http://blogs.venturacountystar.com/dennert/archives/2008/06/the-money-game.html

P R E S S R E L E A S E FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Matt Guthrie June 18, 2008 (805)

***-**** STRICKLAND FUNDRAISER FEATURING MITT ROMNEY SURPASSES EXPECTATIONS

Strickland Campaign Raises Nearly Quarter Million Dollars (Westlake Village) Last night, featured speaker Mitt Romney addressed a packed room of close to five hundred donors and supporters of Tony Strickland at the State Senate candidate’s highly anticipated fundraiser in Westlake Village. The event, which highlighted the importance of the 19th District Senate race, surpassed the original fundraising goal of $200,000 and took in nearly a quarter-million dollars. The sold out event was an overwhelming success for Strickland and continues the trend of strong and growing support for his campaign. With only two days to prepare, the Strickland team was also able to organize a successful pushback to a protest at the event that had been planned for over a week and included between 30-40 people. At 92 supporters strong, the pro-Strickland crowd more than doubled that of the protest demonstration as they lined the streets with American flags and signs showing their support for Tony Strickland and welcoming Governor Romney to California. Strickland’s opponent also didn’t escape the wrath of supporters as they carried signs slamming her tax and spend positions and exposed the hypocritical nature of contributions received by Hannah-Beth Jackson and the democratic party. Governor Romney’s message to California voters was clear. “I believe Tony Strickland can cut back on wasteful spending and can remove the interest of special interests and bring new ideas to Sacramento,” Romney said in an interview before the event. Strickland received a standing ovation when speaking about the importance of this particular race and his message about growing the economy while being environmentally responsible played well with the crowd. “You can be pro-economy and pro-environment,” Strickland said. ” The solution isn’t raising taxes, it’s to help the economy grow. Raising taxes will only drive people and businesses out of the state. We need to push the green economy so we can get off of foreign oil and reduce gas prices for all Californians”. ###

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http://www.politickerca.com/alexisenstadt/1221/
romney-fundraiser-expected-net-more-250k-strickland

By Alex Isenstadt

Category: President, LocalTags: Mitt Romney, Tony Strickland, Hannah-Beth Jackson

The campaign for state Senate candidate Tony Strickland says tonight’s fundraiser with former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney will likely surpass $250,000. The campaign had originally set a goal of $200,000 for the event, said spokesman Matt Guthrie.
Strickland, a former Assemblyman, is no stranger to Romney. The Moorpark Republican was California chair for Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign.

Strickland is running against Democrat Hannah-Beth Jackson, an Assemblywoman, for the seat state Sen. Tom McClintock is vacating.

The fundraiser will be held at the Westlake Hyatt Plaza in Ventura.

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I saw this story on the Border Fence this morning and I thought it would be very informative and very interesting to hear from our readers who either live in areas near the Southwestern border or who have friends or family members who live in those areas to post their comments about the issues involved in erecting a physical barrier. What are the concerns of farmers and cattle ranchers in those areas? How will this effect local business? Do property owners have legitimate complaints or do national security interests trump all other concerns?

Will the border fence ever get built or will it be promptly forgotten by the politicians once they are safely ensconced in office for the next four to six years?

~~John Cronin~~

By Terence P. Jeffrey
CNSNews.com Editor in Chief
February 22, 2008

(CNSNews.com) - In a CNN debate in Austin, Texas, Democratic presidential candidates Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton agreed Thursday night that the Secure Border Fence Act of 2006, which directs the secretary of Homeland Security to construct 700 miles of double border fencing along specific sections of the U.S.-Mexico border, should not be enforced as written.

Stressing her desire to be deferential to the views of people who live along the border in Texas — which on March 4 will hold a primary that is widely viewed as a must-win event for the New York senator — Clinton said of a border fence, “there may be limited places where it would work. But let’s deploy more technology and personnel, instead of the physical barrier.”

“This is an area where Senator Clinton and I almost entirely agree,” said Obama. “I think that the key is to consult with local communities, whether it’s on the commercial interests or the environmental stakes of creating any kind of barrier.”

