Governor John Kasich previews tonight's Republican National Convention speech

TAMPA, Fla. - Ohio Governor John Kasich will get his chance to speak at the Republican National Convention at 8:10 p.m. Tuesday. It's a speech he'll deliver not so much from the teleprompter in front of him, but using an outline for the 7-8 minute talk.

"I didn't seek this at all, frankly I didn't even know if I was going to get to speak I didn't think about it, so it's a nice opportunity to lay out our story," he said.

Kasich gets to pick some of the backdrops that will be used on the stage as well as the music he'll walk out to. "I wanted 'Call me maybe' but the staff vetoed it," Kasich joked.

He'll talk about the Ohio story of a struggling Midwest state that is balancing it's budget and creating jobs.

"It's not my programs but it's a philosophy that if you reduce costs and you provide incentives for job creation and you don't regulate people to death then you can have success this has become sort of the American story from the beginning of our country," said Kasich.

"One of the reasons why they wanted me to speak is cause they look at Ohio and you might remember when Romney first came to Ohio, he was talking about how bad everything is and he's sort of changed now and the reason is he's saying no. Ohio is a role model, an example for how it can work at the national level and of course that's terrific."

Kasich said he's constantly worried though about the nation's job numbers and their eventual impact.

"I just saw that unemployment claims were up dramatically it was like 322,000 in the nation and at some point it's going to hit us," he said. "When you have all these winds coming at you at some point it takes a toll on your own economy."

Democratic Cuyahoga County Executive Ed FitzGerald, a potential challenger to Kasich in 2014 plans to give a response to the address.

"John Kasich and Mitt Romney’s priorities are out of step with those of us living and working in Ohio every day," FitzGerald said in a pre speech statement.

"Whether it is John Kasich and Mitt Romney’s bet against Ohio’s autoworkers, the Governor’s attempt to take away bargaining rights for public employees like our firefighters, policemen, and teachers, or their desire to balance the budget on the backs of Ohio’s middle class,” he said.

For his part Kasich dismissed FitzGeralds comments. "I pay no attention to that stuff, that's just politics," he said.