am very optimistic about the economy, and i think he takes the same approach as the governor of ohio, and jobs is what is going to change america, and we need to let our >> from your standpoint, was there a night you will take away? >> it is more difficult to remember and then when you are watching it on c-span. all of the lines he had about his business experience and, when he talked about obama shopping at staples, i thought that was an apropos line. staples would not be here with -- if it were not for investment capital, people like bain capital to provide the funding. it is not a bad job creation. it has to be about wealth creation only wealth creation funds job creation. government spending does not create jobs because every dollar the government spends has to be earned and taken from the private sector.

>> from your standpoint, you are in another key state. >> i love the entire speech, but the one line that stood out was when he said, as president, i will start on a jobs to work, where as president obama started his on an apology to work. that one -- tour. that one line shows a contrast between our president and governor romney. it encapsulates what this campaign is about. if he will make america optimistic again. he will stand up for our country, at home and abroad. that is so different from what our current president is doing, the direction he has taken us in. >> you might want to take some balloons. thank you very much. >> i remember my line -- the one when he says, sometimes, when people do not do such a good job, you have to let them go. that is good in business and is good in politics. it is time to let him go. >> that was a clint eastwood

line. >> that was awesome. >> thank you very much. >> asking about lines remembered. on twitter, a reaction -- the president promised to slow the rise of oceans line shows america that is -- shows america sarcasm is more important than serving. the next reaction is maryland, and obama supporter. your honor. caller: i have been listening to this for three days. so much bull. everybody in america knows the president does not have it all in their say. there is no way romney will change anything. the american people are not that stupid to now that republicans were in there for eight years and got us in this mass to start out with. how in the world will they get us out? president obama has the republican house. how does he get anything done? that is what we need to focus

on, putting obama back in and letting him finish what he has started. >> next up is markey in a michigan, a supporter of governor romney. caller: >> yes, ma'am. for the other caller, the republican -- either way, i am sure the voting on at this race purely based on economics. i cannot understand. i have a small business myself. the first thing i have to deal with is fines from regulations. i have to have a profitable business that is successful, and so that my business can grow. i do not understand. republicans have obviously put the country, with the democratic party, $16 trillion of debt. that does not give them reason to keep pushing the debt. we have $7 trillion of unfunded liabilities.

$10 million every minute, this government spends. i ask people, what does it have to do about party? it is about economics. i do not believe romney can fix this, but he can put a band-aid on a hemorrhage. thank you. >> glenn, from maryland. on twitter, this -- where are the details of his plan? obama took office promising better with no plan, and look what we got. next up is the t-shirt, supporter of the president in new jersey. caller: thank you for taking my call. i would like to say, a good comment about romney's speech. it was good, but i believe the republicans are liars and, if governor romney is elected, it will take us back to the bush administration. that is exactly what he is

therefore -- the rich and not for the poor and middle class. i like the comment on the clint eastwood commentary, which was extremely disrespectful to the office of the presidency. president barack obama would never have even insinuated using curse words to speak or respond to somebody who criticize him. i thought that that portion as a prelude to governor romney's speech was just -- it just goes to show what the republicans stand for. how the audience reacted to it, how they laughed, it shows that governor romney is not serious about what he says. also, the comment that governor romney made in reference to all of the things that president obama has not done, but president obama has done a whole lot more in the short four years.

from getting rid of osama bin laden, in addition to bringing troops home, in addition to the new health-care plan. he has done so much more, repealing a don't ask don't tell, he has done so much more for this country in four years. unlike the previous gentleman said, it is a hemorrhage that we have in this country. thank you very much. >> she talked about the clint eastwood speech tonight. the campaign put out a statement -- here is what they said. the official line on clint eastwood -- "judging an american icon like clint eastwood through a political lens does not work. that was a break from all the political speeches. the crowd enjoyed it.

