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. 
- The newly anointed Republican ticket campaigns Friday in Florida and Virginia
- MItt Romney says President Obama has failed, and that he will restore America's greatness
- "What America needs is jobs, lots of jobs," Romney tells the GOP convention
- CNN analysts pan Clint Eastwood's convention appearance
Tampa, Florida (CNN) -- Promising his traditional conservative policies will restore America's greatness, Mitt Romney accepted the Republican presidential nomination and then prepared to campaign with his running mate on Friday in two swing states vital to their chances of defeating President Barack Obama in November.
In the most important political speech of his life, Romney on Thursday night evoked themes and imagery of GOP icon Ronald Reagan in describing to a cheering Republican National Convention a future of opportunity and promise for the nation after what he called the failed policies under Obama.
He recalled the excitement of the country in electing Obama four years ago, saying the president's campaign theme of "hope and change" had a powerful appeal.
"But tonight, I'd ask a simple question: If you felt that excitement when you voted for Barack Obama, shouldn't you feel that way now that he's President Obama?" Romney said. "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."
While his own patriotism caused him to hope Obama would succeed, the president's promises "gave way to disappointment and division," Romney said.
"This isn't something we have to accept. Now is the moment when we can do something. With your help we will do something," he said. "Now is the moment when we can stand up and say, 'I'm an American. I make my destiny. And we deserve better! My children deserve better! My family deserves better. My country deserves better!'"
When Romney finished, clouds of red, white and blue balloons floated down as running mate Rep. Paul Ryan joined him on stage, followed quickly by their wives and families amid the cheers and confetti.
Storm-shortened convention concludes
He and Ryan will campaign together on Friday in Florida and Virginia, then head to Ohio on Saturday as Democrats prepare to hold their convention next week in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Romney's prime-time, nationally televised address concluded a storm-shortened convention that sought to galvanize the conservative Republican base behind him and frame the upcoming election as a referendum on Obama's presidency.
Protesters briefly interrupted him early in the speech, with one shouting "people over profits" in reference to the multimillionaire former businessman's career in private equity. The crowd shouted "U.S.A, U.S.A" to drown them out, and one was removed after a brief scuffle.
Ryan had energized the convention on Wednesday night with a powerful attack on Obama that championed conservative principles.
On Thursday, speakers, including Hollywood legend Clint Eastwood, laid the foundation for Romney's highly anticipated speech that was intended to provide those Americans just tuning in to the presidential race with an introduction to the man and candidate.
CNN analysts called the speech successful in appealing to the base and showing Romney's personal side, but also said it was business-like at times and offered no new ideas or proposals from the candidate who has been on the trail for the past year.
"It had a lot of heart. It needed more soul. It needed more poetry," said CNN Senior Political Analyst David Gergen, while Gloria Borger, the CNN chief political analyst, said the themes Romney emphasized showed what audience his campaign wanted to reach -- Obama supporters disappointed with the president today and women, who polls show favor the Democratic incumbent.
She and CNN Chief National Correspondent John King panned Eastwood's appearance, which included a comedy routine of a fictional discussion with Obama, as a mistake by organizers that detracted from the candidate's defining speech.
In his address, Romney provided a biographical look at his life, talking about his parents -- who both held or ran for political office -- and his Mormon faith. Earlier, members of his church gave testimonials to Romney's help and compassion during past crises, such as the early death of one couple's son.
A rose for his mother and raising five boys
Criticized for being stiff and impersonal at times on the campaign trail, Romney told stories of family life -- the single rose his father, former Michigan Gov. George Romney, gave his mother every day, and the incessant household noise in raising five boys. Paying tribute to his wife, Ann, Romney expressed admiration for the role of women in society in a bid to appeal to women voters.
Romney also injected humor, telling how he decided against approaching his church as a young man to invest in his new company.
"I figured it was bad enough I might lose my investor's money, but I didn't want to go to hell, too," he quipped.
Romney then focused on his ideas for ending the nation's economic challenges -- lingering high unemployment, sluggish economic recovery, and a chronic deficit and debt problem.
