failed to secure our borders and address this issue in any meaningful way, do? he sued us. if this president -- [crowd boos] if this president refuses to secure our borders, refuses to protect our citizens from the dangers of illegal immigration, then states have to take it upon ourselves. [applause] we said in south carolina that if you have to show a picture id to buy a sudafed, if you have to show a picture to set foot on an airplane, then you should have to show a picture id to protect one of the most valuable, most sacred rights in blessed america, righ the right to vote! [cheers and applause] and what happened?

president obama stopped us. and now we come to the most unbelievable of them all. in 2009, south carolina was blessed to welcome a great american company that chose to stay in our country, to continue to do business. that company was boeing. boeing started a new line for their 787 dreamliner, creating 1,000 new jobs in south carolina, giving our state a shot in the arm when we truly needed it. at the same time they expanded their job numbers in washington state by 2,000. not a single person was hurt by their decision. not one. and what did president obama and his national labor relations board do? they sued this iconic american company. it was shameful and not worthy of the promise of america. [cheers and applause]

but we did one of the things we do best in south carolina, we got loud. [cheers and applause] we're fighters in south carolina, and as we fought we watched an amazing thing happen. you fought with us. and guess what. we won. [cheers and applause] a few months ago i sat on the tarmac at the boeing facility in north charleston and watched as a new mack daddy plane was on the runway, and was surrounded by 6,000 nonunion employees cheering, smiling and so proud of what they had built! [cheers and applause]

we deserve a president who won't sacrifice american jobs and american workers to pacify the bullying union bosses he counts as his political allies. american businesses deserve a federal government that doesn't stand in their way. not one that tries to chase them overseas. fighting american ingenuity and innovation, that's what this president has meant to south carolina. that's what this president has meant to this governor. and that's why this governor will not stop fighting until we send him home, back to chicago, and send mitt and ann romney to 1600 pennsylvania avenue! [cheers and applause] i've had the pleasure of knowing mitt romney for several years now. there is so much to appreciate about him. he fixes things. he's results driven. he's taken broken companies and made them successful.

he took a failing olympics and made it's a source of pride for our country. he went into a democratic state, cut taxes, brought in jobs and improved education. oh, by the way, he actually balanced his budget. [cheers and applause] this is a man at peace with who he is, with the challenges he faces, and with what he intends to accomplish. this is a man not just a candidate looking for win an election, but a leader yearning to return our nation to its greatest potential. and this is a man who has a silver bullet, his greatest asset by far, the next first lady of the united states, ann romney! [cheers and applause] ann is the perfect combination of strength and grace.

she does what so many women in america do. she balances in an exceptional way. she raised five amazing boys, battled ms, is a breast cancer survivor, and through it all was a true partner to mitt. ann romney makes all women proud by the way she's conducted her life as a strong woman of faith, as a mother, as a wife, and as a true patriot. she's an amazing inspiration for me and for so many women across the country. [cheers and applause] not too long ago i traveled to michigan to campaign for the romneys. toward the end of the day two self-described independents me up to me and said, we like what we hear about governor romney. although we don't know everything about him, what we do know, without a doubt, is that

we deserve better than what we have today. [cheers and applause] they are so right. we deserve a president who will turn our economy around. we deserve a president who will balance our budget. we deserve a president who will reform and protect our retirement programs for future generations. we deserve a president who will fight for american companies, not against them. [applause] we deserve a president who will strengthen our military, not destabilize them. [applause] america deserves better than what we have today. we deserve a president mitt romney. [applause] thank you, god bless you, and

may he continue to bless the united states of america! [cheers and applause] >> governor nikki haley, daughter of indians illegal immigrants, elected in 2010 as the first female governor of south carolina. she's the youngest sitting governor in the country. good evening. i'm be bret baier. >> i'm megyn kelly. we're awaiting ann romney to take to the stage and speak. we want to get to chris wallace, live from our podium position on the floor. chris? >> thanks, megan. the theme tonight is we built it, and that of course is a response to barack obama's comment in roanoke, virginia, back in julie whe july when he u didn't build that. a you'll hear it in the rest of the speeches tonight, the businessmen small and big, they built businesses through their hard works their enterprise, not because of something the government gave them.

the two big speakers tonight. first ann romney, the wife for 43 years of mitt romney, one of the most anticipated speeches of this entire convention. her job tonight is to try to dispel the notion that the romneys have always had it easy, that they're out of touch. she will talk about the struggles they had as a young married couple with a bunch of kids, eventually five kids, living in a small apartment, when it wasn't at all certain they would end up being the tremendous success they've been. she'll talk about the big challenges she's faced, and her husband along with her with ms, and with breast cancer, and the bottom line, the opponent will t they understand and sensitive to what middle-class families are going through around the country. don't be surprised if mitt romney comes out after her speech and blows this place open with a surprise appearance. then the keynote speech by chris christie. expect his trademark style.

he'll talk about new jersey, reducing the deficit. he'll say there's been a failure of leadership by barack obama, and that the team of romney and ryan will face the challenges. ann romney, chris christie. it should be a very entertaining evening. it will be an important evening to get this convention underway. >> megyn: indeed. we're listening to the wife of the governor of puerto rico introduce ann romney. she'll come out moments from now. her remarks prepared, the governor with her today, giving her speech a thumbs-up. we were told that the romney boys are the ones most nervous about the speeches tonight, that the governor and ann romney feel pretty good. >> bret: she talked to reporters today, brought reporters cookies back on the plane down here, and said she was feeling good. she's not used to reading off a

teleprompter. on the campaign trail, she's very natural. she's been credited with having good campaign events and fundraisers, but as far as speeches to a crowd like this, it's an entirely different ballgame. >> megyn: she apparently gave fashion advice to the reporters on the plane with them today. what she may not have known when she was giving that advice, there's apparently some beautiful choices available at patrioticjewelry.com as that woman behind chris wallace was showing us. >> bret: we're waiting for the introduction of ann romney. just a couple of stats as we take a look at the hall. she first met mitt romney in elementary school. and then met again at a party when she was 15. he was 18. here she comes on the stage. let's listen in. [cheers and applause] [cheers and applause]

