assessment of the convention so far? >> andrea: it has been great but this is the moment it kicks off. after a grueling primary season, we have seen some shoot inside the tent. heard rumors that the tea party is not behind mitt romney, the party isn't unified. i tell you when they nominate him, you will see a unified republican party. a lot of articles today, "usa today" talking about how the tea party coalesceed and he has been able to bring in moderates. the conservatives were his weakness. they are with him and you will see it on the floor tonight. a lot of enthusiasm. >> dana: we'll have speeches front a lot of different people. most interestingly, ann romney has her speech as well as chris christie, governor of new jersey. what are you looking for in the speeches in >> greg: they have to dill lennate what they'll do from obama. they have to say, look you voted with your heart before. now it's time to vote with your head. >> dana: and your wallet. >> greg: a lot of people voted for obama because doing the one trip to the soup kitchen every year. more about making yourself feel good than doing good. i think at this point people are saying hey, we're the republican party, the clean-up crew, we're the after party that bankrupted a nation. >> bob: didn't you do that yourself? >> greg: i sleep in one. >> dana: bob, how many conventions have you been to? >> bob: 12. >> dana: is this the most exciting one you have been to? >> bob: i barely can sleep at night in anticipation. one thing that will happen in the roll call. the others leave it up, you do to the top of the delegate that you need to be the nominee with your home state. they defer. my question is which state is it going to be? new hampshire? massachusetts? utah? or michigan? >> dana: well, actually, on the state thing, it's interesting. if you look at an article today about michigan and wisconsin, two states that maybe a year-and-a-half ago nobody thought were in play, they could go for romney. >> eric: a lot of things going in romney's favor, especially in states like wisconsin, michigan. gasoline prices for one. they're exploding in the two states i'm sure that president obama has to have an answer and hopefully do something ridiculous like release oil. you know what it is? he's basically saying you know what? maybe we'll release oil from the spr. that is for bombing an attack on the emergency oil situation, infrastructure. not when it's campaign is getting bombed. as far as tonight ann romney will talk about her husband and she will make him introduce us to him from her perspective. mia love, i am watching that. she is going to tell us -- >> dana: tell white house she is. >> eric: mayor from utah. running for congress. mormon, block, female -- black, female. tell us why the war on women onlying from the obama administration not republicans. chris christie will slam the door and say thank you, here we go. >> bob: slamming the door all right. bet ber a strong date. >> dana: andrea, your take on that. there is a lot of talk if you look at the breakdowns, single women are more likely to say they will vote for president obama and married women say they are more likely to vote for romney. when you have the chance for ann romney and mia love amongst others will speak, what should they say to appeal to single women? >> andrea: the exact message. debt, doubt, decline. married women voters traditionally determine the outcome of every single election. we heard them called soccer moms and security moms. they're coupon clippers. they vote. every time. they are traditionally swing voters but they're in romney's camp. not worried about the uterus or birth control. they worry about paying the bill, putting kids in college and putting their parents in nursing homes. how are they going to pay for this? they are worried about the debt, the deficit. balancing their own budget. >> greg: therein lies the real war on women. >> andrea: exactly. >> dana: greg, if you were advising mitt romney tonight or the rest of the republican what is line would you suggest for them to pick up single women? >> greg: the line that i've used. the pitch to single women is you don't need a husband that the government is a better husbanddy. break wind. it doesn't snore. and it's the perfect husband. >> bob: not married to you. >> greg: exactly. but the great thing, i want to go back to mitt romney for a minute. she exposed the secret sexism of modern feminist. you to go back to hillary rosen, the equipment of the you didn't build that. but from the feminist perspective and it changed everything. >> dana: what did she say? >> greg: hillary because ann romney dop satisfy what now considers to be successful woman. she had no career. she wasn't really -- >> dana: >> stay at home mom. a stay at home mom. not a work mom. >> bob: you didn't build it again. i noticed that. single women broke several elections ago, stayed that way for democrats. same with the suburban areas began to go democratic. married women tend to feel much stronger on the economy. >> greg: why is that? they are influenced by their husbands. >> bob: they bear the brunt of -- >> dana: i think it's another reason. i think women that are married who are let's say mothers of teenage children as well as, so they are preparing for, dealing with that. plus they deal with the college education fund. and they're also helping