I Ann Marie Curling following Gov. Romney’s Wishes Endorse John McCain for President of the United States.
You all will have your opinions, and I respect them. But, inasmuch as I don’t like it (and I don’t have to like it) I am endorsing John McCain for President of the United States. I’m following “My Man Mitt’s” decision to do so. I’ve followed him along for the past 2 1/2 yrs, and if there’s one thing that stands out with him it’s trust. I trust Gov. Romney implicitly, and he made this decision so we should follow him. I know for many of us it’s probably the hardest thing that we’ve had to do in a long time, but shouldn’t we follow our man? Shouldn’t we do as he’s doing? He’s right, we need for our party to come together right now. The Democrats are still fighting, and probably won’t have their nominee for a while now. Why not get off on a good footing so that we can retain control of the White House. There will be other elections down the road. Gov. Romney isn’t going anywhere, and we’ll be that much better prepared next go round. I know I’ve made some no so flattering comments about Mr. McCain, but Gov. Romney and Senator McCain both realize that Primary Campaigns are hard nosed and can get ugly. Now is the time for all of us to come together and unite, and that’s why I’m putting this post here. I hope that you follow Gov. Romney’s example and do the same.
February 14th, 2008 at 6:26 pm
Ann Marie,
While I totally respect your decision, I don’t buy that just because I support Romney, candidancy, I am to follow him in supporting McCain. McCain clearly has ethic isses and is extremely unstable and I simply cannot vote for him. Not yet, anyway. I am still holding out that we will somehow be spared from him. I think we should all come to our own decision and not just endorse McCain because Mitt does.
February 14th, 2008 at 6:29 pm
With an sad heart I’ll join you Ann Marie. Like you, I also trust Mitt’s intelligence and discernment in this decision.
But oh my, Mitt looked so regal standing next to McCain. What a class act.
Alex
February 14th, 2008 at 6:31 pm
Christine,
I respect your decision as well. I just felt that it was time for me. It will take others longer, but given the fact that this blog is the biggest that supported Romney I felt that I needed to take the lead and do it now.
I wish you the best in your decision making process!
Ann Marie
February 14th, 2008 at 6:44 pm
Well, that’s your choice Jim.
I don’t feel the least bit bad in how I came to my decision.
Ann Marie
February 14th, 2008 at 6:45 pm
…..
February 14th, 2008 at 6:46 pm
Over the cliff we go. Never thought I’d vote for a liberal. Maybe I’ll wake up before November and this will all be a bad dream. It’s the judicial appointments. We can’t take those back. They have to cycle through. Thanks for the sanity Mitt. - P
February 14th, 2008 at 6:53 pm
Jim,
That was uncalled for. While it may take some a little longer to decide, I have no doubt Ann Marie did what is right for her and I really respect that. I think we need to voice our opinion and still be respectful of others.
February 14th, 2008 at 7:01 pm
I gag at the thought of endorsing or supporting McCain. Romney is a better man than I. Yes, I do support aspects of McCain’s stance of the war on terrror but to say I endorse/support him would be to say it’s OK that he played so dirty in beating Romney, and that I support amnesty and taxes, and it just goes against everything I have been talking about with friends, family, workmates, neighbors over the past 6 months. Yes, we conservatives have to rally around the GOP nominee just to do our part in fighting off the rising tide of liberalism in this nation. But endorse him? No.
I am not Mitt Romney and he has his reasons for doing the things he needs to do and I have mine.
February 14th, 2008 at 7:02 pm
Thanks Christine, but don’t worry about me. I’m a big girl. I appreciate you having my back though
Ann Marie
February 14th, 2008 at 7:05 pm
Jon,
My thoughts are that Johnny boy (and I say jokingly) wouldn’t dare put forth the stuff that he’s put forth in the past.
Ann Marie
February 14th, 2008 at 7:06 pm
I respect any who support McCain and I understand why Mitt needs to do this. But personally, I follow the Constitution, not a man. I feel as though that we are supposed to make our own decisions and not allow another to do our thinking for us.
