Tuesday night, Republicans attending the party's national convention in Tampa, FL heard two stem winding speeches with different intentions. 13abc's Bill Hormann talked with a political science professor who says Ann Romney and Chris Christie have set the mark for the Republican ticket.
Vice Presidential candidate Paul Ryan speaks to the convention, Wednesday night. The Republican presidential nominee, Mitt Romney, speaks Thursday night. Both have tough acts to follow.
Ann Romney's was the first big speech of the convention and she talked about her marriage, assuring delegates the Romney's have lived through the same struggles most families experience. "A storybook marriage? Nope," she said. "But what Mitt Romney and I have is a real marriage."
Bowling Green State University political science professor, Dr Melissa Miller says, Ann Romney did her job by talking to women. She told 13 abc's Bill Hormann, "I think that speaks to the importance of women voters in this election and that was really her job: to personalize Mitt Romney, soften his image."
"They believe in teacher unions; We believe in teachers."
New Jersey governor Chris Christie probably set the mark for the Republican ticket. His speech was blunt and showed Republicans believe voters want to hear a debate on the issues.
Dr. Miller says Christie's speech wisely avoided bashing the president. "He put Republican politics and policy against Democratic politics and policy and really tried to paint this stark picture and I think he did it rhetorically in rather effective terms," Miller told 13abc.
But Wednesday night, VP candidate Paul Ryan has to set *his* mark and introduce himself to a nation that may not know him.
Dr. Miller says look for Paul Ryan to talk directly to middle America and avoid ideology. "So I think what we're likely to see is a lot less real policy specifics and Paul Ryan is likely to paint pretty broad strokes tonight like Chris Christie did last night."
Which leaves Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney's speech for Thursday night.
He has to follow the soft touch of his wife, the enthusiasm of Paul Ryan and the go-get-'em style of Christie yet somehow grab hold of the party and make it in his image.
"while it's great to have a fiery and effective keynote speaker from someone like Chris Christie," Dr. Miller observes, "you don't want that effective keynote speech to overshadow the speech of the nominee.
The Republicans were careful not to personally attack the president last night. Barack Obama is personally popular and voters don't like any president being attacked.
But both Paul Ryan and Mitt Romney need to improve *their own* likeability ratings.
So expect their speeches to be more personal, less ideological but still stake a theme for their campaign
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