TAMPA—Blending bromides for a better tomorrow with a blistering attack on “ObamaCare,” Paul Ryan stepped into America’s searing political spotlight Wednesday night with rhetorical red meat flying.

The 42-year-old Wisconsin native was expected to officially take the reins as Mitt Romney’s running mate with the promise of American revival.

And he did, pledging to the Republican faithful in Tampa that the Romney-Ryan ticket will ultimately be a ticket to economic recovery. The duo, he said, were ready to make the tough choices to put the country’s balance sheet in order, ultimately paving the way for a new era of middle-class prosperity.

“We will not spend four years blaming others,” said Ryan. “We will take responsibility.

“After four years of getting the runaround, America needs a turnaround — and the man for the job is Gov. Mitt Romney,” said Ryan, making the case for the former Massachusetts governor.

“We have a plan for a stronger middle class, with the goal of generating 12 million new jobs over the next four years.”

But the case for Romney soon gave way to a sustained, scathing condemnation of the Obama years — a long, excoriating screed that ranks as one of the most overt direct attacks of the 2012 campaign cycle.

Ryan, the first-ever Generation X candidate for vice-president, began by rounding on Obama’s signature achievement, telling conventioneers in Tampa the country’s controversial 2010 health-care overhaul will soon be history.

“ObamaCare comes to more than 2,000 pages of rules, mandates, taxes, fees and fines that have no place in a free country,” Ryan said to approving roars.

“The president has declared that the debate over government-controlled health care is over. That will come as news to the millions of Americans who will elect Mitt Romney so we can repeal ObamaCare.”

The speech was interrupted briefly by shouts near stage left, later identified as two activists from the left-wing groups Code Pink and Women for Peace.

The hecklers chanted “Hands off my body” but were quickly drowned out as conventiongoers rose to their feet at the same time, striking up a chorus of “U.S.A., U.S.A.”

Ryan comes to the convention in stark contrast to four years ago, when former Alaska governor Sarah Palin lit a fire under the party’s conservative wing in her convention debut as John McCain’s running mate.

What Ryan lacks in Palinesque charisma, he makes up for in complete sentences. And a command of policy detail that has earned him a leadership role among Congressional Republicans.

But on this night, Ryan did not go deep into policy, opting instead to trace his personal path from Wisconsin to Washington, introducing himself as the son of a small-town lawyer who died when Ryan was 16.

Turning back Democrat accusations that Medicare will be gutted under a Romney administration, Ryan insisted, “Medicare is a promise, and we will honour it.”

But it was Ryan’s caricature of the hope of 2008 versus the joblessness and despair of 2012 that resonated deepest in Tampa.

“It all started off with stirring speeches, Greek columns, the thrill of something new,” he said. “Now all that’s left is a presidency adrift, surviving on slogans that already seem tired, grasping at a moment that has already passed, like a ship trying to sail on yesterday’s wind.”

College graduates, said Ryan, should not have to live out their 20s in their childhood bedrooms, staring up at fading Obama posters and wondering when they get move out and get going with life.”

“None of us,” he continued, “have to settle for the best this administration offers — a dull, adventureless journey from one entitlement to the next, a government-planned life, a country where everything is free but us.”

Recounting that Obama recently indicated his biggest first-term error involved poor communication, Ryan drew laughs as he wondered aloud whether the country needed more words. “What is missing is leadership in the White House,” he concluded, drawing another standing ovation.

Ryan also put a fine point on age difference, comparing the songs on Romney’s iPod to elevator music. When Romney urged Ryan to embrace those tunes, “I said, ‘I hope it’s not a deal-breaker, Mitt, but my playlist starts with AC/DC and it ends with Zeppelin.’

“A generation apart. That makes us different, but not in any of the things that matter,” said Ryan. “Mitt Romney and I both grew up in the heartland, and we know what places like Wisconsin and Michigan look like when times are good . . . and we both know it can be that way again.”

Ryan’s remarks capped a night that saw wave after wave of senior Republicans come at Obama from all angles.

Minnesota’s Tim Pawlenty got the crowd into the mood, saying, “Welcome to Barack Obama’s retirement party.” Both McCain and former secretary of state Condoleezza Rice took on the role of buttressing the GOP’s foreign policy arguments. Both drove home the point that America has never “led from behind,” with McCain slamming Obama for timidity on Iran.

Thus was the table aggressively set for Mitt Romney, who comes to the podium for the final act Thursday. Act One unfolded Tuesday with Romney’s wife Ann demonstrating that whether or not Romney is human, he clearly married one. And Act Two ended with evidence that the Romney has a deputy ready and able to light rhetorical fires for the top of the ticket.

The final act, however, is Romney’s alone. This one can’t be outsourced.