comMITTed to Romney!

It remains an open question whether McCain’s pick of Gov. Palin is a net benefit for his campaign. But of one thing there is no doubt. She is certainly turning into a cultural icon, inspiring changes in women’s fashions and skits on SNL.

On this site’s chatbox, we have been having fun with a couple of phrases from Thursday’s VP debate: “Doggone it, there you go again” and “You betcha.”

But however much fun Gov. Palin has inspired, there are also some hard political facts we must consider. Namely, McCain is behind in the polls with a month left in the campaign and he has recently pulled the plug on his Michigan campaign. Michigan, with 17 electoral votes and a state that Gov. Romney could have delivered to McCain on a silver platter.

We are getting word from several sources that the move is controversial within the Republican Party. It strikes me as politically tin-eared to make a move that high profile operatives within your own party second guess you on. This stuff all goes back to one of the many reasons Sen. McCain was not my first pick. He just seems to be out of touch with his own party. He is certainly out of touch with the conservative base. His only conservative policies have Mitt Romney’s fingerprints all over them!

For the sake of the country, I hope he gets it right by Nov. 4. Otherwise, Obama gets a chance to complete Jimmy Carter’s second term in office.

~~John Cronin~~

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa – The road to victory for John McCain has gotten tougher in the past week: He has given up on Michigan, struggled to deal with a financial crisis many voters blame on Republicans and faced skepticism about his vice-presidential pick.

All of that raises pressure on Sen. McCain’s field generals in the battleground states where he is still competing — people like Gentry Collins. The Iowan’s success or failure, and that of his boss, hinges on the rapid-fire decisions Mr. Collins needs to make every day, from appeasing local political leaders to keeping tally sheets on daily phone calls.

Mr. Collins’s territory is rocky terrain. As one of Sen. McCain’s 11 regional campaign managers, he is responsible for Iowa, where Sen. Barack Obama holds a solid lead, and Missouri, a state Sen. McCain has to win but where polls show a close race. At least one of the presidential candidates, and usually both, are in Mr. Collins’s states every week. Voters see those events, though they don’t see the last-minute scrambles by his staff that makes them possible.

Behind the scenes, Mr. Collins’s task is complex. In Iowa, he must contend with a fractured party where most active Republicans wanted someone else for president. In Missouri, a classic swing state that has gone with the winner in 24 of the last 25 elections, Mr. Collins is outgunned by a better-funded Obama campaign that has been on the ground longer.

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More buzz in the national press about a possible announcement (we are told within the next 48 hours or so) regarding Sen. John McCain’s selection of his running mate. If it’s Mitt, Obama just got some world class competition.

I was doing some neighborhood canvassing this past Sunday for Dr. Bob Onder’s Congressional campaign and the two hottest topics were: 1. Illegal immigration (voters want the borders secured) and 2. Energy prices (voters want domestic drilling started, yesterday). As we Mittheads know, Gov. Romney is pitch perfect on these issues as well as many others and his coming onboard right in the middle of Obama’s World Apology Tour would change the campaign calculus dramatically.

~~John Cronin~~

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20080722/D9233BT80.html

ROCHESTER, N.H. (AP) -

Yet another town-hall meeting isn’t doing the trick. Neither is dropping in on a former Republican president. So just what can John McCain do to draw attention away from his showy Democratic rival? Pick a running mate, perhaps.

Speculation swirled Tuesday that McCain might name his vice presidential partner within the next few days - right in the middle of Barack Obama’s overseas tour.

McCain aides were not helping tamp down the speculation with their comments, often made late in the afternoon, of “no announcement today.”

But what about tomorrow? Or where? On Tuesday, McCain campaigned in New Hampshire, not all that far from a lakeside summer home of vanquished GOP rival Mitt Romney, a former Massachusetts governor. Romney was nowhere to be seen. Well, it wasn’t really that close to his lakeside home.

One member of the audience told McCain he seemed like a very “forgiving” man. “Have you forgiven Mitt Romney?” he asked the senator.

Amid laughter, McCain said, “Mitt has been of tremendous help to my campaign. … He does a better job for me than he did for himself.”

Last Sunday, McCain was in the Bronx at a Yankees game with another former rival, one-time New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani. “You hear all kinds of stuff,” Giuliani later said, “but I’m not thinking about anything but helping to get him elected.”

The campaign is also not very open about where McCain is going next, keeping scheduling matters close to the vest. And that adds to the frenzy.

[EDITOR'S NOTE: HERE ARE TWO WEBSITES THAT ARE REPORTING THAT MITT IS McCAIN'S CHOICE FOR VP RUNNING MATE. I CAN'T VERIFY WHETHER THE REPORTS ARE TRUE OR NOT. THIS IS MEANT STRICTLY AS A FYI.]

http://nyformitt.blogspot.com/

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I just happened to be in my SUV when Laura’s radio show was on. It’s been a long time since I’ve had the chance to hear her show.

Jed Babbin was quest hosting this morning and he was talking about the story that is on the minds of political junkies all across the country. The anticipation that HRC will throw in the towel tonight in a speech (my understanding from her home in New York state) being crafted by her with help from her husband, Bill.

Then a news flash came from Jed that a major news outlet is allegedly in possession of a blockbuster Michelle Obama video that supposedly could wreck Obama’s chances in the general election. I saw the same story on NYForMitt.COM a couple of days ago. I looked for the story on Drudge before I posted this and couldn’t find anything. Does anybody know if this story has legs? If it is a legitimate story, I would think it would be all over the ‘net by now, so I’m hesitant to say too much more about it.

If any Mittheads have more information, please post it in the comments section.

This could roil the election and throw everybody’s calculations out the window. Grab the popcorn and turn on the TV to your favorite news station, this promises to be a very interesting night!

~~John Cronin~~

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Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin’s name is coming up more often in recent weeks as a possible McCain VP candidate. Reportedly, WIZBANG.COM had somebody “drop a dime” about a McCain advance man being spotted recently in Juneau.

~~John Cronin~~

http://wizbangblog.com/content/2008/05/29/
alaska-gov-sarah-palin-to-meet-with-mccain-vp-search-team.php

A tipster sent us word that John McCain’s VP advance man Arthur Culvahouse has been spotted in Juneau, Alaska. There’s only one reason he would be there - to meet with Alaska Governor Sarah Palin about the Vice President position.

This comes on the heels of McCain’s Memorial Day weekend barbecue attended by Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, Florida Gov. Charlie Crist, Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, Kansas Sen. Sam Brownback, South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, former White House budget director Rob Portman, and Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman. Supposedly that was in informal affair, not a vetting session, but it appears that the VP selection game is very much afoot.

Governor Palin would (in my estimation) make an excellent VP candidate for McCain. Thomas Cheplick at The American Spectator makes the case that she’s probably the only VP candidate who can balance the ticket against Obama. She’s also a potential magnet for disaffected Hillary Clinton voters, many of whom are just looking for a reason not to vote for Obama

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By Walter Griffin

Saturday, May 03, 2008 - Bangor Daily News

AUGUSTA, Maine -

One-time presidential candidate and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney has jumped on the John McCain bandwagon and told a cheering throng of Maine Republicans attending their state convention that he believed the party would retain its hold on the White House.

Romney, who won the party caucus in February before suspending his campaign a week later, told the 2,400 delegates gathered at the Augusta Civic Center for Friday night’s Presidential Banquet that the Arizona senator was the most experienced and tested candidate in the race and never was it more urgent for a person with those qualities to be called on to lead the country.

“We have to elect the man who has been tested and proven time and again,” Romney said.

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