Featured speakers to watch Thursday during the 2012 Republican National Convention

Sen. Marco Rubio from Florida was elected to the Senate in 2010, is counted as a rising Republican star and was floated as a possible VP pick for Romney. Rubio's parents left Cuba in 1956 and Rubio was born in Miami. His parents, he says, taught him about self-sufficiency and hard work. Rubio has criticized President Obama, saying the president doesn't believe in the American free enterprise system.

Mitt Romney

Mitt Romney, the former Governor of Massachusetts, is on the verge of becoming the Republican Party's official 2012 presidential nominee following a long primary battle. Romney was born in 1947 in Detroit, and attended Stanford University, Brigham Young University and Harvard University. He married Ann Davies in 1969 and together they have five sons — Taggart, Matt, Josh, Ben and Craig. Romney is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, served a mission in France and served as a bishop and stake president in the Boston area. He will be the first Mormon presidential nominee of a major political party. It is expected that Romney will open up about his Mormon faith as he accepts the nomination Thursday.