comMITTed to Romney!

Hey Everyone,

Sorry I couldn’t really “write-up” anything last night. I was extremely tired, and the rally last night caused me to have this major headache so looking at the monitor really was the last thing I wanted to do. But, it was an incredible event. I can’t tell you how exciting it was to be sitting (and standing) up there on stage behind our great candidate Governor Romney. It was so cool to see the crowd from that angle. I believe I kinda stunned Governor Romney being there, and he was so gracious to give me about two minutes of his time as he was swarmed by crowds of supporters. I also appreciated Matt allowing me to get the picture of him and his new baby, that was precious. I also loved that I knew so many people from previous Romney events (like Lou Sheldon from the Faith Speech in Texas), and of course Jim Davies whom I’ve been emailing back and forth with for what seems like forever now. This event definitely will leave an indelible mark on my psyche for a long time to come. I also loved phone banking with the great people that I did it with. Their spirit and tenacity just kept everyone going. As soon as you’d get a “good one” you’d share it with others, and the same with them and it just kept our momentum strong throughout the entire time. Also seeing someone wearing “my” t-shirt was just incredibly AWESOME! Later, she put on one of my Elect Romney in 2008 buttons (the one with his face on it), and one of my mini CTR (Choose the Romney) buttons. It was just so cool. Then, a friend of hers was sporting one as well. It was just so awesome! I’d have to say that the best sign that I saw was a FHE w/Mitt one. For those of you who aren’t LDS our church has one night a week (called Family Home Evening..aka FHE) where you come together as a family (normally it’s on a Monday night), and you share a lesson or just be with your family. Well, since Mitt did his rally on Monday how funny to see a sign saying that. How appropriate. Made me really laugh. Now I head down to SD to hopefully “close the deal” for Romney. GO MITT! And to those of you in Primary or Caucus states HIGH TAIL IT TO THE POLLS AND VOTE FOR ROMNEY, and encourage all of your friends and family to do the same!!!

Thanks again to all of you for what you do, it’s so appreciated!

Ann Marie

P.S. I visited the Reagan Library yesterday morning, took almost 500 shots there, when I get home I’ll get some of the best ones and post them here. That was one heck of an awesome thing to do. I wish I could go there whenever I wanted, what a way to reflect and just meditate. What a wonderful place, and even more wonderful man!

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Anybody out there notice how much Mr. Huckabee has been whining lately? For Mr. Huckabee, using a constant  litany of personal attacks of Governor Romney is not enough — now he is resorting to accusations of “voter suppression.” This man is a piece of work. Huck’s entire quiver is full of straw, each of which is one clever personal or snide remark after another. Par for the course for that man. Think for a moment what the press would do to Governor Romney if he even one time used any of the language Huckabee has used all along.

Remember what this Baptist minister told the world he would do with a flagpole?

CBS NEWS — Romney To Huckabee: “No Whining” — by Scott Conroy

Do we have a new moniker for him? What about “Huckawhiner“?

ATLANTA — Mitt Romney fired back against Mike Huckabee over the former Arkansas governor’s accusation that Mitt Romney has engaged in “voter suppression” in arguing that a vote for Huckabee is a vote for John McCain.

“I don’t think he’s chosen the right word,” Romney said at a press conference after speaking to hundreds of enthusiastic supporters at a rally here. “It’s not voter suppression. I want people to vote, but I want them to vote for me. That’s sort of the nature of politics, as I understand it.”

In recent days, Romney has avoided responding to Huckabee’s barrage of attacks, as the former Massachusetts governor seeks to portray the nomination fight as a two-man race between himself and McCain. But in his remarks this afternoon, Romney hit back hard.

“First a couple of rules in politics,” he said. “One: no whining. And number two: you get them to vote for you and so I want them not to vote for Mike Huckabee and not to vote for John McCain and to vote for me … that’s not voter suppression. That’s known as politics.”

Romney was flanked by former Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Penn. — a prominent conservative advocate who endorsed Romney last week. Santorum stepped to the microphone to make his own case about why Romney is the only choice for voters who want a conservative candidate as the Republican nominee.

“The reason I got in this race is I wanted to make sure a conservative got elected,” Santorum said. “I’ve been saying for a year that it isn’t John McCain. I think more and more people are coming to that conclusion — that it’s not John McCain. The alternative — the only alternative — to stop the McCain ‘Twisted Talk Express’ is Mitt Romney.”

I have a prediction: If after the results tomorrow, if Huckawhiner gets a total of 4% (like Florida), 5%, 6%, 7% of all possible non-evangelical votes, he will stay in the race. At this point, I think he knows the VP slot will not be his. It has to be a total vanity play for the man. Either way, we will see more personal attacks coming out of his quiver.

