Ann Romney’s passion trumps politics in Tampa

US: If only for a moment, bare-knuckled politics gave way to heartfelt emotion as Ann Romney offered up a very public love letter about her husband Mitt and told American moms: I feel your pain.

For those seeking the fire and brimstone that has marked much of the bitter 2012 fight for the White House, it was to come later Tuesday, at the end of the first night of the Republican National Convention, when bombastic Governor Chris Christie opened up several lines of attack on President Barack Obama.

For those embracing the well-worn traditions of a US political convention, there was the earlier roll call in which delegates selected Romney as their official nominee.

But for eloquence, down-home charm and a girlish reminiscence of her “deep and abiding love” for her husband, Ann stole the show.

“I want to talk to you tonight, not about politics, and not about party,” she started out. “I want to talk to you about love.” Every eye, every ear was trained on Ann Romney at that moment, as she laid out her very personal case for why her husband should be the next US president.

From the moment she took the stage, the would-be first lady electrified the crowd of more than 4,000 delegates and thousands more observers in a cavernous Tampa, Florida forum virtually packed to the rafters with Republicans, many of them seen teary-eyed as Ann personalized the Romney story.

A collective smartphone salute greeted Romney as she strode out on stage, a receptive audience snapping photos of her in a radiant red gown, as she waved both hands to the crowd. Signs read “We Love You Ann” and “Women (heart) Ann.” “It has been 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,” she said.

“You can trust Mitt,” she said to applause. “He loves America. He will take us to a better place, just as he took me home safely from that dance.”

When she promised that “no one will work harder, no one will care more, no one will move heaven and earth like Mitt Romney to make this country a better place to live,” the entire convention was on its feet.

And yet when she looked calmly into the camera and called for the delegates' attention, the forum froze -- especially when she spoke of her own personal travails with multiple sclerosis, which she has been fighting since 1998, and early-stage breast cancer, which was diagnosed in 2008.

To the mothers of America, she sought to make her message crystal clear, even if she and her husband are in the financial stratosphere compared to most US households: I, too, know what it means to struggle. “We're the mothers, we're the wives, we're the grandmothers, we're the big sisters, we're the little sisters, we're the daughters,” she said.

“You are the best of America. You are the hope of America. There would not be an America without you,” she added.

“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,” she said, as many women in the crowd, including former secretary of state Condoleezza Rice, could be seen nodding their heads.

“She is a remarkable lady,” said Peter Falcone of Massachusetts, a Republican state committee member whose wife is a delegate at the convention. “We in the Republican Party know it and we want the rest of the country to know it,” he told AFP.

After her speech, Ann Romney's husband Mitt stepped out from behind the backstage curtain and gave his wife a hug and two kisses on the lips, as the audience roared its approval. The couple then sat just off the convention floor, with their five sons, to listen to Christie's speech.

“Leadership matters,” Christie boomed. “We have governor Mitt Romney and (running mate) Paul Ryan, and we're going to make them the next president and vice president of the United States!” As Ann Romney rose to her feet with the rest of the crowd, Mitt remained seated, and appeared to choke up. He waved at Christie and mouthed the words “Thank you, Chris.”

AFP