BAD TICKER: The convention’s megasized national debt clock — captured above at 2:04 p.m. yesterday — reinforces Republican vows of fiscal restraint. (Reuters)
KEYNOTEWORTHY: New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie tours a quiet RNC floor yesterday in the run-up to his big speech tonight. (
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TAMPA — The pressure is on Gov. Chris Christie tonight.
The New Jersey governor today has the job of jump-starting the Republican National Convention with his keynote address — a speech that the GOP hopes will kick the convention into high gear after Tropical Storm Isaac delayed the festivities a day and took the national spotlight off of Mitt Romney.
“I’m going to go out there and be myself,” Christie told reporters in Tampa. “So far, that’s been really attractive to the base. My number one priority is that it sounds like me.”
Don’t expect the usual “get the hell off the beach” bravado from Christie, sources familiar with the governor’s speech prep told The Post.
Christie will be focusing on economic themes of fiscal restraint, taxes and budgets, and touting the inclusiveness of the GOP, all while introducing himself to a national audience.
Bronx GOP chairman Jay Savino said he was confident Christie could “fire up a crowd like a minister.”
“This is Christie’s opportunity to shine. He shoots from the hip and backs it up,” said Savino. “It should be a fabulous moment for the convention.”
Romney has already read convention speeches prepared by Christie, presidential primary opponent Rick Santorum and Ann Romney, said Romney adviser Russ Schriefer.
Ann Romney also delivers her speech tonight, which Schriefer said the campaign considers an “anchor to the evening.”
Despite the cancellation of yesterday’s scheduled events, Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus gaveled open the convention and then, within two minutes, called a recess.
He also started the giant debt clock incorporated in the convention stage above the podium — a constant reminder of the ever-growing $15.9-trillion national debt.
In the first 10 minutes of the convention, another $13 million was added to America’s debt. The national debt is not expected to top $16 trillion until next week, during the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, N.C.
But don’t look for a debt clock on the Democrats’ stage or mention of the fact that the national debt was $10.6 trillion when Obama took office in January 2009.
Meanwhile, Christie yesterday insisted it’s not true that he turned down a spot on Romney’s ticket because it would have required him to step down as governor.
“I was never offered the vice presidency, so a factor in me not taking it was never thinking he could not win,” he said in response to a report in The Post.
The Post story, however, never claimed Christie was offered the job.
The race for the White House is in a statistical dead heat. An ABC/Washington Post poll out yesterday had Romney leading Obama 47 percent to 46 percent.
Republican leaders see the convention as a chance to open the lead, and they buck any suggestions that it should be canceled due to the storm now headed toward the Gulf Coast.
“I don’t know anyone but the White House that is making that suggestion,” said Former Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour. “It is amazing that the liberal media elite try to turn the lead-up to the convention into some sort of land mine for the Republicans.”
“This is going to be a huge launching pad for Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan’s general election campaign.”Delegates and party leaders expressed deep concern for those in the storm’s path. But they insisted the convention would not detract from emergency preparations on the Gulf Coast.
“I say, ‘Drive on!’ ” declared Mike Case, an alternate delegate from Romney’s home state of Massachusetts. “It’s nature. What are you going to do?”
“You don’t take lightly hurricanes. You always assume what could be worst,” said Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.).
The tropical storm also put a damper on protests outside the convention.
Tampa Police and National Guard had prepared for about 5,000 demonstrators to march yesterday on the Republican convention, but just 500 showed up.
“The wind blew them away,” quipped a cop on the scene, where scores of officers and troops were left with little to do.
Additional reporting by Geoff Earle, Josh Margolin, Tara Palmeri and Jack Minor Jr.