comMITTed to Romney!

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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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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Before you pull the lever for John McCain on Super Tuesday, please consider the following information first. As a Mitt Romney supporter, I would prefer to convince people why they should vote for my candidate, rather than against John McCain. However, I’ve tried this approach for the past 18 months, but people haven’t been able to get past his religion or the false impression that he’s a flip-flopper. As governor, Romney never contradicted a position he campaigned for in 2002 and while he did change his stance on abortion, he upheld his campaign promises throughout the end of his term. You can trust that the stances he is taking for America (which are decidedly different than the needs of Massachusetts in 2002), will be consistently adhered to while he is in office.

McCain on the other hand consistently changes positions, or blatantly lies about his record and the records of others. As accounts continue to surface about his private dealings with fellow legislators, staffers, and other private individuals, it is abundantly clear that John McCain is concerned about the one thing he’s always been concerned about—himself.

Perhaps you’ve resigned yourself to the “electability” argument, and believe that John McCain is the only Republican who could win in November. McCain will be the first one to tell you not to trust polls that come out 6 months before an election (just look at last July’s polling data for McCain). Additionally, you give the Democrats too much credit. As the economy and budget woes worsen, neither Hillary Clinton nor Barak Obama has any credibility to solve this impending crisis. On this issue alone, John McCain would be much easier to beat than Romney since he can’t run effectively on the economy. If we nominate John McCain, it will be like nominating Bob Dole all over again (and he was supposed to be the most electable at the time).

For all you know, everything I have just said could simply be made up charges for political reasons. So I ask you to take a look at the whole picture of John McCain’s life and his accelerated advancement through the naval ranks—in spite of his poor record and actions unbecoming of a Naval officer. As you read the following story of McCain’s Naval record, compare this with Mitt Romney and answer the following questions:

· Both had influential fathers, what did this give them in life?
· Both were accepted to prestigious universities, what did they do with that opportunity?
· Both had careers that ended in high-profile positions. How did they get there?
· How do their personal and family lives compare?
· What kind of people do they associate themselves with?
· What have these two candidate shown that they are good at?

More »

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It’s still the economy

There, I said it. Last night’s debate once again proved that McCain and Huckabee have no sense on the economy. Are you kidding me? A cap and trade system with no limit to the taxes it imposes on the U.S.? Who does McCain represent, anyway? Mitt continues to show that despite good sounding proposals from the other candidates, his knowledge of the economy trumps their half-baked solutions. Want to solve global warming? McCain’s approach taxes U.S. citizens without a cap for a problem we’re only a part of. Want to stimulate the economy? Huckabee’s solution of using infrastructure projects sounds good, but as Mitt points out, they take years to develop. These are insights that McCain and Huckabee couldn’t come to on their own, suggesting their programs as President would continue to have similar flaws. As usual Mitt’s responses were the most thoughtful, substantive and intelligent. For me, in my relatively few 41 years, I saw Reagan take office with little foreign policy experience and end up winning the cold war. McCain’s Vietnam experience was 30-40 years ago and not as relevant now. Mitt would be a fantastic commander-in-chief. But I’m not ready to see John McCain try to run an economy he barely understands, taking risks with my pocket-book along the way while collecting his government salary and living off his wife’s riches. Mitt’s lived in the real economy and has had to perform in a real job, as well as in government. He’s lived in both worlds; McCain has lived in one, out of touch with me and mine.

Kudos to My Wife

Kudos to my wife for finding the following useful information pre-Super Tuesday:

1. Someone on a Canadian website calls it like it is for U.S. Republicans and their choice of Mitt vs. Mac. This person isn’t even a Mitt fan, but recognizes the choice of McCain would be disastrous. If you’re a Republican reading this, whether conservative or moderate, think about John McCain essentially having free-reign to sign bills into law that a liberal Democratic Congress sends to his desk. Do you think he’d stick with Republican ideals? I really don’t think so as his record indicates otherwise.

