TAMPA, Fla. – For a man basing his presidential hopes on a jobs-and-economy message, Mitt Romney has spent an inordinate amount of time on other issues, from abortion to Medicare to bad weather.

Many of the distractions have been beyond Romney's control, including a GOP congressman's blunder about rape, and the hurricane that essentially wiped out one-fourth of the Republican nominating convention. Others were of Romney's own doing.

Whatever the cause, GOP strategists fear precious time has been lost, and they are eager to use the convention's remaining days to regain control of Romney's message – and to throw President Barack Obama into the defensive posture they think he deserves.