ComMITTed to Romney!

http://newsday.typepad.co…ng_miss_da.html

First the Pols . . . as in the trio of politicians (3M-state governors) recent trip to Iraq). There’s a great blog/diary entry by one of the Air Force’s C-130 pilots who flew the governors into Baghdad. A couple of the relevant exerpts:

Romney was on the flight deck with us for the takeoff, and not knowing Mitt Romney from Knute Rockne I asked him who he was. When he told me he was Massachusett’s governor, I politely asked him to leave the flight deck, declaring the cockpit off limits to all Red Sox fans. He laughed and made a few cracks my way, regarding the Yanks, and we hit it off pretty well. I asked him if he was at Fenway when the Sox finally won the World Series, and with a huge boyish grin he replied, “Yes I was.”

Two helicopters waited fifty feet from our plane for them, but before anyone could whisk them away, the governors promised us a few photos, and were gracious enough to oblige. Romney even handed me his personal coin, and told me “You’re not a bad guy… for a Yankees fan.” I wished him “Good Luck in ‘08,” and we went our separate ways.

ADMIN INPUT:
The Pilot who is mentioned above emailed me today, here is a copy of his message.

I’m the pilot that wrote about delivering Governor Romney to Baghdad on my plane. Handing a troop a coin or RMO (round metal object) is a military tradition dating back to WWI. Each unit has their own insignia and each commander (usually a general and above) has his own as well. They’re given out to people as tokens of appreciation, and are prized souveniers. Here is a pic of Gov. Romney’s RMO.

Enjoy.

Jay

He was kind enough to send me a picture of both the front and back, and here are the pictures.

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Now onto the Polls:

This first ABC News poll (props to Jason at Illinoisians for Mitt for finding this one) confirms what most of us know already . . . and that’s that it is way too early for anyone to be a “lock” as a frontrunner. Only 9% of voters polled at this point “would definitely vote for McCain” . . . less than half of those that are already sold on Hillary (19%). Broken down to just the Republicans and he’s still only got 11% “sealed-uup” at this point. What is even more encouraging for Mr. Romney (both in the primary and in the general election) is that 28% of those polled would definitely not vote for McCain and 42% for Hillary. This confirms the polarizing nature of Hillary amogst voters since nearly two-thirds (61%) of voters have already made up their minds on Hillary. The Republican field seems to be wide open!

The last interesting poll summarized and linked at a Giuliani blog site is another of the “cold-call” phone survey types (which means that they’re all about name recognition . . . since most people don’t care this early in the game and are apt to agree to the first name that they recognize that doesn’t completely repulse them just to get off the phone and back to dinner. I mean who hasn’t heard of McCain, Giuliani, or Newt? No surprise that they’re leading).

Governor Romney has never been a “frontrunner” in these kinds of polls (see this link for lots of them over the last several months) because of his poor name recognition. However, it is interesting that where his name is better known (i.e. Michigan . . . where at least the older crowd remember his fathers leadership), he is definitely on the map at 15%. Look for these numbers to go up once he formally announces his candidacy and is seen/recognized in the public eye as a serious contender.

One other thing to consider is that George Allen seems to have almost NO support outside of the south . . . 3% in Michigan and 1% in Washington State? That’s not going to get him very far in the GOP primaries . . . but again, that might be mostly name recognition as well . . . but 1% . . .)

It should be an interesting next 8-12 months as the candidates announce their campaigns and the race starts to take form.

What do ya’ll think of these poll numbers?

AMC
JJF

http://www.defenselink.mi…60527_5257.html

Romney continued his Mid-east War-zone tour with a visit to Mass Troops in Afghanistan. The governors of Mass, Montana, and Missouri were part of the DOD sponsored visit and that makes 28 of 50 sitting governors who have been to the Mid-east War-zone.

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In other news, in this National Review opinion piece (about Jeb Bush and his play in the ‘08 GOP presidential mix) the author, Kathryn Jean Lopez, says that Romney is her favorite GOPer among the current choices (followed by George Allen).

It mentions a Romney-Bush GOP ticket . . . what do you guys think? If Romney does get the nomination who would be your pick for VP? I would be fine with Huckabee, Allen, Bush, and Rice (in that order).

