Ann Romney, wife of Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, is gearing up to deliver her much anticipated address to the Republican National Convention on Tuesday evening. Her address, seen as a key moment in the Romney presidential campaign, will come at 10:00 pm EST, preceding the keynote address by keynote speaker Chris Christie.
Mitt Romney trails President Barack Obama amongst women voters in the polls, but Ann Romney is seen as a key weapon which Romney can use to close the gap. Her speech is likely to humanize Mitt and present a personal backstory which has thus far been lacking in the campaign.
For complete coverage of Tuesday evening's speeches, see PolicyMic's live coverage here.
This is Ann Romney's first pre-written speech during the 2012 campaign. She told reporters in advance of the speech, "I've never gone off a written text. So this is a unique experience for me. I've never spoken with a teleprompter either. I don't like it. It's hard. We'll see how I do."
Ahead of Ann Romney's speech, a Gallup and USA Today poll finds that 42 percent of Americans view her favorably, while 24 percent view her unfavorably. Nine percent have never heard of her, and 25 percent have no opinion.
Mitt is likely to appear beside his wife, before she delivers her address.
Excerpts from Ann Romney's speech have leaked to the press. Here's a preview of what Romney is likely to say at 10:00 p.m.
"Tonight I want to talk to you from my heart about our hearts. I want to talk not about what divides us, but what holds us together as an American family. I want to talk to you tonight about that one great thing that unites us, that one thing that brings us our greatest joy when times are good, and the deepest solace in our dark hours. Tonight I want to talk to you about love."
"When Mitt and I met and fell in love, we were determined not to let anything stand in the way of our life together... I read somewhere that Mitt and I have a 'storybook marriage.' Well, in the storybooks I read, there were never long, long, rainy winter afternoons in a house with five boys screaming at once. And those storybooks never seemed to have chapters called MS or Breast Cancer. A storybook marriage? No, not at all. What Mitt Romney and I have is a real marriage ... At every turn in his life, this man I met at a high school dance, has helped lift up others. He did it with the Olympics, when many wanted to give up."
"... This is the man America needs. This is the man who will wake up every day with the determination to solve the problems that others say can't be solved, to fix what others say is beyond repair. This is the man who will work harder than anyone so that we can work a little less hard. I can't tell you what will happen over the next four years. But I can only stand here tonight, as a wife, a mother, a grandmother, an American, and make you this solemn commitment: This man will not fail. This man will not let us down. This man will lift up America!"
