comMITTed to Romney!

Governor Romney had a great day Saturday in Ames and Team Romney has used the event to maximum advantage since their victory.

Now it’s time for the Iowa GOP to do the right thing. As I understand it, the Ames Straw Poll is the major fundraiser for the state party. Money from the straw poll will fund legislative candidates, state-wide candidates, and numerous party activities. Without the money from the straw poll, the Iowa GOP would be damaged terribly and their effectiveness would be cut dramatically.

McCain, Guiliani, and Thompson knew of the Iowa GOP’s dependence on the straw poll when they decided to drop out of the race. In effect, they said “Screw the Iowa GOP. We can’t handle the bad press when Mitt Romney cleans our clocks.” It was a clear message to every Republican in the state of Iowa that these candidates simply don’t care about the Iow GOP.

After the other “top tier” candidates ran away from the beating that they were going to take in Iowa, Governor Romney’s campaign had a decision to make. They could have easily said that because of the other defections that they would take their time and money and invest them elsewhere. While not winning the straw poll, they would have avoided the “empty victory” stories that we’ve seen over the past couple of days.

Instead, Governor Romney kept his word to Iowa Republicans and made a terrific effort at the Straw Poll. Tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of dollars along with tremendous national media attention flowed to the Iowa GOP because of Governor Romney’s decision. Had Governor Romney pulled out, the Staw Poll would likely have collapsed.

With these facts in mind, I call on the Republican Party of Iowa to formally endorse the candidacy of Gov. Mitt Romney for the Republican nomination for President. Governor Romney stood with the Iowa GOP, and now is the time for the Iowa GOP to stand with Governor Romney!

I urge everyone who reads this to contact Ray Hoffman, Chairman of the Republican Party of Iowa, and tell him that it’s time for the Iowa GOP to endorse Governor Romney. You can contact Chairman Hoffman at (515) 282-8105 or ray@iowagop.org.

If you are a blogger, I hope you will post Chairman Hoffman’s contact information on your blog and urge your readers to contact him in support of an endorsement for Governor Romney! This movement can take off if we get Governor Romney’s netroots involved.

-Kyle Joseph Farmer

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I need an exit poll from Ames! It seems that Team Mitt did a fantastic job, and I sure do hope they get the result they deserve.

My wonderful wife, Kristi, is probably what most people would consider to be a “normal” person when it comes to politics. She pays attention and votes, but she’s not quite the freak that I am. So, she often is a pretty good barometer on issues. When she found out that McCain and Guiliani had skipped the event, she was surprised and felt that they owed the citizens of Iowa to be there to receive their Romney butt kicking.

-Kyle Joseph Farmer

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Back on July 7th, I stated my belief that the constant Fred Thompson announcement delay was due to poor fundraising. The subsequent dismissal of many of Thompson’s original campaign staff only deepened that impression for me.

It turns out that his numbers were even worse than I thought! According to breaking news at The Politico, Thompson raised only $3 million in June!

I’m truly shocked by this news. It appears that, despite all the media coverage and the advantages given to non-candidates, Thompson simply could not raise first-tier dollars. The quasi-campaign’s total bungling of the fact that Thompson lobbied on behalf of abortionists further shows that this campaign is not worthy of the status that the MSM has given it.

Here’s a quote from The Politico:

But many Republicans have turned queasy as Thompson has ousted part of his original brain trust and repeatedly delayed his official announcement, which is now planned for shortly after Labor Day, in the first two weeks of September.

Some are already saying a prospective Thompson run is a flop. “I just don’t see it anymore,” said a key Republican who had been extremely enthusiastic about a Thompson candidacy.

“That number is really underwhelming. There were indications it could be double that. They’ve been saying that people were waiting Fred, and the money was going to pour in. He looks like he’s already losing momentum.”

-Kyle Joseph Farmer

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While I was working out this morning, I caught that FoxNews is going to do a piece on the Mitt Mobile and the Five Brothers. You can catch it by watching On The Record tonight at 10 PM EDT. Looks like it should be interesting!

-Kyle Joseph Farmer

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I’m spending this week in Washington, DC at the Leadership Institute’s Candidate Development School. If you’re not familiar with LI, you should check them out!

