on Hollywood tough-guy icon Clint Eastwood, who has endorsed Romney, but also mentioned New York Jets quarterback Tim Tebow, a favorite of Christian conservatives, and Nancy Reagan, widow of former President Ronald Reagan, idolized by many at the convention.
"I'm not going to give you any clues," convention spokesman Kyle Downey told a reporter.
Leaving nothing to chance at the carefully stage-managed event, convention organizers extended the podium outward and lowered it closer to the audience, seeking to create more intimacy for Romney's address within the cavernous hockey arena.
Romney's convention speech offers him a chance to break through the blizzard of negative television ads the Obama campaign is airing about him.
Republican delegates at the Tampa convention recommended Romney be himself in his speech, talk about his background as a businessman and Olympic organizer, and offer a way forward.
New York State Senator Mike Nozzolio said Romney needs to explain to voters in an understandable way that he is "competent, directed, focused, and can make the message appeal to folks around the kitchen table.
"He's going to be the guest of millions of Americans in their living rooms, and this is a wonderful opportunity for people to understand what he knows and where he wants to take us," Nozzolio said.
(Writing by Steve Holland and Matt Spetalnick, additional reporting by Sam Youngman, Sarah Irwin and Susan Heavey; Editing by Alistair Bell and Jim Loney)
Source : Yahoo News
