* Romney vows to focus on jobs
* Running close in polls but needs to convince Americans
* Clint Eastwood to warm up audience
By Steve Holland and John Whitesides
TAMPA, Fla., Aug 30 (Reuters) – Republican Mitt Romney will
urge Americans in a major speech on Thursday to leave behind
their disappointment in President Barack Obama and join him to
rebuild the U.S. economy and generate millions of jobs.
Taking center stage with an address to the Republican
convention in Tampa, Florida, Romney will vow to be a champion
for small business and to restore a sense of innovation in
America.
“What is needed in our country today is not complicated or
profound. It doesn’t take a special government commission to
tell us what America needs. What America needs is jobs. Lots of
jobs,” Romney will say, according to excerpts of his speech
released by the campaign.
Romney’s speech accepting the presidential nomination will
be seen by a television audience in the tens of millions, with
some voters getting their first extended look at the former
Massachusetts governor.
In his speech, he plans to slam Obama’s record as president,
drawing a sharp comparison between the promise of his election
in 2008 and the “disappointment of the last four years.”
“You know there’s something wrong with the kind of job he’s
done as president when the best feeling you had, was the day you
voted for him,” he said. “President Obama promised to slow the
rise of the oceans and to heal the planet. My promise is to help
you and your family.”
The speech is Romney’s toughest test yet in his bid to win
the White House at the Nov. 6 election.
A multimillionaire former businessman who can often come
across as stiff, Romney will strive to inspire his fellow
Republicans who have at times shown little passion for him, and
make the broader electorate feel more comfortable with him.
As portrayed by Democrats, Romney, 65, is alternately a
heartless corporate raider, wealthy elitist, tax evader and
policy flip-flopper who should not be trusted with the keys to
the White House.
To counter that image, Romney’s speech includes biographical
passages describing his parents and family and defending his
work at Bain Capital, the private equity company that critics
have accused of raiding companies and cutting jobs.
“That business we started with 10 people has now grown into
a great American success story. Some of the companies we helped
start are names you know,” he said, naming Staples and Sports
Authority.
Romney and Obama have been running close in polls, but the
convention so far has given Romney a boost. The latest
Reuters/Ipsos online poll showed him moving into a narrow lead
over Obama — 44 percent to 42 percent among likely voters. The
Republican had entered the week trailing Obama by four
percentage points.
Such convention-related boosts in the polls are typically
short-lived, and with Obama set to headline the Democratic
convention next week in Charlotte, North Carolina, the incumbent
could quickly rebound.
Obama still has the advantage over Romney in likability, an
important trait that may mask other problems Obama has in
persuading voters to give him four more years as a weak economy
continues to dog the country.
‘A TOUCH OF HOLLYWOOD’
Movie star Clint Eastwood will bring a touch of Hollywood
glamour to the convention, appearing as a surprise, last-minute
speaker to warm up the crowd for Romney, a Republican official
said. Romney’s speech will start at around 10:15 p.m. (0215
GMT).
Leaving little to chance at the carefully stage-managed
event, organizers extended the podium outward and lowered it
closer to the audience, seeking to create more intimacy for
Romney’s address within the cavernous hockey arena.
Dropping in on the convention hall, Romney stood at the
podium while workers adjusted teleprompters to his preferred
height and a convention organizer took him through his paces.
“This is the biggest speech of his political career, and I
have no doubt that he will deliver the best speech of his
political career,” senior campaign adviser Eric Fehrnstrom told
reporters.
Romney’s nomination culminates a long journey. After failing
to win the Republican nomination in 2008, he plotted a return to
the political arena. This year he was tested time and again by a
series of conservative alternatives from Newt Gingrich to Rick
Santorum in a long and bitter primary campaign.
He outlasted all of them, helped by huge spending on
negative ads by “Super PACs” that support him, but is still
struggling to win over many Republicans unsure of his
conservative credentials.