[cheers and applause] >> wow! what a welcome! [cheers and applause] [cheers and applause] >> thank you. and thank you, luce. i can't wait to see what we're all going to do together. this is going to be so exciting! just so you all know the hurricane has hit landfall, and i think we should all take this

moment and recognize that fellow americans are in its path, and just hope and pray that all remain safe and no life is lost and no property is lost. so we should all be thankful for this great country and grateful for our first responders and all that keep us safe in this wonderful country. [applause] well, i want to talk to you tonight, not about politics and not about party. while there are many important issues we'll hear discussed in this convention and throughout this campaign, tonight i want to talk to you from my heart about our hearts. >> we love you, ann! [cheers and applause] i want to talk not about what divides us, but what holds us

together as an american family. i want to talk to you tonight about that one great thing that unites us, that one great thing that brings us our greatest joy when times are good, and the deepest solace in our dark hours. tonight i want to talk to you about love. i want to talk to you about the deep and abiding love i have for a man i met at a dance many years ago and the profound love i have and i know we share for this country. i want to talk to you about that love so deep, only a mother can fathom it, the love we have for our children and our children's children. i want us to think tonight about the love we share for those americans, our brothers and our sisters, who are going through

difficult times, who days are never easy, nights are always long, and whose work never seems done. they're here among us tonight in this hall. they're here in neighborhoods across tampa and all across america. the parents who lie awake at night side by side, wondering how they'll be able to pay the mortgage or make the rent. the single dad who's working extra hours tonight so that his kids can buy new clothes before they go back to school, so they can play a sport, so his kids can feel like other kids. and the working moms who love their jobs, but would like to work just a little less to spend more time with the kids, but that's just out of the question with this economy. how about that couple who would like to have another child but wonder how they'll afford it? i have been all across this country, and i know a lot of you guys. [applause]

i have seen and heard stories of how hard it is to get ahead now. you know what, i've heard your voices. they've said to me, i'm running in place and we just can't get ahead. sometimes i think that late at night, if we're all silent, for just a few moments and listen carefully, we could hear a collective sigh from the moms and dads across america who made it through another day, and know they'll make it through another one tomorrow. but in the end of that day moment they just aren't sure how. and if you listen carefully, you'll hear the women sighing a little bit more than the men. it's how it is, isn't it? it's the moms who have always had to work a little harder to make everything right. it's the moms of this nation, single, married, widowed, who really hold this country together. we're the mothers.

we're the wives. we're the grandmothers, we're the big sisters, we're the little sisters, and we are the daughters. you know it's true, don't you ? [applause] i love you, women! [cheers and applause] and i hear your voices. there's some of my favorite fans down there. you are the ones that have to do a little bit more, and you know what it's like to work harder during the day to earn the respect you deserve at work. then you come home at help with the book report just 'cause it has to be done. you know what those late-night phone calls with an elderly parent are like and the long weekend drives just to see how they're doing. you know the fastest route to the local emergency room and which doctors actually answer the phone calls when you call at night. by the way, i know all about that.

you know what it's like to sit in that graduation ceremony and wonder how it was that so many long days turned to years that went by so quickly. you are the best of america. [cheers and applause] you are the hope of america. there would not be an america without you. tonight we salute you and sing your praises. [cheers and applause] i'm not sure if men really understand this, but i don't think there's a woman in america who really expects her life to be easy. in our own ways, we all know better. you know what, and that's fine, we don't want easy. but the last few years have been harder than they needed to be. it's all the little things. the price at the pump you just

can't believe. the grocery bills that get bigger. all those things that used to be free now school sports are one more thing to pay. it's all the little things that pile up to be big things, the big things, the big job, the chance at college, the home you want to buy becomes harder. everything has become harder. we're too smart to know they're not easy answers, but we're not dumb enough to accept that there aren't better answers. [cheers and applause] and that is where this boy i met at a high school dance comes in. his name is mitt romney and you should really get to know him. [cheers and applause] i could tell you why i fell in love with him. he was tall, laughed a lot. he was nervous. girls like that. it shows the guy's a little

intimidated. he was nice to my parents, but he was also really glad when they weren't around. [laughter] i don't mind that, but more than anything he made me laugh. some of you might not know this, but i am the granddaughter of a welsh coalminer. [applause] he was determined -- he was determined that his kids get out of the mines. my dad got his first job when he was 6 years old in a little village in wales, cleaning bottles at the collier's arms. when he was 15, dad came to america. in our country, he saw hope and an opportunity to escape from poverty. he moved to a small town in the great state of michigan. [cheers and applause] michigan! [cheers and applause] there he started a business, one he built by himself, by the way.

[cheers and applause] he raised a family and he became mayor of our town. my dad would often remind my brothers and me how fortunate we were to grow up in a place like america. he wanted us to have every opportunity that came with life in this country, so he pushed us to be our best and give our all. inside the houses that lined the streets of our town there were a lot of good fathers teaching their sons and daughters those same values. i didn't know it at the time, but one of those dads was my future father-in-law george romney. [applause] mitt's dad never graduated from college. instead he became a carpenter. he worked hard, he became the head of a car company, then the governor of michigan. when mitt and i met and fell in love, we were determined not to let anything stand in the way of our life together. i was episcopalian, he was a mormon.

