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Republicans eagerly looked to showcase Mitt Romney as a man who understands everyday Americans and a leader who can fix the economy, with GOP National Convention speeches Tuesday by the woman who knows him best and tough-talking New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie.

Lights, camera, action: The Republican National Convention officially begins today at 2 p.m. ET inside the Tampa Bay Times Forum. USA TODAY is providing full coverage throughout the three-day event, which wraps up Thursday when Mitt Romney accepts his party's presidential nomination. Check your local TV listings for more coverage. Here is our guide to the five things to watch on Tuesday, Aug. 28...

Into the carefully scripted Republican convention has come a complication: a natural disaster that not only distracts attention from Mitt Romney but sets up a collision with a fundamental tenet of today's GOP.

On page 177 of the hardcover version of No Apology that’s being given out at the RNC, Romney describes his Massachusetts health care law and writes: “We can accomplish the same thing for everyone in the country, and it can be done without letting government take over health care.”

The Tampa Bay Times Forum has a new kind of scoreboard -- a "national debt clock" that is ticking up to $16 trillion. The ever-ticking clock, hanging above the delegates to the Republican convention, is designed to be "a compelling visual reinforcing the desperate need for new fiscal leadership in the White House," says the Republican National Committee.

Rep. Todd Akin isn't here for the Republican National Convention, but he's still a topic for discussion. In an interview on CNN's State of the Union, Republican Party Chairman Reince Priebus said today that Akin "absolutely" could cost the GOP control of the U.S. Senate.

Delegates began to arrive in Tampa on Sunday as convention organizers said they were still working on a revised schedule after canceling the first day because of the weather. Still, many of Sunday’s events were going ahead as planned.

Tropical Storm Isaac's outreach is expected to be felt in Florida by late Sunday night -- just as Mitt Romney , Paul Ryan and the GOP faithful are gathering in Tampa for the Republican National Convention.

The process used to be far more entertaining and important, with the party uncertain who its nominee would be at the time it went to convention. There was some talk early this year of a competitive convention if the GOP nominating contest dragged on too long, but it’s clear now that Romney will be the party’s nominee.

Tropical Storm Isaac churned away in the Atlantic Ocean early Wednesday, forecast to strengthen into a hurricane and posing a potential threat to the GOP convention in Florida next week.