the elderly parents so they are fresh on both ends. look at this saying this is not what i thought -- >> gregthought -- >> eric: war on womenn that for. you really -- democrats want to say republicans are running a war on women and not offering free birth control or whatever. the real war on women is the last four years under obama. there are 500,000 fewer women working now than when he took over. the price of gasoline is doubled under president obama. that is the war on any single mom. take their kids to play soccer. >> andrea: traditionally, single women don't turn out the way that married women turn out. so they could be in barack obama's camp. but there is a lot of single women, too, making over six figures who are incredibly successful and had to go back to work after the recession and say i don't care about the birth control pills. stop pandering to me. >> bob: i for one do care about birth control pills. you got to break? >> dana: we're going to go because -- >> bob: because i was talking. >> dana: the moment everybody was waiting for. turn it over to bret baier and megyn kelly to take to us the roll call. >> unprecedented -- alaska stands ready to elect a new president of the united states. alaska cast 18 votes for governor mitt romney. this is america's election headquarters. alert, i'm bret baier. >> i'm megyn kelly. one of the things making this republican convention unique is it's happening right now. the delegates are formally about to nominate mitt romney for president on tuesday. one day earlier than normal. >> actually a couple minutes earlier than we thought. the state vote in alphabetical order. each state is awarded a different number of delegates based on the size of the population. the way it's voted in previous elections. states that went republican in 2008 got a bump. so here is the deal. we will keep track of the delegate voting at the bottom of your screen. you can see the magic number needed for nomination on the right side of your screen. that magic number 1144 delegates. the state vote willing be on the far left of the screen when it's happening. when it votes and announces its delegates. now it will all be tallied in the middle of your screen. that running tally will continue to change as you see below us as the states vote. when it hit 1144, you will know it. >> that is the magic number1. 144. when they get to that point you will hear an over the top celebration. take a listen to what is happening on the floor below us as they continue through the roll of states. >> arizona. 29 votes. [ applause ] >> madam secretary, i'm jan brewer, governor of the great state of arizona. [ applause ] >> fellow delegates, thank you. you know, governor romney may not be from the west, but he is a westerner at heart. go west. he embodies our western spirit and shows all that could be achieved with the american formula. of hard work, faith, and opportunity. and freedom. i am proud today, to advance and announce arizona, the grand canyon state casts 26 votes in the nomination of mitt romney. three votes for ron paul. [ applause ] >> arizona. 26, romney. >> arkansas. 36 votes. [ applause ] >> madam chair, of the great state of arkansas casts its 26 votes for the next president of the united states. mitt romney. and the next vice president of the united states, paul ryan. [ applause ] >> arkansas, 36. romney. [ applause ] >> california. [ applause ] 172 votes. >> at a time when america continues to suffer ruinous debt, and loss of respect worldwide, we must instead choose to restore our economy and to restore belief in america. madam secretary, california, the state that gave america a the world the inspirational leadership of ronald reagan -- [ applause ] proudly casts all of our 172 votes for another champion and another living example of american exceptionalism, governor mitt romney. [ applause ] >> california. 172, romney. >> colorado, 36 votes. >> madam secretary, i'm proud to represent the centennial state, the great state of colorado. the words to "america the beautiful" were inspired by the vision of purple mountains from atop the peak and in 1876, shortly after colorado became a state, our state cast the deciding electoral college vote in election of republican president then and we will do so today. the moment of green back cut throat trout in the rocky mountain columbine, the marble that raises the lincoln memorial and the tomb of the unknown soldier. the home of the university of colorado buffalos. [ applause ] tan colorado state university rams as well as outstanding snow and skiing. i'm proud to be able to stand here with one of the youngest members of not only our delegation, but also this delegation, luke kirk. a student from the university. and soon to be freshman at fort lewis college. young people are hurting more under the failed administration of barack obama. >> my name is luke kirk from colorado i'm honored to be the youngest member of the colorado delegation. i would like to encourage youth everywhere to get involved, stay involved and take this nation back. thank you, all. [ applause ] >> madam secretary, colorado is very proud to cast 28 delegate votes since n support of the nomination of mitt romney. as the next president of the united states. with eight delegates obtaining. >> colorado, 28, romney. [ applause ] connecticut, 28 votes. >> madam secretary, connecticut, the