TAMPA, Fla. — New Hampshire delegates to the Republican National Convention started Wednesday by breakfasting with two prominent members of the party.

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie started things off at the Hilton Double Tree by addressing those in attendance about the symbolism behind his prime-time convention speech Monday night.

“When looking at our country from a fiscal perspective, we have to get it together because we are running out of time. When I asked everyone to stand up last night, I didn’t ask you to do it just because it’s a fun thing to do. I asked everyone to do it because it was a symbol to the idea that as a party we are going to acknowledge collectively that we need to stand up and tell the truth,” Christie said.

He said he hoped that his speech would inspire change and reach a broad demographic.

“By rising up we are saying that we are going to stand up for our party’s principles and we are going to stand up for Mitt Romney,” he told the crowd, which also included Pennsylvania delegates.

New Hampshire Sen. Kelly Ayotte — who also addressed the convention Monday night — picked up where Christie left off, expressing how personable GOP nominee Mitt Romney is and how Ann Romney’s speech Monday night affected her.

“Ann Romney’s speech was the speech of the night,” Ayotte said. “It was inspirational and really showed the personal side of her and Mitt’s relationship, which I have gotten to see from being with them on the campaign trail. I supported Governor Romney from early on.”

In 2008, she said, President Obama had a staggering amount of support from younger voters. In an interview with Ayotte after her speech, she said she believes that Romney will be able to obtain votes from the younger crowd this election season, just as Obama did four years ago.

“I think that Governor Romney appeals to younger votes for one simple reason. There are so many college graduates that are either unemployed or underemployed, and so they are working at jobs that are below their level of education. This President’s record has been abysmal in terms of creating opportunities in the private sector. Mitt Romney has the ideas, the right approach, and the experience to make sure that when college students graduate, that they have a good job.”

The New Hampshire Union Leader will feature occasional stories from the Republican National Convention from students of Franklin Pierce University’s Fitzwater Center Pierce Media Group.