A man who Iowa political insiders urged months ago to run for president will address the Republican National Convention tonight — New Jersey Governor Chris Christie.
Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley, who’s a delegate at the event in Tampa, says Christie did a “marvelous job” of getting the New Jersey budget under control while working with a Democrat-controlled legislature.
Grassley says, “That policy has to be something that we have to take very serious at the federal level and Governor Romney is the one to do it.”
The wife of the presumed nominee, Ann Romney, is also scheduled to speak during the 9 o’clock hour (Central time) tonight. Grassley says he’s hoping for something in particular from Mrs. Romney.
“We want to hear what kind of a person Governor Romney is,” Grassley says. “I believe, even though he’s a candidate for president, he’s not well-known by the American people, particularly the 8 to 10% that are undecided, and I think that the wife and the future First Lady is an ideal one to do it.”
Grassley says Ann Romney is “well-liked” and can certainly help to “bring people around to understand who Mitt Romney is.”
Romney himself won’t take the podium in Tampa until later in the week. Grassley says the candidate needs to send a clear message that he understands the problems and has empathy for the middle class, that he’ll bring good financial management to the federal government, and that he’ll help to “get the country moving.”
“He’s gotta’ tell the American people that he’s going to be able to do what this president hasn’t done,” Grassley says. “One of the reasons we’ve got 8.3% unemployment is because there’s so much uncertainty out there. The small businessman of America isn’t going to hire anybody when he’s going to get the biggest tax increase in the history of the country at the end of the year.”
Grassley says Romney needs to make the case that he will bring “stability, certainty and predictability to government policy.” Grassley is attending his eighth Republican National Convention.