~ Vic

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“CHANGE BEGINS WITH US”

Mitt Romney TOUR STOP

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 2008

7:00 PM

AT

DAUGHERTY SKY HARBOR

2801 EAST SPRING STREET

LONG BEACH, CALIFORNIA

This rally is not a fundraiser — IT IS FREE! Just come ready to scream! (direct quote by Matt Romney)

In the last three hours, I received email messages from David Parker, Jim Davies, and Matt Romney asking for all of us in California to spread the word about this appearance of Governor Romney tonight! Please forward this post to all those you know in California to get as many people as possible to this rally. I looked up the address in MapQuest; the location is immediately adjacent to the Long Beach Airport and next to I-405.

By David Parker:

Mitt Romney is surging in the polls with the coalescing of the conservative base of the Republican Party and is on a 10-state run before Super Tuesday. Amazingly, Mitt will be in California today, Monday February 4th. We are hosting a Rally for Mitt near the Long Beach Airport today at 7pm. Please gather your friends and family and join us. I will be sending out a follow up email with all of the details later this evening or first thing tomorrow.

Recent Polls have Mitt leading in California, Georgia, Colorado, Utah, Idaho, Massachusetts and several other Super Tuesday states, and Rasmussen’s daily tracking poll came out today showing Mitt and John McCain tied nationally. Every vote counts and we would encourage you to talk to your friends about voting for Mitt on Tuesday. Contrary to the media’s wanting of John McCain to win the day, Mitt is surging nationally and is well positioned for a strong Tuesday showing. This is going to be a very competitive race and we need to join with other conservative Republicans and Rally to and for Mitt.

Please gather as many as you are able and join us in Long Beach tomorrow evening. The media is watching, but more importantly, Mitt is truly energized and lifted when he feels the strength of those who support him. Speaking to Mitt after the Rally last week in Orange County, he told me how appreciative and strengthened he was because of such a great outpouring. He and Ann can feel the strength and encouragement of so many in this cause. We are bound as one at this critical time.

Thanks for taking the time to read this, but especially thanks in advance for coming out tomorrow evening. It promises to be a great and exciting, even electric event. This is a great time for you and your children to see, hear and meet the next President of the United States.

Please tell all your friends about this rally and take your family. If you have any fence-sitter friends or those who would like to meet Governor Romney, please bring them to this rally. BRING A LOT OF ENTHUSIAMSM.

~ Vic

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Following are three perspectives from those who went to see Governor Romney in person and to hear him speak earlier today. I did not have enough time to attend both events during the day, but did attend the luncheon. I have to run to a meeting tonight and don’t have time to provide my perspective, though I may later tonight after the meeting. I may also have other perspectives to give you. For now, here are David’s, Nancy’s, and Jenny’s:

David Damitz — Ladera Ranch, CA (Rally in Fountain Valley, CA):

My family has been watching the presidential primary very closely. We are concerned about the direction of the Republican party. My wife and I decided early on, that Mitt Romney has the total package of experience, character, and conservative principles that we hold dear.

When I found out earlier today that Gov. Romney was going to be appearing locally, my wife and I decided right away that we couldn’t turn down the opportunity to see him in person. In fact, we felt strongly enough that we pulled our two elementary school age children out of school so they could be a part of the event. They have been asking a lot of questions about politics and the primary process as we have watched the debates in our home.

We arrived at the location about 30 minutes before the scheduled start time of the event. Boy am I glad we did. Even arriving at that time, we were in the back of the room. A few minutes later and we probably wouldn’t have been able to get a spot inside. Once Gov Romney took the stage, I was impressed with him even more in person than I was previously through his TV appearances. I was struck by his energy and enthusiasm. I could tell that he believes in what he is doing and he is speaking from the heart. He was so excited that we even stumbled over some words. That showed me that he is not just reciting some tired and rehearsed talking points, but that these are things he truly believes in.

At the end of his remarks, he shook many hands on the way out. And although I wasn’t able to get close enough to shake his hand, I was able to see him close up and see how he was interacting with the crowd. I lifted up my kids so they could see him close up as well. I want them to be able to say that they were in the same room as the President of the United States. Even though it was hard for them to stand in a crowded room and not be able to see much, on the way to the car, they both remarked about what an exciting event it was to be a part of. I wholeheartedly agree.

To read a news account of the rally, click here —-> Romney finds his crowd in Fountain Valley rally — The Orange County Register
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Nancy Harline — San Clemente, CA (Luncheon in Irvine, CA):

Today in Irvine was the second time that I have had the opportunity of seeing Mitt Romney in person and hearing him speak in a luncheon room setting. Last March I attended a luncheon in San Diego as the campaign was just getting started. He talked comfortably and with conviction about many issues, not the least of which was immigration inasmuch as the border was only ten miles away. It was informative and he was impressive, but today was, for me, more electifying. He was not only warm, down to earth and engaging but there was a ready connection with me and, I think, many in the room.