2. The National Review seems to remain a voice of reason on Mitt vs. Mac. McCain’s coronation is pre-mature. Sure we would have liked to have had Florida, and we’d have been saying the same things about our being a front-runner if we’d won. But the truth would have been, as it is now, that Mitt’s leading in a number of Super Tuesday states, and the race is unlikely to be decided even afterward. See this link for recent analysis from National Review Online.

Super Tuesday: Who Wins Your Confidence?

With 23 states and, as I recall, a thousand or so delegates up for grabs Tuesday, McCain’s “imposing” lead is how many? Twenty-eight whole delegates, according to CNN. This race is not about those delegates, but about winning the 40X that amount available Tuesday. And even then, the GOP nominee still won’t be decided. This cite is from USA Today:

There will be more than 1,000 Republican delegates at stake on Feb. 5, enough to give a candidate a substantial boost toward the 1,191 needed to win the nomination — but only if one man emerges victorious in numerous states.

“I think you could have two or three viable (GOP) candidates” following Super Tuesday, said Ohio Republican Chairman Robert Bennett.

“Somebody’s going to have some big wins, but you’re going to go into March 4, and you’re not going to have an apparent (GOP) nominee,” Bennett said.

So the race is still up for grabs.

If you’re a California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, etc. etc. voter voting this Tuesday, and you’re choosing between Mitt and Mac, think about who’d you rather have trying to stem the tide from a Democratic Congress: Mitt Romney, the consistent choice of the conservatives in every state so far, or John McCain, choice of the liberals.

Don’t think it matters? Remember the recent debate about expanding SCHIP, the welfare program Congress wanted to expand by multiple billions of dollars? Democrats in Congress passed it, but who stood in the way? President Bush. Without his veto pen, we’d be looking to foot that tax bill now when it’s become clear that tax rebates are required to stimulate the economy, and not huge welfare projects that increase the deficit. When the next bill comes to the desk of the President, and we know it will come, are we confident McCain would vote according to Republican principles? If you think so, think again: McCain was one of two Senators to vote against the Bush tax cuts (McCain admits he was wrong, but if he’d had his way the economy would have been tanked); illegal immigration (McCain supported a permanent residence for illegals, and now only partially admits he was wrong and has assumed Mitt’s position on securing the border); campaign finance reform (he’d do it again); global warming (bad approach, and he’s a co-author). It’s nice to admit when you’re wrong, but it’s even better not to be wrong in the first place on issues that will cost us billions. On issues as complicated as the economy, and even on national security, we need an intelligent man who can figure out what to do before he forms an opinion.

We are not alone.

All us Mittsters, and those who feel they align with Mitt but aren’t sure about voting for him due to the press’ coronation of McCain, should realize that there are a lot of people out there that are looking at Mitt vs. Mac for the first time, whether because they left Fred or Giuliani, because they realize Huckabee isn’t going to win (just look at the Ron Paul-like marginalization of Huckabee in last night’s debate) or whether they just can’t stomach McCain and his liberal past, and Mitt will win among principled Republican voters. Let’s also remind ourselves of the hundreds of thousands that have already voted for Mitt: the total number of voters who have decided 1st vs. 2d in Iowa, NH and FL has been very small. I’d be interested in seeing what the current popular vote count is (the difference between McCain and Mitt is not large). And if we work to get Mitt more delegates than McCain on Super Tuesday, McCain’s 28 delegate lead will recede into memory.

No Scaling Back Now

Some reporting went on this morning about Mitt scaling back advertising, but the National Review pointed to this article at Yahoo to the contrary.

