comMITTed to Romney!

Report from the Rally

Here I am again to report on events later in the day January 2 in Urbandale and at the night’s Romney rally.

A Brief Chat with Doug Gross

Toward the end of the afternoon I was privileged to sit down for a few minutes with Doug Gross, Mitt’s Iowa chair.

He’d told the troops in a mid-day rally session that he met Mitt in April of ‘06, and was impressed that Mitt had the whole package. He told me in our interview that for him, the “whole package” meant Mitt had “leadership, values, an ability to get things done and executive experience.” Doug helped the campaign organize for the Ames straw poll, and when I asked him to compare the caucuses with the straw poll, and he said “caucuses are like a straw poll on steroids,” with the need to make sure about “ten times” the number of people show up in caucus locations throughout the state. The caucuses, though, don’t actually select delegates for Iowa. As Doug explained, the voters express a preference for a candidate in the caucuses, but delegates aren’t chosen until June of 2008, when they’re pledged to support the voters’ preference. I asked Doug as we closed what his experiences with Mitt have shown him in the 18 plus months they’ve worked together. He responded that in a campaign “any candidate’s character is tested; Mitt always acts professionally, above board and ethically.” Given the attacks Mitt has endured, that’s saying a lot. Doug, thanks for taking the time!

Pix from the Rally

Mitt’s supporters made their way to a rally at about 7:30 local time. The press was very well represented, with, I’d estimate, 20-30 different cameras set up in a corner of the large room on a platform. Here’s a shot of the size of the relative side of the room. The press is hard to see, but it’s to the right.

I made my way to the left of the stage and stood next to a lone cameraman from C-SPAN. Doug Gross welcomed the crowd from the end of a catwalk extending from the main stage, and inspired confidence that Mitt was, in fact, going to be the Republican nominee and our next president. Doug gave way to Dan Jansen, the Olympic speed skater, who recounted how he’d met Mitt before the ‘02 Olympics and knew Mitt was something special. Dan then ceded the stage to Mitt and Ann. Ann expressed her appreciation and love for the people of Iowa. She then introduced the Main Man. I was able to get a few shots of him as the night went on.

Here’s one as Mitt addressed the crowd from the catwalk:

Mitt’s speech covered his bases: education, overwhelming militant jihadists, and his confidence that the unified American spirit can overcome the challenges we face. He gave Dan as an example of dogged determination that had inspired Mitt, saying “it wasn’t because America had won a gold medal, that had happened before,” but was inspiring because Dan had dedicated himself and finally attained his goal at being the best in the world at something after things had gone wrong in three prior Olympic games. Mitt then gave a tidbit I’d not heard him relate before; he talked about Derek Parra, the speed skater in the ‘02 Olympics that had converted from rollerblading in LA, and found he was fast. Ultimately he won a gold in Salt Lake. When Derek had been asked what his favorite Olympic moment was, it wasn’t winning the gold, but being one of the few athletes chosen to represent America by carrying into the opening ceremonies the flag that had flown over the World Trade Center on September 11. Here’s a link to a story where Derek tells it in his own words. I was in the crowd that night in Salt Lake, and Mitt’s account was absolutely correct. Instead of applause, the crowd, tens of thousands strong, fell reverently silent. At that moment the world paid tribute to the victims of those attacks. Mitt recalled the event with reverence.

Mitt’s speech was a great one. At one point he quoted Yogi Berra as saying he didn’t like making predictions where the future was concerned, but he foresaw a good result in Iowa tomorrow night. I’ve got to say I’m feeling it too.

After the speech he and Ann mingled with some folks in the crowd, before they were whisked away, I believe to be on Fox. Here are a few shots of Mitt mixing it up:

Some CNN Before Blogging

I’m not sure if many of you caught this, but David Gergen was on with Anderson Cooper tonight, along with Gloria Borger. Both Gergen and Borger made some pretty frank statements about Huckabee not seeming “ready,” and that Huckabee has lost his momentum. It confirms what some, including myself, have observed: as the limelight has shown on Huckabee for his 15 minutes of fame, he’s seemed to wilt and do strange things. Here’s the link to the transcript on CNN’s website. After comments that Rudy’s lack of attention to Iowa was certainly hurting, and that McCain will still suffer for his position on immigration, Gergen and Borger shared the following exchange with Cooper (from CNN’s preliminary transcript):

“GERGEN: I think Huckabee had a real chance to take off. And it’s not that he peaked too early, but that once attention turned to him, he started doing strange things.

In first place, his responses to the Bhutto assassination, you know, what we ought to do about Bhutto is we ought to build a fence between us and Mexico. It was like, “What?” He’s not been in the loop on a lot of foreign policy questions.

I mean, to run off and do, to start that ad and going to Arkansas and make an ad and then pull the ad and then show it to the press, to guffaws on the reporters. There’s been a weirdness factor here that I think has really startled a lot of reporters, and I think it’s probably going to hurt him with a lot of the voters.

BORGER: He doesn’t seem ready.

COOPER: Not ready for prime time?

BORGER: Not really.

COOPER: Gloria Borger, appreciate it. David Gergen, as well. Thanks very much.”

Pretty stark words from Gergen, nominally a Republican and a former Clinton advisor, and Borger.

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