comMITTed to Romney!

I regularly recieve e-mails from the conservative paper “Human Events.” I have been put off by them a little of late because they had jumped on the “Romney, Get Out of the Race” bandwagon just before announcing their endorsement of Fred Thompson. Imagine my surprise then, to recieve an introduction to an article by Ann Coulter describing why Republicans should vote for Mitt Romney.

The Elephant in the Room by Ann Coulter

She begins by saying that she had been critical of him only because she thought he had the nomination locked up. Now that she isn’t so sure, she questions the intelligence of those who would be seduced by the claims of other candidates and the MSM. She wisely advises, “Never take advice from your political enemy.”

Also, today’s page at www.RushLimbaugh.com is dedicated to Mitt. Front and center is a large picture of his acceptance speech in Michigan. Next is a graphic featuring women holding campaign signs for Mitt. Apparently several women called in to defend Romney’s character and praise his qualifications for president. They did so with vigor and passion causing Rush to “question” the MSM’s assumption that women will fall over themselves to vote for Hillary Clinton, A.K.A. The First Woman President.

Lots of good information and endorsements, or, um, not-endorsements of Romney.

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• Gov. Romney continues to lead the Republican field in total number of votes (by 81,471) and in total delegates (by at least six, according to the AP).
• Gov. Romney has won more votes so far in the nomination process than Mike Huckabee, Rudy Giuliani, Fred Thompson, and Ron Paul combined.
• McCain won 393,284 fewer votes in Michigan this year than he did in 2000.
• Michigan marks the second consecutive state where McCain underperformed compared to 2000—he won New Hampshire by 19 points in 2000 and by just 5 points this year; he won Michigan by 8 points in 2000 and lost it by 9 points this year.
• McCain failed to win Michigan Republicans in 2000 and was ultimately unsuccessful in winning the nomination—a candidacy based on support from independents alone will be unsuccessful at winning the GOP nomination.
• This year, Gov. Romney won Republicans by 14 points in Michigan, 40%-26%. Gov. Romney will benefit when the race moves to major states like Florida and California where it is limited to registered Republicans.
• Gov. Romney carried every major element of the Reagan coalition in Michigan—he won conservatives by 18 points (41%-23%), pro-life voters by 14 points (39%-25%), and even carried white evangelical Protestants by 6 points (36%-30%).
• No candidate who finished lower than second place in the Michigan primary has ever gone on to win the Republican nomination.

• Winning an open Michigan primary shows competitive strength statewide. Every Michigan Republican primary since 1992 has been 25% independent. This year’s primary was 32% independent and Democratic.
• Republican candidates have consistently targeted Michigan in general elections—yet no Republican has won Michigan in the general election since 1988.
• No Democrat since Jimmy Carter has won the White House without winning Michigan—showing how difficult it is for a Democrat to get to 270 electoral votes without 17 from Michigan.
• The last time a Republican won a competitive Michigan GOP primary and then carried the state in the general election was Gerald Ford in 1976 – another native Michigander.

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This Post from a local Michigan blogger describes how he met Ann Romney during a couple campaign appearances before the Michigan Primary. It’s nicely written, and definitely give you a good feel about just how humble and personable they both are. Check it out!

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Update: I was able to verify the delegate counts for Michigan. It required adding 10 for Romney, reducing McCains by 4, and adding 1 to Huckabee. The new totals are reflected in the tables below.

Noteworthy: Romney has received more than half of all delegates awarded at this time.

GOP Primary Schedule

.

GOP Primary Results

*Wyoming results not included since no vote tally was given

.

Iowa Results

.

Wyoming Results

.

New Hampshire Results

.

Michigan Results

.

~Nate Gunderson

The information above was taken from Wikipedia (schedule) and CNN.com (results). There are several different tallies out there on what the current delegate count is. I used CNN.com’s tally not because it showed Romney with the largest lead, but that it had the most detailed info including ALL delegates that have been awarded so far, and I was able to verify most of the info from the individual state GOP websites.

Question: In tabulating Delegates, what does the ‘Other’ category mean under GOP primary results?

Answer: (From commenter SGS) Not all delegates are allocated to the candidates based on the states’ primaries. There are about 400 delegates (out of about 2000s) that are reserved to the Republican “insiders”, like state and national RNC leaders. They normally do not declare who they are in favor of until the party convention. But they can do so at any time.

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Here are a few encouraging details from tonight’s contest, from the CBS News website:

According to CBS News exit polls, self-described Republicans made up 68 percent of the vote - and they supported Romney by a wide margin. Independents made up just 25 percent of the GOP primary vote today while just 7 percent were Democrats. In 2000, independents made up 35 percent of the vote while another 17 percent were Democrats.

