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Isaac spares Tampa. Romney's speech will talk about his faith. 70 days to the election.
Happy Tuesday. Tampa Bay has "dodged a bullet" with Tropical Storm Isaac veering west, but it doesn't look like New Orleans will be as lucky and that has the GOP worried about the optics of the convention. [TampaBay] [Inquirer]
Topping the news: Mia Love's convention speech is titled "It's the America I know" and she has three minutes, plus a two-minute video introduction to make an impact. She says she's thrilled to represent Utah and not overwhelmed by the moment. [Trib] [DNews]
-> Sen. Orrin Hatch says Mitt Romney shouldn't talk about his faith, but rather his plan for the nation. [Politico] But it looks like Romney is the one who pressed to include it in his convention speech. [Politico]
-> CNN pulled Anderson Cooper and Fox News pulled Shepard Smith from Tampa sending them New Orleans to cover Isaac. Most of the outlets are sticking to their convention plans so far but say they are leaving their options open. [NYTimes]
-> The Romney camp was all geared up for a week where they would highlight their candidate's greatest accomplishments, but so far have faced a series of distractions from Todd Akin's abortion comments to Ron Paul supporters to the storm heading for the Gulf. [LATimes] [NYTimes]
Tweet of the day: From @PubliusDB: "How do reporters do that face? You know--grintegrity. The one where they smile while they ask the hard questions?"
Happy Birthday: to Tony Yapias and Winston Wilkinson.
Congrats: to state Rep. Jennifer Seelig and Brian Faulkner, a delegate to the Democratic National Convention, who recently became engaged.
GOP Convention: Many Utah GOP delegates not only think fondly of Romney, they consider him a personal friend. [Trib]
-> A look at Love before her big convention speech, where she is described as "Rock star. Novelty. Myth-buster. Surprise." [Reuters]
-> Josh Romney tells the Utah delegation that President Reagan didn't look back and blame President Carter for the economy. [Trib]
-> Romney sent Rep. Jason Chaffetz to be his surrogate at a tea party rally in Tampa. [ABCNews]
-> Utah delegates made hygiene kits for those displaced by Tropical Storm Isaac and the LDS Church will make sure they end up in the right hands. [Trib] [DNews]
-> Gayle Ruzicka, local Eagle Forum leader, is participating in her fifth GOP convention. [UtahPolicy]
-> Former GOP party chairman Stan Lockhart blogs from Tampa. [Herald] And so does WVC Mayor Mike Winder. [UtahPolicy]
-> Romney will head into Tampa on Tuesday, but for what is unclear. Don't be too surprised to see him make a brief convention appearance. [AP] [KSL]
-> Romney's five boys are sent out as spokesman, attempting to show the world a little of their father's humanity. [NYTimes]
-> Paul Ryan previewed his convention speech touching on his immigrant roots. [WaPost]
In other news: GOP Veep pick Paul Ryan will be in Utah on Sept. 5 to raise money for the Romney campaign. [Trib]
-> Peg McEntee weighs in on the public records fights of Democrats and their allies. [Trib]
-> Utah Medicaid administrators will give coverage of circumcision a second look after a new medical opinion comes out. [DNews]
-> Gov. Gary Herbert is critical of President Barack Obama's welfare waivers, but refuses to say it guts the work requirement like Romney has claimed. [HuffPo]
-> State Republicans think they can take four legislative seats from the Democrats this November, taking a big bite out of the small minority. [UtahPolicy]
2012 watch: Some insiders complain that former Utah Gov. Mike Leavitt is creating his own fiefdom inside the Romney camp. [Caller]
-> A recent poll indicates Romney is catching up to Obama when it comes to enthusiastic supporters. [Globe] And another shows that the candidates are tied in the states holding the convention. [Globe]
-> Does the Mormon food culture impact what Romney eats? [NPR]
-> The Republicans didn't always have such a good relationship with Mormons. [NatJournal]
-> Romney is a well known figure, just not that well understood. [WSJ]
Where are they?
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-- Matt Canham
