Four major themes from Tuesday's convention speeches

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie delivers the keynote address during the Republican National Convention at the Tampa Bay Times Forum on August 28, 2012 in Tampa, Florida.

/ Spencer Platt

(CBS News) As Republican leaders flock to Tampa this week to take part in the party's national convention, speakers are tasked with a multi-faceted challenge: Not only do they want to put their best faces forward, they also have to pump up the Republican nominee. No doubt a result of their attempts to do both, some topical threads have emerged so far. Here are four themes from Tuesday night's speeches.

"We Built It"

It's no coincidence that nearly every speaker who took the stage Tuesday night touched on the GOP's most recently ubiquitous theme. "We built it!" cried Mia Love, the up-and-coming African-American mayor of Saratoga Springs, Utah. Grounding their arguments in personal history and anecdotal evidence, speaker after speaker hammered home the notion that Americans, not the government, are responsible for their success. That attack line, derived from President Obama's argument that most successful Americans have benefited from government support in some way, has become one of the Romney campaign's most marketable lines, and convention organizers told reporters Tuesday that it would be featured prominently in the night's events.

"I'm delighted to report that we have a wonderful lineup for you," said Washington Rep. Cathy McMorris-Rodgers, in remarks introducing her fellow speakers. "Each speaker will be joining together to send a message to President Obama. And that message is three simple words: We built it."

She wasn't lying: At least seven of the prime-time speakers used the term "built" in the context of growing a successful business from the ground up, and most of the other speakers at least touched on the theme of individual responsibility some way.

Obama bashing

The evening's rhetoric was relatively light on talk of Mitt Romney - the keynote speaker, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, didn't mention his name until two thirds of the way through of his 24-minute speech - but there was no shortage of discussion about President Obama. From John Boehner, who called on voters to "throw him out" of office, to Rick Santorum, who accused him of pushing policies that "undermine the traditional family," Obama bashing was a hot topic onstage. It's no surprise in a campaign that's largely considered a referendum on the current president. In the end, only one speaker stayed wholly above the fray of partisan rancor: In personal remarks about her husband and their life together, Ann Romney, Mitt Romney's wife, decided to talk about love.

Family values

Democrat or Republican, politicians often invoke anecdotes about their families to make policy ideas relatable to average citizens. On Tuesday, that tactic was in especially high supply. Texas Senate hopeful Ted Cruz, who has Cuban and European lineage, relayed a story about his father's escape from torture in Cuba when emphasizing his belief in conservative notions of small government. Mia Love, too, invoked her immigrant parents when talking about individual responsibility.

Rick Santorum approached the issue more directly, calling on voters to elect Romney in order to "stop the assault on marriage and the family" he argues is currently under way, and urging voters to get married before having children. He spoke of his own daughter, Bella, who has a rare and often fatal genetic disease, before addressing issues surrounding abortion, to which he is vehemently opposed: "I thank God that America still has one party that reaches out their hands in love to lift up all of God's children - born and unborn - and we say that each of us has dignity and all of us have the right to live the American dream," he said. "And we also say that without you America is not keeping faith with its dream. That all men are created equal and endowed by their creator with the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness."

Freedom

In a keynote speech in which he called for a "new era in truth-telling" in American politics, Chris Christie talked about standing strong for freedom not once but twice. Ted Cruz mentioned it four times. In fact, freedom might have been among the most-cited word of the night: Bob McDonnell, Janine Turner, Sher Valenzuela, Brian Sandoval, John Boehner, Mia Love and Rick Santorum also used it at least once in their remarks.

Speakers used the term both literally and metaphorically: Ted Cruz talked both about his father's struggle for freedom in a repressive Cuban administration and his hope to free his children from financial burden going forward. John Boehner talked about free trade and the general cause of American freedom.

Santorum, meanwhile, accused Mr. Obama of trying to take it away.

"Under President Obama, the dream of freedom and opportunity has become a nightmare of dependency with almost half of America receiving some government benefit," he said. "It's no surprise fewer and fewer Americans are achieving their dreams and more and more parents are concerned their children won't realize theirs."

Leadership

It wouldn't be a presidential convention without copious mention of "leadership" - both in reference to failure and potential future success. Throughout the night, speakers blasted Mr. Obama for his record on leadership, while presenting Mitt Romney as a better alternative for the future. Paul Ryan, Romney's running mate, also got a few leadership nods: House Speaker John Boehner lauded the former Massachusetts Governor for having "chosen as his running mate a leader who is second to none when it comes to rooting out and fixing Washington's worst habits."

