Jamie Dupree's Washington Insider: Republicans try to stir some Romney momentum

From Tampa, Florida -?

Starting with the Tuesday speeches of Ann Romney and Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey, Republicans are now heading into a final two days of convention work that will highlight the two names on their ticket - Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan.

And no matter what delegation you visit, the message is that 2012 is not going to be a repeat of John McCain's loss in 2008.

"This is different," said Rep. James Lankford (R-OK), "This is momentum that's building."

Over at the Ohio delegation, that state's Attorney General Mike DeWine had the same review as well, pointing to polls that show President Obama under 50 percent.

"They had all the motivation four years ago; I think we have it today," said DeWine.

In the din of Radio Row at the GOP convention, Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-GA) echoed the argument of many Republicans that he sees his party's voters as being much more motivated in 2012.

"I've been around the country in the last month or two and I've seen a change in the way people feel about the Obama Administration," Chambliss told me.

"I'm just excited," said Rep. Steve Southerland (R-FL). "I'm just feeling the intensity starting to increase here."

While you can easily find quotes like this, the difficulty for a reporter at these kind of political gatherings is figuring out whether this is just typical party spin, or whether there is an actual edge out there for the GOP.

Certainly the polls have shown that Republicans seem to be more motivated this year to get out to vote; that was true in 2010, while it was a big advantage on that front for Democrats four years ago.

I would assume that next week in Charlotte, Democrats will give me quotes that are much the same.

We will have to wait until Election Day to figure out who was right.

The big speaker on Wednesday night is Rep. Paul Ryan, who is certain to get a big reception - though the cheers in the convention hall on Tuesday night were deafening for the Governor of the Badger State, as Scott Walker received two huge ovations at different points.

For Ryan, it is the speech of his life - no doubt about that. It doesn't matter how many speeches you have given in politics, this kind of address is a different animal.

It's a little different than speaking at a small rally or a VFW hall; we'll see how it goes.

One thing is for sure, GOP delegates like the choice of Ryan. Their goal over the next few days is to generate momentum for Ryan and Romney, and then try to send that energy out to the grass roots to work for November.

Source: http://www.newstalkradiowhio.com/weblogs/jamie-dupree/2012/aug/29/republicans-try-stir-some-romney-momentum/

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