Delegates to the Republican National Convention cluster on the floor of the Tampa Bay Times Forum in Tampa, Florida, August 28, 2012. Photo by Zhang Yuwei / China Daily USA

The day's highlight was to be the nomination of Mitt Romney as the 2012 Republican candidate in the US presidential election in November. Romney will formally accept the nomination in a speech to the convention on Thursday night. Above the convention stage is an electronic board that, according to Republicans, tallies the US national debt -- a major issue in the party's campaign to unseat President Barack Obama.