he pointed at 23 million americans are not employed. it is time for a change." let's go back to the floor. >> a familiar face for those who watched our "contenders" serious. you have written a lot about campaigns, contentions -- conventions, nomination speeches. what was the count mitt romney was trying to achieve? >> a combination of two recent speeches. the first half and led a lot of people of the george h. w. speech in 1988, when he talked about wanting a kinder and gentler america. governor romney came out with a soothing tone. try to be relaxed and informal. we talk about governor romney needing to humanize himself, and that is what he seemed to try to talk about. raising his five sons, his father and family life. the second half was more aggressive, obviously. it reminded me of the bob dole speech in 1996, which was a strong indictment of bill

clinton. there was a line that really stuck out. governor romney talk about president obama lacking thea qualification most americans have, which is private sector experience. bob dole said bill clinton, his administration was filled with the league still had never done a single real thing. it was evocative of that. it was a combination of a few different speeches in my memory. >> we will be able to compare this speech to the president anext week. what do you expect next week from the president, and what you think the romney campaign needs to do to get out of this tonight and tomorrow in the polls and this election? >> the president will make the case that he has had a successful first term. he was dealt a bad hand when he came into office. i think governor romney acknowledged that as congressman ryan did. he will talk about his record and led a vision. probably specific things. one of the things that surprised me was that governor romney did not get into a lot of detail.

in 1980, when ronald reagan accepted his first nomination, he went -- went into a fair amount of detail about his tax plans and things like that. governor romney stay at a higher level, talking less about specific policies. the president may come back with more specifics, try to contrast that with governor romney, as well as defending his record. >> the speech was prime time, but they were running behind schedule because of clint eastwood and marco rubio running past the 11:00 hour. does that matter? >> probably not. the most famous nick -- late speech was that of george mcgovern in 1972. logistic issues and general chaos. he did not give his speech into 2:45 a.m. eastern. instead of the prime-time audience, which would have been 75 million people, he had an audience of 15 million people. it probably does not impact the audience for governor romney. >> your book -- you are part of our series.

this is your first convention in person. what are your thoughts? >> these are wonderful slice of americana. it really is democracy at its most basic form. it has been fascinating. time will tell whether this was a historic convention or not a particularly memorable one. we will not have governor romney does. there are a couple ways it is already historic. he is probably the most business-oriented candidate we have had since wendell willkie in the 1940's. his defense of his business record, the role of business and capitalism. he is the first member of the church of jesus christ of latter-day saints. he picked congressman ryan as his running mate, a catholic. this is the first ticket without a protestant on it. john kennedy felt he had to address his religion directly in his speech, talk about his catholicism and how it would not make him the gold into the church. governor romney did not fill the

need to do that. hopefully that is a sign of moving forward in terms of a broader time for americans regardless of religion, race, or creed. >> thank you so much for joining us. >> appreciated. >> interesting historical now. first ticket in american history with at -- without at least one protestant. your reactions to the convention and the acceptance speech. one on twitter from -- we just lost my connection. i will come back. let me instead show you a clip from governor romney. >> that business we started with 10 people has grown into a great american success story. some of the company's behalf start on into know and have heard from tonight. an office company called staples, where i am pleased to see the obama campaign has been shopping it [laughter]

the sports authority, which became a favorite of my boys. we helped start an early childhood learning company called bright horizons that first lady michelle obama rightly praised. at a time when you've never thought you'd see in the steel mill in america, which took a chance and build one in indiana. -- we took a chance and built one in indiana. today, steel dynamics is one of the biggest steel producers in united states. these are american success stories. and yet the centerpiece of the president's entire reelection campaign is attacking success. is it any wonder that someone who attacks success has led the worst economic recovery since the great depression? [cheers and applause] in america, we celebrate success. we do not apologize for success.

[cheers and applause] >> and, in lieu of a credit roll, we have a couple minutes left. i want to acknowledge a -- the hard work of our team, including the technical staff and a studio engineering. our producers in d.c. and the folks out here with the c-span bosco and to delegate events. all of us working together to bring you our coverage. we will do that again in charlotte in just a few days. up next is a call from diego, columbus ohio, supporting the president. caller: i am an obama supporter. i am half latino. he -- romney would have to start all over.

