Presidential candidate Mitt Romney delivers his acceptance speech on the final day of the Republican National Convention at the Tampa Bay Times Forum on Thursday, August 30. 
Attendees celebrate as confetti and balloons drop after Romney's speech. 
Romney and vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan take the stage with their families at the end of the night. 
People bow their heads for the benediction to wrap up the GOP convention. 
Romney and Ryan wave to the audience after Romney's speech, which described a future of opportunity and promise for the nation. 
Romney greets supporters as he enters the arena Thursday. 
Florida Sen. Marco Rubio introduces Romney after his speech. 
Delegates wave signs on the final day of the RNC. 
Actor Clint Eastwood speaks as a surprise guest. 
Mitt Romney's wife, Ann, and son Josh sit in the VIP box. 
Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush speaks on stage. 
A man holds an American flag in the audience. 
Pam Finlayson speaks during the convention. 
Jane Edmonds, the former Massachusetts secretary of workforce, delivers remarks. 
Olympians and gold medalists Michael Eruzione, Derek Parra and Kim Rhode stand on stage at the convention. 
A woman clasps her hands during the program. 
Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich and his wife, Callista, speak during a tribute to former president Ronald Reagan on Thursday. 
Callista and Newt Gingrich take the stage during the final day of the Republican National Convention. 
Delegates listen to the national anthem at the Tampa Bay Times Forum. 
Texas Gov. Rick Perry applauds during the final day of the convention. 
U.S. Rep. Connie Mack, R-Florida, speaks on stage during the final day. 
Law enforcement officials work to free protesters with Earth First, who had connected themselves to each other in front of the Big Bend TECO Power Station in Apollo Beach, Florida. Substantially fewer protesters took to the downtown Tampa streets Thursday. 
GOP vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan addresses the Republican National Convention on Wednesday night. 
Paul Ryan's wife, Janna, is flanked by her sons Charlie, left, and Sam during Ryan's keynote address Wednesday night. 
A woman grasps her hands during speeches on the third day of the GOP convention. 
Paul Ryan and his wife and children exit the stage after the biggest speech of his political career. 
Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice speaks at the Tampa Bay Times Forum on Wednesday. She accused President Barack Obama of yielding the nation's leadership role in the world. 
George Engelbach, dressed as President Abraham Lincoln, attends the GOP convention. 
Mike Huckabee, a Republican candidate in the 2008 presidential primaries, backs his one-time rival Mitt Romney. 
A woman snaps an image with her iPhone during Wednesday night's events. 
Former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty takes the convention stage. 
Delegate Carlos Mendez of Puerto Rico watches Wednesday night's program. 
New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez delivers remarks. Her speech emphasized her belief in the American Dream. 
Delegate Crystal Berg of Hartford, Wisconsin, cries while watching the George H.W. Bush tribute Wednesday night. 
Arizona Sen. John McCain, who was the 2008 Republican presidential nominee, speaks to the audience. 
As Sen. John McCain speaks, some audience members display happy birthday posters. 
Sen. John McCain, who was a POW during the Vietnam War, addresses the crowd. 
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky speaks during the third day of the Republican National Convention. 
Col.Oscar Poole of Georgia puts his arm around Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker. 
Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky speaks during the third day of the Republican National Convention. His father, U.S. Rep. Ron Paul of Texas, was one of the hopefuls for the 2012 nomination. 
Former President George W. Bush is shown on the giant screens at the Tampa Bay Times Forum. 
A woman gestures during the third day of the Republican National Convention. 
Rosemary Edwards of Austin, Texas, kisses the face of Texas Gov. Rick Perry. 
Sen. John Thune of South Dakota speaks during the third day of the Republican National Convention. 
A woman holds a campaign sign. 
Sen. Rob Portman of Ohio speaks at the podium. 
Delegates from Maine and supporters of Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul chant "As Maine goes, so goes the nation" after they staged a walkout at the Tampa Bay Times Forum. 
Paul Ryan speaks during a soundcheck Wednesday. 
Ryan waves with daughter, Liza Ryan, and sons, Charlie Ryan, right, and Sam Ryan from the stage during a soundcheck. 
Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney exits a vehicle before boarding his campaign plane. As the Republican National Convention continues, Romney will travel to Indianapolis to address the American Legion. 
Laura Bowman accepts Bradley Thompson's proposal on the stage. Thompson is a production manager and Bowman is a production coordinator for the convention. 
Arizona Sen. John McCain walks the floor. 
Bradley Thompson kneels down to propose to Laura Bowman, who accepted, on the stage. 
Journalists and media work the third day of the Republican National Convention. 
Ryan gives the thumbs-up during a sound check at the Tampa Bay Times Forum. 
Ann Romney, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney's wife, greets a crowd of supporters on Tuesday. 
Mitt Romney joins his wife on stage shortly after she addressed the Republican National Convention at the Tampa Bay Times Forum on Tuesday, August 28. 
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie delivers the keynote address to wrap up the first full night of the convention. 
Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney sits between his wife, Ann, and former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice during Gov. Chris Christie's speech. 
Concluding the first night of speech, Chris Christie declared Republicans were willing to face the tough issues and find solutions that work. 
Delegates watch Gov. Chris Christie deliver the keynote address. 
A delegate snaps a photograph of Chris Christie just before his speech. 
As the crowd cheers, Mitt Romney embraces his wife, Ann, on stage during the convention. 
An excerpt from Ann Romney's speech is displayed on a teleprompter Tuesday. She repeatedly referred to her first date with Mitt Romney in urging Americans to trust him to fix the nation's problems. 
A veteran claps during Ann Romney's speech. 
Ann Romney addresses the crowd in the biggest political speech of her life. She concluded by declaring "you can trust Mitt." 
Former Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum addresses the crowd Tuesday. 
Leslie Jones of Virginia Beach, Virginia, wears a hat with tea bags attached. 
Ohio Gov. John Kasich waves as he takes the stage. 
Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich walks the floor. 
American pop opera singer Neal E. Boyd performs at the Tampa Bay Times Forum. 
American country and gospel vocal quartet Oak Ridge Boys perform. 
Texas Solicitor General Ted Cruz, who is running for the U.S. Senate, speaks. 
South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley waves on stage. 
Former U.S. Rep. Artur Davis speaks. He changed his party affiliation from Democrat to Republican earlier this year. 
Delegates crowd the floor after the tallying of votes during the roll call for nomination of president of the United States at the Tampa Bay Times Forum. 
Delegates display signs in support of Mitt Romney after the tallying of votes during the roll call for nomination of president of the United States. 
Scott Romney, brother of Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, cheers during the roll call. 
People cheer as the screen displays "Over The Top" during the roll call of delegates. 
Supporters flash posters supporting Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney at the Tampa Bay Times Forum. 
People hold signs that say "Mitt!" as U.S. Speaker of the House Rep. John Boehner, R-Ohio, speaks. 
Delegates from host state Florida face photographers and cameras as they pose for the official convention photograph. 
A delegate takes a picture of the floor at the Tampa Bay Times Forum. 
Ann Romney, Republican presidential candidate former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney's wife, stands onstage with stage manager Howard Kolins during a soundcheck. 
People from the Texas delegation say the Pledge of Allegiance. 
A delegate from Wisconsin sports a cheese hat at the Tampa Bay Times Forum. 
Ann Romney leans on a seat aboard the campaign plane en route to Tampa. 
Karl Rove, former deputychief of staff and senior policy adviser to President George W. Bush, talks on a phone at the convention hall. 
Republican candidate Ron Paul waves to supporters at the Tampa Bay Times Forum. 
A woman cheers during the second day of the Republican National Convention. 
A delegate checks out the convention floor before other delegates arrive at the Tampa Bay Times Forum. 
A convention attendee carries a bag with a Time magazine featuring Mitt Romney on the cover. 
A participant walks the convention floor before the start of proceedings Tuesday. Organizers pushed events back a day because of concerns about Isaac. 
The Republican National Convention officially began Monday, August 27, but the bulk of the action was delayed until Tuesday. 
A woman captures the goings-on with her phone before the start of the shortened first day of the Republican National Convention. 
The chairman of the Republican National Committee, Reince Priebus, convenes the convention with a bang of a gavel. 