There was such refreshing straight talk about the turns and twists of the campain and the REAL reasons that he feels so passionate about the future of this country. He spoke convincingly of the challenges our country faces globally as we could run the risk of slippage from a superpower to a second rate country potentially losing the economic and military edge that is vital to our freedom and well being. He is truly a patriot and you could sense that he feels deeply about how this time in our history is a critical turning point with the great issues facing us.

He is so engaging, personable, funny, humble AND handsome. It was as if we were all sitting in his family room and he was talking personally and intimately about things that matter most. I felt his honesty and openess about the road ahead and his optimism and pledge for his very best efforts to offer his service on our behalf. For me, I would have to say that I felt more committed and more personally invested than I ever have to a candidate. I came home to double check my email from his people to help with a phone call campaign this weekend. I told my husband I am going to sign up to call and I have never done anything like that before. This country will lose a golden opportunity for more focused prosperity and progress in the vital areas facing our nation if they do not wake up to who Mitt Romney really is. Today I felt more than ever he is a true patriot and we are so lucky he is offering his time and effort on our behalf.

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Jenny Wilson — Laguna Beach, CA (Luncheon in Irvine, CA):

I was fortunate to attend the luncheon for Governor Mitt Romney today in Irvine, CA. It was a pleasure for me to lend my support to the candidate who is most qualified to lead this country as President of the United States. As I listened to Governor Romney today, I was awed by his analysis of what America needs to do to stay a powerful nation, what the world needs from America to retain global vision of freedom and free trade, and what Washington must do to initiate needed changes. I felt more than ever that here was a man with unparalleled leadership skills, with the brilliance and world understanding to lead our nation to a place of prosperity and safety. As Governor Romney spoke, he also clearly demonstrated his personal integrity. I believe that the leader of the United States of America must have a strong sense of the importance of family, faith in a higher power and the character to live by what he believes. Governor Romney truly exhibits all of these values. In short, today Governor Romney proved yet again that he has every quality needed to bolster and sustain this country, and that he is the man Americans need to elect as their President.

THANK YOU David, Nancy, and Jenny for taking time to be “our eyes” to these great events!

~ Vic

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Many who read or write on this blog may feel disheartened by Romney’s “defeat” (actually a strong 2nd) in today’s Florida Primary. Certainly after much hard work by all of us it is only natural to sense some discouragement…somewhat like the wind being knocked out of your sails for a moment. We had expected a victory and we wouldn’t settle for less. As an avid lover of the sea I have noticed that the wind always returns and the sails fill again sending the ship to its intended destination.

Florida was one state out of fifty. Super Tuesday is coming. We cannot let the outcome of Florida betray our enthusiasm. Romney will win the Republican nomination for President of the United States.

Ann Romney brings immediate optimism with her statement, “This is just a send-off point; this is not an end.” I love the excitement she brings to the moment. What a great political partner to have in such a tight and contentious race!

One of the greatest Presidents in our history was an eternal optimist. After many political defeats (and one in particular), Lincoln told his friend Dr. Ray who continued to brood over Lincoln’s defeat, “You will soon feel better. Another blow up is coming; and we shall have fun again.” (Quoted from Team of Rivals)

Lincoln was not discouraged by his defeats…only his friends were. Like them, as we refocus our efforts towards Romney’s eventual nomination, we need to pull the bootstraps tight and start working the trenches just a bit harder. We are fighting for certain principles and for a better America. Each state individually is one stepping stone along the path to ultimate victory. The next contest is coming and it will be fun.

Just like Lincoln, Romney is winning the respect of others, earning their trust and even devotion as he moves along the campaign trail introducing himself to those who barely know him.

Read the following quotes about Lincoln’s strategy for the nomination. I think you will find them similar to Romney’s. These quotes are taken from A Team of Rivals.

As a dark horse, he knew it was important not to reveal his intentions too early, so as to minimize the possibility of opponents mobilizing against him.

It was important that any efforts on his behalf be squelched until the timing was right, and Lincoln, as would be evidenced throughout his presidency was a master of timing.

Not hindered by the hubris, delusions, and inconsistencies that plagued his three chief rivals, Lincoln gained steady ground through a combination of hard work, skill and luck. While his rivals felt compelled to reposition themselves toward the center of the party, Lincoln never changed his basic stance.

Though a successful bid for the nomination remained unlikely, a viable candidacy was no longer an impossible dream. Slowly and methodically, Lincoln set out to improve his long odds.

Most of his audiences had never laid eyes on him.

