Rnc, 2012 Presidential Election | featured news

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.”

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.

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.

Both parties’ vice presidential hopefuls earn lukewarm reviews from Americans, marking a lackluster introduction for Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) and a major drop-off in popularity for Vice President Biden as the Republican and Democratic conventions near, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll.

The official platform language poised for approval at next week's Republican National Convention doesn't fully represent the party's presumptive presidential nominee, Mitt Romney, RNC Chairman Reince Priebus said Tuesday... "This is the platform of the Republican Party; it's not the platform of Mitt Romney."

Sarah Palin and George W. Bush won't be in Tampa, Fla. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Al Gore won't make the trip to Charlotte, N.C. And scores of other Republican and Democratic stars are taking a pass as their parties gather for this year's national conventions....

Governor Chris Christie of New Jersey is giving the keynote address at the Republicans’ national convention later this month. Christie, who considered a 2012 presidential bid of his own before endorsing former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, is already at work on his speech to the convention in Tampa, Fla. His record of cutting his state's budget, curtailing public sector unions and dealing with a Democratic Legislature with disarming and combative confidence all were expected to be on display as he looked to fire up his party's base.