BY DAVID CHANG – It has been a whirlwind week here in Tampa, FL, at the 2012 Republican National Convention. As you may know, the Convention was a bit delayed due to tropical storm Isaac moving through the Gulf, but we were fortunate enough to have missed the wrath of the storm. Please remember to send aloha and prayers to those that are affected by the storm. The city of Tampa has welcomed us with open arms and we’ve been doing our best to spread the aloha spirit here by handing out our signature leis – so keep an eye out for people wearing them in the media!
After the short delay from the hurricane, we were very excited to kickoff the Convention by officially nominating Mitt Romney as our Presidential candidate yesterday! The night continued with a plethora of fantastic Republican leaders giving inspiring and energetic speeches centered around the theme “We Built It.” The various speakers included RNC Chairman Reince Priebus, Speaker of the House John Boehner, former U.S. Senator Rick Santorum, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, former democrat (now Republican!) Rep. Artur Davis, Texas Senate Candidate Ted Cruz, among others.
Ann Romney and Gov. Chris Christie were the two keynote speakers last night. Our future First Lady of the United States, spoke on the importance of love – love for others, love for our country, and of course, love for her husband, Mitt. The stories she shared touched our hearts and gave us new insight into the more personal side of Mitt Romney. Gov. Romney then came out on stage briefly after Ann’s remarkable speech and was welcomed with a standing ovation.
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie ended the night with an energetic and invigorating speech that had the crowd on their feet. Gov. Christie, in his no nonsense, direct manner, reminded us that “we need to work together and take action on the big things facing America.” He hailed Mitt Romney as the man capable of telling the “hard truths” and bringing about America’s comeback.
The message last night was clear: we built this nation and we need a leader who believes in this country and is willing to make the hard decisions to bring us back to greatness. We are excited about another great convention lineup tonight featuring Vice Presidential nominee Paul Ryan. Please be sure to tune in to watch tonight and check your email tomorrow for a special update about Hawaii being in the spotlight at the RNC.
If you would like live updates from the Convention, please visit our Facebook and Twitter pages, where you can see posts and photos from inside the Tampa Bay Times Forum from all of our delegates. Many people in our delegation have been featured in local and national news this week, so keep an eye out for members from our Aloha state!
This election season promises to be an exciting one with many opportunities across our state and our nation, but we need everyone to get involved and commit to the cause. If you’d like to learn more about getting involved, please click here to volunteer. We are also in need of financial resources so please click here to donate $25, $50, $100 or more and help ensure the Hawaii Republican Party’s success in 2012!
Mahalo,
David S. Chang is the Chairman of the Hawaii Delegates on the floor of the 2012 Republican National Convention