Once he began speaking he invariably forged an indelible impression, and left an impact on his listeners.

Though sensed by many to be an underdog candidate, Lincoln rose to the top and captured the nomination.

Romney is a master strategist. His focus for the nation is the right one. As we work “slowly and methodically” from state to state bringing the message of change, of fixing a broken Washington, and a re-commitment to time held American family values, I believe that America will listen, and the ‘long odds’ of success will be realized as we witness Romney place his hand on the Bible and swear and oath of duty as our next President.

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Hey, all Virginia Mittheads! How is the Virginia campaign faring? I remember posting the results of your petition drive some months ago. You collected over 15,000 signatures and wasn’t that on a single day?

I see that Virginia has 63 delegates. What a nice figure that would be to add to Mitt’s delegate count! Is your primary open or closed and what candidates are working the state?

Let us know what your state’s volunteers are doing and the results of any local polling being done.

Looking forward to hearing from you.

~~John Cronin~~

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Check Out this PDF for all the Details:
Change Begins With Us - An Event With Governor Mitt Romney

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Tuesday, January 22, 2008:
11:00 a.m. Ann Romney Attends Women for Mitt Early Lunch
Pat Bailey Residence
2 Little Bay Harbor
Ponte Vedra, Florida

1:30 p.m. Ann Romney Visits with Gainesville Area Voters at Afternoon Tea
Conestogas
14820 Main Street
Alachua, FL

3:30 p.m. Ann Romney Rides at Ocala School of Equestrian Art
5101 NW Highway 225A
Ocala, Florida

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Fox News’ commentary said Mitt had “hit a home run.”

Fox’s Frank Luntz said “With just two days to go, Mitt Romney hit a home run tonight.” Other key quotes about responses from Luntz’s focus group: “Mitt Romney consistently got the best responses throughout the evening…incredibly favorable.” “When Mitt Romney talked about where he stood on immigration, the dials shot through the roof.”

The overwhelming response in blogs is positive. Mitt really helped himself tonight.

From the National Review:

Kathryn Jean Lopez says:

“The fighter is out in him tonight. No one is going to call him a wimp tonight, that’s for sure. He’s taken initiative, from minute one. And he’s turned the tone of his campaign around. He’s letting Romney be Romney — the confident, forward-looking candidate with a conservative temperament he is — it was those qualities that first made me pay attention to him when he was in the statehouse. I think he’s being himself tonight. We saw him be himself during the religion speech. And we’re seeing it tonight. This Mitt is the Mitt we have to see everyday from hereon out. It took a while for him to be unleashed but I don’t think it’s too late by any stretch. Let Mitt be Mitt and Mitt might win.”

From Rich Lowry:

“Politics is a game of adjustments, and Romney adjusted to the debate from last night, realizing that he’d be under constant attack tonight and he’d better gird himself and go on offense. He spoke forcefully and put the case for himself as the reformist businessman in the best possible light. I think he basically dominated the first hour, and fell off a tab after that, but otherwise was truly excellent. His best performance yet, in very high pressure circumstances. His answers on taxes, job creation, and immigration were top notch … [I]f he somehow wins NH, tonight will be a big reason why.”

McCan’ts “Experience” Question; I.e., Why Not McCain?

McCain wants us to believe with 20+ years in Washington, and over the age of 80 at the end of a 2d term, he’d change his stripes and try to improve the system he’s helped construct and has benefited from for 2 1/2 decades. Sorry, but if he was serious about fixing something before he would have done it by now. And because of his age he’s a lame duck president on day 1. A nearly 80 year old with a history of a temper with his finger on the button? Quack quack. Others also noticed the McCain slam on Bush (the remark about governors). This is why McCain is NOT a republican candidate. I’ve heard one Senator say that if a secret poll were taken on the Senate floor, they’d nearly unanimously support Mitt over McCain, which McCain seems to acknowledge in his comment he hasn’t won any congeniality contests in the Senate. And he’s supposed to suddenly “change” and work with these people to get things done? GOP: IT’S NOT GOING TO HAPPEN. MCCAIN WILL CONTINUE TO DO WHAT HE’S DONE FOR THE PAST 24 YEARS.

Here’s another quote from Mark Levin tonight at the National Review in that regard:

“[C]ome on John McCain. You’re known in Washington as, well, very temperamental and holding grudges. Let’s not pretend you are Mr. Positive when, in fact, you are not.”

Expect mainstream republicans to reject this man, starting tomorrow in the AM radio shows when they call out his school-yard tactics with cohort Huckabee.

After Wyoming’s sweep by Mitt, McCain’s undignified attacks last night and Mitt’s performance tonight, expect Mitt’s poll numbers in NH to take a bounce upward. With the race being as tight as it is, Mitt’s performance tonight was big.