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Thanks to Jason Maughan for this great photograph:

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In Case You Missed It: Governor Mitt Romney on Super Tuesday

Contact: Mitt Romney

 

WASHINGTON, Feb. 5 /Standard Newswire/ — the following is the coverage of Governor Mitt Romney on Super Tuesday:

 

Governor Romney on The Importance Of These Times (Fox News’ “Fox & Friends,” 2/5/08):

 

Governor Romney: “These are really critical times for our country. We face extraordinary challenges from the jihadists, from new competition from Asia. We see our economy getting weaker. People wonder how they are going to pay their bills, gas bills, heating bills. If America keeps on the same track we’re on, we’re not going to remain the most powerful nation on Earth. Washington is fundamentally broken, and it’s not going to get changed by people who spent their whole life in Washington. You’re going to have to have somebody come from the outside, the way Ronald Reagan came from the outside, and shake Washington up. And that’s exactly what I intend to do. I don’t think it’s also possible to have somebody lead our party who is very much outside the house that Reagan built. Senator McCain’s a fine fellow, national hero. But his positions on the keystone issues of his 25 years are positions that are more like Democrats than like those of Republicans.”

 

 

Governor Romney On Conservative Support (MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” 2/5/08):

 

Governor Romney: “[T]his is just the beginning. We’ve got a lot of states to go. And what we’re seeing is, by virtue of voices like yours and others across the conservative world, conservatives are waking up, and they’re saying, ‘Look, we just can’t take a left turn in our party. We’ve got to stand by the principles that Ronald Reagan laid out.’ And I’m the conservative candidate in this race. It’s become a two-person race, and in California over the weekend, as you point out, the polls show that I’m tied there or doing a little better than tied. You never know whether to believe polls or not. But then you look at Maine, we just had a caucus in Maine over the weekend. Both U.S. Senators were fighting for Senator McCain, but you know what, I won there by 50 to 20. The signs are good that conservatives are listening and saying, ‘You know what, we don’t want to take the liberal path.’”

 

 

Governor Romney On Conservative Support (MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” 2/5/08):

 

Governor Romney: “[T]his is just the beginning. We’ve got a lot of states to go. And what we’re seeing is, by virtue of voices like yours and others across the conservative world, conservatives are waking up, and they’re saying, ‘Look, we just can’t take a left turn in our party. We’ve got to stand by the principles that Ronald Reagan laid out.’ And I’m the conservative candidate in this race. It’s become a two-person race, and in California over the weekend, as you point out, the polls show that I’m tied there or doing a little better than tied. You never know whether to believe polls or not. But then you look at Maine, we just had a caucus in Maine over the weekend. Both U.S. Senators were fighting for Senator McCain, but you know what, I won there by 50 to 20. The signs are good that conservatives are listening and saying, ‘You know what, we don’t want to take the liberal path.’”

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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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Unfortunately, I was unable to attend the rally tonight in Long Beach. Matt Romney kindly granted an interview which I conducted over the phone as he drove home to San Diego with his family. Since I did not have a recorder, and don’t have the skill of short-hand, this is my best transcription from my notes:

“It was a remarkable turnout in the tight time frame we had.   I was sitting in the Denver airport yesterday and got a call from my dad who said he was going to California the next day and asked me, ‘can you bring some friends?’   I put the word out and look at the amazing turnout we got!   A friend of mine said he did a rough count of those in attendance and counted about 2,000; with one day’s notice!   I think this remarkable turn-out, on such a short notice, is indicative that my dad’s message is resonating with the people of California.”

Since I could not attend tonight, I asked Matt who, besides himself and Governor Romney, were in attendance at the rally. He said that Jim and Becky Davies (Ann’s brother and sister-in-law) were there along with Congressmen Dana Rohrabacher (R-46th), John Campbell (R-48th), and Buck McKeon (R-25th). Also there, was conservative talk show host, constitutional law professor, and author Hugh Hewitt.

He continued:

“After the rally, I chatted with Congressman Rohrabacher about the surfboard he presented to my dad last week at the rally in Fountain Valley [CA] and joked that as we get closer to the general election this year, we need to get my dad back out here for a surf party and (stealing a line from someone else) ‘ride the wave of conservative momentum right up to the general election!’

A number of people from around the state of California, who have the pulse of the people, have told me that in the last four to five days, the momentum has shifted and picked up for us. I feel pretty good about our chances here in California of getting more delegates than John McCain will get tomorrow.

The mainstream media has been wrong time and again and we will prove them wrong again. We need to get every conservative voter out to the polls in every state tomorrow to vote for Mitt Romney and prove the mainstream media wrong again.