constitution state. home of the next republican united states senator, lyndon mcmahon. [ applause ] proudly casts all 28 votes for our friend and our good neighbor, governor mitt romney. [ applause ] >> connecticut, 28. romney. >> okay. as the counting continues here, we are going to go down alphabetically, each of the states. we are going to bring you the vote. again, as i said in the beginning it's tallying right here. 1144 is the magic number. mitt romney is not the nominee until he accepts the nomination. >> it's like dating. this is the offer and has to be an acceptance. dating and contract law. >> yes. and on thursday, he officially accepts it. in his speech. we should probably bring in our panel now. >> our panel is here with us. syndicated columnist charles krauthammer. mara liasson of national public radio. and bill kristol, editor of the "weekly standard." this is an exciting moment for the republican party faithful who gathered here and waited an extra long time for the kickoff. what is the significance of what we're listening to and watching behind us, snarl >> first, a lot of pent-up enthusiasm. people had to hold this for 24 hours because of the delay. second, this is the fun part. everybody gets to out the the largest state and all their other attributes. this is where it gets started. [ inaudible ] the real effect here is people want to hear ann romney. she will be the warm and fuzzy to soften up the argument. and then we get the hammer, chris christie. >> stand by for a minute. take a listen to the state of florida cast its vote. >> madam chair, i ask that we take a moment of silence for those that have been affected by isaac, the storm, as well as those who will potentially be impacted by the storm. [ moment of silence ] >> madam chair, florida is the sunshine state. well, most times. [ laughter ] i am lieutenant governor jennifer garrold, proud home of governor rick who has shown america that florida knows how to prepare and respond to hurricane and provide hospitality to all visitors. florida is also -- [ applause ] florida is also proud to have been the home of governor romney's first major state primary victory. [ applause ] the proud home to the convention that will nominate governor romney for president and the proud home of 29 electoral votes that will put governor romney over the top in november when we make him president romney. so we are proud to cast our 50 votes for the next president of the united states, governor mitt romney. [ applause ] >> florida, 50, romney. >> georgian manual how it feels for romneys themselves after a hard-fought primary battle. romney finds nims the cat-bird -- finds nims the ca cat-bird seat. >> we're only going to take one break. keep it here on fox news channel. we'll be right back. idaho -- >> welcome back to history in the making here at the republican national convention as the state delegate stood up and cast their vote for mitt romney. a few for ron paul. this plays out in the primary caucus season. three for georgia for ron paul, three for hawaii to ron paul and the rest to romney. on the bottom of the screen 1,,144 is the magic number he needs to get to. not a lot of drama, we know he will get there. we're doing the delegate count in the middle of the screen. he has 538 so far and expect him to get to the magic number near the "n"s. new jersey, new hampshire. we'll find out. as we watch the delegate cast their vote officially. >> the suspense. >> drama. >> it's also interesting listening to these intros by the different states which only 20 seconds they're allotted but they choose what they say and who they put up. the last one from idaho said the first to sue on obamacare. let's check in with chief political correspondent carl cameron who has been governor romney all along and is on floor now. carl, a little bit of drama today about ron paul. >> well, there was. before the roll call began they had to conduct their business, seating of delegate, passage of the platform, et cetera. in many of the delegations there are a handful of ron paul supporters. they vehemently objected to the way maine was seated and thought the ron paul delegates in maine got cheated. a little dissent. raucous points of order call, et cetera. occasionally, you will hear in a number of states ron paul got two delegates and there will be a huge roar. numerically they are way outnumbered but with the sheer volume ron paul folks can make a heck of a racket. great state of indiana. mitt romney will get the lion's share. moment ago was illinois. introduced as the birthplace of reagan regular and abe are hamlin con the founder of the spiritual leader -- abraha abraham lincoln. the spiritual leader of the party. homeelegates is keenly aware state. delegates went to romney there was relish you could sense going on here. this is the part of the process that is meant to bring the delegation, the entire convention together. ron paul dissent, any of those who have been doubters of romney in the process, they're in the process of getting over it. the nomination will not be betoed on mr. romney until he is physically here to accept it on thursday night. for all intents and purposes, this ritual is about bringing people together and building the excitement. when he accepts the nomination thursday night, there is a money component it to. at that point the