we were very young. both still in college. there were many reasons to delay marriage. you know what, we just didn't care. we got married and moved into a basement apartment. we walked to class together, shared the house, ate a lot of pasta and tuna fish. our desk was a door propped up on saw horses. our dining room table was a fold-down ironing board in the kitchen. but those were the best days. then our first son came along. all at once, i'm 22 years old with a baby and a husband who's going to business school and law school at the same time, and i can tell you probably like every other girl who finds herself in a new life, far from family and friends, with a new baby and a new husband, that it dawned on me that i had absolutely no idea what i was getting into. [laughter]

well, that was 42 years ago. i've survived. we now have five sons and 18 beautiful grandchildren. [cheers and applause] i'm still in love with that boy i met at a high school dance. he's still makes me laugh. [cheers and applause] i read somewhere that mitt and i have a storybook marriage. well, let me tell you something, in the storybooks i read, there never were long, long rainy winter afternoons in a house with five boys screaming at once. and storybooks never seemed to have a chapter called ms or breast cancer. a storybook marriage? nope, not at all. what mitter and i hav mitt romna real marriage. [cheers and applause]

i know this good and decent man for what he is. he's warm, loving and patient. he's tried to live his life with a set of values centered on family, faith and love of one's fellow man. from the time we were first married i've seen him spend countless hours helping others. i've seen him drop everything to help a friend in trouble, and been there when late-night calls of panic come from a member of our church whose child has been taken to the hospital. you may not agree with mitt's positions on issues, or his politics -- by the way, massachusetts is only 13% republican, so it's not like it was a shock to me. [laughter] but let me say this to every american who is thinking about who should be our next

president. no one will work harder. no one will care more. and no one will move heaven and earth like mitt romney to make this country a better place to live. [cheers and applause] [cheers and applause] [cheers and applause] >> it's true that mitt's been successful at each new challenge he's taken on. you know what it actually amaze

me to see his history of success being attacked. are those really the values that made our country great? >> no! >> as a mom of five boys, do we want to races our children to be afraid of success? >> no! >> do we send our children out in the world with the advice, try to do okay? >> no! >> and let's be honest. if the last four years had been more successful, do we really think there would be this attack on mitt romney's success? >> no! >> of course not. mitt will be the first to tell you that he's the most fortunate man in the world. he had two loving parents who gave him strong values and taught him the value of work. he had the chance to get the education his father never had. but as his partner on this amazing journey, i can tell you mitt romney was not handed success. he built it! [cheers and applause]

>> let's go mitt! let's go mitt! let's go mitt! let's go mitt! let's go mitt! let's go mitt! >> he stayed in massachusetts after graduate school and got a job. i saw the long hours that started with that first job. i was there when he had a small group of friends talking about starting a new company. i was there when they struggled and wondered if the whole idea just wasn't going to work. mitt's reaction was to work harder and press on. today that company has become another great american success story. has it made those who started the company successful, made them successful beyond their dreams? yes, it has. it allowed us to give our sons the chance at good educations and made all those long hours of book reports and homework worth

every minute. it's given us the deep satisfaction of being able to help others i in ways that we could never have imagined. this is important. i want you to hear what i'm going to say. mitt doesn't like to talk about how he's helped others, because he sees it as a privilege, not a political talking point. [cheers and applause] [cheers and applause] >> we are no different than the millions of americans who quietly help their neighbors, their churches and their communities. they don't do it so that others will think more of them. they do it because there is no greater joy. give and it shall be given unto

you. [cheers and applause] but because this is america, that small company which grew has helped so many others lead better lives, the jobs that grew from the risks they cook have become college conclusions and first homes. that success has helped fund scholarships, pensions and retirement funds. this is the genius of america. dreams fulfilled, helped others launch new dreams. [cheers and applause] >> at every turn in his life this man i met at a high school dance has helped lift up others. he did it with the olympics when many wanted to give up. he did it in massachusetts where he guided a state of economic crisis to unemployment of just

4.7%. under mitt, massachusetts' schools were the best in the nation. the best. [cheers and applause] he started something that i really love. he started the john and abigail adams scholarship, which gives the top 25% of high school graduates a four-year tuition-free scholarship. [cheers and applause] this is the man america needs. [cheers and applause] this is the man who will wake up every day with a determination to solve the problems that others say can't be solved, to fix what others say is beyond repair. this is the man who will work harder than anyone so that we can work a little less hard. i can't tell you what will happen over the next four years, but i can only stand here tonight as a wife and a mother and a grandmother, an american, and make you this solemn

commitment. this man will not fail. [cheers and applause] [cheers and applause] this man will not let us down. this man will lift up america. it has 47 years since that tall, kind of charming young man brought me home from our first dance. not every day since has been easy, but he still makes me laugh, and never once did i have a single reason to doubt that i was the luckiest woman in the world tonight. i said tonight i wanted to talk to you about love. look into your hearts. this is our country.

this is our future. these are our children and grandchildren. you can trust mitt. [cheers and applause] he loves america. he will take us to a better place, just as he took me home safely from that dance. give him that chance. give america that chance. god bless each and every one of you, and god bless the united states of america. [cheers and applause] ♪

[cheers and applause] ♪ [playing "my girl"] >> what's your favorite thing about being governor? >> my favorite thing about being governor is that every day i get a chance to do something really great. i don't do something great every day, but i have a chance every day to do something great. >> chris is such a jersey boy.

i want the rest of the country to know how great new jersey is. >> high level of integrity. >> there is no one above the law. there is no one immune to the law. >> i was a prosecutor for seven years. this much i know -- i don't pretend that i have all the answers. but i know how to make decisions, i know how to make things happen. i think if folks believe that they have a group of leaders who are going to say to them, this is what's necessary, it needs to be done, i think the american people and the people of new jersey are ready to hear the truth. >> chris christie has done a remarkable job. he's taken this state, going downhill unfortunately, and he brought it back. people are proud of him. people around the country are talking well of new jersey. chris christie gets a lot of the credit for that. >> thank you for giving me the greatest privilege i'm sure i'll ever have in my life. that's to be the governor of the place where i was born and raised. i'm going to leave here and go

