Ryan advised to skip policy, focus on personal in tonight's GOP address

TAMPA, Fla. (AP)

Paul Ryan is quoting his late father and promising better days ahead as he accepts his Republican Party's vice presidential nomination and introduces himself to the nation.

In excerpts released Wednesday ahead of his speech, Ryan praises running mate Mitt Romney and decries President Barack Obama's tenure, especially Democrats' health care law. But he's also drawing on his childhood in Janesville, Wis., in a speech that is as much about the experiences that formed the 42-year-old congressman as Romney's plans to steady a nation's struggling economy.

"My Dad used to say to me: `Son, you have a choice: you can be part of the problem, or you can be part of the solution,'" Ryan said in the prepared text. "The present administration has made its choices. And Mitt Romney and I have made ours. Before the math and the momentum overwhelm us all, we are going to solve this nation's economic problems."

Ryan is expected to talk about his Irish immigrant ancestors and small-town values, offering a personal presentation of a lawmaker largely known for sober policy analysis. The speech will likely be heavy on personality and light on policy, the latest example of Ryan deferring to Romney's preferences. As Ryan puts it, Romney is "the boss."

The hope among Romney's team is that the nation gets to know Ryan's story, one they say working-class voters could relate to. Left unsaid is the fact that Ryan's conservative policy positions- specifically his contentious budget proposals like revamping Medicare - have caused headaches for Romney and dominated the storyline of the campaign since he was introduced as the running mate.

In the excerpts, Ryan pitched the GOP ticket as a package deal.

"We will not duck the tough issues. We will lead. We will not spend four years blaming others. We will take responsibility. We will not try to replace our founding principles. We will reapply our founding principles," Ryan said in a nod to tea partyers who have not warmed to his running mate. "The work ahead will be hard. These times demand the best of us - all of us, but we can do this. Together, we can do this."