Inside Pitch

Ohio GOP delegates in Tampa got a surprise visit Monday from a man who had run for the GOP presidential nomination, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who sang the praises of drilling for more Ohio oil and natural gas as a campaign issue.

Gingrich, who is making the rounds of key state delegations, argued that scientists have recently found Ohio - particularly eastern Ohio - has 42 times as much natural gas beneath its surface as previously thought; and said that Republicans could use that energy resource as a way to win votes this fall.

Ohio delegates were in a ballroom of the Mainsail Suites and Conference Center when it was announced that there was a tornado warning in the area and everyone was ordered to stay in the building.

The delegates were listening to a presentation by staff members of the Ohio Romney campaign on grassroots organizing. It was raining heavily when the warning was issued, but the rain quickly passed and there was some sunshine.

The warning was canceled shortly after 2 p.m.

Josh Romney, the middle child of Mitt Romney's five sons, gave the Ohio delegation a pep talk about his father this morning.

And guess what?

He thinks his dad would make a great president.

"This man is my hero,'' Josh Romney said in a brief speech to the Ohio delegation Monday morning. "I want people to get to know the real Mitt Romney and they will like what they see."

Josh Romney said he has traveled all over the country campaigning for his father over the past 18 months.