we cannot stand another rise in the deficit. it is already bad enough, the economy. if romney does not give jobs to the carquinez,-- latinos, there are so many jobs that are needed. if he takes their jobs, how is our economy going to get better? the whole country is based on this, and jobs. that is how people get their food, supplies, everything is made in a store is from latino work. they have to focus on the genus. obama has done that, even if he has not passed the dream act, he has tried to pass it. >> thanks. i appreciated. on twitter, america, mitt romney is ready, but the question is, are you? a question from canada in

florida, an independent. caller: i have two daughters and 13 grandkids. i have one family that lives in michigan. mr. romney did a fabulous, fabulous job in this convention garrett he opened my eyes to a lot of things i was not sure about him. his wife did a fabulous job. my whole family will be voting for mr. romney. and mr. rind. -- ryan. i'm a disabled veteran on fixed income, but my wife said we needed to send him money, so i did. i got a letter from him today but we are looking at today. he needs to get into office. we need change. >> that is can it from florida. he will be our last caller

tonight. back on the floor one more time. >> more delegates from massachusetts, new york, and texas. as a new yorker, was there a line in the speech that mitt romney delivered that you'll take away this evening? >> more than a line. it was a message. a message of optimism. it reminded me of ronald reagan. also a message that remind me of bill clinton. the need to address our economic problems. when we combine and synthesize the best of ronald reagan and the clinton as candidates, that is what we saw here tonight. i think the country will respond to that. >> the massachusetts delegation. a line from the speech? governor romney and his history as a husband. ann romney was excellent. america needs someone of character and leadership. his background at bain and the governor of massachusetts, turning a deficit into a

surplus. america needs a ceo and a family man more than ever. >> there are ron paul delegates, including one from delegates said. one line? >> repealed and replaced. that flies in the platform we just passed. we were in there all last week, hanging out. we were able to actually get through some language about replacing it with free-market principles, not government stuff. apparently romney has not -- read our platform we passed. >> do you leave this convention united, supporting rate -- mitt romney? >> absolutely not. every time they have tried to run a moderate or liberal, they lost. if the americans want to vote for a liberal, it will go democrat. romney has a very liberal record. romneycare, raising taxes. in massachusetts in one term.

>> who do you vote for? >> i plan on looking at our ballot when we have it. my top priority is pro-life. whoever ivo for has to have pro- life principals, who knocks out gary johnson. they have to be able to actually win. that knocks at several others. they have to -- i will choose whoever is closest to the republican party platform. romney does not fit that bill. >> back to you. what are your thoughts about her comments? >> the big problem we are facing is an economy with 23 million unemployed people. these are the central problems that need to be addressed right away. we may not have another four years to fix them. i appreciate the concerns of ron paul supporters and certainly understand them. the first thing is the economy. what i like about it romney is he is a guy who has run business and run it well. he understands the economy carried once we can get to the bottom of that, we can address

other issues. right now fixing the economy is the number-one priority, and this is a man with a proven track record. >> that is a souvenir now, isn't it? >> they gave one out to each delegate. they did not mass produce them. i suppose i now have something to keep at home. >> from tampa. and thank you all very much. >> that concludes our coverage from the floor of the tampa bay times forum and are four-day coverage of the republican national convention, the 40th convention. as we close out, the conversation will continue. if you found any speeches you would like to take clips from and share with friends or people you talk politics with, you can do that by our convention hub, our online site that is a companion to our gavel-to-gavel coverage. on it you can see and share clips. you can connect with other

viewers, add your comments, followed twitter streams of delegates and yours. and see exclusive web videos. all of that on our convention hub. we will have the dnc hub in over the weekend. let me tell you what candidates are doing great mitt romney and paul ryan are holding campaign against tomorrow in florida outside of tampa. then they will be traveling to the importance when state of virginia. the capital city of richmond carried c-span will be live at 2:00 eastern with the campaign rally from the richmond international airport. as i mentioned, next week, our live coverage of the democratic national convention begins tuesday, september 4. at the opening session -- in a time warner cable arena in charlotte. we cover it through the acceptance speech of the president on september 6. thank you so much for being with us here in florida. coming up next is our coverage of the convention continuing.

we show you the program from politico.com and where there group of professional observers talk about what they saw and heard tonight. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2012] >> welcome to political live, wrapping up the 2012 republican national convention in tampa, florida. let's start out with one of the most bizarre scenes in prime- time convention history, a rambling interview of clint eastwood looking at an empty chair, leaving the floor befuddled. a night that ended with a forceful conclusion to what most people will say was a very fine speech by mr. romney. i am joined by my colleagues. mike allen, editor in chief of political. john harris -- what did you think? >> if you wondered what a

