Supporters gather for Gov. Walker's prime time Convention address

WAUWATOSA -- Wisconsin's role at the Republican National Convention -- Gov. Scott Walker addressing the crowd Tuesday night and Paul Ryan accepting the vice-presidential nomination and addressing the crowd Wednesday night is a source of pride for Wisconsin Republicans. Many gathered around the television Tuesday night to watch Gov. Walker's speech.

Gov. Walker's 10-minutes worth of remarks got applauded about 10 times from those watching from the "Wauwatosa Victory Center" Tuesday night.

Courtney Hahn was one of those watching Gov. Walker's prime time speech.

"It's very huge, and Wisconsin is kind of half-and-half, and we really need that vote for Romney and Ryan," Hahn said.

Gov. Walker had said he would talk about his last year and half in office at the Republican National Convention.

When Gov. Walker took office in 2011, he faced a $3.6 billion shortfall and part of his solution included requiring state workers to pay more for health insurance and pension benefits, deep cuts to public education, local governments and state agency spending.

His budget also took away nearly all collective bargaining rights from most workers. It triggered the recall effort that he survived in June. He's the first governor in history to survive a recall attempt.

In a conference call with reporters Monday from Tampa, Fla., he said he planned to keep his Tuesday night speech tight and also highlight one resident who benefited from his policies.

Meanwhile, Democrats supporting President Barack Obama, touring Wisconsin in a bus, saw the evening in Tampa differently.

"There's some good Wisconsin Republicans who are speaking at the Convention, but there are also good middle class people from Wisconsin who need a level playing field, and what they don't need is taking money from the middle class and the Main Street in Wisconsin and giving it to Wall Street for people to game the system," Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Ryback said.

Volunteers with the "Republican Party of Wauwatosa" worked the phones from the "Wauwatosa Victory Center" Tuesday afternoon.

"Phones are huge. That's how we get to the base of the supporters. Without the phones, without volunteers like these ladies, without other volunteers, people don't get the message," volunteer John Mark McKoy said.

While folks were doing some cold-calling, others were busy setting up for Tuesday night's watch party.

"It's going to be full. We're looking forward to people getting here, and it's going to be a good turnout for sure," McKoy said.

The "Wauwatosa Victory Center" was utilized during the June recall election, and volunteers expect the number of those working the phones to continue to grow in advance of the November election.

"There's a lot of positive energy coming out of the state, and we're going to continue that throughout the fall, and through the election," McKoy said.

Another viewing party is planned for Wednesday night, August 29th when vice-presidential candidate Paul Ryan is set to officially accept the nomination.

CLICK HERE for additional Republican National Convention coverage via FOX6Now.com.