[tvwatcher5345]

i like chris christie, that being said i propose a new intrade contract betting on how long before his size does him in, i do not think the dems need to worry about this guy running for president, i figure he has only two or three more years

[TimeToEvolve]

This idiot Christie is a true scumbag and thus the perfect spokesman for this awful group of hypocrite Republicons. A bunch of bozos who hate government while working for it. A bunch of half brained fools who are propped up to do the bidding of a few billionaires and trans-national corporations who don't care about Americans.

[levelheadedtoo]

Hey Mitt, does this speech make my azz look big? Christies speech was the only one that had a lunch break.

Must read for everyone: http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/greed-and-debt-the-true-story-of-mitt-romney-and-bain-capital-20120829

If you read it, you will not feel the same about Romney again.

[stupa5]

Theme number 1...The fat guy from NJ is back
Theme number 2...The fat guy from NJ is back
Theme Number 3...The fat guy from NJ is back
Theme number 4...The fat guy from NJ is back

[TimeToEvo1ve]

Theme number 1...The black guy is bad
Theme number 2...The black guy is bad
Theme Number 3...The black guy is bad
Theme number 4...The black guy is bad

I was hoping for detailed solutions to the Dumya Debacle, that didn't involve throwing Grandma under the bus so Bishop Robme could get more tax cuts.

I suppose that was too much for a Patriot to expect from the anti American, GOP, economic terrorist, pimps for the 1%

[TimeToEvolve]

The Republicons must be AGAINST individual achievement, family values and freedom, that is why they say they are for that. After all that is why they are called Republicons, they say things because it sounds good while working against it.

For examples, the want to stack the deck for the rich and for giant corporations so they are against individual achievement.

They are against gay rights and single mothers to enable those folks to have families. Plus they want to cut aid to the poor and for children so they are against family values.

Finally they want a few people to have all the money and money is free speech and corporations are people my friend so they are against freedom. And of course they are all for war which is the biggest threat to democracy.

You can't make up these lunatic Republicons.

[seabass6251]

Lower taxes for everyone somehow derails individual achievement? Only in fantasy land.

What right does a gay not have that already I have?

Republicans want to raise up the poor through stable work instead of Obama's onslaught against the US dollar which creates and maintains the poor.

Are unions people? It's high time the political field was leveled.

FDR needed a war to overcome the financial depression he oversaw for so long with nearly identical policies Obama is currently using. This could get interesting.

[Starseed319]

"Crowned" and "anointed" - headline words used by ABC and WSJ to describe Mitt Romney's ascension to the throne/pulpit of the RNC. This should be a HUGE red flag to every American who hasn't yet drank the kool-aid of the right wing conservative movement. The hatred and veiled racism that cause these same folks to vilify Obama as a Socialist/Muslim/Foreigner have blinded them to one very important fact that concerns me about their "anointed and throned" figurehead: What influence will his Mormon commitments and beliefs have on the White House and national policy if he is elected? Look up Mormon on Wiki, and decide for yourself if the history and doctrines of Mormonism should not give you pause. Have we become so "politically correct" in our culture that we are afraid to question this for fear of being branded a "bigot" or "anti-religion"? As citizens we have the right to a know through civil discourse and debate what level of influence the Mormon institution will have on this man if he is "anointed and throned" the leader of this country! As a woman and a strong believer in the separation of church and state, and individual freedom, I am VERY concerned about what I am witnessing with the RNC and their candidate. Since the Democrats seem to be ignoring this issue to protect themselves from controversy, we are left to depending on the media and other concerned citizens to raise the issue and get the questions on the table. Theocracy is a form of government in which official policy is governed by immediate divine guidance or by officials who are regarded as (or claim to be) divinely guided, or is pursuant to the doctrine of a particular religion or religious group, and the Mormon institution has done this in the past when they settled in Utah (Zion), but what is most disturbing is that according to their doctrines they believe still to this day that they have the divine right to do so. Oh, and they also believe that women are "given" to men and should stay in the home, and that their religion is the supreme and pure Christianity as revealed to Smith through a cosmic revelation written on gold tablets. Really?

[seabass6251]

"The hatred and veiled racism"...Democrats don't seem to veil their racism. See below.

Do Mormons believe and act on the belief that all infidels should be killed? Just wondering.

If you don't like Mormonism, then don't practice it. Until our dollar no longer reads "In God We Trust", you've got the right.

Your view of Mormonism, as humorous as it is, seems like it might be from a little place normal folks call Democratic fantasy land, so let's focus on your own personal belief, as maybe you can explain it better, about the separation of church and state. Where exactly is that in our Constitution?

[seabass6251]

What does Allah preach? Maybe we should ask the sitting President.