Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and his wife Callista walk onto the stage to speak to delegates d

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TAMPA, Fla. -- Mitt Romney wasn't the only person making a crucial stage debut Thursday night. A few miles from the Tampa Bay Times Forum, where Romney accepted the Republican nomination for president, Gloria, a willowy 18-year-old with long, brown hair, prepared to take her first turn on center stage at Alibi, a strip club near the airport.
Like Romney, Gloria had a lot riding on her performance -- possibly more than he did. She needed money, badly. Sitting at the bar, shivering in a tiny black bikini, the new mother said she had a $400 electric bill to pay this month, plus what she guessed were an extra $400 to $600 in expenses for her and her 9-month old daughter.
A few days ago, she said, she had been fired from another club, The Pink Pony, after another dancer who was accused of smoking in the bathroom blamed Gloria. "I always smoke outside," said Gloria, who, like others interviewed in this story, would give only her first name. "But they told me not to come back."
So on Thursday, at about 10:30 p.m. -- just as Romney was re-introducing himself to America -- Gloria cheap hotels in los angeles walked into Alibi and introduced herself to the manager, Mike, who liked her enough to let her dance the same night.
With its dark corners, smoky air and peeling brass-painted cheap hotels in los angeles poles, Alibi was a world away from the brightly lit stagecraft of the Republican cheap hotels in los angeles National Convention. But inside, the patrons and employees represented slices of America that each party will need to win over in the coming months if they hope to be in the White House in November.
For Democrats, voter apathy -- especially cheap hotels in los angeles in swing states like Florida -- ranks among their greatest fears. According to a Gallup poll, only 39 percent of Democrats said they were "more enthusiastic" than usual about voting in this year's election, compared to 61 percent in 2008.
The question of how the GOP's largely Christian voters will view Romney's Mormonism at the polls has been the subject of much speculation. cheap hotels in los angeles According to Gallup, 18 percent of Americans say they will not vote for a Mormon for president. But as with other biases, like race, there may be plenty more who think it, but won't say it.
Romney, a former bishop in the Mormon church, has largely avoided talking about his faith during his presidential campaign. In his convention speech on Thursday, he emphasized his record of service to members of his congregation, but stopped cheap hotels in los angeles short of addressing how his religious beliefs cheap hotels in los angeles might influence his policy decisions.
Wearing a brief black dress that she would later peel off to reveal a g-string and pasties, Mindy described how she planned to start a day-care center for working moms when she left the armed forces. "Not some fancy place for rich people, but something for moms like me, who can't afford to pay for day care," she said. Her daughter lives with Mindy's parents, she said.
In many ways, Mindy could easily be a Romney voter. She was raised cheap hotels in los angeles in a conservative household, she said, plans to join the military, and hopes to start a small business -- voting blocs that Republicans traditionally have carried in elections. And despite how much she makes, which places her firmly in the lower-income levels more likely to favor Democrats -- Mindy said she makes about $1,400 a month, of which $750 goes to pay her rent -- she said the only thing that's holding her back from voting for Romney is her perception of his stance on abortion.
"I just can't vote for someone who wouldn't let me choose what to do with my body," she said, alternating sips between a bottle of water and a shot of menthol-flavored liquor. "I mean, what if you got raped?"
This week, the Republican Party in Tampa adopted a platform that called for outlawing abortion under any circumstance -- including in cases of rape and incest. Romney cheap hotels in los angeles himself has said he would uphold a woman's right to terminate a pregnancy cheap hotels in los angeles in these cases, and in order to protect the health of the mother. But for Mindy, it's all the same.
Her response underscores the dilemma Romney faces as he hopes to overcome a wide gap in support among women voters cheap hotels in los angeles nationwide. According to a CBS News poll this month, cheap hotels in los angeles 51 percent of women said they would vote for Obama, compared to 41 percent who said they would vote for Romney.
The club's manager, Mike, a burly guy in a black T-shirt and jeans with spiky gray hair and tattoos on both forearms, said he was only moonlighting at Alibi until his regular job as a construction worker picked up again.