back to the statehouse, i'm going to drive up to that building with a big gold dome on the top of it, and walk in the door, and still shake my head. i do every time. how the hell did this happen? >> "the new york times" called you one of the most intriguing political figures of our time. >> yeah, go figure. >> i got sent here to do a job. i didn't get sent here to be elected prom king. >> that's all i know how to do, you know that. >> i'm passionate about what i believe in. i also think that the public needs to start being treated like adults. >> thank you very much. i appreciate that. >> you're doing a great job. >> thank you very much. >> my mother had a very direct way about her. >> excellent, excellent. >> baloney. the things she used to say all the time to me was just be yourself, because then

tomorrow you're not going to have to worry about who you pretended to be yesterday. sometimes people are going to like it, sometimes people aren't, but be who you are. and so this is who i am. [cheers and applause] ♪ [cheers and applause] >> thank you! thank you! [cheers and applause] thank you all very much. thank you. well, this stage and this moment

are very improbable for me. a new jersey republican! i'm delivering the keynote address to our national convention from a state -- from a state with 700,000 more democrats than republicans. a new jersey republican stands before you tonight, proud of my party, proud of my state, and proud of my country! now i'm the son of an irish father and a si sicilian mother. my dad, who i'm blessed to have with me tonight, is gregarious, outgoing and lovable. my mom, who i lost eight years ago was the enforcer. she made sure we all knew who

set the rules. tell it to you this way, in the automobile of life, dadas just a passenger. mom was the driver. now they both lived hard lives. dad grew in poverty. after returning from army service he worked at the bryer's ice cream plant in the 1950s. now with that job and the gi bill he put himself through rutgers university at night to become the first in his family to earn a college degree. [applause] and our first family picture, our first family picture was on his graduation day with my mom beaming next to him six months pregnant with me. mom also came from nothing. she was raised by a single mother who took three different buses every day to get to work.

mom spent the time that she was supposed to be a kid actually raising children. her younger brother and younger sister. she was tough as nails and the truth was she couldn't afford to not speak the truth, bluntly, directly, and without much varnish. i am her son. [cheers and applause] i was her son -- i was her on as i listened to darkness on the edge of town with my high school friends on the jersey shore. i was her son when i moved into that studio apartment with mary pat to start a marriage that's now 26 years old. [applause] i was her son as i coached our sons andrew and patrick, on the fields of mendham, and as i watched with pride as our

daughters sarah and bridget marched with their soccer teams in the labor day parade. i'm still her son today as governor, following the rules she taught me, to speak from the heart, to fight for your principles. you see, mom never thought you'd get extra credit just for speaking the truth. and the greatest lesson that mom ever taught me, though, was this one. she told me there would be times in your life when you have to choose between being loved and being respected. now, she said to always pick being respected. she told me that love without respect was always fleeting, but that respect could grow into real and lasting love. now, of course, she was talking about women. but i've learned over time that it applies just as much to leadership. in fact, i think that advice applies to america more than ever today. [applause]

you see -- see, i believe we've become paralyzed by our desire do be loved. our founding fathers had the wisdom to know that social acceptance and popularity were fleeting, and that this country's principles needed to be rooted in strengths greater than the passions and emotions of the times, but our leaders today have decided to it's more important to be popular, to be popular, to say and do what's easy, say yes rather than to say no when no is what is required. [cheers and applause] in recent years we as a country have too often chosen the same path. it's been easy for our leaders to say not us, not now, in taking on the really tough issues. and unfortunately we've stood silently by and let them get away with it. but tonight i say, enough.

[cheers and applause] tonight i say together, let's make it a much different choice. tonight we're speaking up for ourselves and stepping up. tonight we're beginning to do what is right and what is necessary to make america great again! [cheers and applause] we are demanding that our leaders stop tearing each other down and work together to take action on the big things facing america. tonight we are going to do what my mother taught me. tonight we're going to choose respect over love. [cheers and applause] you see, we're not afraid. we are not afraid. we're taking our country back, because we are the great-grandchildren of the men and women who broke their backs in the name of american

ingenuity, the grandchildren of the greatest generation, the sons and daughters of illegal immigrants, the brothers and sisters of everyday heroes, the neighbors of entrepreneurs and firefighters, teachers and farmers, veterans and factory workers, and everyone in between who shows up, not just on the big days or the good days, but on the bad days and the hard days, each and every day, all 365 of them. you see, we are the united states of america! [cheers and applause] now it's up to us. we must lead the way our citizens live, to lead as my mothers in insisted i live. not by avoiding truths, especially the hard ones, but by

facing up to them and being better for it. we can't afford to do anything less. now i know this, because this was the challenge in new jersey. when i came into office, i could continue on the same path that led to wealth and jobs and people leaving our state, or i could do the job people elected me to do, to do the big things. now there were those who said it couldn't be done, that the problems were too big, too politically charged, too broken to fix. we were on a path we could no longer afford to follow. now, they said it was impossible. this is what they told me, to cut taxes in a state where taxes were raised 115 times in the eight years before i became governor, that it was impossible to balance a budget at the same time with an $11 billion deficit, but three years later we have three balanced budgets in a row with lower taxes. we did it. [cheers and applause]

they said it was impossible to touch the third rail of politics, to take on the public sector unions, to reform a pension and health benefits system that was headed to bankruptcy. but with bipartisan leadership we saved taxpayers $132 billion over 30 years, and saved retirees their pensions. we did it. [cheers and applause] they said -- they said it was impossible to speak the truth to the teachers union. they were just too powerful. a real teacher tenure reform that demands cannot and ends the guarantee of a job for life regardless of performance. they said it would never happen. but for the first time in 100

years, with bipartisan support, you know the answer, we did it. [cheers and applause] now the disciples of yesterday's blocking, they always underestimate the will of the people. they assumed our people were selfish, this whenold of the difficult problems, the tough choices, the complicated solutions, that they would simply turn their backs, that they would decide it was every man for himself. they were wrong. the people of new jersey stepped up. they shared in the sacrifice. you know what else they did? they rewarded politicians who led instead of politicians who pandered. [cheers and applause] but you know, we shouldn't be