McCain Stole Florida

For those of you first-time readers, you should realize that John McCain’s apparent momentum (all of 5% of the voters in Florida) was the result of what many have reported to be dirty politics. In 2000 McCain got am-Bushed in South Carolina with lies and innuendo. The people who did it to him worked for George Bush, and now work for McCain. And they pulled a similar trick last weekend: they purposefully distorted Mitt’s record supporting the surge and as Massachusetts governor. Issues aside about the actual record (both issues are Mitt strengths), many media outlets have continued to ask McCain about this (including in the debate last night) because it takes a real contortionist to come up with an argument that McCain was using “straight talk,” and Mitt of course called McCain on it. The media then said the fight was getting “nasty,” but in reality it was Mitt responding to lies about his positions. The resulting swing, based on McCain’s untruth’s and the public’s perception of the race getting ugly, turned some in McCain’s favor. Of course it’s ugly to call someone dishonest, but it’s even uglier if that claim is true. In addition there were reports of lots of mis-deeds reported elsewhere on this site. Bottom line: don’t be fooled by the reported “momentum.” The margin of victory wasn’t significant, conservatives are voting for Mitt, many when faced with Mitt vs. Mac are repulsed by the latter, and, last but not least, the most qualified candidate is still Mitt Romney, who hasn’t resorted to the sorts of dishonesty as McCain has.

Huckabee Supporters’ Coming Crisis of Conscience

If you’re a Huckabee supporter, I believe you have a real crisis of conscience developing. Should you support Mike, who represents your views on social issues but is unlikely to get beyond Tuesday, or do you bet on Mitt or Mac. With McCain’s less than solid record on social issues (other posters help me out here), you may want to consider whether you’d be comfortable with McCain as the candidate. Mitt may be your only choice for a real, pro-life, pro-family, anti-gay marriage candidate. It’s been nice to have Mike in the race I’m sure, as he probably looks like folks you know and see in church on Sunday. But who’s closer to your real ideals, Mitt or McCain? I believe it’s Mitt, and would encourage you to really think about who you’re voting for Tuesday. Damaging Mitt for Mac’s gain is counter-productive to your real concerns, and I believe it’s time to switch horses. It looks like Fred Thompson’s supporters have come our way, and it’s likely many Rudy supporters (though not all) will move to McCain. Who are you most like? Conservative Fred, or socially liberal Rudy? Notwithstanding our candidates’ disagreements, we’d welcome you into the fold.

What you can do to help win

Super Tuesday isn’t about Mitt, it’s about us. He carried the load in the “retail politics” states of Iowa, New Hampshire, etc. But now we need to get out in our own areas with signs, buttons, phone calls and reach out to everyone we know to pull them into Mitt’s fold. So, no. 1, get out and vote. No. 2, make those calls if you’re in the campaign. Talk to friends. If they’re pro-Mitt, or supported Fred, Rudy or Huckabee, tell them they have a choice: Mitt vs. Mac, and they need to choose who they really want. Let’s go.

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Debate night! (It is still “tonight” for me no matter what the date says. It is about 10:30 p.m. California time as I sit down with some thoughts about the debate).

First, my initial reaction to the overall debate for Gov. Romney was that I was stoked! (an odd idiom of great meaning to Southern Californians)

Second, there was a sense of momentum I felt from beginning to end of the debate. I expected the other candidates to gang up on Gov. Romney and they didn’t. Trying to take my bias into account, I thought Gov. Romney fully dominated the debate. No question in my mind AT ALL. He dominated in a gentlemanly way. Following are brief comments made to Gov. Romney by each of the candidates at the breaks or after the debate. [these occurred to Cindy and me as the debate went on]. I’m sure our guesses here were not too far off reality tonight:

Senator McCain: “Hey Mitt, I know people think I hate you. A little straight talk okay? Look, I’m not real fond of you, true. But can I be your VP? Please? I will introduce you to my general buddies in the Marines. By the way, what the heck were you talking about in that one answer you gave about the economy? Run that by me real slow and please use language that any ASU student could understand.”

Governor Huckabee: “Off the record, when my son hanged that dog, it was already dead. Did I tell you he earned the Eagle Scout award? How many of your sons are Eagles? For what it is worth Mitt, every Sunday when I give my sermons to earn a little money, I always tell the pastors and their parishioners to stop the whisper campaigns against you. Yeah, I know I could give a public speech on religious tolerance, like you did, and denounce religious bigotry publicly, I just think that I can be more effective behind the scenes to fight bigotry. What do you think of the Razorbacks? They are right up there with those Cougars! I know you always surround yourself with only the most intelligent and successful people, but do you think you could find a spot for me at the consulate on the western border of Ireland, the home of my ancestors? That would be swell.”