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Taking the Silver in Iowa.

Like Mitt said, it’s not what we’d hoped but it’s still a great finish, and preparation for the ultimate gold. We need to keep things humming along. What can you do? Make sure you make your phone calls for Mitt (if you’re not already a volunteer, contact the campaign to find out how to become one). As I said yesterday, considering where the campaign’s been and where it’s going it’s no time to get concerned about one bump in the road. Here are some facts to keep in perspective:

Wyoming’s caucuses are tomorrow, and both Mitt and McCain have big appearances on the Sunday shows. As “Richard” posted on Politico, Mitt can actually move into first place in the delegate count depending on the showing in Wyoming, and could even retain that lead with as much as a solid 2d place showing in NH.

“Isn’t it interesting people are making fun of Wyoming. That’s like football fans saying they don’t care about field goals. They would just as soon pass them up. Well, Mitt isn’t going to pass anything up. Since not very many people are aware, it takes 1191 Delegates to WIN the republican nomination. So far Huck has 20, Romney 18, McCain and Thompson 3, Paul 2 and Giuliani 1. Wyoming has 14 delegates up for grabs, New Hampshire 14 and Michigan 30. So, because the media looks to promote certain states, it truly is the number of delegates available. By the way, Romney, Thompson and Paul are the only ones that have been to Wyoming so watch them snatch up the delegates….”

I’m not sure these numbers are right but they’re roughly consistent with what I’ve read elsewhere. Mitt being in first place for delegates after NH is more than we could have hoped for a few months ago, and that’s a very achievable goal. We all knew it would be a close race; now we need to pitch in to make it happen! A quick stat: 2 of the 5 brothers were at the Des Moines airport early this morning, and at least one was headed to Wyoming, so Wyoming is clearly going to be feeling the love.

Mitt’s Game of 3D Chess

I happened to find my way into a Q&A Kevin Madden was giving to reporters before Mitt’s appearance at the Sheraton last night. Here are a few shots:

Kevin may have the best tie I’ve seen so far in the campaign, even including Mitt. Try to get a good look.

Kevin told them that Mitt’s playing 3D chess versus his opponents’ checkers, pursuing a multi-front war while his opponents have largely focused on one state. And (using my words) this race is like the Tour de France: winning a particular stage isn’t the important thing, it’s standings at the end. In Lance’s seven tour wins, he won on average fewer than 3 stages per year (20 total stages in 7 wins).

Bring on NH!

McCain is Mitt’s main competition in NH as we all know. Mitt has a new ad, as does McCain. In his, McCain blatantly spins a couple half-quotes from Mitt to make false claims. In one of Mitt’s statements Mitt said foreign policy expertise is easy to find; you can go to the State Department to find someone versed in knowledge, but that expertise (like McCain’s) alone isn’t enough. But the ad twists the statement to say Mitt would rely on the State Department for leadership, which was the exact opposite of what was intended. We need to make sure we call him on this sort of false claim and twisted quotes. So much for John remaining above negative campaiging (as if he’d ever tried).

As a result, now would be a good time to reinforce Mitt’s leadership experience and executive successes (contrasted to McCain’s 20+ years leisurely creating laws after dispatching lackeys to do the research for him). We need to remind people of Mitt’s strengths and that he’s succeeded at nearly everything he’s touched. A few talking points:

1. He had the leadership to turn around the Olympics.

2. He had the leadership to turn around a collection of companies while at Bain, solving problems people before him couldn’t. Sound like a skill we could use in our President today?

3. He had the leadership and determination to keep all the campaign promises he made in Massachusetts, while working with a democratic legislature. By contrast a “maverick” has a hard time getting things done because they don’t tend to play well with others.

4. He had the leadership to organize and motivate volunteers to turn out more voters than expected in Iowa.

5. He showed grace and leadership last night in acknowledging Mike Huckabee’s success, but motivating and convincing the troops we’ll do better in New Hampshire.

6. He has shown the strength of character to think about solutions to problems before he implements them, but then to decisively execute on his plan.

7. He’s the only one that can represent the entire republican party, as the National Review pointed out in their endorsement. In looking at all the candidates, he has the best chance of winning it all, and if you listen carefully he is still the defacto front runner. All guns seem to be pointed at Mitt.

You heard it here first: if we can remind the people of NH what Mitt has accomplished, we will win in NH. People in NH know we need real leadership in Washington. A repackaging of the same old ideas and people just won’t cut it anymore. If there was anything clear in Iowa last night, change and effective leadership are what people are looking for. John McCain is a member of a Congress whose approval rating is abysmal. He has had his chance to be an agent of change as a Washington insider for the last 20+ years. If he hasn’t had shown the leadership yet to solve the problems we have in our society, how will he suddenly start showing leadership now as President? He’s had his chance. We need to tell Washington and Johnny Mac to lead, follow or get out of the way.

