McConnell says the effort of the GOP is to make sure the people know that the nation's current situation is not the "new normal".
"Forty-one straight months of unemployment above 8 percent, government takeover of our healthcare, a debt the size of our economy, this is not a new America. We can go in a different direction, and the guy to take us there is Mitt Romney," McConnell said.
McConnell says there is a personal element to the presidency that affects the way some people vote, since they will see and hear that person every day for the next four years. He conceded that the American people don't know a lot about Romney yet, but that's part of what the convention is for - to tell them his story. He says the convention is also an opportunity for Romney and his running mate Paul Ryan to share their plan for the country, and how it's different than President Obama's.
"They're gonna lay out a prescription for America, and show the American people how we can take them in a different direction," McConnell said.
The Senate minority leader said that he's confident the plan will be a private sector-oriented prescription, since everything the Obama administration has done has been about government spending, government debt and massive beauracracy, and that has not solved anything or created an economic boom.
Regarding Romney's Vice-Presidential pick, McConnell has high praise for Representative Ryan of Wisconsin.
"Nobody's been more bold in laying out plans for America's future than Paul Ryan," McConnell said.
Ryan became the ranking Republican member of the House Budget Committee in 2007, then became chairman in 2011 after Republicans retook control of the House. A fiscal conservative, Ryan introduced budget bills to Congress for the 2012 and 2013 fiscal years, which were the subject of heated partisan debate.
McConnell noted that the results of several published polls over the last couple of days show that the race is practically tied, and that's significant because the Obama campaign has spent over $100 million over the last couple of months. He says their effort to destroy Romney's name is failing.
He added, "Given the pounding that Mitt Romney's been subjected to the last two months, I think that's noteworthy."