Mayor Giuliani: [looking up at Gov. Romney, simultaneously squinting and looking surprised] — “Hey Mitt, can we have lunch next Wednesday? I have some time open on my calendar that day. I would like to get a few tips from you on a couple of my companies that are struggling right now. But more importantly, I ran out of money today and I will be bowing out of the race. I want to get your thoughts on how best to convey that message to maximize my long-term speaking engagement value and preserve the legacy I have as Hero #1 of September 11th. I think I might be able to help deliver New Jersey for you in the primaries and general — I have some connections. What d’ya say?”

Congressman Paul: “Mitt, do you think anybody listened to me tonight? I wish I were you”

In all seriousness, how great was Governor Romney tonight? I realize it may now sound a little trite to say this, as everyone has been saying it for weeks, but Gov. Romney really seemed presidential. All the others on that stage almost appeared to be in his shadow.

Since I have seen Gov. Romney speak so often, I have a habit now of looking at the others around him when he speaks. Again, trying to eliminate my bias, the others seemed in awe of Gov. Romney tonight. I kept thinking to myself, each of the candidates were telling themselves things like, “Wow, he has this thing nailed…” — “I wish I knew half what he knows!” — Etc.

By the way, none of this above is gloating. Absolutely not. There is a long road ahead. Gov. Romney has a long way to go to the nomination and a lot of hard work. He has not won Florida and it might be very tight. We all need to do what we can to help get the vote out and influence fence-sitters, FredHeads, and Huck’s followers that are just now awakening to the reality he has no message and no broad-based support.

It is a little bit of celebration — INDEED.

~ Vic

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A Georgia organizer for Thompson shifts to Romney.

This Georgia supporter of Thompson has gone with Team Romney, and we welcome other Thompson supporters to join him. We’re a friendly bunch around here, jump in…ask questions. We’re here to help. Look around, we’ve been going strong since June of 2005, and we have plenty of info for you to dig into.

Once again, we thank you for joining us…

The Elect Romney in 2008 Team!

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The MSM would have us believe that Governor Romney’s continued and consistent success derives from a strong but narrow slice of America; those of GMR’s faith – the Mormons. We have seen it printed in as many words in a number of articles, especially following his successful Q1 fund-raising work. And if it was not the direct result of the LDS members, it had to be indirectly due to their organizing skills and networking.

Well guess what, it really is neither. GMR’s tremendous success all year has been broad based and from all parts of America. And it is just beginning! Just today I received this email from a friend who is from the State of Georgia:

Hey Vic,

All I know is that Romney is making quite the impact. I just got back from Georgia and spent the weekend with a bunch of my friends from high school. None of them Mormon, but all conservative. They all said that Romney’s the most impressive by far. I know that’s not saying too much, but that’s about 15 guys that live in four or five different states with jobs ranging from financial consultants to army rangers. I was pretty shocked they were all so adamant about it.

Anyway, just thought I’d let you know Romney’s got some support on the East Coast as well.

Take care,

Sterling

GMR’s success, though quite impressive to date, has just begun! If you have been on the sidelines watching his work and others supporting him, it is now time to jump into the grassroots effort and make it happen with us.

Everybody wants to be a part of the winning team. Click here to join this winning team —–> Join Team Mitt

.

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http://www.11alive.com/ne…x?storyid=92611

Addendum: Ric Mayfield at Georgians for Romney attended the Atlanta fundraiser. He took some pictures and wrote a very interesting and detailed post of the event. Check it out here.

Here’s just a tidbit:

I just got home, paid the babysitter, downloaded photos, and have had time to write up my account of the Fundraiser at 103 West tonight.

First of all, thank you to all who came out to the event. It was a wonderful success. We raised in excess of $300,000, which according to Eric Tanenblatt is one of the highest amounts ever raised in Georgia at this stage of a Presidential election. The room was packed.

~Nate Gunderson

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