Republican National Convention organizers were not saying
whether presumptive presidential candidate Mitt Romney would make an early
convention appearance Tuesday night to hear his wife speak.
In a conference call Tuesday morning to give media outlets a
better read on the day's high points, they said that the two main speakers of
the night would be New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and Ann Romney, wife of
candidate Mitt Romney. The planners suggested they had those appearances down
to the minute, with Ann Romney scheduled to speak at 10:05 and Christie at
10:32.
Romney campaign strategist Russ Schriefer said
"anything can happen," when asked whether the candidate might make an
appearance at the hall Tuesday night to watch his wife speak. Traditionally the
candidate stays away until his official nomination.
They confirmed that Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, who was
scheduled to speak to the convention Wednesday, would be a no show as the storm
threatened his state, but that given the compressed schedule due to the
compression of the convention from four to three days, they were not replacing
him with anyone.
Roll call votes for both the VP and presidential nominations
will be held Tuesday, but the official nominations won't come until Thursday.
There will be a "mystery speaker" Thursday night,
but mum was the word when a PBS reporter asked for some "red meat"
out of the press conference.
"If we gave you that info, it would not be a
mystery," they said.