Last Thoughts About the Iowa Caucuses

My wife and I drove to a northern suburb of Des Moines last night and attended a caucus of about 130 people. The process, though less complicated than for the dems, was still fascinating. The republican leader (clearly an untrained volunteer from the local community) had an envelope of instructions on how to run the show, and was learning along with everyone else. I felt like I was watching pure democracy, with all its wrinkles. After getting organized, representatives of each campaign were given a chance to speak. When Rudy’s name came up someone shouted “Rudy who?,” generating guffaws. Statements were made on behalf of Huckabee, Fred and Mitt (this last made by yours truly). Votes were cast on yellow ballots made from quartered sheets of 8.5×11″ paper. Ballots were hand-collected and sorted into stacks for each candidate. Votes were then counted and re-counted, then telephoned into GOP headquarters. My wife noted a number of people changing their party affiliations at the door, confirming anecdotally what the national press has observed, that someone out there was driving new voters to turn out, we believe evangelicals.

The Post-Game Party

At the final party Doug Gross, Mitt and Ann re-enthused the crowd.

Here are some pictures:

Now off to bed so I can come back again tomorrow. It’s now after 3 a.m. central time, so I’ve been up about 23 hours straight. Keep it up everybody out there, we all know how much this country needs a man like Mitt Romney (for a reminder see Thomas Alan’s blog on this very site). One last bit of encouragement. Close your eyes and imagine Mitt raising his hand and taking the oath of office in January 2009. Now open those eyes and let’s get it done!

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Welcome to me, the latest addition to the ElectRomneyIn2008.com blogger staff. My name is Paul Johnson and this is my first posting. I have some good tidbits for you live from Urbandale, IA, one of Mitt Romney’s volunteer campaign sites.

First a bit about me: I’m a corporate lawyer by trade, trained at BYU both undergrad (dual major in English and Business) and grad school (JD/MBA). I started my career in the internet boom in Palo Alto, CA in ‘96, transferred with my then-current firm to San Diego in ‘99, and have stayed in San Diego since. I specialize in corporate financings and in mergers and acquisitions.

My intro to Mitt Romney was, like many, through hearing about the debacle that was unfolding at the 2002 Salt Lake Winter Olympics. As someone who spent a lot of time in Utah, I didn’t want the state or our country to be embarrassed by the event. I heard someone named Mitt Romney, a very successful business person with Bain, was being put in charge, and not long after was hearing things were turning around. Of course September 11 intervened and the Olympics staff had to respond to an entirely unforeseen security threat in just a few months’ time. I myself was going to be attending the event with my 3 sons, so security was a concern for me. When I arrived, security was tight and the event unbelievably well-organized.

Next I heard about the Miracle in Massachusetts, how the same Mitt Romney, a republican, had somehow been elected to be governor of a deep blue state. Another good impression. I knew this person must have cross-party appeal. More good news followed as Mitt was able to balance MA’s budget, then actually adopt a healthcare plan tailored for the state. Then I hear about the MA Supreme Court’s decision (described here by CNN). CNN said at the time: “Massachusetts’ governor immediately denounced Tuesday’s decision and said he would work for a constitutional amendment to overturn it,” and I was glad to know we had a resourceful man of integrity at the forefront of this issue.

More good impressions followed. A few years ago Matt Romney, Mitt’s son, moved into my neighborhood (see Matt’s musings at the Five Brothers Blog). Matt and I ended up on some volunteer assignments together. I’d told Matt I was a baseball fan, so he invited me at one point to a game with him, his brother, Tagg and a few other friends. I came to find out as well that another friend, Jim Davies, was Ann Romney’s brother. When it began to be rumored Mitt might run for president, I told Matt if his dad ran, I’d be interested in pitching in. Soon I was attending events in San Diego and contributing to the campaign, a first for me. A couple weeks ago I began responding to some bitter and biased posts about Mitt, his family and his religion, some things I knew a little about first-hand, by some readers of The Politico (a site I otherwise enjoy) and other political websites. Now I find myself in Urbandale doing my first blog post!

I’ll get to where I agree with Mitt on policy issues in future posts, but for now here are some snapshots from one of the command centers.

A visit from Ann Romney

The troops got encouragement from Ann Romney just before lunch. She met with volunteers and gave her pitch for her husband as a man capable of addressing our country’s complex issues.

Here’s the view from the cheap seats!

