The  speakers slated on the 1st night of the Republican National Convention  in Tampa, Florida hit the right notes and a balance that was more toward  what the GOP believed than castigating the current occupant of the  White House.

As I reported earlier,  I was mainly interested in hearing Ann Romney, wife of Republican  presidential nominee Mitt Romney, and New Jersey Governor Chris  Christie. Both were well worth hearing.

I  must admit tuning out for a while to watch America's Got Talent, but  tuned in during commercials. I was, however, all eyes and ears for the  main event with Ann and Christie.

Ann  to me came across warm and welcoming. Her reaching out to women in both  the convention hall and across the nation was what she needed to do.  Pointing out how her "storybook marriage" did not match the fairy tales  she had read, she got an audible agreement from the women at the  convention saying the storybooks did not include a winter's night with 5  screaming boys with which to contend nor battling multiple sclerosis  and breast cancer. Ann is definitely the big gun in the Romney camp.

Christie,  though not as bombastic as we have often heard him in sound bytes, laid  out the GOP view in contrast to the Democratic view rather succinctly.  Many made known their approval of Christie pointing out that he was  indeed his "mother's son".

The most memorable lines from Christie, the keynote speaker, were these:

"We have never been victims of destiny. We have always been masters of our own."

"Mr. President, real leaders don't follow polls. Real leaders change polls."

"Washington DC is out of excuses."

"Doesn't matter how we got here. There's enough blame to go around. What matters is what we do now."

"Tonight we are going to choose respect over love."

Of course there were others who were notable:

Mia  Love, the Utah mayor seeking to become the 1st black Republican woman  member of Congress from Utah, proved she is a star worth watching and  future power with which to be reckoned.

Rick Santorum came out strong in favor of Romney and Veep running mate Paul Ryan.

Artur  Davis, the former Democratic Alabama Congressman, had some iReporters  commenting early in the evening that he made them feel like they were in  church.

Even  with some early floor angst from supporters of Texas Congressman Dr.  Ron Paul, the party displayed its unity and desire to change direction  come November 6.

From  the Cornfield, for this political junkie, the opening day and night of  the Republican National Convention was far from disappointing.