surprised. we've never been a country to shy away from the truth. our history shows that we stand up when it counts. it's this quality that has defined america's character and our significance in the world. now i know the simple truth, and i'm not afraid to say it. our ideas are right for america and their ideas have failed america! [cheers and applause] let me be clear with the american people tonight. here's what we believe as republicans and what they believe as democrats. we believe in telling hard-working families the truth about our country's fiscal realities, telling them what they already know. the math of federal spending does not add up. with $5 trillion in debt, added over the last four years, we have no other option but to make

the hard choices, cut federal spending and fundamentally reduce the size of this government. [cheers and applause] want to know what they believe? they believe if the american people don't want to heart truth about the extent of our fiscal difficulties. they believe the american people need to be coddled by big government. they believe the american people are content to live the lie with them. they're wrong. we believe in telling our seniors the truth about our overburdened entitlements. we know seniors not only want these programs to survive, but they just as badly want them secured for their grandchildren. our seniors are not selfish. [applause]

here's what they believe. they believe seniors will always put themselves ahead of their grandchildren. here's what they do. they prey on their vulnerabilities and scare them with misinformation for the single cynical purpose of winning the next election. here's their plan. whistle a happy tune while driving us off the fiscal cliff. as long as they are behind the wheel of power when we fall. [applause] we believe that the majority of teachers in america know our system must be reformed to put students first so that america can compete. teachers don't teach or become -- to become rich or famous. they teach because they love children. [applause] we believe we should honor and reward the good ones while doing what's best for our nation's future, demanding accountability, demanding higher standards and demanding the best teacher in every classroom in

america! [cheers and applause] get ready. get ready. here's what they believe. they believe the educational establishment will always put themselves ahead of children, that self-interest will always trump common sense. they believe in pitting unions against teachers, educators against parents, lobbyists against children. they believe in teachers unions. we believe in teachers. [cheers and applause] we believe -- we believe that if we tell the people the truth, that they will act bigger than the pettiness we see in

washington, d.c. we believe it's possible to forge bipartisan compromise and stand up for our conservative principles. you see, because it's always been the power of our ideas, not our rhetoric, that attracts people to our party. we win when we make it about what needs to be done. we lose when we play along with their game of scaring and dividing. [cheers and applause] make no mistake about it, everybody, the problems are too big to let the american people lose. the slowest economic recovery in decades, a spiraling out of control deficit, and an education system that's failing to compete in the world. it doesn't matter how we got it. there's enough plame to go around. what matters is what we do now.

see, i know. [applause] i know we can fix our problems. when there are people in the room who care more about doing the job they were elected to do they worry about winning re-election, it's possible to work together, achieve principled compromise, and get results for the people who gave us these jobs in the first place! [cheers and applause] the people have no patience for any other way anymore. it's simple. we need politicians to care more about doing something and less about being something. [applause] and believe me, believe me, if we can do this in a blue state like new jersey, with a conservative republican governor, washington, d.c. is out of excuses! [cheers and applause]

leadership delivers. leadership counts. leadership matters. here's the great news i came here tonight to bring you. we have this leader for america. we have a nominee who will tell us the truth and who will lead with conviction. now he has a running mate who will do the same. we have governor romney and congressman paul ryan, and we need to make them the next president and vice president of the united states! [cheers and applause] [cheers and applause] you see, because i know mitt romney. i know mitt romney. mitt romney will tell us the hard truths we need to hear, to put us back on a path to growth

and create good-paying private sector jobs again in america. mitt romney will tell us the hard truths we need to hear to end the of debt that's compromising our future and burying our economy. mitt romney will tell us the hard truths we need to hear to end the debacle of putting the world's greatest healthcare system in the hands of federal bureaucrats, budget those bureaucrats between an american citizen and her doctor! [cheers and applause] we ended an ire of absentee leadership without principle and purpose in new jersey. i'm here to tell you tonight it is time to end this era of absentee leadership in the oval office and send real leaders back to the white house! america needs mitt romney and paul ryan and we need them right now!

[cheers and applause] now we've got to tell each other the truth, right? listen, there is doubt and fear for our future in every corner of our country. i've traveled all over the country, and i've seen this myself. these feelings are real. this moment is real. it's a moment like this where some skeptics wonder if american greatness is over. they wonder how those who came before us had the spirit and tenacity to lead america to a new era of greatness in the face of challenge. not to look around and say, not me, but to look around and say, yes, me. i have an answer tonight for the skeptics and the naysayers, the dividers and defenders of the status quo. i have faith in us. i know -- i know we can be the

men and women our country calls on us to be tonight. i believe in america and her history. there's only one thing missing now. leadership. it takes leadership that you don't get from reading a poll. you see, mr. president, real leaders don't follow polls. real leaders change polls. [cheers and applause] that's what we need! that's what we need to do now! we need to change polls through the power of our principles. we need to change polls through the strength of our convictions. tonight our duty is to tell the american people the truth. our problems are big and the solutions will not be painless. we all must share in the sacrifice and any leader that tells us differently is simply not telling the truth. [cheers and applause]

now, i think tonight -- i think tonight of the greatest generation who look back and marvel at their courage, overcoming the great depression, fighting nazi tyranny, standing up for freedom around the world. well, now it's our time to answer history's call. for make no mistake, every generation will be judged, and so will we. what will our children and grandchildren say of us? will they say we buried our heads in the sand, we assuaged ourselves with the creature comforts we acquired, that our problems were too big, that we were too small, that someone else should make a difference because we can't, or will they say of us that we stood up and made the tough choices that needed to be made to preserve our way of life? you see, i don't know about you, but i don't want my children and grandchildren to have to read the history books, what it was like to live in an american century. i don't want their only inheritance to be an enormous government that's overtaxed,

overspent and overborrowed a great people into second-class citizenship. i want them to live in a second american century, a second american century! [cheers and applause] a second american century of strong economic growth where those who are willing to work hard will have good-paying jobs to support their families and reach their dreams, a second american century where real american exceptionalism is not a political punchline, but it's evident to everyone in the world, just by watching the way our government conducts its business every day and the way americans live their lives, a second american century, where our military is strong, our values are sure, our work ethic is unmatched, and our constitution remains a model for anyone in the world struggling for liberty. [cheers and applause]

let us choose a path that will be remembered for generations to come. standing strong for freedom will make the next century as great an american century as the last one. you see, thinks the american way. we have never been victims of destiny. we have always been the masters of our own. [cheers and applause] and i know -- i know you agree with me on this. i will not be part of the generation that fails that test, and neither will you. [cheers and applause] all right. all right. it's now time to stand up. let's stand up. everybody stand up. stand up, because there's no time left to waste. if you're willing to stand up with me for america's future, i will stand up with you.