"After 2007, all the work here disappeared," Mike said. "Now, if there's work in town, they only hire Mexicans, and they pay 'em eight bucks an hour," or about 30 cents more than the state's minimum wage of $7.67. "I refuse to work for $8 an hour. I've been doing construction cheap hotels in los angeles for 20 years, and I won't take being paid nothing."
It was the same issue that Romney emphasized in his speech across town that night. "It doesn't take a special government commission to tell us what America needs," Romney told the crowd at the convention. "What America needs is jobs. Lots of jobs."
For Gloria, the election was the last thing on her mind as she dragged herself across the dark, mirrored cheap hotels in los angeles stage on her knees, shaking her butt like Jell-O. Like many other women here in the strip-club capital of America, she was just hoping to maintain cheap hotels in los angeles a basic standard of living and support her family.
Her baby's father, who lives with her and her family, can't find work. Her mother is in jail, she said, awaiting sentencing in November after she was convicted cheap hotels in los angeles of driving a car that was used in a robbery.
As the clock rolled past midnight, elated Republican convention-goers fanned out across the city for a third night of lavish parties, largely sponsored by the corporate interests and super PACs, which expect to spend hundreds of millions of dollars influencing voters in the next two months.
Poor Americans like Gloria, however, cheap hotels in los angeles will likely remain largely invisible. Neither Obama nor Romney has spoken on the campaign trail about how to help the more than 46 million Americans living below the poverty line.
Republican vice presidential cheap hotels in los angeles nominee, Rep. Paul Ryan, left and Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney waves to delegates after his speech at the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Fla., on Thursday, Aug. 30, 2012. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)
Republican vice presidential nominee, Rep. Paul Ryan and his wife Janna salute delegates following Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney's speech during the Republican National Convention in Tampa, cheap hotels in los angeles Fla., on Thursday, Aug. 30, 2012. Behind is Mitt Romney and his wife Ann. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall) Mitt Romney
cheap hotels in los angeles Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney acknowledges delegates before speaking at the Republican National Convention cheap hotels in los angeles in Tampa, Fla., on Thursday, Aug. 30, 2012. (AP Photo/David Goldman) Mitt Romney
Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney hugs a supporter as he walks to the stage during cheap hotels in los angeles the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Fla., on Thursday, Aug. 30, 2012. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney makes his way through delegates before speaking at the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Fla., on Thursday, Aug. 30, 2012. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)
cheap hotels in los angeles Ann Romney, wife of U.S. Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney, cheers as Olympians are introduced during the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Fla., on Thursday, Aug. 30, 2012. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)
Republican vice presidential nominee, Rep. Paul Ryan, right, and his wife Janna applaud during Florida Senator Marco Rubio's speech during the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Fla., on Thursday, Aug. 30, 2012. (AP Photo/Lynne cheap hotels in los angeles Sladky)
cheap hotels in los angeles Republican vice presidential nominee, Rep. Paul Ryan, right, along with Ann Romney, wife of U.S. Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney, left, applaud during Florida Senator Marco Rubio's speech at the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Fla., on Thursday, Aug. 30, 2012. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky) Marco Rubio
Frantz Placide and Sean Duffy, center, listen to Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, left, as he speaks during the Republican National cheap hotels in los angeles Convention in Tampa, Fla., on Thursday, Aug. 30, 2012.during the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Fla., on Thursday, Aug. 30, 2012. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky) Jeb Bush
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and his wife Callista walk onto the stage to speak to delegates during the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Fla., on Thursday, Aug. 30, 2012. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)
Stagehands make final adjustments to the expanded stage where Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney will accept his party's nomination later tonight a the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Fla., on Thursday, Aug. 30, 2012. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
A delegate holds up a mask of Republican vice presidential nominee, Rep. Paul Ryan during the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Fla., on Wednesday, Aug. 29, 2012. (AP Photo/David Goldman) Jeb Bush
FILE In this Aug. 27, 2012 file photo, former cheap hotels in los angeles Florida Gov. Jeb Bush looks at the convention floor from the podium during a microphone check at the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)
Stagehands make final adjustments to the expanded stage where Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney will accept his party's nomination later tonight a the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Fla., on Thursday, Aug. 30, 2012. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) Paul Ryan
Republican vice presidential nominee, Rep. Paul Ryan waves toward the delegates during t