February 14th, 2008 at 7:09 pm
As I said, McCain is the lesser of the two evils or ‘undesirables’ _ the other one being Obama. What should we do sit at home and let Obama win? This country is already suffering, it does not make sense to ignore this election. Collectively, we can derail or delay the country’s early demise if we rally behind someone who is more likely to listen to his constituency’s concerns and pleas. McCain is in his 70s and perhaps like most would want to leave a legacy compatible with his political committment and be a true statesman. I think Mitt is doing this not just for his own political reasons: he loves America and will not want her to lose her sovereignty. Obama’s supposedly brainy but his ideas/spoken policies, so far, are too much to take. His foreign policy stinks _ The Middle-East is nothing like Vietnam… A pull-out from Vietnam was rational given the circumstance but an immediate departure from Iraq will definitely be disastrous. Political expediency dictates prudence … a weak Iraq is bound to foster a weakened ‘moderate’ rational Middle-East. Again, I applaud Mitt for being the better leader! Yes to McCain’s presidential quest.
February 14th, 2008 at 7:46 pm
Ann Marie, I too was all set to consider endoring McCain, but… Have you seen the press conference segment between McCain and Romney. Romney does not look quite in his environment when he urged his delegates to get behind McCain. For one, he was not gesturing — in fact, he looked like he had his hands in pockets! It was not until QA (I think) when Mitt was in his usual form. The whole time, every single second, McCain does not look at all comfortable. Every single second, he looked like he was ready to pounce on Mitt, to bolt off the stage, or to do anything but being a man about it. I am not sure they both really are in it together. Mitt is doing this for the sake of this party, not for McCain, and he is a good man for doing it. But, you cannot ignoring the fact that Mitt is not exactly jumping with joy to endore McCain.
February 14th, 2008 at 7:49 pm
And oh yes, I’m now in wait-and-see attitude and see how much McCain will extend effort to us conservatives. He may forget us as soon as he secure his nomination! I do not want to have a liberal person showing the whole world what the Republican Party is about, because this is a true way to destroy any chance the conservatives have in returning the country to who it belongs, the Americans themselves! So, I am waiting and see what McCain will be like the next few months.
February 14th, 2008 at 8:09 pm
Absolutely NOT. I will NOT cast my vote for Mr. McCain. Since when have the People of the United States been told that they can only vote for 1 of 2 candidates? This is total B.S. What happened to the power of the people? What has happened to the voting power? How have we dug ourselves into a pit of providing only 2 candidates to lead 300 million people? Not to mention the millions of others in the free world.
Oh yeah, we must remain within the status quo! Right? We, the people, must completely lower ourselves to the degradation of McCain. Right? Oh yeah, again, for the sake of the “Party”. Right? Oh yeah, I forget, that we are dumb sheep, wanting to be lead by the MSM, Hollywood and McCain. Right?
Excuse me for wanting something better and something higher off the ground than a snake. I know, that if Jesus were here, today, he would lead a grassroots effort, outside the “norm” of our sucky, crappy and useless way of nominee-conclusions, to bring about a candidate that is worthy of the position.
People of the United States, we have the power within each of us to put into motion a standard that is not set by bad men, to reach out and elect someone other than the 1 Rep and 1 Dem. Why must we yoke ourselves to such pitiful circumstances?
Can you imagine what the Founding Fathers would want to say to us right now? In this situation that we have got ourselves into? They would absolutely roll over in their graves. They would laugh us to scorn - for a McCain nomination.
Bottom line, I will NOT vote for McCain. I will not lower myself to such degradation. I have the power within me to rise above that and to make a difference in the world by doing something that could bring about what the PEOPLE really want? Not what a few want the masses to do.
February 14th, 2008 at 8:29 pm
The only encouraging thing I took from Mitt’s press conference was McCain’s comment that Mitt will be involved in the future of the party and will be helping to elect local conservative congressmen. Does that mean he’ll be the head of the RNC?
I know Mitt had his political reasons for making this decision and I’m confident it’s the right thing for him to do at this time. For me and my house…….we will still vote for Mitt in our primary on 3/4 and withhold judgement for November. I am NOT a McCain fan at all and can’t see ever voting for him.
February 14th, 2008 at 8:31 pm
Ann, I find it offensive to have a McCain flash banner across the top of the pages now.
