First of a series of commentaries on the Republican National Convention 2012 currently underway at Tampa Bay.

To a half-spirited, tired, frustrated, concerned crowd, yesterday Ann Romney delivered a speech which may just gain her newly-nominated husband the valuable points he desperately needs, and the self-image he’s been striving to build for the past months.

In a relatively short (sticking to the 20-minute guideline issued by the GOP), yet undeniably passionate and heartfelt address, Ann Romney managed to connect with her audience, and probably with many of the female viewers in a way previously attributed only to Michelle Obama. By narrating the story of how she got to know the “man she met at a high school dance”, Romney proved that she knows what her husband’s campaign needs, and that she is the right person to act on it. Furthermore, by comparing the love for her husband with the love for America, she created the image of a family man willing to give up everything for his nation- the same used by Obama four years ago.

She built an image- and attempted to bring another one down: that of the wealthy, insensitive business mogul, who is disconnected from the needs of the average American. According to Ann Romney, her husband and his wealth is “another American success story,” worthy of being an inspiration to all citizens. He did not buy wealth, she chanted, “he built it.” Whether this attempt has been successful or not, we still have to see. However, one can surely say that it has been one of the harshest attempts by the Romney campaign to drive attention away from the tax return fiasco it had to undergo in the past few weeks.

However, after all it centered around one phrase “you can trust Mitt.” Romney is aware that tomorrow he’ll be accepting a nomination bestowed upon him by a hesitant party, whose members are not even sure whether they like him or not. One would be gravely mistaken to believe that yesterday’s nomination meant a united front backing Romney’s campaign. On the contrary, the campaign has still to focus on garnering trust and likeability from core party supporters, without compromising ‘fringe’ voters, not to mention independents. By concluding her speech with that unequivocally well-staged phrase, Ann Romney set out to close the tie and get the ball rolling for her husband’s dangerously close-to-call battle against Barack Obama.