Nancy Dwight, who has been involved in the top levels of Republican Party politics for nearly 40 years, believes GOP candidate Mitt Romney needs to provide a detailed explanation of what he wants to do as president during his nationally televised speech Thursday at the Republican National Convention.

“He needs to tell us in specifics, the direction he wants to take us,” said Dwight, who is a fellow at the Dole Institute of Politics at Kansas University.

Dwight believes Romney is well-positioned to defeat President Barack Obama in the November general election.

“The campaign starts after the conventions,” she said, adding that the presidential debates in October “will make a huge difference. It will be who can convince the undecideds, or who can create more undecideds.”

Dwight, who lives in Boston and is chair of Dwight Partners, a consulting firm, didn’t go to the convention in Tampa, Fla., but has attended GOP national gatherings as a staff member or delegate since 1980.

She knows Mitt and Ann Romney personally and finds it ironic that many people think of Mitt Romney as having a stiff personality. “He is very funny; he is very loose,” she said. “The whole side of him caring for other people is absolutely real,” she said.

Dwight gave Ann Romney’s speech on Tuesday a big thumbs-up. “She has an inner core and strength that is almost unparalleled,” she said.

But Dwight said the next speech, given by New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, may have missed the mark.

“The transition between Ann’s speech and his speech was so abrupt. To put his style after hers, in hindsight, was probably a bad idea. It wasn’t his night. It was her night. The message she was delivering was so powerful,” Dwight said.

Dwight and another Dole Fellow, Steve Hildebrand, who served as Obama’s deputy national campaign manager in 2008, will be leading a weekly study group this fall at the Dole Institute on the Obama-Romney campaign.