ADMIN ADDENDUM:
For some reason I can’t find the post, maybe it got deleted on accident months ago, but if you do a technorati search on this blog you’ll find the link to the post (even though the post isn’t there ) Anyway, from the beginning I’ve dreamed of a Romney-Bush ticket. Prior to starting this blog when I contemplated who I wanted to support in 2008 I strongly considered Jeb for President in 2008. Having lived in Florida during a majority of his Governorship I was able to see him in action. After careful consideration though I just didn’t think that 2008 was the time for Jeb to run. Yes, I know that we shouldn’t consider the fact that his brother is our current President, but it does play a factor. I truly believe that had Jeb not lost to Lawton Chiles the same year that W won the Governorship in Texas we would have a different Bush in the White House today. Jeb is just a better leader than W is. He’s articulate, is well spoken (just like Mr. Romney), and as an added bonus he is completely fluent in Spanish and regularly conducts his speeches in Spanish after he completes the English version. I believe that a Romney-Bush ticket in 2008 would be a powerhouse. They could work together using their impeccable executive leadership skills and lead this country in ways that haven’t been seen in a very long time.

JJF
AMC

http://www.boston.com/new…for_aid?mode=PF

Mitt Romney’s requests for federal aid from the federal government for the damage inflicted by the recent flooding has been approved. This is good for Romney as his strong “within the crisis” leadership is now followed up with an influx of relief dollars for Bay Staters. I see this experience helping to increase Romney’s poll numbers in Massachussetts the next time around.

In other news . . . Romney’s support of the Abstinence educational program for MA school kids is hitting a bumpy road, but should make it through the congress.

Also, GOVERNOR ROMNEY IS STILL LISTED AS #2 AMONG CURRENT LIKELY GOP CANDIDATES. (Link now fixed . . . wrong link before, sorry) It says:

“These rankings are based on a number of factors, including: organization, money, buzz and polling. The two candidates in our two top spots are the candidates who are doing well in all four attributes.”

Great job Gov. Romney!

JJF
Iowans for Romney.

Arizona will be getting a visit from Governor Romney this upcoming June 10th:

“Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, a 2008 Republican presidential hopeful will keynote an Arizona Republican Party event June 10 in Scottsdale. Romney recently visited the state to talk about his possible White House run with Mormon business and political leaders. Romney is Mormon. Tickets to the Scottsdale event run between $275 and $5,000.”

Also, an upcoming Michigan visit with the Midland County Republican Party luncheon in Midland, MI is scheduled for August 11th.

Mark you dates and go see/hear him if you can!

JJF

http://www.abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=2000063

Mr. Romney made an unannouced trip to the middle east to visit US troops. He said he was impressed by the determination of U.S. forces during the visit.

“You come back feeling extraordinary appreciation for the troops,” Romney told The Associated Press in a telephone interview after returning to Kuwait from Baghdad.

AMC

http://iowansforromney.bl…ad-romneys.html

Check out Iowans for Romney for the latest news.

Mitt Romney’s Official Commonwealth PAC website issued this press release this morning which announces Doug Gross as taking the job of heading up the Iowa division of Romney’s PAC.

For those who are not versed in Iowa politics you may be wondering: “Who is Doug Gross?”

Here is his bio from his Law Firms’ website.

This link gives his bio/history when he was running for Iowa Governor in 2002 and mentions:

“Despite the time it took to serve as the managing partner of one of the state’s largest law firms, Gross continued to advise many Republican candidates for office and was co-chair of George W. Bush’s finance effort in Iowa in 2000.”

Looks like Gross knows how to spot and support a winner! He’s obviously seen something special in Gov. Romney.

Over at “The Krusty Konservative” (the best conservative Iowa blog) they are discussing this improtant announcement and arguing about how important (or not) this “get” is for Romney.

JJF

http://www.humaneventsonl…le.php?id=15028

This article from Human Events Online discusses the inherent differences in Senators vs Governors as presidential candidates and highlights Mitt Romney’s recent successes in Massachusetts.

JJF
www.iowansforromney.blogspot.com

http://www.boston.com/new…r_arkansas_gop/

Mr. Romney hoping to boost the GOP’s chances in Arkansas will headline a Arkansas GOP fundraiser in Little Rock on July 6th.

While there Romney will host a private fundraiser for Asa Hutchinson who is running for Governor of the state.

Details have not been finalized for the party fundraiser, but GOP Executive Director Clint Reed set tickets are tentatively priced at $125 a plate.