Anyway, this morning I took a tour of the White House. I couldn’t help but thinking that it looked like the perfect place for Governor Romney to take up residence come 2009!

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One of the biggest lessons that my Mother taught me growing up was to be early. Even with two wild boys in tow, my Mom was never late to anything. She said that being late to an event showed that you didn’t care about the event and that being late to meet people showed that you didn’t respect the folks that you were meeting with. Mom believed it was incredibly selfish to be late. To this day, my brother and I are early to everything!

One of the things that most bothered me about President Clinton was his constant tardiness. I thought revealed a great deal about his personality that we have had confirmed by numerous sources.

Now, I have a bit of a confession to make. I like Rudy Guiliani. I’m not going to vote for him in a Primary, but he’s got real charisma. I disagree with him about far more than McCain, but I find myself enjoying McCain’s demise much more than I will enjoy Rudy’s eventual defeat at the hands of GMR.

But, I may have to re-think liking Rudy. I know Mom wouldn’t like this!

-Kyle Joseph Farmer

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Folks outside of Ohio may not be familiar with Ken Blackwell. Ken won a bloody primary for Governor in Ohio last year before being caught up in the anti-Republican wave in November. I was proud to serve as his campaign’s Communications Director in my home county. Ken is a rock-solid Reagan conservative and one of the most dynamic speakers you’ll ever hear. The voters in Ohio made a horrible mistake when they didn’t elect Ken as Governor.

Anyway, Ken now writes a regular column for Townhall. Today he takes a candid look at Governor Romney and his campaign. He comes to the same conclusion that Team Romney has…..win early to set up for Tsunami Tuesday. Here’s some of what Ken had to say about GMR:

He is well-educated, a successful businessman, and was an effective governor. He’s a pro-business, economic conservative. He is a good speaker with a charming and friendly manner. He has tremendous wealth, $9 million of which he’s already contributed to his campaign. He even looks presidential, with his good looks and a supportive wife and family. That’s all positive.

You can read the article here.

-Kyle Joseph Farmer

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Governor Romney had an amazing fundraising quarter here in the Buckeye State. Check this out:

Former Massachusetts Gov. Romney continued strong fund-raising efforts in Ohio, raising $198,531.75 in the state during the quarter. Romney continues to dwarf all other presidential candidates in funds raised in Ohio with $701,662 raised, easily surpassing Obama and Clinton, with their $491,014 and $435,173, respectively. Romney has benefited from a strong showing in the Cincinnati area, raising $487,550 there to date. Romney’s close ties to Cincinnati-area businessman and political backer Carl H. Linder continue to pay dividends for him, despite lagging behind fellow Republicans Giuliani, U.S. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson in most polls.

I think it is an excellent sign that GMR is posting such amazing numbers in Ohio. His opponents, especially the Democrats, have been spending some time in the Buckeye State which makes these numbers even more impressive.

-Kyle Joseph Farmer

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Here’s an update on the long-shot bid of State Senator Eric Kearney to move Ohio’s Primary Election up from its current March position:

Kearney’s legislation would send Ohio’s late March 4 primary leapfrogging to the last Tuesday in January with Florida and South Carolina. The January date would place just three primaries earlier than Ohio: the New Hampshire primary, the Iowa caucus and the Nevada Democratic caucus. Under the current calendar, Ohio’s March 4 primary falls after 35 states and the District of Columbia’s primaries.

Senator Kearney is a Democrat and the Ohio Senate is still controlled by Republicans, so I have serious doubts that this will even have a committee hearing.

You can read the entire article here.

-Kyle Joseph Farmer

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Team Romney has released it seventh TV ad that will begin airing today in Iowa, NH, and South Carolina.

For some good analysis of the ad, check out Jonathan Martin here.

And, of course, watch the commerical:

-Kyle Joseph Farmer

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The Columbus Disgrace, er, I mean Dispatch, is reporting that a bill has been introduced in the Ohio Senate to move Ohio’s Primary up to February 5th. Ohio is normally a May primary state, but in 2000, the Ohio Legislature moved up Ohio’s Presidential primary to March to help native-son John Kasich. As with many things that government does, the move didn’t help Kasich who had dropped out of the race by March 2000 and for reasons that still aren’t clear to me, nobody bothered to move the primary date back. So, we now have a March primary every fours years that does nothing except cause local candidates to do door-to-door in the snow during the five hours of daylight we have here in Ohio in January and February.