Here’s Ann with grandson Parker:

Visits from the Press

Yesterday we had a visit from CNN. Today the folks from Salt Lake’s KSL TV and Salt Lake’s CBS affiliate were here, as was RAI from Italy. Jim Davies gave an interview in fluent Italian. It’s been great to be at ground zero at such an influential time in American politics. Channel 24 from Argentina is just going through now. Wish you were here, where we hope to be a part of electing the next president of the U.S. More to come…

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“Mike Huckabee is the candidate that just keeps on giving!” [quote from Jeff Fuller just now after speaking with him]

Does Mr. Huckabee think we are all complete, utter idiots?

[Please forgive me for using the nickname "Duckabee" --- I depart from the normal decorum in this one instance as I believe the label best suits Huckabee as he continues to dodge truth --- I simply could not resist.]

KUDOS to Rusty, Ann Marie, and Mike for getting the Huckabee low-road story up so fast. Is this amazing, or what? Seriously, I think Huckabee woke up this morning and said to his wife,

“I think I want to become the first presidential candidate in the history of the Iowa caucuses to become a certifiable laughing stock of the media and the good folks of Iowa. What do you think darling? What is the best way for me to do that today?”

There are so many words that came to my mind after seeing all the reports today on this. I chose the title of this post from a line in Rusty’s post. Here are the words that came to my mind after watching all of these reports on Duckabee:

— CUNNING — INDECISIVE — MANIPULATIVE — CRAFTY — DISENGENUOUS — UNSOPHISTICATED — BACK-WATER — DISHONEST — CORRUPT — DECEITFUL — FRAUDULENT — DOUBLE-DEALING — UNPRINCIPLED — UNSCRUPULOUS — GUILE — TWO-FACED — DESPERATE (I could list the other 25 but want to keep this short)

Why the word “dishonest”? Simply because Duckabee absolutely knew that the State of Massachusetts, by law, does not allow capital punishment. Even if the guy feigns ignorance on this, he is inept at the very least. Governor Romney campaigned to add the death penalty in Mass.

The best moment of this day with Duck? When he said he made the (”high road”) decision to not run the ad but that he wanted to show it to the reporters so they supposedly would know he made the ad. He made that statement with a complete straight face as if he were serious. Then the entire audience burst out in complete spontaneous laughter and Duckabee stood there with a complete serious face. I totally expected him to burst into laughter himself. That was hilarious!

Carl Cameron, in one clip I saw, said this could end up as a genius move by Duck. If the people of Iowa don’t mind being played the fools by his camp, then maybe. There is a chance that Huckabee has attained “martyr” status in the minds of some in Iowa. If so, then there will be a sympathy following, but still I cannot imagine thinking people backing a person who touts his “Christian values” while his behavior is completely dishonest at best.

No, I think this will sink Huck’s life-raft. Iowans are not fools. Reporters of the MSM are not fools and I think they will turn on Huck. Until about two weeks ago, Huck has gotten a pass from the MSM. His presumptuous, manipulative, and cunning behavior to play all the reporters for fools will backfire. They will shred him in the next few days. Mark my words. It is over for Huckabee. He will get the martyr-sympathy vote, but that is it (credit to Jeff Fuller for this insight). Iowans are too smart to vote for this guy. I think we will see the media eat Huckabee alive over the next three plus days.

I wish I could be a fly on the wall in one of the Republican caucus meeting halls to hear the discussions among voters. Oh, how sweet it would be.

Here is how I would like the results to show three nights from now, in Iowa, on Thursday night:

— Romney: 44%
— Hunter: 18%
— Thompson: 9%
— Keyes: 8%
— Giuliani: 5%
— Paul: 5%
— McCain: 5%
— Tancredo: 4% (yes, he will still get votes)
— Duckabee: 2%

I gave Duckabee 4%, not because I think there are really dumb Iowans, but because I think 4% of the Republican voters of Iowa who liked Duckabee a month ago, will not have gotten the news from today.

IOWANS: Please remember that both Giuliani and McCain abandoned the Ames Straw Poll in August effectively telling you a) your straw poll does not matter, and b) we [McCain/Giuliani] don’t want you to have any of our campaign money for your economy.

~ Vic

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I’ve pointed out Romney’s comprehensive policy statement “Strategy for a Stronger America” in previous posts.

One of the nice things about this document is that it provides the text to a number of Romney’s major speeches. I spent some time reading the text of these speeches and was struck by how powerful and well thought out they are. They are worth reading.

Below is the text of the speech Romney delivered at the 2007 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC).

“The mainstream media is surprised that we’re here. They wrote our obituary last fall. Course, they’ve written our obituary before: after Watergate, after the 82 midterm elections, after Iran-contra, and after Bill Clinton’s election. The truth is that their wishful thinking reports of our demise have been greatly exaggerated. In fact, I predict that we’ll be around a lot longer than . . . say, newspapers.