general election nominee he gets to start spending the $184 million he raised and put in the bag to win, he hopes, the actual election ten weeks away. >> is it worth pointing out they could raise primary number until he accepts the nomination on thursday, which is interesting. just a matter of money on either side. primary money or general election money. meaning that if somebody tapped out, giving general election funds they could still give before that is closed. carl, let me quickly get your thoughts. ann romney talked to reporters today briefly. it's a big speech tonight. she >> she seems very relaxed. she came back on the plane amongst reporters toting a tin of hand made welsh cookies. homemade cookies on the campaign plane down to tam not today made by the candidate wife and the speaker tonight. she talked about that. she talked some of the female reporters on the plane wanted to know what her outfit would be. she wouldn't tell us. she acknowledged that they were making last-minute adjustments to her speech. she seemed very insere in her desire and hope to be able to show the american people a little about her husband from her perspective and said he is would talk from the heart and describe not just how they met, a story mitt romney tells all the time, back when they were teenagers but how they started their young family. five sons. many with children. they have grandchildren now. she will talk about their shared mormon faith. she will talk about how they started a family and how mitt romney's business career accelerated. and try to give folks an answer to who is mitt romney question. for those of us who cover him and seen him in last couple of years, my own included for more than a decade, the idea that folks don't know mitt romney is a little bit hard. he seems like he has been all along a very, very, debtcated and determined politician who many thought couldn't win the nomination. joked nant the post 2010 tea party movement, ronald reagan couldn't get nominated by republican party. mitt romney is about to. >> carl cameron on the floor. we'll head back later. thank you. >> we rellee sume with the panel. charles krauthammer, mara liasson, bill kristol. you hear a smattering of delegates going to ron paul and rick santorum released his delegates, ron paul hasn't. this is a moment for romney. we talked the caucus for a long time and it was not foregone conclusion he'd win the race. up and down with the surges. this is meaningful to the party. but romney fought hard to get here. >> he fought hard to get here. primary is that he kept on winning but the headlines say romney weakness exposed, wins by a hair after mild night lik -- aftermidnight like in oh. many were distrustful of him but any state with more than 50% of the christian evangelicals in the primary he lost. every state with fewer he won. as soon as the primaries were over it's amazing how fast the party came together behind him. this party is united and wanting to defeat barack obama. that overcame the hesitancy about him. >> bill? >> like the voters in the old days for different candidates and went with different delegate in the state. it's so scripted there are three votes for ron paul. old days they had 52 for this candidate and 37-1/2 for this one. i would like while i still go to convention to have a contested convention. >> dream on! >> you read about them in american history. >> you want it more on the democratic side than the republican side. >> take that. romney will win this year. 2016 i want inconclusive pry fair fight between -- primary fight between hillary clinton, joe biden, o'malley, the whole -- >> you can't do that in two days. that is where we are heading. >> let me interrupt. this is the state of maine. there is controversy here. >> as a proud member of the maine legislature i'm excited to say for the first time in 48 years maine has a republican house, a republican senate and republican governor. [ applause ] maine republicans are working hard to restore maine's job climate. maine republicans have been looking forward to defeating obama this fall. with that i am proud to cast 14 votes for mitt romney and ten votes for ron paul. [ applause ] >> maine, 14, romney. >> okay. there was a possibility that the ron paul folks were upset about the delegation not fully being seated in maine. that went off without a hitch. ron paul getting ten votes. >> that presence is interesting here. ron paul had a bad start at the beginning of the primary season and came out stronger than people expected. there was a certain point that looked like he might win the requisite number of delegates and the requisite number of states to have his name placed in the nomination. that might have given something of a thrill because you might have had floor demonstration, action here. but ron paul campaign tended to fizzle over time. all you have now is the scattering and smattering. there is one other aspect to what happens in the movement. ron paul is 77. he is retiring from the house. not going to run again. there is clear there is a generationm shift to his son rand paul the senator of kentucky. rand is not the maverick that the dad is. his interest is to keep a libertarian within the party. he will be nominating romney. >> listen to massachusetts. >> romney. >> michigan. [ applause ] 30 votes. >> as chair of the michigan sell gation and the