"Today the time has come for us to put the disappointments of the last four years behind us, to put aside the divisiveness and the recriminations, to forget about what might have been and to look ahead to what can be," he said. "Now is the time to restore the promise of America. Many Americans have given up on this president but they haven't ever thought about giving up. Not on themselves. Not on each other. And not on America."
Focusing his message on the economy -- an issue that polls show him winning with voters -- Romney said the country's needs are not "complicated or profound."
"What America needs is jobs, lots of jobs," he said, arguing Obama offers only more of the same to people who "now believe that the future will not be better than the past."
He repeated campaign-tested promises to repeal Obama's 2010 health care reforms detested by conservatives, increase domestic oil production, reduce government regulations and cut taxes on businesses. Romney also pledged to assert U.S. might and influence around world, saying "we will honor America's democratic ideals because a free world is a more peaceful world."
Other issues mentioned reflected traditional conservative policies -- opposition to gay marriage and abortion, no tax increase for the middle class, and strong support for Israel.
"If I am elected president of these United States, I will work with all my energy and soul to restore that America, to lift our eyes to a better future," Romney said. "That future is our destiny. That future is out there. It is waiting for us. Our children deserve it, our nation depends upon it, the peace and freedom of the world require it. And with your help we will deliver it. Let us begin that future for America tonight."
Rubio and a Reagan tribute
Eastwood and other preceding speakers, including Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, sounded similar themes in different ways.
Gingrich and his wife, Callista, narrated a tribute to Reagan that focused on differences between the policies and vision of the former president compared to those of Obama and Jimmy Carter, who preceded Reagan in the White House. Republicans seek to draw parallels between Obama and Carter, who lost to Reagan in 1980 after serving one troubled term.
Rubio, whose parents came to America from Cuba, emphasized the theme of American opportunity that offered a new life to his family and allowed him to become a U.S. senator. Referring to his father, who worked as banquet bartender, Rubio said: "He stood behind a bar in the back of the room all those years, so one day I could stand behind a podium in the front of a room."
"That journey, from behind that bar to behind this podium, goes to the essence of the American miracle -- that we're exceptional, not because we have more rich people here," Rubio said. "We're special because dreams that are impossible anywhere else, come true here."
Eastwood used an empty chair as a prop for his one-sided talk with Obama, drawing laughs by portraying the president as unable and unwilling to defend his policies. He called 23 million Americans out of work a "national disgrace," and said "possibly it may be time for somebody else to come along and solve the problem."
For Romney, 65, the nomination puts him within one step of the goal he first sought in 2007 by running for president after serving as a Republican governor for four years in traditionally Democratic Massachusetts.
A political tightrope
Though rivals including Gingrich challenged his conservative credentials in the 2012 primaries, Romney emerged victorious. Now he continues to walk a political tightrope in trying to energize right-wing support while also appealing to moderates and independent voters.
On Wednesday, Ryan used the biggest speech of his still young political career to tell the party faithful and the American public Wednesday that time is running out to solve the nation's fiscal problems, but the GOP ticket can do it if elected.
"We will not duck the tough issues -- we will lead," Ryan said in his prime-time address televised nationwide. "... The work ahead will be hard. These times demand the best of us -- all of us, but we can do this. We can do this. Together, we can do this."
Romney chose Ryan, the conservative House Budget Committee chairman from Wisconsin, as his running mate in hopes that the fiscal expert known for big and hard-line ideas would strengthen support on the political right and appeal to moderates and independents seeking solutions for the nation's economic woes.
Ryan, 42, focused mostly on the fiscal issues that are his strength, such as the national debt, stimulus spending under Obama and his proposed Medicare reforms that would partially privatize the government health care system for senior citizens.
Obama and Democrats have attacked the Ryan plan, and he sought to turn the tables on the issue by repeating the factually challenged assertion that the president cut Medicare by more than $700 billion to cover the costs of the 2010 health care reform law passed by Democrats.
The figure comes from a July 24 Congressional Budget Office report that said repealing the health care law, as called for by Romney and Ryan, would increase spending on Medicare by $716 billion through 2022. At the same time, the CBO letter said keeping the law known as Obamacare in place would not mean a $716 billion decrease in Medicare spending, as claimed by Ryan.