Please tell all your readers and all those who are working so hard to influence others, THANK YOU!”

[this photograph of Matt and his daughter was taken last summer at Strawberry Farms]

Let’t make it happen! GO MITT!

~ Vic

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Romney campaigns throughout the night

By GLEN JOHNSON

Associated Press Writer

Don’t say Mitt Romney won’t go the extra mile for a vote.

The Republican presidential contender was logging more than 5,000 of them as he undertook a 37-hour, coast-to-coast-to-coast dash while trying to better rival John McCain in the 21 Super Tuesday nominating contests.

“…I think it communicates to people in California that the entire nation is watching California and what they’re going to do,” he said in Tennessee after setting off on his journey at 7 a.m. EST Monday. “If I win California, that means you’re going to have a conservative in the White House.”

The former Massachusetts governor, who tries to keep his body clock on East Coast time wherever he travels in the country, planned to sleep on the return flight, aided by a pillow, pink fleece blanket and inflatable mattress his campaign staff brought aboard in Oklahoma.

“I want to sleep on the floor as long as the flight attendants say it’s OK, because they need to go up and down the aisle,” Romney said. “My feet will hang out into the aisle, but I’d rather sleep on the floor.”

…

He said he and his wife, Ann, had talked Sunday night about the prospect of walking into the voting booth and seeing his name listed as a candidate for president.

“It’s something I would have never imagined,”…I mean, it’s an honor, obviously, it’s an enormous honor to even be considered as a candidate for president and to know that there will be hundreds of thousands and hopefully millions who will say, ‘You’re the guy we’d like as our next president.’ It’s a very humbling honor,” he added.

…”I feel excited,” he said as he flew west, “very eager for the day to come and to start counting results. It’s going to be hard to go to sleep tomorrow night, because we won’t hear from California probably until very, very late.”

Go California!  We’re counting on you guys!

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Hugh Hewitt was at the Long Beach rally tonight.  As always, his insight is invaluable.  Tonight, he looks forward and gives us an idea of what to expect:

Tuesday, February 05, 2008

Rallying To Romney

Posted by: Hugh Hewitt at 12:31 AM

A large, enthusiastic crowd gathered on extremely short notice for a last minute Long Beach, California stop for Romney tonight.  I talked to the get-out-the-vote staffer who was heading back to Sacramento and the headquarters even as Romney took off for West Virginia and that state’s Super Tuesday convention.  The Romney team is wired, the sort of energy that can be faked but only flows from conviction that the political wind is at your back.  Similar reprots are arriving from Colorado and Georgia. Romney clearly has momentum in California, and a win here will send the campaign into a month of head-to-head contests culminating in Ohio and Texas in early March.  Expect Romney to challenge McCain to a series of one-on-one debates that McCain really cannot accept, underscoring the weakness of the McCain campaign if it has to match up against Obama.  Not only would McCain be overwhelmed by the volcano of money exploding for Obama, he can’t match the Illinois senator on the small screen.  The recognition of the mismatch looming is adding fuel to the Romney rally. Romney by contrast has enormous energy and an appeal built on the future, not the past.  He can easily raise the money necessary to contest the next eight months until public financing takes over on 9/1, and he would easily best Obama in one-on-ones on television. Romney has reassembled the Reagan coalition and may have done so just in time to save the GOP from lapsing into its pre-Reagan days.  If the Huck vote continues to dwindle at the rate it has been fading over the past ten days, tomorrow could have many surprises.  Romney thanked Rush, Sean, Laura, Mark Levin, Lars Larson and others among the conservative punditry for leading the rally.  If he can keep it close tomorrow, the shift to him will accelerate as the GOP decides to contest 2008 on the basis of free markets, free minds, traditional values, and victory in the war –in short, on a 2008 edition of the 1980 platform.

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This photo just below appears to be Hugh Hewitt, probably filling time as the crowd awaits Governor Romney’s arrival. Sorry for the poor quality. I think Mitchell is using a zoom feature on his phone so the quality is lousy. But these photos were taken minutes ago:
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This photo below is Ann Marie checking her phone, BlackBerry device. She has the ability to check the content of this blog, so in about 23 seconds, she will see herself. Everybody out there: Wave to Ann Marie.

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More to come when Governor Romney arrives!~ Vic

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My son Mitchell, and his family, are at the Long Beach (L.A. Metro), California “Rally for Mitt” and he sent these photographs to me minutes ago from his phone. Governor Romney and Matt will be there soon. As I write this, it is 7:30 p.m., the official start time of the rally. Governor Romney is not there yet.