I have asked everyone I can think of, including the Chairman of the Ohio Republican Party, to move the primary either up to February or back to May. I actually prefer the May date because of its impact on local elections. The Ohio GOP Chairman is convinced that no candidate will emerge from Tsunami Tuesday with enough delegates to win the nomination, which will make Ohio critical in March. I understand the logic, but I don’t know if I agree. The Democrat Chair is also against moving the Primary from March, and the House and Senate Caucuses are against any move as well.

So, we’re stuck with a stupid March primary, unless this new bill gets some traction, which is highly unlikely. I like to think about it though, because that would mean the Governor Romney would have to spend some time here in Ohio!!!

-Kyle Joseph Farmer

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Earlier this week, Senator John McCain (champion of campaign finance regulation) participated in a conference call with top donors while standing the the Senate Republican Cloakroom. The Senator wanted to reassure them that his campaign for the Presidency was in great shape despite most of his senior staff dashing for the exits, the firing of a majority of his field staff in key early primary states, and having less money on hand than fringe candidate Ron Paul.

Well, it turns out that it’s against ethics rules to participate in campaign activities (like conference calls) inside Senate facilities. And, if he asked for any contributions during the call, he violated federal law.

You can read the entire article here.

-Kyle Joseph Farmer

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If the news that Ron Paul had more cash on hand after the 2nd quarter than John McCain was the beginning of the end, then the news that Chris shared regarding the resignations of McCain’s top two advisors might be viewed as the middle of the end.

You can read more by Jonathan Martin at The Politico by clicking here.

I’d like to think the end of the end involves a press conference where McCain throws his support behind Governor Romney, but that may be too much wishful thinking!

-Kyle Joseph Farmer

UPDATE:
It now appears, according to Jonathan Martin, that Terry Nelson was fired by McCain this morning. This prompted the resignations of both John Weaver and Mark Salter. This leaves Rick Davis, who was McCain’s campaign manager in 2000, in almost total control of the campaign.

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The Politico has a good article here on why Governor Romney may have Iowa wrapped up already. If you’re new to Governor Romney’s campaign and the importance of Iowa, then this is a great article to read. I personally love the headline which labels GMR “organization man.” I know the importance of solid campaign organization for success, and I’m thrilled to see the media beginning to see the strong executive qualities that the Governor possesses.

Here are a couple quotes from the article:

Six months before the Iowa caucuses, Mitt Romney has taken a commanding organizational lead in this traditional kick-off state.

The former Massachusetts governor has 20 full-time staffers, coordinators in most of the state’s 99 counties, and a group of about 50 “super volunteers” that has already swept through the universe of likely caucus-goers with initial phone calls and have begun going door to door in key precincts.

I bet our own Jeff Fuller falls into the “super volunteer” category!

So for now it’s Romney and then everyone else here.

The effort, directed by Iowa native Gentry Collins, is lauded by most every neutral observer as superior.

-Kyle Joseph Farmer

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Yesterday, the AP reported here that former Senator and Lobbyist Fred Thompson will not disclose his fundraising for his quasi-campaign for the Presidency. It seems to me that this is an obvious sign that they have fallen well below their goal of $5 million.

Less than two hours later, the AP dropped this little bombshell:

The Los Angeles Times reported on its Web site that Thompson was retained by National Family Planning and Reproductive Health Association to lobby the administration of President George H.W. Bush to ease a regulation that prevented clinics that received federal money from offering any abortion counseling.

You can find the entire article here.

The entire Thompson campaign seems to be based on two ideas: that there is this huge “draft” movement out there and the ridiculous notion that Thompson would be the only “real” conservative in the race. This two stories destroy these myths. If there were a huge grassroots movement for Thompson they would have raised enough money to release the total rather than hiding behind FEC laws. And if Thompson were the “pure” conservative in the race then I don’t think he would have been profiting from working on behalf of abortionists back in the early 1990’s.

-Kyle Joseph Farmer

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