governor of the great state -- delegationtant governor of the great state of michigan it's great tro be here. we were at the state at the bottom for the last decade. we're proud to say with republican leadership, we have balanceed our budget and reformed our tax system and paying the liabilities a we need that map in washington fixed. we're the place to look the and we're proud of that. [ applause ] home of best tourism with pure michigan. you're all welcome to come. i'm proud to report we take great pride in being the home state of governor romney and the romney family. [ applause ] as such i'm proud to defer the announcement of our vote to governor romney's brother scott romney. [ applause [ applause ] >> the great state of michigan, where mitt romney's father george romney served as governor. michigan, where ann romney and mitt romney were born, raised and fell in love. mitt romney loves our country. he will bring jobs and opportunity to the poor and middle class. he will restore fiscal sanity a economic growth hecht will provide america with leadership and bringing peace and prosperity at home and abroad. i am truly honored to announce these votes for a man who happens to be my brother and whom i love. mitt romney, the next president of the united states. [ applause ] >> 24 votes for mitt romney. four votes for ron paul. thank you! yes! [ applause ] >> that is scott romney, 71-year-old brother of mitt romney from michigan. michigan a key state this year. it's the home state for mitt romney. let's listen back in. >> minnesota, where we are proud of the state republican party, which runs a fair convention with integrity. >> cast 33 votes for ron paul. one vote, one vote for senator rick santorum. and six votes for governor romney. [ applause ] minnesota. six, romney. mississippi, 40 votes. >> madam secretary. on behalf of the great state of mississippi, and our distinguished governor bill ryan i am pleased to cast our 40 votes for governor mitt romney. [ applause ] >> mississippi. >> mississippi, 40. romney. missouri, 52 votes. >> madam secretary, missouri, show me state, missouri tigers are proud to be an n s.e.c. country. home of the world champion st. louis cardinals, the only battleground state that voted republican in 2008. [ applause ] cast three votes for senator santorum, four votes for ron paul. and 45 votes for the next president of the united states, mitt romney! [ applause ] >> missouri. 45. romney. montana. 26 votes. >> madam secretary, from big sky country, the treasure state with our coal, oil, and gas, fueling america. we cast all 26 votes for mitt romney. [ applause ] >> montana, 26. romney. nebraska. 35 votes. >> madam secretary, i'm proud to be from the cornhusker state, a red state. the state with the top ranked college women available team in the nation. home to the best annual collegiate sporting event in the nation, omaha college world series. a state that is the land of the sand hills from where our next u.s. senator jeb fisher, a rancher and small business person hails. and once elected, every federal office and every statewide office in nebraska will be held by a republican. a state led by republican governor dave heeineman that balanced the state budget without raising taxes. the nebraska delegation proudly casts 33 votes for the next president of the united states, mitt romney. [ applause ] >> nebraska. 33. romney. nevada, 28 votes. >> inness, freedom is not a word, it's a way of life. the silver state is well represented at the national convention. we have delegates from clark county, home of las vegas, entertainment capital of the world. douglas county on the shores of beautiful lake tahoe. elco county, mining capital of the world and washo county, home of the biggest little city in the world. six states nominated the champion of the constitution, congress and ron paul for president of the united states. iowa, minnesota, alaska, virgin islands, oregon and nevada. in the spirit of freedom that inspired the founding of our country, and in honor of the liberty that made the united states the greatest country on earth. we proudly cast 17 votes for congressman ron paul. five abstentions. five for romney. >> nevada. five. romney. new hampshire. 12 votes. >> madam secretary, new hampshire, the granite state where it all begins. where this year, not just our leaves will turn color, but the entire state will turn red. new hampshire, home of wolfborough the next summer white house for the united states of america. new hampshire casts nine votes for our adopted favorite son mitt romney of massachusetts. and three for representative ron paul. [ applause ] >> new hampshire. nine. romney. new hampshire, 50 votes. >> madam secretary, the garden state. the proud home of tonight's keynote address given by governor chris christie. [ applause ] proudly cast all 50 of its vote for next president of the united states, governor mitt romney. [ applause ] >> new jersey. 