Priebus raises the gavel as he convenes the Republican National Convention. 
Lynne David walks behind a group of law enforcement officers as they patrol the streets before the convention. 
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie walks through the convention center before the start of the abbreviated first day. 
Last-minute adjustments are made to the main stage at the Tampa Bay Times Forum on the abbreviated first day of the GOP convention. 
An elephant logo is featured on the side of a tent outside of the Republican National Convention at the Tampa Bay Times Forum. 
Two convention-goers wear plastic bags as shelter from the rain caused by Tropical Storm Isaac. 
A man reads a newspaper in the empty seats of the Tampa Bay Times Forum. 
Former New Hampshire Gov. John Sununu, left, stands at the podium with stage manager Howard Kolins before events begin Monday. 
Men wearing cowboy hats stand on the arena floor before the start of the abbreviated first day. 
Convention staff hang a Romney-Ryan sign at the Tampa Bay Times Forum on Sunday, August 26, in preparation for the Republican National Convention. 
A tribute to NASA astronaut Neil Armstrong, who died Saturday, August 25, is displayed at the GOP convention as preparations continue. 
Donald Trump, who accepted the Statesman of the Year Award from the Sarasota County Republican Party, answers questions in Sarasota, Florida. 
A microphone is in place at the front of the convention hall in Tampa. 
Former Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul speaks in the Sun Dome at the University of South Florida in Tampa on Sunday. 
Activists hold signs mocking President Barack Obama at the Tea Party Unity Rally at The River at Tampa Bay Church. 
Police officers question protesters carrying an effigy of Republican Party presidential candidate Mitt Romney during a demonstration in downtown Tampa. 
Rachel Bolch Thach tries to shelter herself from the rain in Tampa. Tropical Storm Isaac is expected to bring rain and wind to the area and has caused convention officials to delay the start of the convention until Tuesday. 
- CNN analysts, contributors assess the speeches on the final night of the RNC
- Julian Zelizer: Romney introduced himself to nation well, but failed to spell out a vision
- Maria Cardona: Romney had some good lines, but followed with distortions of record
- Ana Navarro: Marco Rubio showed himself as a political figure of national proportion
(CNN) -- Mitt Romney, the Republican presidential candidate, delivered his acceptance speech on the final night of the Republican National Convention in Tampa. The evening also featured speeches from Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, who introduced Romney; movie star Clint Eastwood; and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush. CNN contributors and analysts offered these assessments of the evening:
Julian Zelizer: Mitt Romney, problem solver
Mitt Romney had to accomplish three goals in his speech Thursday night: He had to introduce himself to the nation, he needed to explain why he is a better alternative than President Obama and he needed to outline his vision for the nation in the next four years.
Through a solid, though not an exceptional, speech, Romney made progress on all fronts. He opened up by sharing more about his religion as well as his family. His speech showed that Romney is more than a ruthless capitalist, offering an alternative narrative of Romney as a problem solver.
Until tonight, all of the speakers, including Gov. Chris Christie and Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan, spoke about the need to make tough choices. The speech, and the biographical film, presented Romney as the person who could take up this challenge.
Romney also took a more aggressive stance toward President Obama by depicting him as a leader who had made big promises but who failed to deliver on what Americans need most, namely creating jobs and healing the divisions in politics.
Comparing President Obama to President Carter, he completed the picture that Republicans have painted of the White House during the convention: a depiction of the president as someone who refuses to make tough decisions and who lacks any viable plan for strengthening the country.
The biggest weakness of the speech came with the final challenge, as Romney only offered a vague picture of what he would do in four years that would revitalize the state of the nation. He promised to have a plan, but the substance of the plan remains unclear. In the coming months, this is the big challenge for the Republican candidate if he wants to win the White House.
Julian Zelizer is a professor of history and public affairs at Princeton University. He is the author of "Jimmy Carter" and of the new book "Governing America."
Maria Cardona: Good lines, empty slogans. No sale
Romney's speech was well delivered with the right intonations and applause lines, and even some teary-eyed moments when talking about his mom and Ann Romney. But that line about how when America needs to accomplish something great, "you need an American?" Dog whistle to the birthers?
