Opening Night In Tampa: EgoFest, And Not Romney's

What an odd first convention night for the Republicans.

Governors touted their states - - Wisconsin, Ohio, South Carolina, New Jersey - - and told their personal or political stories, but had little to say about Mitt Romney.

Wasn't that their assignment - - to flesh out a guy to a television audience - - not to the conventioneers - - who remains a distant and mysterious, country club fellow?

Instead, I saw a lot gratuitous praise for women, and a lot of egos on display by governors and others who have their own agendas, but Romney was an afterhought. I can't imagine he's happy about the evening unless he's completely dense.

I also found it fascinating that this is the party of small government and self-reliance, but two speakers - - Ann Romney and Chris Christie - - touted publicly-funded government scholarship programs.

Live-blogged at The Political Environment earlier in the evening.

Cross-posted at Purple Wisconsin.