50. romney. [ applause ] >> that is the official word over the top, as you can see in the graphics. mitt romney has been voted the republican nominee. again, he won't officially accept; of course, until thursday. but after a long and at times bumpy primary process in tampa florida, he has been voted the republican nominee with 1144 delegates needed. new jersey interestingly, putting him over the top. >> something we're likely to hear more about tonight when the keynote speaker, governor of new jersey chris christie comes out to the stage as n a critical role as keynote speaker. an opportunity that made quite a few politicians including the current president, barack obama, who put himself on the map for the first time in 2004 when he was that man at the democratic national convention. so mitt romney having ryed to run for president in the republican nomination four years ago and failed, losing it to john mccain clinched what he has been fight something hard to get for so many years and he has won the republican nomination for president. >> i'll be honest with you. i was waiting for more of an over the top celebration. >> especially when they gave the direction on the screen. over the top. >> we were given heads up it might be two minutes of celebration. i think i counted 30 seconds. let's bring the panel back in while the counting continues. charles, mara, bill. charles, put in perspective, i tried to say at the beginning, this is a bumpy ride to tampa. now he is here and has challenge ahead in the weeks ahead. >> absolutely. >> i think there is something about this nomination that just sort of doubly ironic. when you think about where we were two years ago, 2010 election. which was a sweep for the most conservative casting of the republican party. very conservative victory ide logically, very strong tea party element. and who emerges from the field of the republican nominees for the presidency? probably the most moderate member of the field. representing a moderate wing of the party. the remarkable part about this is that it shows how the party came together. you've goted moderate leader or someone with a moderate history, only a few smattering of ron paul, little bit of, you know, whooping and hopping out there. but they represent extreme element, tea party passed this with romney. ryan nomination solidified the conservative wing. you have a united party. unlike what we thought might happen and f someone with a moderate history like romney won the nomination. it's encouraging to the republicans right now. >> bill, o riggally when mitt romney became the nominee, a sense of unity that started to unfold. the party was united against barack obama. they didn't want barack obama. that is the one thread that held them together. being here this week and talking to folks it feels like a shift has taken place, where the folks down there, ron paul advocates perhaps excessive are genuinely behind their nominee. not just they want to defeat the president. they genuinely believe in mitt romney. >> you put your finger on the key question: can this week that the romney-ryan ticket transition from being the not obama ticket, to the romney-ryan ticket with a positive vision for the country that not just republicans but independents and democrats are attracted to? that is the task at the convention. they are voting against barack obama. charles says, romney might be moderate or had moderate positions than some wish but it doesn't matter. from the conservative point of view he's better than barack obama. can they make the case, the positive case for romney-ryan agenda for four years? mr. >> mara, isn't it interesting that now the obama campaign trying to paint mitt romney as an extremeist? as extreme. and the reason he has such a bumpy ride through the primary is because people in this room at one time thought he was too moderate for the party. >> the white house made a decision. for a while they were saying he was pushy. went from one thing to another. but then they realized that was helping him look moderate and reasonable to center of the american electorate so they changed their tune and decided he was extreme conservative, as he once described himself. i'm severely conservative. they decided that was a better path to take. i think what bill said is really important. romney original premise of the race was to be nearly an acceptable alternative to barack obama. when he picked paul ryan he signaled that wasn't enough and they have to present their own version of a change agenda. and when he did that, that was a big turning point. gave them an opportunity to get out of the convention and not just united because they want to defeat a president but united behind a ticket because it stands for something. >> there is a lot of discussion leading up to the convention whether these things are necessary anymore. there is mo longer the divide convention that bill so longed for. we knew mitt romney was going to be the nominee. glues days since we have gotten to -- just in the days we got to tampa, you hear stories what about this man is. who is in mitt romney? we know barack obama. we have had him as the president for four years and ran for a year-and-a-half plus prior to that. they don't mitt romney as well. we heard more about his family and his kids and his work as a missionary and his work counseling to families who are in need. his wife will come out tonight and try to expand on that picture. it's very helpful to the nominee. women, group he struggled with will see a different side of him as opposed to the man we have seen on the stump for all the months. >> a real opportunity for republican ticket. to refute the caricature that the democrats are trying to paint on romney, as was mentioned by bill. it's fairly counterintuitive