comMITTed to Romney!

Paul Johnson

Get out the vote in NH January 5th, 2008 | 9 Comments | Posted in 5 Brothers, Attack Ads, Bain Capital, Campaign Ads, Campaign Appearances, Campaign Trail, Change Agent, Early Primary States, Interviews, John McCain, John McCain, Leadership, Mike Huckabee, Mitt Romney, Mitt Romney, National Review, Negative Ads, New Hampshire, Olympics, Pakistan, Politico.com, Primaries & Caucuses, Primaries and Caucuses, Rudy Giuliani, Wyoming, negativity

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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Paul Johnson

Report from the Rally January 3rd, 2008 | 1 Comment | Posted in Anderson Cooper 360, CNN, Campaign Trail, Early Primary States, Foreign Affairs, Fox News, Iowa, John McCain, Mike Huckabee, Mike Huckabee, Mitt Romney, Mitt Romney, Pakistan, Primaries & Caucuses, Rudy Giuliani, Transcripts

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

A Brief Chat with Doug Gross

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

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

Pix from the Rally

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

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

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

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

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

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

Some CNN Before Blogging

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

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

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

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

BORGER: He doesn’t seem ready.

COOPER: Not ready for prime time?

BORGER: Not really.

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

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

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Ann Marie Curling

Watch Out for Those Pesky Pakistani Illegal Immigrants at the Border… December 28th, 2007 | No Comments | Posted in Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, Immigration, International Relations, Mike Huckabee, Mitt Romney, Pakistan

Apparently Mike Huckabee feels that in light of the Bhutto assassination that we should not have great fear that Pakistani Immigrants are going to begin a mass exodus across our Mexican and Canadian borders.

See:

Huckabee Ties Bhutto’s Assassination to Illegal Immigration.

Huckabee said the pace of building the border fence had to be accelerated. But Huckabee also made the “observation” that we have “more Pakistani illegals coming across our border than all other nationalities, except those immediately south of the border, and in light of what’s happening in Pakistan, it ought to give us pause as to why are there so many illegals coming across these borders.” He said he was citing numbers he had learned about during a briefing this morning. The campaign has not yet responded to requests for the study Huckabee was referring to.

“Because what I’m afraid is happening – a lot of Americans are watching [the assassination] on television and they don’t think it has any correlation to them and it does. And it’s not just immigration, it’s the instability of the Middle East; it’s the fact that Al Qaeda and the Taliban could in fact be emboldened by their capacity to take out a presidential candidate in a major nation. It’s the increased instability that it creates in Pakistan and how it affects the whole geopolitical balance of that part of the world – it’s all of those things, but it does have an impact on people here in the United States where we need to recognize our borders are not that safe.”

Looking at the journalists, Huckabee said, “You guys live in this world and you swim in this sea everyday. A lot of people, they’re just interested in going to work, coming home, they see this on television [and wonder], how does this touch me? And it does touch them.”

Gotta love that last statement. Who is he to imply that Iowans don’t know anything about the issues in Pakistan. Just because he doesn’t know where Pakistan is, or what’s going on within their country doesn’t mean that he needs to imply that the rest of the American people are as uneducated on the matter.

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Ann Marie Curling

Talking Globe Might Help Huck About Now! December 28th, 2007 | 1 Comment | Posted in Benazir Bhutto, Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, International Relations, Mike Huckabee, Mitt Romney, Pakistan, Video

I’m sure one of his campaign staffers can easily go to —–>Amazon and Purchase one for him (they are only $139.95…I’m sure that he can afford at least that much considering all that money he’s making from his speaking fees while he’s running for President) so he can get up to speed in terms of International Relations and Geography. He seems to be inept in this kind of knowledge.

For example:

Governor Huckabee appeared on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” and once again demonstrated his foreign policy inexperience by claiming that Pakistan’s “eastern borders” are “near Afghanistan.”

GOV. HUCKABEE: People who questioned my view of foreign policy probably need go back and read the speech that I delivered back in Washington in September. I talked about Pakistan and the delicate situation and the fact that at that time when the three people, Sharif, Bhutto, and Musharraf all in the bid for the leadership position, how delicate it was and how while Bhutto probably brought the most pro-American position, both she and Sharif brought essentially centrist and secular perspectives to the government. We have seen what happen in the Musharraf government, he has told us he does not have enough control of those eastern borders near Afghanistan to be able go after the terrorists. But on the other hand, did he not want us going in.

In a post entitled, “Get This Man A Map!,” Marc Ambinder at The Atlantic comments: “Not to pick on Gov. Huckabee, but — again — in times of crises, little details count. Pakistan shares its western border with Afghanistan … Not an eastern border.”

Of course, this gaffe comes after Gov. Huckabee incorrectly implied that martial law was still in effect in Pakistan and offered his “sincere concern and apologies for what has happened in Pakistan.”

