Op-ed:
Tampa blazes bright with the flames of Rice and Ryan

By: Diane Sori

Last night Tampa was still smoldering as GOP leader after leader set the room on fire.  From former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee ("I could care less where Mitt Romney takes his family to church...I care where he takes this country"), to New Mexico Governor Susana Martinez ("We share a core belief that the promise of America must be there for the next generation"), to former Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty ("Just get the government off our backs!"), to Ohio Senator Rob Portman ("Obama says his policies have worked...NOT in this universe they don't!"), and others like Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi and even Rand Paul, the room rocked but there were two that rocked the house like no others before. 

One was Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and the other was Vice-Presidential nominee Paul Ryan.

And while both have different speaking styles and approach the same issues by using different methodologies, both were right on target and brought home the point that Barack Hussein Obama must go.

Condi’s speech successfully linked the economic issues of jobs and unemployment, the main touch point of this year’s election, with the broader issue of America’s role on the world stage.

“One of two things will happen if we don’t lead,” she warned. “No one will lead, and there will be chaos; or someone will fill the vacuum who does not share our values.”  "You cannot be reluctant to lead and you cannot lead from behind...peace really does come through strength."

And the crowd was on its feet!

“When the world looks at us today, they see an American government that cannot live within its means,” she said with firmness and steady determination in her voice. “The world knows that when a nation loses control of its finances, it eventually loses control of its destiny” Condi continued,  And how right she is for when you become a nation of borrowers you become indebted to others instead of being in control of your own actions, deeds, and future.

Condi tied this into the Obama campaign’s divisive assaults on Mitt Romney’s business record and background.  “We have never been jealous of one another and never envious of each other’s successes,” she said.  Yet we all know the Obama campaign is using this issue to create both jealousy and hatred, to create class warfare of the worst kind, something that was never part of the fabric of our country before.

And Condi also spoke of our children and their future and made it clear that giving trophies and ribbons for just showing up at school or after-school sports means nothing as "Self-esteem comes from achievement, not from lax standards and false praise."

Continuing on she said that children stuck in failing schools is the "civil rights issue of our time."  "The crisis in K-12 education is a crisis to who we are."  And how right she is because if our children can’t get a good education, the basis of all successes in life and something ALL children are entitled to, then our children have no real future and we have failed them.

“Yes, yes, yes, America has a way of making the impossible possible."  Condi brought that point home to rousing applause when she spoke of her personal history towards the end of her speech.  “A little girl grows up in Jim Crow Birmingham” and her parents help her believe that “even though she couldn’t have a hamburger at the Woolworth’s lunch counter, she could be president of the United States if she wanted to be...and she becomes Secretary of State.”

And Madame Secretary, what a great American, inspiration, role model, and patriot you truly are.

As for Vice-Presidential nominee Paul Ryan...he hit it out of the park!  While Ryan’s main job was to introduce himself to an America who might not know him well or know him at all, Paul Ryan succeeded in making himself not only likeable but proving to one and all how extremely knowledgeable he is.  And at the end of his speech when the crowd was cheering and on its feet, Paul Ryan showed that the starting of the turning over of the reins of power to the next generation is nothing to fear.  Through unbridled energy and enthusiasm he balances Mitt Romney’s more staid persona and together they form a team the voters can not only trust but have confidence in to set our country right again.

The main theme of Ryan’s speech came down to four simple words: "We can do this."  Words Ryan used over and over to condemn the Obama presidency while he presented an optimistic vision for America’s future under a Romney presidency.

And he did it by pointing out Obama’s failures and how this new administration would right those wrongs.

“America needs a turn around and the man for the job is Mitt Romney" Ryan said as he reiterated and drove home the point that "The greatest threat to Medicare is ObamaCare...and we are going to repeal it."  And he also promised that the $716 billion cut from Medicare that Obama funneled into all his freebies and hand-outs will be put back under a Romney/Ryan administration.

Ryan went on to state that "Medicare is a promise and we are going to honor it."  And how right he is as Medicare is indeed a promise we made to our children and grandchildren and like the good parents that we are we need to honor that promise in full.

‎"This presidency began with a financial crisis and ends with a jobs crisis....it ends with a downgraded America."  "We need to stop spending money we don't have!"   Paul Ryan said to resounding applause.

"After 4 years isn't it about time the man assumed responsibility!" a point Ryan drove home.  You know it, I know it but assuming responsibility is something Obama knows NOTHING about as he still continues to blame Bush and the Republicans for all this country’s woes.  He conveniently forgets his failed stimulus, his failed Green Energy initiative, his failure to create jobs, his failed immigration reform, his failure to cut our dependency on foreign oil, the list is endless as Obama’s presidency is a failed presidency and Paul Ryan brought that forward and put it in America’s face.

"We will lead...we will take responsibility...we will reinstitute our founding principles...we can get this country working again...we can do this...let's get this done...God Bless you all" said Paul Ryan as the crowd roared, applauded, and went wild for a man who represents all that is good with America’s future while playing homage to America’s past...a man many are calling a young Ronald Reagan.

And to that I echo Paul Ran’s words: WE CAN DO THIS...WE CAN DO THIS...WE WILL DO THIS!!!!!!!!

NOVEMBER 6th CAN'T COME SOON ENOUGH!!!!

WOOOOOHOOOOO...ROMNEY/RYAN...ROMNEY/RYAN...ROMNEY/RYAN....LET'S GET THIS DONE!