The event is in an old airplane hanger adjacent to the old Long Beach Airport in South Los Angeles County. Mitchell estimates there are 500 people in the hanger (estimate from 30 minutes ago). These photos were taken about 30 minutes ago.

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.This photograph below is of Andrew Kopjak, Mitchell’s long-time good friend and best man at his wedding. As I recall, he was for Hillary a few weeks ago. I will have to check that.

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.MittHeads are getting all worked up!! I think they want to take California back from the Governator, McAmnesty, and Rudolph. See below.

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Jason Bonham tells me his sister is at the rally. Look for more “real-time” photographs as they come in!

~ Vic

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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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My name is Amanda Earnest, and I am absolutely thrilled to be joining the ranks of “CoMITTed” supporters on this incredible and most-informative blog! It will be my pleasure to, hopefully, represent other young “generation Y-ers” across America from now through Mitt’s landslide WIN in November!

A bit about me: I’ve been married to my hubby, Mark, for over five years now, and we have two beautiful daughters–3 and 10 months. I am very proud to be a stay-at-home wife to Mark and mother to my children; my family is truly my greatest joy. I have a bachelor’s degree in human development. I also have a baby blanket business from home on the side. We are currently living in Southern California and loving every second of it! Life is good.

As a young mother who has really had to step back and look at the world my girls will be growing up in, I have become increasingly more aware of political issues, and how they affect my life and the lives of my husband and children. I was worried about where this country was going–about where the republican party is going. With Mitt Romney in the race for president, however, I’VE REGAINED ALL HOPE! I feel my family and I are
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By: Hugh Hewitt

TOWNHALL.COM

Sorry I can’t provide the link. I evidently clicked on something I shouldn’t have and I removed the URL window from my browser. I’d appreciate your help in restoring it. Thanks in advance.

In the meantime, great news coming from battleground California. According to Reuters/CSPAN/Zogby, Gov. Romney is leading California over “Open Borders” McCain 37% to 34%. Below are a couple of quotes from the article.

~~John Cronin~~

If the swing towards Romney in California continues, he will emerge from Tuesday’s contest in a solid second place with a new narrative and a renewed debate about the race –can Romney surpass McCain in Ohio and Texas in March? The rapidly fading Huck would simply disappear, as he is doing in many places where the obvious has already registered: A vote for Huckabee is a vote for McCain.

As the Arizona numbers underscore, McCain would not even bring a marginally united party with him. Given his animosity towards Romney, McCain wouldn’t add Romney to the ticket ,and the die-hard opponents of McCain will spend the next nine months hammering on how Huckabee blocked the consolidation of the conservative vote thus allowing the Reagan coalition to be eclipsed. Many would get over it and pull the lever for McCain, but how many would work for him or contribute to his coffers? And how many irreconcilables does it take to doom the campaign from the start –5%? 10% Not many, especially when it comes to the purple states of Colorado and Ohio.

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I will never vote for John McCain for anything, ever. I have thought long and hard about the person I would vote for in November, if he were the Republican choice. Never could I vote for Hillary Clinton and never would I not vote (I have never missed voting in any election, no matter how insignificant). If it got to that point, I would write-in the name of Mitt Romney.

I DO NOT WANT TO GET TO THAT POINT. We do not have to get to that point.

TSUNAMI TUESDAY: Folks, it does not have to get to that point! Many years ago, a man of outstanding character not unlike Governor Romney, ran for office as our US congressman. In the Republican primary, he lost to a corrupt man by literally a handful of votes. Before the general election, we marshalled the forces, got the vote out and wrote his name in. He won by a huge margin, and became only the fourth congressman in American history to win a congressional district as a write in. President Reagan had a big celebration in the White House over it. The lesson? Had we made the same effort in the primary to support this man (Congressman Ron Packard) that we made in the write-in campaign, Mr. Packard would have won the Republican slot in a landslide. Many of us sat out the primary, choosing to do something else that day!

LET US NOT MAKE THAT MISTAKE ON TUESDAY. WE THE PEOPLE can show John McCain and Mike Huckabee the door on Tuesday if every one of us works tirelessly between now and up to 10 minutes before close of the polling booths on Tuesday.

“LET’S ROLL”

~ Vic

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