The economy overwhelmingly topped the concerns of voters, with 55 percent of primary voters citing it as their top concern. The Iraq war ranked second, but lagged far behind. Just 17 percent said that was their top concern. Discussion of the economy dominated the Michigan contest in its closing days, as Romney sought to strike an optimistic tone about the future of a state which has seen some 76,000 jobs lost in the past year alone.

… Romney also won among late-deciding voters, indicating that his arguments may have won some supporters.

Takeaways? The GOP is supporting Mitt, and “it’s the economy, _______.”

Additional takeaways? Mitt sticking to his message seems very productive. Mitt gained a head of steam and connected with people, which he’ll need continue. Meanwhile McCain lost momentum as he had to defend his truth-distorting, sack of fibs mailer. In addition, earned media seems much better at conveying and building momentum than paid media.

And lest we forget, the big difference maker in Michigan was Mitt’s “no job left behind” theme, giving hope where the Washington insider offered only pessimism and job retraining. Now that Mitt’s found his stride I expect the good vibe and the connection he’s making with voters to continue.

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When McCain won New Hampshire by 5% (37% for him vs 32% for Mitt) the AP headline read: “McCain wins in New Hampshire, where he bet it all” (incidentally, if you look at the top bar of your Internet browser it reads “McCain Triumphs Where He Bet It All.”

The contrast . . . When Romney won Michigan by nearly 10% and nearly 100,000 votes the AP headline reads: “Romney Edges McCain to Win Michigan”
And if that’s not bad enough, check out the lead paragraphs to those AP articles . . .

McCain:

John McCain rode the Straight Talk Express straight into first place in New Hampshire, and back into the thick of the race for the Republican presidential nomination.

”I hate to use to the word kid, but I think we showed the people of this country what a real comeback looks like,” the Arizona senator told The Associated Press in an interview Tuesday, savoring victory . . .

Another AP article about McCain’s NH win leads with:

CONDORD, N.H. (AP) — Arizona Sen. John McCain won the New Hampshire Republican primary Tuesday night, completing a remarkable comeback and climbing back into contention for the presidential nomination.

“We showed the people of this country what a real comeback looks like,” McCain told The Associated Press in an interview as he savored his triumph. “We’re going to move on to Michigan and South Carolina and win the nomination.”

The Arizona senator rode a wave of support from independent voters to defeat former Gov. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts, a showing that reprised his victory in the traditional first-in-the-nation primary in 2000.

It was a bitter blow for Romney, who spent millions of dollars of his own money in hopes of winning the kickoff Iowa caucuses and the first primary — and finished second in both.

Now the contrast to the AP article linked to above about Romney’s Michigan victory:

DETROIT (AP) - Mitt Romney scored his first major primary victory Tuesday in his native Michigan, a win he desperately needed to give his weakened candidacy new life and set the stage for a wide-open Republican showdown in South Carolina in just four days.

Romney was the third Republican victor in the first four states to vote in the 2008 primary season, further roiling a volatile nomination fight that lacks a clear favorite.

No agenda there, eh?

Then they have the audacity to give McCain the last word in the AP article about Romney’s win!

McCain said he had called Romney to congratulate him “that Michigan welcomed their native son with their support.”

“Starting tomorrow, we’re going to win South Carolina, and we’re going to go on and win the nomination,” McCain declared, also in an AP interview.

Yes folks, McCain got more quoted words/sentences in the AP article about Romney’s MI win than Romney himself did. Shameless.

I’ve blogged before that McCain’s resurgence in NH and nationally has been a completely media created, directed, and propagated affair. I repeat my questions here:

Which do you think will have a better chance in the general election . . . the one who’s a front-runner DESPITE the MSM coverage or the one(s) that’s a challenger BECAUSE of the MSM coverage? I think the answer to that is clear. I’d want the guy who’s truly battle-tested.

Lest there be any doubt, that guy is Mitt Romney!

Jeff Fuller

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Congratulations to Governor Romney and his campaign team on a great win in Michigan tonight! As they say down South, he gave the competition a “thumpin’.”

It will be fascinating to analyze the exit polls to see just what the dynamics of the voting indicates. One thing that jumped out of the stats I saw was that among Catholics who go to church weekly, 41% voted for Gov. Romney. So much for Pastor Mike’s attempt to divide and conquer.

Here is the updated delegate count. MSM pundits, pay very close attention to these numbers. Try to keep them in mind as you sit down at your desk and place your fingers on your computer’s keyboard.

These numbers should be the reason why you should exercise a healthy discipline with yourself if you are tempted to write another column or blog calling on Gov. Romney to withdraw from the race.