if you're willing to fight with me for mitt romney, i will fight with you. if you're willing to hear the truth about the hard road ahead and the rewards for america, that truth will bear, i'm here to begin with you this new era of truth-telling. tonight we choose the path that's always defined our nation's history. tonight we finally and firmly answer the call that so many generations have had the courage to answer before us. tonight we stand up for mitt romney as the next president of the united states! [cheers and applause] .. together, we'll stand up

once again for american greatness for our children and grandchildren. god bless you. god bless america. [ applause ]. >> ladies and gentlemen, performing the world premier of their song... >> governor christie coming up with a fist pump. a fired up governor of new jersey delivered a speech with the theme people are now rewarding politicians who lead, one who's lead from the front instead of ones who pander. he set it up as what republicans believe and what democrats believe. did he not mention president obama by name other than to

say mr. president, quote, real leaders don't follow polls, real leaders change polls. critics have said it took him a long time to say mitt romney but in the end he was a forceful supporter. >> receiving several standing ovations. at one point he looked over at governor romney and ann rom nee. governor romney looked a hill choked up to me. at the moment. the remarks and this moment for him and his family and just moments prior he'd been watching his wife saying prior to her remarks he was excited and in the end she said she wants to talk to us about love. we listen to three doors down she said she wanted to talk about love, for this man and ours for the country. appealing in working mothers saying working moms had to work a little bit harder and it's the moms who really hold this country together.

appealing to working and stay at home moms and saying to those mothers this is a man she loves and explaining about why, and who he is, talking about how success was not handed to mitt romney saying he wasn't handed it, he built it. talking about from bain capitol. and how he doesn't like to talk about how he helped others because he sees it as a privilege not a political talking point. >> bret: five standing ovations for ann romney. we're live from the podium position on the floor. chris, i'm hoping we can hear you. >> i hope you can hear me, too. for fans of three doors down i apologize but you'll have to get records on ipad or something. we're all drama critics on a night like tonight. i've got to give this night one thumbs up and a thumbs

down. a thumbs up for ann romney. she had a tough task. her job was tro try to make the argument the romneys have not had it easy and understand what other people are going through and went through struggles themselves. i thought she was powerful. my guess is that some people who thought they knew who mitt and ann romney were, they changed their minds. one line, mitt doesn't talk about how he helped others because it's a privilege, not a political talking point. as far as chris christie is concerned. the most curious key note speech i had ever heard he did not mention mitt romney's name into 20 odd minutes into the speech. talking about himself and at the end he said if you're willing to stand up with me for america's future i will stand up for you. >> chris wallace down on the floor, thank you.

>> and to our panel now. brit human is with us. and also, juan williams. and co-fostof "the five" and charles krauthammer, charles? >> i thought the ann romney speech was a triumph. and sounded a little bit scripted, though. and i agree that line about not because it's plays well but because was a privilege i thought was amazingly powerful. the speech by christie was an interesting one. it was not raw meat. it was marinated. something in that speech, a tough crowd giving a speech you don't expect. it was nationalist and abstract in many ways. and he was attacking the obama administration. everyone knows all of the things they've not succeeded at.

he said to the democrats you want to have a choice election, i'll give you a choice election on high principle, about what kind of america, what way you respond. the wung thing they may have trouble is when he spoke of sacrifice, not something the romney campaign has done is that people have to choose between them selfs and grandchildren. but it was a powerful speech but a little bit curious romney appears at the end. i think he did a good job as key note speaker for the party. >> juan? >> i have a different point of view. i thought chris christie did a very good job and spoke with a voice. maybe because i grew up in new york sounded like a voice that spoke to me. i didn't feel like he was giving a speech but talking to me, personally. it was very moving. he spoke about the idea of leadership across political lines, just concrete as what he had done for teachers to improve the quality of

schools. i felt he was compelling and if there is a vision republicans can offer, i think that that is the vision. the problem is that republicans have in the minds of democrats acts as obstructionists they have been the ones, blocking acording to president obama, much of the progress. i thought he was convincing here tonight. and ann romney looked like a corporate wife. you know, the stories about struggles, hard to believe. she's a very rich woman. i know that in america. >> what does that mean? corporate wife? >> a woman whose husband takes care of her, she's been lucky and blessed in this life. it's not speaking for tremendous number of single women or married women. she's not speaking -- she did not convince me i understand the struggles of american women. >> is that the same speech you heard, brit?