“No, conservatism is alive and well. And it is needed more than ever. America faces a new generation of challenges, critical challenges. Today is similar in many respects to what we faced as a nation 30 years ago, looking at the menacing face of communism.

“In fact, 30 years ago, in this very conference, one man stood up and told America what was needed. It was conservatism, a new coalition of conservatives that would lead to a brighter future for the nation. Ronald Reagan said this: ‘What I envision is not simply a melding together of the two branches of American conservatism into a temporary uneasy alliance, but the creation of a new, lasting majority.’ And here is where he said that this conservative alliance would lead: ‘I have seen the conservative future, and it works.’

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This recommendation to the Romney for President, Inc. campaign team is not mine. It was mentioned to me by Brent Koch, a friend, and one of our newest writers at this blog.

Brent just called and is mad about the cheap shots McCain is taking at Governor Romney: 1) McCain’s whining about the factual, truthful, and contrasting ads, 2) McCain’s irrelevant personal attack ads, and 3) McCain’s refusal to refute the facts presented to the people of NH by Governor Romney.

Brent’s recommendation?

That Governor Romney create a 30-second TV ad exclusively for New Hampshire that runs often, every day until January 8th. I TOTALLY love this idea of Brent’s. Seriously. If Governor Romney were to play this ad endlessly, it would cause John McCain to start dancing as if he were on hot coals. This clip is too long to play in its entirety, but you could make the most awesome 30-second spot that matches McCain at his level. What do you think?

Count how many times McCain mentions “honesty” and “integrity” in direct reference to Governor Romney.

Why is this brilliant? McCain’s ads are pulling video clips from old archives; this one above matches him on that front. This proposed 30-second ad would be completely positive; it does not bashe McCain in any way and it is all in McCain’s own words and passionate words at that! If played often in NH, it would create media buzz forcing McCain to answer it; it is the best way to put McCain on the defensive.

Think about it. McCain would be smoked out of his smug fox hole to refute his own words and angle to and fro to explain why he was wrong at the time.

~ Vic

Help Governor Romney get his message out — PLEASE CONTRIBUTE NOW, HERE

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Dean Barnett of the Weekly Standard writes an insightful piece drawing an analogy between the Huck-a-boom and Pat Buchannan’s 1986 run against Bob Dole. I recommend reading it all, but here are some key excerpts:

Mike Huckabee is this cycle’s Pat Buchanan. A lot of Republicans wanted to believe that he was the answer to the flawed deck of frontrunners that the political gods have dealt us. I can’t honestly say I was ever rooting for Huckabee, but a month ago I expected him to win the nomination. All he had to do was come across as a credible commander-in-chief for the five weeks leading up to Iowa and he would have pulled it off.

But Huckabee went the Buchanan route. Rather than assure the Republican electorate that he was more than a one trick pony who could speak beautifully on social issues and spiritual concerns, he doubled down on his pastor side. Perhaps with good cause. When he ventured opinions about serious policy matters outside his comfort zone, especially regarding global affairs, he showed an ignorance that was quite frankly stunning for someone who had the audacity to seek the presidency at a time of war.

And there’s also Huckabee’s past. Every politician has a past–issues he flip-flopped on or positions he took that his party dislikes. But Huckabee’s past has caused Republicans to remember the Arkansas mores that drove us nuts during the Clinton years. Seemingly every day, another piece of, er, stuff, hits the fan. Over the weekend, it came out that Huckabee received $35,000 in honoraria in 2006 from a company that does stem cell research, the very same company that social conservatives blasted Mitt Romney over because his blind trust had invested in it. Huckabee’s take of $35,000 from the stem cell researchers was but a small sliver of the roughly $378,000 in outside fees that Huckabee raked in during his final year as Arkansas’ governor. Too bad he didn’t have Hillary Clinton’s facility with commodities trading–such a skill probably would have made things easier for Huckabee.

Barnett goes on to predict that Romney will win Iowa and that he will be able to seal the nomination if he can sieze the moment and deliver a serious, substantive speech that sets him above the rest of the field.

Barnett cites Ronald Regan’s famous 1976 “A Time for Choosing” speech as an example of the type of speech Mitt must follow. As I watched it (embedded below), I was struck at how relevant his words remain to our current geo-political situation.

I was also struck by how much it reminded me of a certain other Conservative Republican candidate for the Presidency…

Mitt’s speech at CPAC remains one of his best. It helped cement my support for Mitt Romney in the early days of the campaign. It feels like an eternity since he first delivered it back in March. If you haven’t seen it, please watch it. If you’ve seen it before, it is well worth watching again.

This is, indeed, a time for choosing. Choose Mitt!

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