Rhetorical crumbs to women, immigrants, Cubans, and ultra-right wing evangelicals is what we heard from Romney tonight. And a regurgitation of the "Best of Obama Criticisms," including how President Obama had almost no business experience when he took office. How many years of business experience does Paul Ryan, the man who would be VP have?
He also underscored his experience at Bain Capital, which will give Democrats the opportunity to repeat their claims that some of the companies he invested in were loaded up with debt and shuttered, and that worker lost their jobs, pensions and healthcare.
He talked about creating 12 million new jobs but didn't say how. Will those jobs be the ones left behind by the 12 million undocumented immigrants he wants to self-deport?
The five ideas he did talk about were empty slogans for which he offered little real detail. And the fifth one about cutting taxes and regulations for small businesses? He should get the president's record right and understand there have been 18 tax cuts for small businesses and that there have been less regulations on businesses these past three years than in the first term of President George W. Bush's administration.
Some good lines, not a great speech, and I suspect it did not move the needle significantly with women, Latinos, independents, or do much to really humanize Mitt Romney with voters We'll see.
Maria Cardona is a Democratic strategist, a principal at the Dewey Square Group, a former senior adviser to Hillary Clinton and former communications director for the Democratic National Committee.
David Gergen: Where were Romney's tough, bold plans?
The real judgments on Mitt Romney's acceptance address will come from voters, not from those of us in the peanut gallery.
It is possible that his quiet, plain-spoken sketch of his personal journey, especially its invocations of a Norman Rockwell America, will humanize him and draw over women who have soured on President Obama but have worried that Romney is a hard-hearted, rich, elitist, corporate raider who has no compassion for those less fortunate. Relentless negative ads against him in recent weeks have left that impression. Probably the greatest success of this GOP convention is that it revealed a different, far more decent Romney who does care about others.
In that sense, his acceptance address may have been a worthy climax to a three-day effort to portray him in a better light. That could help to narrow the gender gap that is holding back his candidacy.
But from my perspective, as one who is deeply worried about the next few years in America, the speech was a disappointment on substantive and rhetorical grounds. Just the night before, in his more powerful speech, Paul Ryan hammered home the idea that the Romney-Ryan ticket was ready to make tough, bold choices that would unleash a dynamic America.
Romney simply wasn't going there Thursday night: There were no tough choices, no ringing calls for new policies, no details about how we would get there. Instead, he declared, without any supporting evidence, that a Romney presidency would create 12 million jobs in the next four years. Since no president has ever done that, one might have thought that there would be a compelling game plan to get there. Instead, he offered up a brief laundry list of 5 ideas, many of them what George W. Bush would offer, and left it there. Sorry, that was neither bold nor tough.
Rhetorically, Romney also went for a solid speech but not a compelling one. It had heart but lacked soul. Mario Cuomo famously said that politicians campaign in poetry and govern in prose; this was all prose. Nor was there a clear trumpet. It is not even clear what the lead paragraph would be in press accounts. If William Safire were still alive and editing his anthology of great speeches, he would be much more likely to include Ryan than Romney.
Perhaps voters will have a much more positive impression and will move to Romney in droves. If so, hats off to the Romney team for figuring out today's political mood far better than those of us who pontificate from the sidelines. But if they called this one wrong, Thursday night will go down as the biggest missed opportunity of the campaign.
David Gergen is a senior political analyst for CNN and has been an adviser to four presidents. A graduate of Harvard Law School, he is a professor of public service and director of the Center for Public Leadership at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government. Follow him on Twitter.
Ana Navarro: Marco Rubio, a star staking out his future
Political conventions are like the Olympics. They happen every four years and showcase the best political players in the country. Chris Christie was supposed to deliver a gold medal-winning speech and instead he gave us a big belly flop. Gov. Susana Martinez came in as a virtual unknown and won over the hearts of Republicans.
On Marco Rubio, the expectations were high. He is known as one of the best political orators today. He did not disappoint. Last week, rumor was the Romney campaign wanted to change his speaking slot. Fortunately for Romney and for Rubio, he spoke as originally scheduled and introduced Romney. Romney got as rousing a warm-up act as he could hope for. Rubio got the chance of a lifetime to speak to the nation.