>> no. i think that is the single most effective political speech given by a political wife in terms of rendering her husband about women who may have had doubts about him warm up too, i think a lot of women would look at her a great many women, particularly mothers, married women, and find her admirable and credible. it was interesting to me tonight. seems to me the themes of the night were two-fold, one ann romney's speech which stood by itself. rest was, you notice speakers, younger generations, new leaders, a number of them politically successful to say this is not your father's republican party this, is a new republican party, populated by new, young leaders who have been successful. these tasks before us can be done because we're proof of that. we have as chris christie said,

we've done them. >> thank you. stand by. we're going to have more ahead from the republican national convention, we have a team of reporters on the floor and four years ago sara palin gave her big speech. what does she think about the ticket? we'll ask her, coming up. >> i had the privilege of living most of my life in a small town, average hockey mom, signed up for pta. they say the difference between a hockey mom and a pit bull? lipstick. you see us, at the start of the day.

on the company phone list that's a few names longer. you see us bank on busier highways. on once empty fields. everyday you see all the ways all of us at us bank are helping grow our economy. lending more so companies and communities can expand, grow stronger and get back to work. everyday you see all of us serving you, around the country, around the corner. us bank. the economy needs manufacturing.

mhines, tools, people making stuff. companies have to invest in making things. infrastructure, construction, production. we need it now more than ever. chevron's puttg more than $8 billion dollars back in the u.s. economy his year. in pipes, cement, steel, jobs, energy. we need to get the wheels turning. i'm proud of that. making real thin... for real. ...that make a real difference. ♪

mitt doesn't like to talk about how he's helped others because he sees it as a privilege. not a political talking point. >> ann romney getting a standing ovation from her sons,

their wives as well as the auditorium here in tampa as she did several times for her remarks in support of her husband, carl cameron is live with reaction from there. carl? >> one of the things people often say when they meet mitt romney's wife, ann is that she's normal like your best friend's mom when you visit after school. she bakes you cookies but tells you to tuck in your shirt. very normal, very average. yet, today's speech was exactly what republicans have been crying out for for a peek into the real mitt romney. she painted a picture for those who know him is what he's been all along. dees yents, determined, disciplined and really kind of making it clear he's not going to be stopped by political criticism. he's going to follow his convictions. then a speech from chris christie. the real breath of the problems in a campaign criticized for being too cynical and focusing on petty

attack ads and nonsense, they are talking about very, very big issues. this is just the start of the convention but it started with two notes they wanted to hit hardest and loudest. problems are serious it and requires a serious man. that is what they were talking about tonight. >> thank you. >> chris christie, governor of new jersey of course, martha mccowan is from new jersey. >> there is a lot of enthusiasm in the crowd for the chris christie speech. i urge us to look at it in two contexts. the first to remember the road chris christie took to this moment tonight to take the stage. unlikely elected governor in the state of new jersey and he pointed that out at the top of it. we have to remind ourselves of how much he was urged to run for this office. prakly cali by many begged to run for office and told he was unpatriotic at one point for not taking on this task.

he felt he was not ready. we remember the weekend he spent talking with his wife, deciding they were not ready so this led up to this moment tonight. key note speech also another context to think about for a moment. looking at barack obama's speech in 2004 did he not spend the evening talking about john kerry. he talked about barack obama, his vision for the country. i sort of see all that have really as a back drop for the speech we saw chris christie give tonight. >> martha, thank you very much. >> and we have the utah delegation, bill, what's happening there? >> a lot of reaction down here, interesting to note that neither main speakers tonight refered to president obama by name. and in fact, ann romney never said the words obama tonight. her biggest applause line came when she said no one will work harder, chris christie's big yaeft laws plenty of sunshine,

real leaders don't follow polls, real leaders change polls. i talked to a delegate, not satisfied with chris christie's speech. midway through said obama failed, he told me. i want to hear more of that. after the speech i went over to rudy giuliani sitting here, former mayor of new york. i said did you get what you wanted to hear tonight? he said i thought he did a terrific job. i said did you get the red meat people were expecting? he says he think they suggested to him to tone it down because of the storm and isaac and the concern in the gulf coast. rudy giuliani knows about key note speeches. it blew the lid off the place in st. paul four years ago. back to you. >> thank you, bill. where did the utah delegation go? >> they're gone, quickly. bringing back our panel. we're going to bring back charles krauthammer and peggy nunan and brit human.

we did not kick juan off the panel because of corporate wife comment. we wanted to get a speech writer's perspective. >> we considered it we did. for a just a moment. >> i think what this evening had to do with light the candle. do you know what i mean? begin this convention, make everybody feel they're at something. make it open big. i thought chris christie's speech was big. it was important in a number of ways. had a funny feeling as i was watching it in the stands at one moment. i thought this is like hearing serious political philosophy for a guy that does a good jackie gleeson imitation. he's got two things going on with him. i thought he had a serious statement. i thought it was really hopeful. i found it interesting and significant he never mentioned obama. i assumed that was deliberate because he was talking to the

american people, undecided voters and people in the middle. not necessarily to the people on the floor. that is perfectly appropriate. >> it seems he was trying to get people over if not to mitt romney in particular because it wasn't as much focused over to the team jersey. >> i think to the republican party. a lot of what has to be done at this point... is. >> that is what i meant, republican autos to introduce people to what the campaign would like to present as a new republican party. this is not the gang they threw out in 2006 and 2008. this is an all-new group. this guy, he's peggy touching on something i was thinking is that saying chris christie speak was authority and with a convention of office and all he's done but he's the ghi sits behind you at the ball game. >> yes. informal delivery style. >> and a very sort of a blue collarville sense about the

guy that i think will touch a lot of base was a lot of the so called reagan democrats. >> he came out there with the fist pump just pointing at the crowd that seemed to fire everybody up. i want to go back to ann romney. it seemed in this audience she touched this crowd. do you do you hi it played across america? >> i think the second part of it, she spoke in praise of her husband was heart felt and affecting. when she had that line about goodness and generosity, doing it because it's a privilege, there was a very implicit contrast to obama. she's basically saying there are two kinds of being gene yuin, there is political genuine when you pretend to be care asking doing handouts from public treasury. the money comes from china then, real generosity, she's is he, i've seen in my life.

the beauty is that he won't talk bit. he has a sense you don't exploit it. that was really touching and deep and i think that the contrast is there. the other contrast was in the speech by the governor of new jersey. it was -- he talked about large ideas. the speech was large. implicit contrast. he didn't do raw meat. he was effective. the other guy playing small ball and proposing to give away free contraceptives that is going to keep us ahead of china. that is -- we'll hear details of that because he didn't have to say it tonight. he's saying there is a new republican idea we're going to go large and hit the big issues and not afraid to talk about medicare and take it head on and latest poll shows republicans are actually ahead on medicare which is almost shocking. ask they say we're not afraid and we're going to lead. i think that was effective.

