Before Mitt Romney attempts to paint a picture of his candidacy in his Republican National Convention acceptance speech, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and Newt Gingrich addressed the Tampa Bay Times Forum crowd. Here is a rundown of what was said during the first half of Day 4 at the RNC.

Brother's Keeper

Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush is still an influential name in the Republican party despite being out of office for five years, so his place on the speaker lineup was a given for a convention taking place in nation's most-populous swing state.

Bush kicked off his speech with a defense of brother George W., telling President Barack Obama, "Stop blaming your predecessor for your failed economic policies."

George W. Bush, who is the only living ex-president with a favorability rating of under 50 percent, has gone largely ignored during the convention aside from a short tribute video, and is still seen by most Americans as being more at fault than Obama for the state of the economy.

The younger Bush's speech dwelled mainly on education and touted Romney's credentials in improving education in Massachusetts. One noticeable omission from Bush's speech was language related to immigration, a subject the former Florida governor has urged his fellow Republicans to change their tone on.

The issue has been a tough one for Republicans to navigate as they try to appease hard-line conservatives staunchly against the DREAM Act, while at the same time, making sure not to further drive a wedge between the party and Latino voters.

The GOP's attempt to reach out to that growing voting demographic has been been a recurring theme during the convention with Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval and New Mexico Governor Susana Martinez having speaking roles during the RNC. Romney's son Craig even said a few words in Spanish, while a video montage featuring prominent Latino politicians in the GOp was also aired.

Polls show Obama has a 2-to-1 lead over Romney among registered Latino voters and only time will tell if this GOP tactic can sway just enough votes in key southwestern states like Colorado or Nevada to tilt the election in its favor.

Reagan Sighting During Newt Gingrich Speech

The convention played a video of Ronald Reagan to introduce Newt Gingrich and wife Callista. Channeling the Gipper appears to be a tactic to bolster Romney's uneasy standing among conservatives, but if the montage did not make Reagan overshadow Romney, then Newt Gingrich's speech probably did.

From the Wall Street Journal:

Mr. Gingrich, a former House speaker, mentioned Mr. Reagan eight times, while Mrs. Gingrich made seven mentions.

As the two took turns delivering portions of the speech, GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney received just four mentions — and often linked to Mr. Reagan.

Newt Gingrich repeated Rick Santorum's claim that Obama would gut the work requirement for welfare, which has been proven false by FactCheck.org and the Washington Post.

 

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