Independent fact-checking organizations have rated the Medicare cut accusation first made by Romney as mostly false. Ryan, however, said he and Romney welcomed the debate on how to ensure the long-term solvency of the popular entitlement program that is a key part of America's social safety net.
Democrats also questioned the accuracy of other statements in Ryan's speech, including an insinuation that Obama was responsible for a General Motors plant closing in the congressman's hometown of Janesville, Wisconsin, evern though plans to shut it down were announced before the 2008 election. Ryan also criticized Obama for rejecting a deficit reduction plan worked out by a commission that Ryan serve on, but eventually voted against its report.
Ryan has "made a decision to just simply separate himself from the facts and the truth," Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, who heads the Democratic National Committee, told CNN.
Asked Thursday about those issues, Ryan told CNN that his broader point was that Obama has failed to deliver on promises -- whether to help workers at that GM plant keep their jobs or develop a comprehensive plan to reduce the nation's mounting deficits and debt.
Obama: Romney 'wants to go backwards'
Romney and Republicans contend that Obama's policies, such as stimulus spending, have worsened an already bad economic situation the president inherited from the previous GOP administration of President George W. Bush. They propose traditional conservative policies to shrink government, cut taxes and drastically reform entitlements, steps they say will bring economic growth and job creation.
Obama and Democrats call such prescriptions failed policies of the past and propose increased revenue sources such as higher taxes for wealthy Americans to be part of a deficit reduction plan that includes some spending cuts and entitlement reforms.
"On almost every issue (Romney) wants to go backwards, sometimes all the way to the last century," Obama said Wednesday at a campaign event in Virginia.
The president told Time Magazine in an interview made public Thursday that Democrats are not proposing radical solutions, and the nation doesn't need drastic changes.
"If you're willing to raise taxes on millionaires and billionaires, then you can make modest reforms on entitlements, reduce some additional discretionary spending, achieve deficit reduction and still preserve Social Security and Medicare and Medicaid in ways that people can count on," Obama told Time, later adding that the country needs "some commonsense solutions that stay focused on helping middle-class families."
"The only reason that you would have to go further than that is if there's no revenue whatsoever," he said. "And that's a major argument that we're having with the Republicans."
The convention proceeded as Hurricane Isaac drenched the Gulf Coast after making landfall in Louisiana on Tuesday night, the eve of the seven-year anniversary of devastating Hurricane Katrina. The storm prompted Republican organizers to postpone the first day of the convention, which was a crucial opportunity for defining Romney to the American people.
Romney clinched the GOP nomination in the roll call of state delegates Tuesday after a rugged Republican primary campaign that saw momentum swings nearly every week and bitter attacks by GOP colleagues
The 2,200-plus convention delegates also approved a conservative platform that calls for less government, opposes same-sex marriage and endorses a "human life amendment" to ban abortion, with no specific exceptions for cases of rape, incest or when the mother's life is threatened.
Throughout the convention, speaker after speaker has emphasized his or her own humble beginnings as descendants of immigrants who worked hard to achieve success for their families and never expected government help or handouts. Virtually every speaker took umbrage with Obama's comment on the campaign trail that "you didn't build that" in reference to successful businesses that received government help along the way.
The latest CNN/ORC International poll indicates a dead heat between Romney and Obama, with new numbers released Sunday showing that 53% of likely voters believe Obama is more in touch with their needs, compared with 39% for Romney.
Obama leads by an equal margin when it comes to being in touch with the middle class, and six in 10 say Obama is in touch with the problems facing women today, with just over three in 10 feeling the same way about Romney.
Romney leads 48% to 44% over Obama on managing the government effectively and has a 6-point advantage on having a clear plan for fixing the nation's problems. Both figures are within the survey's margin of error.
CNN's Kevin Liptak, Kevin Bohn, Paul Steinhauser, Dana Davidsen, Ashley Killough, Dana Bash, Deirdre Walsh, Halimah Abdullah, Martina Stewart, Shawna Shepherd, Rachel Streitfeld and Mark Preston, and HLN's Ed Hornick contributed to this report.
