Workers prepare for the Republican National Convention inside the Tampa Bay Times Forum, Saturday, Aug. 25, 2012, in Tampa, Fla.
The Republican National Convention continues this evening with another lineup of party personalities. Here's who will be speaking tonight:
Mitch McConnell
You know him because: He's a senator from Kentucky and the Senate minority leader.
He doesn't want you to remember: He was named one of the 15 most corrupt members of Congress by a liberal government watchdog group for allegedly seeking earmarks in exchange for campaign contributions.
Republicans love him because: When asked what his main priority was for the 2008-2010 Congress, McConnell said, "The single most important thing we want to achieve is for President Obama to be a one-term president."
Democrats don't like him because: McConnell opposes campaign finance laws because he believes they violate the First Amendment.
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Rand Paul
You know him because: A senator from Kentucky, Paul is most famous for following in the footsteps of his father Rep. Ron Paul of Texas, who has pushed libertarian ideals into the Republican conversation with his spirited run for the Republican presidential nomination.
He doesn't want you to remember: After he'd won the Republican primary but before he was elected to the Senate, Paul refused in an interview to say he believed in the Civil Rights Act of 1964, suggesting he may not have voted for it.
Why Republicans love him: Paul supports the libertarian ideals of an extremely limited government and a balanced budget, and could be the future of the grassroots movement his father helped build.
Democrats don't like him because: Paul opposes abortion rights, campaign finance reform, same-sex marriage, and federal involvement in healthcare, to name just a few. He also opposes gun control legislation and energy subsidies.
Christopher Devlin-Young
You know him because: He's an American ski racer.
Jeanine McDonnell
You know her because: She's the daughter of Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell
Republicans love her because: After her father came under fire for writing that he opposed women working outside the home in his Master's thesis, his campaign used her career to prove his views had changed.
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John McCain
You know him because: He's a senator from Arizona and was the 2008 Republican presidential nominee.
He doesn't want you to remember: McCain was one of the "Keating Five," a group of senators accused of corruption for improperly intervening on behalf of a loan company that was under investigation.
Republicans love him because: He vehemently opposed the Affordable Care Act.
Democrats don't like him because: He led Republican opposition to Obama's 2009 stimulus bill.
Pam Bondi
You know her because: She's the attorney general of Florida.
Republicans love her because: Florida, under her direction, was one of 27 states that sued the federal government on the grounds that the individual mandate provision of the Affordable Care Act was unconstitutional.
Sam Olens
You know him because: He's the attorney general of Georgia.
He doesn't want you to remember: After talking tough on government ethics during his campaign, he accepted a $1,500 plane ride from a tobacco industry lobbyist.
Republicans love him because: He is the first Jew elected to statewide office in Georgia, a heavily Christian state. The Republican Party does not traditionally have a strong Jewish base.
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Bobby Jindal
You know him because: He's the governor of Louisiana and the first Indian-American governor in the country.
He doesn't want you to remember: He gave the official Republican response to Obama's address to a joint session of Congress in 2009 and was criticized by other Republicans for mentioning the government's failing during Hurricane Katrina, a disaster many Republicans are keen to forget.
Republicans love him because: Jindal has cut taxes a total of six times while governor, including the largest income tax in the state's history, $1.1 billion over five years.
Democrats don't like him because: He opposed the American Recovery Act, rejecting $98 million in funds to increase unemployment insurance funding in Louisiana. This led the state to raise taxes on businesses because they did not have enough money in the unemployment trust fund.
John Thune
You know him because: He's a senator from South Dakota.
He doesn't want you to remember: He included language in a senate bill which allowed a railroad company he was previously employed by as a lobbyist to apply for a $2.5 billion project loan.
Republicans love him because: He is a fiscal conservative who voted against stimulus bills in Congress, and he distributes a document to his colleagues each week outlining how the economy has worsened under Obama.
Democrats don't like him because: He strongly supports an amendment to the U.S. Constitution barring same-sex marriage.
Rob Portman
You know him because: He's a senator from Ohio and former director of the Office of Management and Budget.