He gave a deeply personal account of his family history. He stood on that stage as the embodiment of the American Dream. I saw people all around me on the convention floor wipe away tears as Rubio talked about the sacrifices his parents made to give him opportunities they never had.
Tonight, people all over the United States got to see what voters in Florida know well. Marco Rubio is a political figure of national proportions. Tonight he firmly laid his stake in the ground for a potential presidential run in 4 or 8 years, depending on the results this November.
Convention speeches can make or break political futures. Rubio's speech goes a long way in increasing his stature and furthering his career.
Hilary Rosen: Romney shows his warmth, but not his policies
What a bizarre last night for the Republican convention. It is hard to imagine a weirder moment than Clint Eastwood's speech and a less complimentary speech introducing a nominee than Sen. Marco Rubio's self-referential oratory. In fact, Mitt Romney saved his own night with his speech.
Romney needed to do two things tonight: Convey who he is as a person of empathy and good intent and make a case that he would be a better president than Barack Obama. I think he did the first one decently but failed miserably on the second mission.
He talked about his love and respect for his parents. His admiration for his mother who ran for Senate was charming. He was even sweet talking about being a parent of fighting boys (what parent can't relate to this?). He absolutely conveyed a more human side to his usual "Ken Doll" demeanor.
He had more trouble with his second mission. When he tried to discuss what he could do to help the country, the speech went south. He made awkward jokes about once contemplating asking his church to invest with Bain capital. He took credit for the company's success, not mentioning that it was subsidized by the government, and he failed to acknowledge that he killed thousands of jobs when he was at Bain and didn't actually create many jobs the last time he was in public office.
From a policy perspective, we got, as my colleague James Carville said, George W. Bush's economic policies, Dick Cheney's foreign policies and Rick Santorum's social policies. In short, nothing new and a host of re-treaded policies that have failed us in the past.
Gov. Romney didn't make a sell tonight. But he stopped some bleeding about his image. I imagine that Romney supporters will focus on the personal stories of Romney's speech and if I were them, that is all I would talk about as well.
One other clear element missing from the stage tonight? Any public declarations of empathy and support for our citizens suffering through a storm on the Gulf Coast and relief that more people were not hurt by a storm so many had feared. Not a word from any of the top speakers. How cold.
Hilary Rosen, a CNN contributor, is a Democratic political strategist and former chief executive of the Recording Industry Association of America.
Ruben Navarrette: We got ourselves a ball game
Where have the Republicans been hiding this guy?
I like the kinder, gentler, more emotive Mitt Romney better than the old version. Romney's competence was never in question. His success in business speaks for itself. The U.S. economy is broken, and Romney and running mate Paul Ryan might just be the ones to fix it.
Romney might well make a good president. But it hasn't always seemed that he has the political skills to be elected president. And unfortunately for Republicans, that's how you get this job. And for that, you need not just smarts and talent but an extra helping of social skills.
Before he took the podium at the Republican National Convention to deliver the most important speech of his life, Romney had shortcomings, including many that his primary opponents in two elections were only too happy to point out. He has often come across to voters as hollow, unlikable, plastic, untruthful, and unable to relate to the plight of everyday Americans.
That's not the person who showed up in Tampa. At times during his speech, Romney was funny, affable, vulnerable, and even endearing. He seemed to choke up when he talked about his parents, his wife, and his children. And he delivered lines like this:
"Those weren't the easiest of days -- too many long hours and weekends working, five young sons who seemed to have this need to re-enact a different world war every night. But if you ask Ann and I what we'd give, to break up just one more fight between the boys, or wake up in the morning and discover a pile of kids asleep in our room. Well, every mom and dad knows the answer to that."
Yes, Mitt. Give us more of that. The American people want a president who will lead them to prosperity and keep them and their families safe in an unpredictable dangerous world. But they also want one who they like, who can relate to their struggles, who understands their lives, who supports their dreams and who inspires them to something better. The old Mitt didn't convey that. The new one does.
We got ourselves a ball game.
Ruben Navarrette is a CNN contributor and a nationally syndicated columnist with the Washington Post Writers Group. Follow him on Twitter: @rubennavarrette.
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