A couple of other Arkansas sources mentioned this earlier today. The Arkansas Family Coalition’s blog and this Arkansas Times Blog section have some comments and debate going on about the upcoming visit. Feel free to comment at these two sites. Also, let your family/friends in Arkansas know that Gov. Romney will be coming!

AMC
JJF

http://www.redstate.com/story/2006/5/21/112537/756

This Red State article about Mr. Romney’s extensive managerial experience and success is generating a lot of discussion and interesting comments. I highly recommend registering with Red State and commenting there. It’s a pretty important conservative discustion site. Feel free to join in the discussions.

Also, Mr. Romney didn’t do so poorly at the Wisc state GOP straw poll for ‘08. Six candidates (Allen, Giuliani, Gingrich, Rice, Romney, and McCain) all received between 10-17% of the votes (n=357). That’s a “wide-open” field if I’ve ever seen one. I assume that Romney would have done much better if he had been able to keep his appointment and speak at the convention as scheduled . . . might have even been the front-runner.

JJF

http://www.boston.com/new…ionally?mode=PF

This recent story out of Massachusetts has an interesting take on Romney’s recent leadership through the flooding crisis in Massachusetts. A disaster like this is horrible and devastating to affected individuals. Situations like this require focused effective leadership and Gov Romney seems to be providing that well. Also, one cannot dispute the fact that situations like these represent opportunities for Gov. Romney to prove his leadership capabilities beyond the borders of his state and thereby improve his still poor national “name recognition factor.”

This story got me thinking again about the “name recognition factor” and how it plays a roll in the pre-election world.

Romney supporters (or potential Romney supporters) should not be discouraged by all of the “early polls” (like this compilation of polls over the last year or so) about the 2008 presidential race. At this point . . . people called by a polling service about a potential race over 2 years away are not likely to take it seriously and would probably say anything to get off the phone quicker. More importantly, at this point these phone polls are all about name recognition. That’s why McCain, Giuliani, and Rice seem to do the best . . . because they are well known names that have been highlighted on the national stage. However, political pundints see it a little differently as the following links (here, here, here, and here) all show that Romney is in the top teir of possible republican nominees.

What about McCain? Is he unbeatable? I mean he’s tops in the polls and tops among pundits!

Well, a few of points on McCain:

1) Bear in mind that the mainstream media (MSM) LOVES and has always loved McCain. He’s championed campaign finance reform which gives disproportionate power to the MSM. Plus, he’s a “Maverick” and the media love a guy who will speak out about and against the “status quo”. So, McCain sort of gets “a pass” by the MSM. However, when election time comes up all of his controversial past WILL be brought up and will make the GOP base have some second thoughts about Senator McCain

2) Longtime GOPers and the Christian right don’t much like McCain as he’s been so willing to team up with the left on several issues. GOP bloggers also have a pretty negative opinion of him as far as polls go.

3) As stated above, McCain is a “Maverick” which is an OK stance to take as a moderate republican senator . . . but is not much of what most people think of in a President. In a word, McCain doesn’t strike many people as “presidential.”

4) He’s not terribly young . . . Most people remember him as he was during the 2000 presidential race, but he’ll be 72 years old in 2008. Assuming the GOP wants to get another potential two-term president in office, that would make him 80 years old as a president. This will play a bigger factor than people are now realizing.

5) He’s pretty testy and reactionary which won’t go over well in debates or when he’s finally grilled by the MSM during a hotly contested GOP primary.

6) He’s a senator. Time and time again, the public seems to wildly prefer Governors to Senators when it comes to electing a president.

7) Part of McCain’s support now is based on the polling that shows him handily beating Hillary in a general election. This excites the GOP base and engenders support from people who want to win. However, Mr. Romney is no slouch against Clinton either . . . one online poll at CNBC showed Mr. Romney smoking Clinton in a head to head race (74% to 26%). Once this kind of polling is confirmed, those “wanting to win” could easily switch camps.

Well, I don’t mean this to be an attack on McCain . . . I just wanted to point out to Romney supporters that there is not only “hope” but a strong chance that McCain can and will be beat.

So don’t be scared to support Mitt Romney because you don’t think he has a chance. He is the horse that will pull away from the rest near the finish line!

JJF
Iowans for Romney