About an hour before Mitt Romney was scheduled to give the proverbial "speech of his life," CL spoke briefly with former WIsconsin Governor Tommy Thompson, who was pacing the convention floor.
The 70-year-old Thompson, who also served as Health & Human Services Secretary for George W. Bush, was asked if Romney's speech should appeal to the base, or broadened out to independents who could be the difference in determining the election.
"He's gotta do both - he can't be exclusionary," Thompson said. "He's got to reintroduce himself to America, and to capture, like Paul Ryan did, the essence of the convention, the essence and the mood of the country. Demanding and wanting change. That's what I'm confident he will do."
But one reason why the Paul Ryan selection surprised some observers was because of his solidly conservative ideology, hidden underneath a cheerful, youthful persona.
CL asked if in fact Romney had already turned toward the base and not the broader electorate with his selection of Ryan as his running mate. Thompson disagreed.
"Your words - not mine. I thought last night he (Ryan) broadened the base considerably. He did it with the young, the elderly and with the middle class. "