February 14th, 2008 at 8:59 pm
There is a lot of time left between now and the convention and I think Mitt is making the best decision with what can be foreseen or given the circumstances as they now exist. I personally wonder whether John McCain will be a viable candiate when it comes time for the convention, delegates or no delegates. In other words, we as voters do not have to make decisions today unless you have a primary coming up and then I would vote for Romney regardless. John McCain has had a lot of things break his way. His candicacy has been largely propped up by the MSM, open primaries, and an over supply of “conservative candiates.” He has been winning by pluarlity votes in the 30 percentile range and that would be reflected going forward with an even lower persentile if Thompson, Guiliana, and everyone else were still in this race. McCain may have “peaked too soon” in what has been a very unusual race for the White House. There are all kinds of potential “personal” and “political” issues that could sink JM before the convention. We see through a glass darkly. Politically speaking John McCain is walking with crutches. The evidence of that is that his “support” has to depend voting against HC or BO. The support that is actually for him is very weak. The Dems will take those crutches out a.s.a.p.
February 14th, 2008 at 9:19 pm
When it comes right down to it, we decide how we react to any given situation. I am reminded of the story of the little girl who got a pile of manure for Christmas. She immediately grabbed a shovel and started digging. “There has to be a pony in here somewhere”, was her comment.
Another quick quote. Abraham Lincoln said, “”If you look for the bad in people expecting to find it, you surely will.”
I have to stop taking potshots at McCain. It does nothing good and only makes me angrier. Hatred breeds hatred. Anger breeds anger. I prefer not to be hating or angry. So it is time to move on.
I have always admired McCain’s service in the war. And I have appreciated his fight against earmarks and his support of the GWOT. I shall concentrate on that. Hopefully I will be able to someday stand with Mitt Romney and endorse McCain as President.
Mitt is a better person than I at this point. McCain has publicaly been far worse on him than upon me. If Romney can forgive and move on, then I surely can. It may take awhile. I have had misgivings about Senator McCain since the 2000 campaign, and the ensuing years have not dampened them. It is time to start digging for the pony.
We need to do as Ronald Reagan’s 1976 followers did — unite behind the party’s nominee. And no, I am not interested in 2012 speculation. It is time to worry about 2008.
February 14th, 2008 at 9:33 pm
Um, I may come around, but not because of what Romney says or does (no sheep here, I have my own mind, and use it). Some of us will just take longer to get used to the new realities.
I do have to agree with Alex, though. Mitt looked and sounded infinitely more presidential than McCain today.
February 14th, 2008 at 10:03 pm
Yes, on TV Mitt dwarfed McCain and it really was a bit saddening to know that the roles weren’t reversed when I was watching. That’s all!
February 14th, 2008 at 10:07 pm
Frozone,
I remember Ronald Reagan and Gerald Ford at the 1976 Convention. Gerald Ford had just won the nomination and asked that Reagan come up on the stand to share the moment. Reagan — being the professional communicator — hesitated knowing that this was supposed to be Ford’s moment. But you don’t say no to your candidate for President, so up he came. When the delegates saw Reagan at the Rostrum, they went nuts. Watching the two men side by side, it was obvious that Reagan had been right. Even though Reagan attempted to give the moment to Ford, more than one person watching that night (including Ford supporters) felt that the Republicans had just nominated the wrong man.
Contrast that to the Democrat’s convention of the same year. Carter and Teddy Kennedy had fought a long, hard battle. Carter won and invited Kennedy up to the podium. Kennedy didn’t hesitate for a second. He came up, and made no attempt to show the disdain he had for Carter. His contempt for Carter was palpable. He literally turned his back to Carter and barely acknowledged him.
I would prefer to be more like Reagan than Kennedy. I would prefer to be supporting someone than holding them in contempt. So I am going to try to work at supporting McCain.
Time to dig for the pony.
February 14th, 2008 at 10:32 pm
No, I’m not voting for McCain. Period. If there was ever any doubt, today’s stumbling, mumbling sheep- dog performance by Gramps convinced me that a general election debate with Obama, regardless of the substance, will be utterly painful to watch and totally embarrassing to Republican supporters. I’ll wait for 2012 or vote independent this year.