—–>Huckabee’s Reaction to Bhutto Assassination Which now has an update with his attempted at explaining away his error.

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Ann Marie Curling

My Tribute to Benazir Bhutto December 27th, 2007 | 3 Comments | Posted in Benazir Bhutto, Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, International Relations, Mitt Romney, Pakistan, Terrorism

I’ve had an emotionally turbulent day anyway, it began this morning when I spoke to my dying nephew on the phone as I’m unable to travel to see him before he parts this earth. So, I was already on shaky ground there. Moving forward, when I made the rounds of all my news sources (first stopping at Politico, and then moving on to the ore MSM varieties) I was stunned to hear that Benazir Bhutto had been assassinated. My heart just sunk to hear of it. I guess already being emotional was part of it, but I also believe there was more to it.

I’ve always admired her. I’ve forever had an intense interest in politics and have desired to run for office myself one day, and while I’m not a raging feminist and desire to have female Presidents and Prime Ministers for the sake of having them, I have always loved following female leaders in the world that had the strength, fortitude, and determination to bring about change to this world (I also highly admire Margaret Thatcher and her steel resolve as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom). The thing that set Ms. Bhutto apart from Thatcher though was the fact that she became Prime Minister in of all places Pakistan, a very Muslim Nation where it’s most remarkable that it ever happened. Bhutto had moxie. She was one tough woman. I was delighted to see her return from exile to her home country, and even more happy to see that she was running to be Prime Minister again. I have felt a high level of anger toward the Pakistani government of late. I feel that our once “ally” hasn’t done much to nurture that relationship. I had strong hopes that if Bhutto were to win again that that area of the world had some hope for itself. With her death, things are that much more tumultuous than they were before. To conclude, I wish her husband and three children peace. I hope that someone within her group of supporters can rise up and take on the mantle that she was trying to put forth. Rest in peace Ms. Bhutto you’ll surely be missed by this world.

—–>Killed Bhutto’s body flown home.

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Ann Marie Curling

Is This Who You Want Running Our Foreign Policy??? December 27th, 2007 | 3 Comments | Posted in Benazir Bhutto, CBS News, Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, International Relations, Mike Huckabee, Mitt Romney, Pakistan

UPDATE: Read somewhere today that the Huck could sharpen those Foreign Policy Skills with —–>one of these. I think I agree, it quite might be beneficial for the Huck.

UPDATE II: You must check this out from —–>HotAir. Please be sure to check out the comments section, if nothing for comic relief.

Huck receives “call from God”

From: —–>Huckabee Reaction to Bhutto Assassination.

Mike Huckabee strode out to the strains of “Right Now” by Van Halen and immediately addressed the Bhutto situation, expressing “our sincere concern and apologies for what has happened in Pakistan.”

He said the assassination is a reminder that here in the US, we are lucky to vote “not with bullets but with ballots,” and said “I guess we are sometimes lulled into failing to appreciate the magnitude” of the democratic process.

I asked him what he would do right now if he were President to tackle the situation. He avoided taking a strong policy position, saying he would offer sincere sympathies to the people of Pakistan, and monitor who’s behind it. When asked what he thinks of the Musharraf government and how it has handled the security situation and aid from the US, he replied, “I think today is not the best day to comment on what the Musharraf government should or shouldn’t have done” though “we need a full accounting of that money.” He was also asked if today’s news highlights why the next President needs to have foreign policy, which he lacks. His response: “I think it’s more important to have the right principles for the American people.”

He made a bad choice of words when saying the U.S. needs to consider “what impact does it have on whether or not there’s going to be martial law continuing in Pakistan.” He should have said whether or not martial law will be reinstated – it was lifted nearly two weeks ago. A minor slip, maybe, but not a subject he wants to mess up on when he is already considered weak in the area of foreign policy.

My 5th Grader could have gave better answers to these questions, and he has special needs (not that I’m knocking those with special needs mind you).

I’ve got to show you some of the comments to this post at From the Road.

• Based on his lack of foreign Policy knowledge and history of ignorance in such matters, I wonder if Mr. Huckabee could find Pakistan on a map, let alone know who Benzir Bhutto is, her history and what the significance of her assassination is to U.S. interests and U.S.-Pakistani relations.

  He seems to rely more on scripted, one or two sentence soundbites when dealing with matters such as this- indicating a lack of understanding and gravitas in relation to foreign affairs. One example is his offering ”apologies” to the people of Pakistan. What exactly does he mean? Does he realize that this statement will be used by our enemies as indication of possible US culpability in this assassination? A very confusing and intemperate comment at such a critical time.

• “our sincere concern and apologies for what has happened in Pakistan.”

  I wonder what Huckabee is apologizing for? Is he suggesting that the United States is to blame for he assassination? If he is, I”d be curious to see how this stance affects his campaign.

Contrast this with Governor Romney’s Response:

Governor Mitt Romney On Today’s Events In Pakistan.

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