Tropical Storm Isaac hasn’t scared off any of El Paso County’s seven Republican delegates and alternates from the national convention in Tampa. If anything, it’s given Republicans more of a chance to kick back and enjoy themselves before they get down to business.

“Some of our guys went out and went swimming,” said Sen. Kent Lambert, R-Colorado Springs, who is in Florida for the convention. “We’ve been undeterred.”

Wayne Williams, El Paso County’s Clerk and Recorder, said with a laugh that there have been windier days in Colorado Springs.

There was a sprinkle of rain in Tampa and not much more, he said. Nothing that will keep the GOP from formally nominating Mitt Romney to take on President Barack Obama.

Isaac is threatening to turn into a full-scale hurricane, and at first, it looked as though Tampa would be in its path. So the national GOP pushed back the start of the convention by a day, from Monday to Tuesday.

“It’s really just kind of an off day for people to go shopping, go to local attractions,” said Robin Coran, a field director for Congressman Doug Lamborn, R-Colorado Springs (who is not attending the convention).

Many attendees from Colorado have been tweeting from the convention, using the hashtag #cornc. Lambert has even posted photos.

“It’s just a bunch of us Republicans, and we’re going to kick the Democrats’ butts,” Lambert said happily.

Coran was one of several Republicans who went to see the movie “2016: Obama’s America” on Monday afternoon. The film, written and shot by a conservative director, has been portrayed by several reviewers as the right-wing version of “Fahrenheit 9/11,” Michael Moore’s liberal indictment of George W. Bush’s presidency.

There were still several meetings held Monday morning that also got many in the mood, said Williams. In one, the soon-to-be-nominee’s son Matt told several dozen delegates about how his father helped keep his wife alive while she was bed-ridden with twins.

It was the type of story that got the delegates’ hearts going, got their spirits into the campaign, instead of just going through the motions, said Williams.

Coran, for example, said she’s thrilled that Romney picked Wisconsin Congressman Paul Ryan as his running mate.

“He was a really good pick. He’s saying what the people want to hear, things that really resonate with our hearts,” Coran said.

Every delegate, however, isn’t on the same page when it comes to Romney. Many of Texas Congressman Ron Paul’s loyalists have refused to toe the line and unite with the rest of the party, unlike many who backed former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum, as Coran did. (She said she now faithfully supports Romney.)

Eight of Colorado’s 65 delegates and alternates have staunchly opposed Romney. None of them are from El Paso County, said Williams, and the issue is more of an afterthought than a substantial problem.

“It’s a footnote. Ultimately, Romney will have way more delegates than he’ll need to be nominated,” Williams said.—Contact John Schroyer: 476-4825Twitter @JohnschroyerFacebook Gazette John Schroyer