to try to make mitt romney in an extremist. i mean of all the republicans you can think of, he is the least extreme. so i think "a," it gives opportunity in terms of policy to present a positive vision for america. with plans. fairly detailed, drawn from the ideas of paul ryan. and on the other hand, also, to soften, the second line of attack of obama, besides being extremist is that he is a man who doesn't care about you. that has been what they spent hundreds of millions of dollars on. an as romney himself has admitted, has had some effect. this is his opportunity to soften that image. >> we just saw ohio and governor of ohio john kasich put his state votes to have romney put in the nomination there. of course, he has already reached the 1,144. ohio is going to be key to the republicans' map. we talked about it with karl rove and joe trippi yesterday. recent polls in ohio just bouncing off of john kasich there, suggest that it's neck in neck, bill. that is a key state. >> yeah, ohio delegation on sunday. they have delegates by parading through the second and third tier characters i'm happy. josh mcdell is running for senate, a good friend. i talk to pros in ohio, hard-headed, strictly off the record. two or three weeks ago they were pessimistic about ohio. the attacks that charles describing on romney as wealthy guy, out of touch, bain capital, tax returns had done damage in ohio. they feel much better now. partly because of the two independent polls that have the race even. and ryan from wisconsin to the midwest. kasich, governor of ohio, his numbers include a lot in -- improved a lot in the last six months and he is pursuing reform conservative agenda. they feel they can make a reform conservative case in ohio. one person said it's 50/50 right there. three weeks ago it was 2 to 1 against romney winning. >> on that front someone was arguing early they're the abortion argument may be backfiring against become obama in a state like ohio. a lot of catholic voters who may not have gone along with the democrats on that argument the way they anticipated it would work for them nationally. >> you are talking about todd akin comments? >> the attempt to paint all republicans as extreme view of abortion. >> you saw in missouri there was a backlash and there could be babl on conservative voters elsewhere. >> charles, last thought. ten seconds. >> this is the midwest effect of paul ryan. i think it was underestimated. people spoke only in terms of wisconsin. he has to appeal to the region that is under estimated. he gives youth and energy to helpful. >> panel, thank you very much. >> governor mitt romney goes over the top officially. getting the 1,144 delegates to be the republican nominee for president. >> that's it for us right now. from the tampa bay times forum. back in a few minutes for "special report." we're going to send it to "the five." just across the way. our good friend, dana perino. >> dana: thanks so much, bret. that was great coverage by you and the whole panel. greg was riveted as he sat here the whole time. eating it all up. he couldn't get enough of it. greg, you want to comment? >> greg: yeah, that was great. i was very excited over the pacific islanders. i didn't know that hockey team participated in the roll call. nationally they're great guys. during roll call to make it interesting i pretended that the state was shouting out the number of women that bob had dated. >> dana: oh. in that state. >> greg: yeah, maine, 14. >> too short period of time. >> dana: pennsylvania was great state. >> eric: that's better than when you originally wrote the joke. >> dana: if you are a delegate and finally get to this moment the roll call is a big deal for you. >> andrea: it's a huge deal. the delegates worked hard. a lot of people don't know what it takes to become a delegate. it's a pretty big deal for them. they have been waiting a long time to do this. they are excited. they were supposed to do it yesterday. they got to do it today. after this, besides the fact that the g.o.p. has momentum, the romney campaign will spend real money now. the money they have been waiting to spend because of the campaign finance laws. so you will see a very aggressive campaign. the numbers i point out work in their favor. at this point typically in campaign, incumbent presidents are not polling in dead heat. that is great news for mitt romney going forward. >> dana: eric, the ron paul factor, people watching the roll call you heard the states today that some states, nevada in particular with significant number of votes going to ron paul. some people anticipate a fight and anxiety. do you think they will come around and vote for romney at the end? >> eric: i hope. so i think they. will we went to the con vention center earlier. there was a big group of ron paul fans walking around, with a presence there. but everyone wants their candidate. but at some point, chris stirewalt grabbed me in the hallway early in primary and said chris, i like this guy. he doesn't look like he's winning. blah, blah, blah. he said polling. you hav -- he said bolling, you. move on. they will eventually get on board with romney. >> dana: have you had that? at a convention you had somebody else, not the democratic presidential candidate but someone stealing attention away? >> bob: jesse jackson in '48 stole a lot away. he got 15% of the