February 14th, 2008 at 10:37 pm
Me too, I said I wouldn’t, but the situation has changed, so will I.
February 14th, 2008 at 11:07 pm
Ann Marie, I wish I could find your email address. I can’t get signed up right to use the chat feature.
February 14th, 2008 at 11:11 pm
Mark, I had been, and still am, trying to give McCain every chance. I have been keeping looking for good things he has offered. I read quite a few articles pointing out what he can offer to our country. But, still, there are occassional hiccup, a big one, like today’s Romney’s endorement of McCain. I watched the live stream from Fox News, and you can actually cut with butter knife the tension that was there between these two. It is so obviously, too obviously, on video! You cannot ignore the fact that McCain does not like Romney. For me, Romney is what represents conservatives (conervative face, if you will), so it’s like he’s not thrilled to be with the conservatives. I am still trying hard, really hard, to get behind McCain, but we also cannot ignore that McCain will be in the situations (as he has for the past year) where we get the impression that he’d rather not to have us. I personally am still thinking of vote third party only because McCain won’t be that much better than any of the Democratic candidate, regardless of many articles I have read that indicated otherwise. Their arguments are very weak, and have too many assumptions about McCain. In fact, I find many of those articles talking about McCain as he was pre-2000, but almost silent on how he has been since 2000!
February 14th, 2008 at 11:24 pm
Well, Mitt is posturing to be the head conservative and to be the one who held the Republican party together. If he succeeds in getting McCain elected, there is no doubt that McCain will have to allow Romney and those who follow Romney to have a say in some of the policies that McCain is so dangerously misguided on. This is a good move on Romney’s part and I support him.
It’s one thing to have a liberal loon in the White House who gets a bunch of awful laws passed that can be changed years later. But when we surrender to the terrorists and have a Supreme Court full of lefty loony legislating judges, it is slightly harder to push “rewind” and make changes to those bad policy decisions. McCain is the only candidate left in the race who could possibly avoid making such awful decisions.
With Romney’s high-class announcement, I too reluctantly support John McCain for President of the United States. Hopefully he can show us in the coming months that we won’t be sorry for supporting him.
February 14th, 2008 at 11:55 pm
I’ve never seen McCain look so old as he did tonight on Larry King. He is old and feeble. I sure hope he puts in Mitt to do some of the campaigning for him. I just don’t think he’ll have the energy.
February 14th, 2008 at 11:56 pm
Nobody needs anybody right now the way McCain needs Mitt. If McCain chooses Huck, it’s over for the republicans.
February 15th, 2008 at 12:06 am
Hi Ann,
I want to thank you and all the bloggers for your hard work and dedication to see Gov. Mitt Romney elected to the office of the President. I have a been a constant supporter and admirer of Mitt since 2002, when I first heard about him. I have also been reading this blog for about 8 months, eagerly waiting for the American people to elect the most qualified man in decades as President. None of that came to pass. Along the way, I watched other lackluster, populist, fake, and altogether moderate to liberal candidates attack him and try to make their case. And, from the beginning, I swore I would never support John McCain. His immigration policy, nonexistent economic policies, and his constant desire to insult conservatives turned me against McCain long before he was Mr. Straight Talk. He has sought to insult conservatives ever since he was elected. Can we forget that he wanted to switch parties only a few years ago? No, I cannot. I cannot forget the amnesty bill he attempted to ram down America’s throat. I cannot forget his veto on nearly every tax cut since he was in office (each of which has led to a generally healthy economy over the past 5 years). He has been disloyal to everything conservative, and now he expects conservatives to be loyal to him. I think not.
Today I was very disheartened by Romney’s endorsement of McCain, and I think he has lost a significant amount of credibility now that he has chosen this path. Instead of compromising our views in exchange for McCain’s, conservatives need to stand strong for the values and reasons we supported Gov. Romney in the first place. For other reasons, Gov. Romney believes what he is doing is best for the country. And I respect him for that. Unfortunately, I believe his political clout, utterly awe-inspiring leadership capabilities, and bedrock conservative values would be better preserved for another day.
February 15th, 2008 at 12:18 am
I can’t support his endorsement; I’m jumping off the bandwagon now. Mitt’s true colors really came out today, he’s showing us that he will do anything, say anything to get to higher office, I lost respect for him today, maybe I should have long ago.