business-oriented presidency is going to look and sound like, a presidency led by somebody whose values are in the world of management, metrics, going through a to do this, this speech did you a very good sense of what that will be like. it was not a lyrical speech. it was not, by standards used historically, a great and rousing speech. it was a very no-nonsense speech. it seemed to check every box that mitt romney decided was important. >> a he is finishing strong. i think he definitely finished strong. he was more emotional than we have seen him. by the end he had the crowd fired up. at the beginning it felt a little bit flat. the one money line he was most proud of, that captured the essence of the town, was president obama promised to heal the planet. my promise is to help you and

your family. the idea was that he is a calm, competent guy. he might not electrify you, but he gets results. >> listen to yourself. you talk about a fine speech -- listen had different that is from last night when we talk about paul ryan. we could not take our eyes off of the tv. his approach -- hear, we did not see any magic. there was no surprise. we talked earlier about whether they would be a moment. at the very end, where paul ryan came out and join him, the big fireworks behind and said it all. to try to tell his story, there is no charisma, there is not the excitement you will get. >> you have been on the campaign trail. you were there at the primary. you watched him become a candidate. you have watched him as he was

joined by paul ryan on this ticket. what did you think of this speech? how does it compare with the mitt romney you see on the campaign trail? >> i thought the speech was the best case scenario. he avoided making serious errors. he gave a speech that from top to bottom showed his mindset. this is what it looks like when you have the businessman running for president. it did not seem force. it did not seem -- he could not have given the kind of speech paul ryan did. he was not that kind of guy. i noticed he is somebody who watches speeches a lot. the lines you could not repeat verbatim, those were not here to 92 the rambling nature at the beginning -- the first thing they see is clint eastwood. downright weird. even the romney campaign is trying to spin their way out of it. does it matter at all?

or is what will stick in the matter of people is only the speech. >> it does not matter in terms of this moment. i do think in popular culture they will be talking about the clint eastwood speech four days to come, possibly weeks. that will not be true of mitt romney's speech. i thought it was a strange proposal, like having an elderly uncle at thanksgiving dinner who's telling a story you do not know where it will end, and everybody has to watch, praying it will end soon. >> if you go to political.com, you can take a look -- we look at how the media interprets the speeches, the things they look for that will set the tone for the analysis in the days ahead. we have 72 hours where mitt romney will be the only story

before the democratic national convention comes to charlotte starting next week. he wanted to project. he wanted to show people that he is competent and accomplished and he can take that. his personal business achievement and acumen, that he can apply to government. did he get those notes? >> he did. there is only one criteria where he clearly failed. the thought -- what he will try to say in the next week. he has said the time has come to turn the page. the passive construction of that reminded us a little bet -- >> he is trying to combat the -- the idea he's weird, scary, or secretive. it was a little bit sunday

school teacher. a sense of humor, a very red tide. it did not give him these huge head start you might hope for. >> his bain experience, to tell the story on his terms. it is not told that way very often. it has been told by democrats. i thought that was fairly effective. >> in america, we celebrate success, we do not punish a. >> they're all we specific audiences you need to target. there is often a unique lands into the concerns of the campaign. the one demographic from the speech that worries this campaign the most is the fact that there is this gender gap. drub the speech, the names he mentioned, the descriptions for ann romney and her role in the family. it is clear he is reaching out

to women in the speech. he started to do it last saturday at a speech he rolled out in ohio where he speaks specifically to women entrepreneurs. they know they cannot win this election if women are voting overwhelmingly for barack obama. that is the case if you look at poland from gallup -- polling from gallup and pew and nbc. how much should we see from this? >> the speech in ohio was about women entrepreneurs. that may have been -- the part of the speech i found going a little too far was listing off the names. >> to political? >> it did not really work. it did not work as well as the rest of the speech. it was obviously one small part. the recent polls show a 10-point gender gap. you can tell that from the architecture of this entire convention.

democrats have a huge push for women coming out. the president of planned parenthood. when it will be focus of the campaign for the next few weeks, despite the fact that jobs and the economy have been a prevailing meredith. >> 1 jiabao top political writers -- one of our top political writers, given what it takes to win, the coalition's need to work together -- what struck you about this speech by? >> it was a speech, mitt romney's speech. it was reliable and workmanlike. by romney standards it was one of the better speeches he has ever given. having said that, the bar is pretty low. >> there is an interesting contrast. we talk about this all week. mitt romney is the adult in the room, the generation