delegates. we talk about the delegates, first of all, they are doing it in the afternoon. so everybody is sober. at least at my conventions i went to, nobody was sober when they called out the roll of states. this is, i am telling >> you is the last we'll see of this. there are interesting things here. it heard charles krauthammer talk about the rocky mountain west. that now becomes the n my mind as a much more important block of states than i thought before. >> dana: why? >> bob: because it mirrors, they say florida mirrors the country. rocky mountain southwest the new hispanic area of the country. the question is really whether the whites are going to vote as they do in the south. whites vote one way and blacks vote the other. i'm not sure it's the case. >> andrea: two states you referenceed earlier, michigan and wisconsin. these reason states that republicans have been known to win. now they are in play. i think the industrial midwest something we talk about on the five five many times. i said it's one to watch. now we know. this is a different electoral map we're looking. >> you know wh who sticks out in those states? paul ryan. >> democrats need to take north carolina off the list. >> dana: before we go to break and come back at the end? >> greg: i saw a lot of nice hats. david okay. hatses are good -- >> dana: okay. hats are good. >> andrea: we're going to take a quick break but when we come back we talk about implications of the nomination and going forward what mitt romney can expect to do in the next couple of days. stay with us. live here in tampa. "the five" will be right back. ♪ ♪ i've worked hard to build my family. and also to build my career. so i'm not about to always let my frequent bladder urges, or the worry my pipes might leak get in the way of my busy lifestyle. that's why i take care, with vesicare. once-daily vesicare can help control your bladder muscle and is proven to treat overactive bladder with sympts of frequent urges and leaks day and night. if you have certain stomach or glaucoma problems, or trouble emptying your bladder, do not take vesicare. vesicare may cause allergic reactions that may be serious. if you experience swelling of the face, lips, throat or tongue, stop taking vesicare and get emergency help. tell your doctor right away if you have severe abdominal pain, or become constipated for three or more days. vesicare may cause blurred vision, so use caution while driving or doing unsafe tasks. common side effects are dry mouth, constipation, and indigestion. i've worked hard to get to where i am... and i've got better aces to go than always going to the bathroom. so take charge of your symptoms by talking to your doctor and go to vesicare.com for a free trial offer. >> andrea: welcome back to "the five." in case you gist missed it, mitt romney officially given the nomination for the republican candidacy for president. but he doesn't officially accept it until thursday. going forward, my colleagues, what can we expect, eric? because the next couple of days he is going to be making his case. who are you excited to see make the case on his behalf? >> eric: i want to see tonight, talk about it earlier, i want to see mia love, mayor in utah, where three t black population in her area is 3%. yet, she won resounding victory of mayor. running for congress but she brings the perspective of the female vote, the black vote, the, you know, mormon vote as well. >> dana: rocky mountain west. >> eric: chris christie, i can't wait to see. he said i'm not nervous, looking forward to this. i am sure it will be an uprising. >> bob: they are making strategic mistake if christie goes out and attack. people who don't like obama don't like obama. that is settled. but what romney needs is someone to soften up and say what he is about. ann romney can do that. if i were chris christie go against the grain and say something positive about romney and not attack obama. >> andrea: chris christie has an excellent case to make because he is a fixer. he went in and fixed a blue state. won a blue state. busted budget. took on the unions. isn't that a case he can make i'm a fixer an romney is too? >> bob: who, chris christie? >> dana: he talks about effectivegoneing. you have to get the floor riled up. they're here and ready to rock and want to party. their party is against president obama. that's why they are there. you saw this a fast pitch in baseball. perfect venue for chris christie. everybody will be raucous and cheering for him. that propels him higher. it's great. >> bob: has anybody else noticed the absence of other presidential candidates. newt gingrich. >> andrea: we have seen michele bachmann and herman craig. bill kristolie described himself as a derby horse. >> bob: derby horse? clydesdale but not derby horse. >> andrea: enough cheap shots. >> bob: that wasn't a cheap shot. >> greg: four out of ten people thinks chris christie is penguin was batman. he is going to be the loud successful uncle that is going to talk about obama the way mitt romney can't. he is going to take him aside and go this guy, you can't be serious. you are going to re-elect four more years as blue? we have had enough. we can say the things that maybe romney can't say. too great, will the voters want more? >> andrea: all right. any other final thoughts? couple more seconds. we'll be excited. tune in tonight.