February 15th, 2008 at 12:35 am
McLameBrain is not the answer and sorry…I am not a lemming.
This is still America and I will make my choice for myself.
I can only hope for a brokered convention and maybe Mitt will be revived there after some serious battles in the backrooms.
And Mitt should not take the VP if offered. It would be an insult…besides it would not be a good fit for either McLameBrain or Mitt.
February 15th, 2008 at 12:44 am
RC, you are fiery and inspiring. If we allow McCain to remake our party, it will be our party in name only. This is simply wrong. Stand up to the Republican Establishment or they will do this to us again. The long run is more important than the short run and we will sink our ship if we move left now. Last but far from least, I believe John McCain’s temperament will bring us into WWIII. The tensions with Russia, Iran, Syria and Venezuela right now are at fever pitch. McCain will butt heads and sparks (and more) will fly. I cannot vote to put his finger on the button.
February 15th, 2008 at 1:05 am
I saw a bit of the video of Mitt endorsing McCain. Mitt completely dwarfed McCain. He most definitely looked presidential today. I have still been toying with third party candidate vote but know I just can’t. We have quite a few months in between now and the election on November 4th, anything can happen. I am not thrilled, Romney still has my heart, McCain needs to earn my trust.
February 15th, 2008 at 1:34 am
Ann Marie Curling,
Bravo and kudos!
You have now passed the test of a winning coalition.
After a hard, long and tought fight, you realizes that we all need to unite and forgive so that we can MOVE FORWARD with the GOP agenda of winning the war against Islamofascism, (beginning with a victory in Iraq), lowering taxes, shrinking the size of government (including PORK) and healthcare reform WITHOUT a federal government take-over.
Just imagine if everytime one segment of a coalition sat out every time they lost to another part of the coalition. The coalition would NEVER win! We fought hard and lost some things. But, we didn’t lose life, judges or our border being secured with a fence.
Furthermore, now that Mitt has thrown his all toward efforts of helping John McCain beat the Democrats and Republicans winning back the House and Senate, we actually have a chance at victory, although it is a still a VERY steep hill we must all still climb.
Perish the thought of trying to get Mitt elected in 2012 if we fail now. The Democrats could make it VERY difficult to be able to mount an effective campaign against them due to their legislation that they will probably be able to pass if they win this election in a land-slide. With up to 6 Supreme Court justices to fill in the next few years, they could stack the court with liberal ideologues that could pass virtuously any P.C. judicial edict they deemed fit, including ones that could further inhibit conservatives at every turn.
Those that REFUSE to fight hard had better explain to our children why they didn’t help McCain win when conservative ideas and ideals were just about to make a major comeback.
Go McCain - Romney 2008!
February 15th, 2008 at 1:59 am
Republicans got what they wanted and now they will look really stupid. They should have rallied around Mitt but they want to move the party to the center so they thought McCain was the better man for the job. Who knows what the repubs will want 4 years from now. It seems America wants moderate to liberal government. The evangelicals seem to have a real problem with Mitt so how will a conservative Mitt Romney ever get elected?
February 15th, 2008 at 2:48 am
Well, this is extremely disappointing. I won’t follow you, Ann. Never. McCain has screwed the conservative movement over and over again. His sins cannot be so easily forgiven.
Now not only do I feel like I’ve been abandon by my party, but I feel like I’ve been abandon by Romney and my fellow Romney supporters who I have thought so highly of. This just keeps getting worse and worse. I feel like curling up somewhere and crying.
February 15th, 2008 at 8:08 am
This entire subject will became even more difficult for all of us in the general. Remember, in the primaries, Obama has to ” Out Left” Hillary to get the Dem nomination. He has been remarkable in doing that without too many new lefty ideas. In the general, he will pick a far more conservative running mate and move his entire campaign to the center left, knowing the Libs have no where else to go. He will ” squeeze” the Republican conservatives right and abscond with McCain’s cherished moderates and independents. What a disaster in the making. His intention is to run a series of stand up Lincoln Douglas debates on specific issues with Grandpa McCain. It will be UGLY
February 15th, 2008 at 10:03 am
How you ever been to Kings Island Theme Park just outside of Cincinnatti, Ohio? They have a ride there called the “King Cobra” roller coaster. If you have ever seen videos of people while on the ride, you can get a glimpse of what this years election will be like.