the implicit contract of a smallness, not only negativity but smallness of the obama campaign i thought was thunder. >> did ann romney manage to make headway, do you think, peggy with the women vote? >> we talk about that. and wonder about that. and we will see. look. i found her to be first of all stunning. she's just making a stunning impression coming out there. a very beautiful woman a beautiful red dress. she's sweet. she's sympathetic. she's a little shy. and kind of game. she was all of those interesting things. it -- i think it is probably true that there was a little missed opportunity there to tell us things we didn't really know.

we know about the children if you've read and followed them have you a sense of what their lives were and have been and what their struggles have been with illness. and i -- it was my impression she was going to tell us things in this speech that we hadn't heard that were new to us. i do think that would have been more powerful. i am sure some people will find her very appealing. >> 10 seconds, brit. he foktive tonight? >> yes. i think so. >> did you know about the desk propped up by a saw horse? >> i don't think i did. >> there you go. >> panel, thank you. >> thank you. >> getting right now to former governor of alaska sara palin joining us now. governor, welcome. what did you think of what you heard tonight? >> there is fulfillment of what the expectation of convention speeches are. that is inspiration,

encouragement. it's a hope provided us that politicians aren't just going to talk the talk but there is a commitment to walk the walk in doing the right thing for we the people and turning things around. i those speeches fulfilled that. >> and did it take you back, governor to four years ago when you're out there? >> you know i didn't think so much about that. i was concentrating on the content of the speeches and thankful that governor romney's wife praised working moms, who are multi tasking and doing so much as they're concerned about all of our kids' futures ways thankful that that is what she seemed to concentrate on ask she, reality being that her own kids probably don't have to worry about material needs in the future, they -- quite blessed and privileged but she's sympathetic to the rest of americans, middle class and she wants to help to make sure the economy is on the right

track so that all of our kids can benefit. and then, thankful, too, that chris christie got to that point about our actual nominee, mitt romney and his qualifications, thinking big and having big solutions to the big problems and not engaging in the pettiness that the division that is the obama campaign. >> governor palin, hi. it's bret baier. i want to take you back again four years, tomorrow, paul ryan will deliver the speech you delivered four years ago. your thoughts as he gets ready to do that. you had teleprompter trouble buzz sailed through them. and arguably by even your critics it was a great speech to a convention fired up at that point. >> well, the convention was fired up at that point because again, there was great hope provided by what the senator mccain was about to tell america about how we could

really restore american greatness especially after barack obama had come out and said as a candidate that his mission was to fundamentally transform america and many of us recognized that that point that we don't need a fundamental transformation of the most exexceptional nation on earth. i think people were fired up getting ready for what senator mccain had to say that next night. >> governor, thank you for your time. >> getting over to monitor the reaction on twitter tonight. what are we see something. >> the reaction at twitter especially for ann romney was just as big as it was in that hall, maybe bigger. twitter political index which is a measurement of what is the sentiment? what do people think about public figures we've been tracking it for the big candidates but throughout this process here, republican national convention, we're going to do it for the

speeches. is the take away. biggest increase in anybody's score very seen, ann romney, a 34-point spike to an 83, huge. positively huge z more amazing is that she gave her husband, doubled up her husband's work. reflected glow helped mitt romney up to a 66. let me tell you he benefited from that right now. we don't know how long that is going to last. chris christie got a 10 point bump, up to 57. and so that may match sentiment we've heard. as you looked at the substance of the tweet and content of what is in there you can see there was high expectation and kiss appointment with what christie d they were expecting a big speech but praise for ann romney, yeechb from the left was wide spread and happening at huge volume autos

thank you. >> i think they may have sided with love. she came out and i want to talk about love. he said you choose respect over love. it appears folks on twitter went nuts. >> that is the first time by the way twitter is measuring that way. we're going to use that throughout the week. and this is interesting when a speaker says this is important. i want to you listen to what very so-to-say that, is usually the sound byte they'd like to you use. at that point it was ann romney saying mitt doesn't like to talk about how he's helped other because he sees it as a privilege. mitt romney sometimes does have a tough time talking about himself. and. >> there is a question whether he sees real people, is he a corporate raider, her point is that he reaches out and does good deeds. you just don't hear him talk about it.

>> how this affects polls in swing states watching day-to-day, that is what we're going to see after this convention. that is the difference that we'll see if this has a big bounce or not. tomorrow night, the biggest speech for paul ryan. he's ever delivered as he accepts vice presidential nomination. the congressman from wisconsin has been saying and doing a lot of things, tomorrow, he does it here in this hall. >> final thought is that she may have improve mitt romney's standing with women. do you know whose did not improve with women tonight? >> who? >> juan williams. >> that will do it for us tonight folks we'll have continuing coverage throughout the week including vice presidential candidate as just mentioned paul ryan speaking tomorrow night and the big speech thursday night from the republican presidential nominee himself. mitt romney. thanks for joining us. we'll see you tomorrow. have a good night. >> good night. we're sitting on a bunch of shale gas.

there's natural gas under my town. it's a game changer. ♪ it means cleaner, cheaper american-made energy. but we've got to be careful how we get it. design the wells to be safe. thousands of jobs.

use the most advanced technology to protect our water. billions in the economy. at chevron, if we can't do it right, we won't do it at all. we've got to think long term. we've got to think long term. ♪ with scottrader streaming quotes, any way you want. fully customize it for your trading process -- from thought to trade, on every screen. and all in real time. which makes it just like having your own trading floor, right at your fingertips. [ rodger ] at scottrade, try our easy-to-use scottrader streaming quotes. it's another reason more investors are saying... [ all ] i'm with scottrade.