Mayor of Saratoga Springs, Utah, Mia Love addresses the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Fla., on Tuesday, Aug. 28, 2012. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)
Charlie Neibergall, AP
TAMPA, Fla. — The crowd was so loud by the end of 4th District congressional candidate Mia Love's speech Tuesday to the Republican National Convention that it was all but impossible for members of the Utah delegation to hear her final words.
It didn't matter.
The delegates chanted "Mia, Mia, Mia" while waving bright orange towels emblazoned with her name while state GOP Chairman Thomas Wright high-fived Love campaign consultant Stephen Hunter.
"She couldn't have done any better," Wright said of what was supposed to be a two minute speech that went on much longer because of the repeated cheers, whoops and chants.
"She really feeds off of it," he said of the crowd's enthusiasm. "We saw it in the state convention, when she gave a great speech that she won the nomination with, when she really wasn't supposed to win."
Hunter marveled at her poise.
"At every level, she was pitch perfect. It was awesome," he said. "She went way longer and she handled it well. She didn't start speaking and get nervous. She just absorbed it. It was cool. It was so cool."
Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, said he spoke to Love earlier about the speech. "I said, 'Mia, are you OK, are you a little bit uptight?' She said, 'Oh, no, I'm going to go out there and knock them cold,'" Hatch said. "She's going to be a tremendous superstar in our party."
Hatch shook his head. "It's unnerving to get out there and then people are applauding and yelling, 'Mia, Mia, Mia' and then, 'USA, USA'….you know you only have so much time. She handled it with aplomb."
Even one of Love's rivals for the GOP nomination in the state's newest congressional district said her performance will bring more national attention to her campaign, already backed by party leaders.
"I think just the idea that she is a breaking a lot of stereotypes of what a Republican is, being female and black….I think she did break out," said former Utah House Rep. Stephen Sandstrom. "It was a good move."
Love would be the first black GOP woman in Congress if she defeats the only Democrat Utah has sent to Washington, Rep. Jim Matheson.
Love's husband, Jason, watched from the VIP seats alongside the wife of Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus and Tagg Romney, one of Mitt Romney's five sons.
"I was nervous. Every time she's on stage, it's like I'm on stage," Jason Love said. "She has nerves of steel and I'm a little more timid."