I am saddened to see that “the people of the United States” have blindly put the balance of their lives (financially, socially, economically and domestically) into one man - McCain. What ever happened to the “power of the people” that made us free?
We are now wallering in the political mire, with the consolation that we are all pigs and pigs get messy from time to time. The Republican Party has been dismantling for years and has reached the threshold of breaking into a million pieces.
I WILL NOT stoop to the level of endorsing McCain to be that man. I will not be involved with this mess. America’s consumption of “APATHY” from the political dinner table has resulted in its citizens having to live with America’s Broken Promise.
February 15th, 2008 at 10:13 am
This has nothing to do with forgiving McCain. I know the man believes what he is doing is right. This has to do with putting the importance of Constitutional principles above the party. This has to do with having a voice. I would support McCain if I didn’t think the poor man was mentally unstable. It is too important of a job. J. Martin, most of the people at in God we trust blog dot com feel the way you do if you want to come visit.
February 15th, 2008 at 12:33 pm
I’m with Ann Marie.
Like Mitt said, the issue that matters most is strongly fighting Jihadi terrorists. That’s more important than immigration reform, lowering taxes, or reversing Roe v. Wade. Despite his dirty campaign and apparent contempt for conservatives, John McCain is better on this issue than any remaining candidate. And, for those keeping score at home, he’s better on those other issues as well. McCain didn’t attack me personally the way he seemed to attack Romney so I have to think this is easier for me to swallow than it was for Romney.
I always figured that, if he lost, Romney would support McCain and ask me to do the same. Again, the biggest threat facing this country is not illegal aliens, legal abortion, tax hikes, or looming recession (knock-on-wood) — it’s the fanatical zeal to attack us nursed in hearts and minds within radical islam. Romney understood that and McCain understands it better than Obama or Clinton. All of McCain’s personal affronts do not make this less true.
The bitterness splitting the party has to be addressed and I deeply admire Romney for trying to resolve it despite McCain’s shocking vitriol during the campaign. Now that my fears have been realized, if Romney can get past McCain’s dirty politics, so can I.
(unless McCain chooses Huckabee as VP — that would be a whole new caliber of poor judgment and, added to the pile, could no longer be overlooked)
February 15th, 2008 at 12:42 pm
WE NEED ROMNEY FOR VP! http://www.unitethegop.com
Even with Romney’s Endorsement of McCain we need to send the message to the GOP and McCain that Conservatives still want Romney. We want him as our VP. If we continue to vote for him in the upcoming primaries we will be able to convey that message effectively. Romney continued to get votes even after his suspension, and I have NO DOUBT he will continue to get votes after the endorsement. This will continue to gain delegates for him, even though ultimately the delegates will most likely vote for McCain at the Convention. At which point, we hope we have a McCain-Romney ticket.
February 15th, 2008 at 12:56 pm
JoyPB, would that be you, Joy Bischoff, a moderator on World Economy, Judaeo-Christian Values Under Attack, Presidential Election 2008, and What’s News? InGodWetrustBlog.com looks like a good site. If you are the moderator, good job!
February 15th, 2008 at 2:15 pm
SGS, thank you very much. We are trying very hard to not attack any viewpoints nor John McCain personally but we are concerned that he will move the party left so we try and focus on principles behind the Constitution. We hope that in understanding where our freedoms stem from, we will be more able to uphold them.
February 15th, 2008 at 6:58 pm
I know for a fact if Barrack Obama is the Dem ..nominee, John McCain will get routed. I think McCain is a better candidate but everyone is going to go with history in electing the first black man. I have no doubt that Barrack will run away with it in a landslide. I hope I’m not being too negative but because of Bush’s unpopularity right now with the country and with the mood of the country being so dower, people are going to resonate to Barracks Positive, Hope Message. I hope Mitt is ready to take a 8 year vacation to unseat the Democrats. If McCain has MItt on the ticket, I hope for a miracle at that.