Republicans love him because: He's skeptical of big government, and was selected as part of the "super committee" tasked with solving the debt ceiling crisis, a bipartisan effort which ultimately failed.
Democrats don't like him because: He's closely tied to the Bush family, serving multiple posts under both Bush 41 and Bush 43.
Luis Fortuño
You know him because: He's the governor of Puerto Rico.
Republicans love him because: He cut both the corporate and individual tax rates in Puerto Rico, lowering the territory's deficit from $3.3. billion to $600 million.
Democrats don't like him because: In July he signed a law that criminalizes many forms of protest and restricts freedom of assembly, and the American Civil Liberties Union has filed a suit to prevent the law from taking effect September 1.
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Tim Pawlenty
You know him because: He's the former governor of Minnesota.
He doesn't want you to remember: During a recent debate on CNN with anchor Soledad O'Brien over Obama's Medicare financing, Pawlenty suggested in the midst of their disagreement on whether there were actual cuts to the entitlement program that the Latina didn't understand the intricacies of his argument because of a language barrier: "Do you know what that is in English?" Pawlenty asked her.
Republicans love him because: He successfully eliminated a $2.7 billion state budget deficit in his 2010-2011 budget, marking the first time since 1960 Minnesota's net government growth went down.
Democrats don't like him because: Despite eliminating Minnesota's budget deficit, his methods are suspect because he borrowed money from healthcare and educations programs, resulting in predictions that the state's next two-year budget will be $4.4 billion short.
Mike Huckabee
You know him because: He is the former governor of Arkansas, ran for president in 2008, and has a radio and a TV show.
He doesn't want you to remember: In 2011, Huckabee made repeated references to Obama's "having grown up in Kenya," when in fact the president spent his childhood in Hawaii and Indonesia. Huckabee was referencing the conspiracy theory that Obama wasn't born in the United States and isn't eligible for the presidency.
Why Republicans love him: An ordained Southern Baptist minister, Huckabee holds extremely conservative social views and appeals to ultra conservatives. He opposes abortion and rejects the theory of evolution.
Democrats don't like him because: After fast food chain Chick-Fil-A CEO Dan Cathy caused controversy by publicly announcing his support of "traditional" marriage, Huckabee called on those who agree with his stance to show their support on "Chick-Fil-A Appreciation Day." The chicken sandwich chain had record-setting sales on the designated day, August 1.
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Condoleezza Rice
You know her because: She was the first female national security adviser and first female African-American secretary of state.
Republicans love her because: She was national security adviser and secretary of state in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks and was committed to supporting George W. Bush and his efforts to protect the country from terrorism.
Democrats don't like her because: Rice had a strong hand in initiating the Iraq war, propelling the falsehood that the country possessed weapons of mass destruction that could be used against the United States.
Susana Martinez
You know her because: She's the governor of New Mexico and the country's first female Hispanic governor.
She doesn't want you to remember: She was fired from her post as assistant district attorney of the Third Judicial District, partially because of a conflict of interest with her husband, a law enforcement officer.
Republicans love her because: Martinez is a Hispanic woman and helps the GOP with its case that the party is diversifying,
Democrats don't like her because: Previously a Democrat, Martinez joined the Republican Party in 1995.
Paul Ryan
You know him because: He's a U.S. representative from Wisconsin and Mitt Romney's vice presidential nominee.
He doesn't want you to remember: He requested $20 million in federal stimulus funds for his district but openly criticizes the Recovery Act and what he sees as excessive government spending.
Republicans love him because: His budget has become a rallying cry for fiscal conservatives, who say Ryan is willing to make tough choices in order to prevent the country from plunging over the fiscal cliff.
Democrats don't like him because: Ryan's budget cuts taxes for the wealthy but raises them for the middle class, and would overhaul Medicare by replacing it with a voucher system.
- Read the U.S. News Debate: Should Ron Paul Be Allowed to Speak at the Republican National Convention?
- Read Mark Davis: GOP Would Be Better Off Without Jim DeMint
- Check out U.S. News Weekly: an insider's guide to politics and policy.
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