The reason that Gov. Romney has not taken your advise is because HE IS WINNING!!

Romney…………42

Hunter……………1

~~John Cronin~~

“For of those to whom much is given, much is required. And when at some future date the high court of history sits in judgment on each of us, recording whether in our brief span of service we fulfilled our responsibilities to the state, our success or failure, in whatever office we hold, we will be measured by the answer to four questions: First, were we truly men of courage…..Second, were we truly men of judgment…..Third, were we truly men of integrity…..Finally, were we truly men of dedication?

We observe today not a victory of party but a celebration of freedom, symbolizing an end as well as a beginning, signifying renewal as well as change.”

John Fitzgerald Kennedy, Inaugural Address, Jan. 20, 1961

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Congrats to Mitt. A new front runner emerges (though a lot of good that label did Giuliani, Huckabee and McCain), after wresting Michigan from McCain. Current medal count after four contests:

Mitt: 2 golds and 2 silvers, even more popular votes and more delegates than anyone else;

McCain: less money, a donor list pledged as collateral for a loan, a gold and a silver (note theres’ no economic plan among his assets);

Huckabee: less money, fleeing evangelicals, diminishing hope in SC, a gold and two bronzes.

Let’s not forget: McCain took Michigan in 2000, was popular with independents in NH, took 44% of those classifying themselves as liberal in NH, but still ceded first to Mitt despite only one major Democrat on the ballot. This was a fantastic victory.

Let’s enjoy before hitting it hard in SC, NV and winner take all FL!

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She is live blogging the returns from Michigan…

American Princess Blog.

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Happy Primary Day to our Michigan visitors. Get out there and vote for Mitt Romney as your nominee for President of the United States!

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Most Romney supporters were pretty peeved about how the media has downplayed his WY victory. (a recent Newsmax story addresses this) However, I can see how it was easy for the media to ignore WY results since it’s the least populous state and due to the odd caucus system they used (mostly party insiders and/or major activists.) However, their 12 delegates were as many as NH awarded, and Mitt actually got more delegates out of WY (8) than McCain got out of NH (7).

But that’s in the past already . . . but NV looms in the future and we need to insist that it should count. Sadly, we’re already seeing how downplayed NV is in the national media coverage.

Even though the the media is covering NV pretty heavily for the it for the Democratic side, they’re relatively ignoring it for the GOP. My paranoid side says: “Figures, since Romney stands a good chance of winning it . . . of course the MSM will downplay it.” I’m actually convinced that Romney will win it (and if he wins MI, Romney will win NV BIG). Unfortunate timing has the NV caucus on the same day as the SC primary (which is monopolizing the media’s coverage.)

But is SC inherently more important than NV for this nomination?

OK, so we know that in recent history, no GOP candidate has won the nomination without winning SC. But this year is very different with at least three candidates still with very credible claims to taking it all, and two others who are still considered “top-teir” candidates. Usually, someone has established themselves after IA and NH and races into SC with the mighty momentum. Or, in the past, the race has been winnowed down to two people already and SC has been the final elimination round for one of them. Not so this year. Some are arguing that FL may play the role this year that SC has played in the past.

But lets look at the two states objectively.

Both are on Jan 19th

NV: 34 delegates up for grabs
SC: 24 delegates up for grabs

NV: Important swing state/purple state (i.e. we need someone who can show/run strong in such a state for the general election)
SC: Solid Red state . . . whoever the nominee is will win SC and most of the south no matter what.

NV: First western state on the docket (and much of that region are swing states)
SC: First southern state primary . . . and the south is pretty much locked up for the GOP.

Objectively, NV looks MORE important than SC to me!

Romney supporters need to start trumpeting the importance of NV relative to SC. Let’s get this message on blogs, in comment sections on important blogs/articles/etc . . . I encourgage people to forward this message to your friends/contacts. It would be great if we could get an email campaign together focused at news organizations/journalists/prominent bloggers and asking them why it’s being ignored so much . . . demanding that it get fair coverage (at least as much as their giving to the Dems in NV. I don’t think any of us want another of Romney’s wins to be written off like WY was. LET’S MAKE NEVADA COUNT!

Jeff Fuller

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I have an index of many of Romney’s speeches here:

http://myclob.pbwiki.com/Speeches

His list is here:

http://www.mittromney.com/News/Speeches/index

Below Are Governor Romney’s Remarks at the Detroit Economic Club (his latest speech):

“Thank you.  This is quite an institution.  It’s good to be back here with you.  It’s good to be back in Michigan.
 
“You know, somehow everything just seems right here.  In the winter, of course, the skies are cloudy all day.  Most of the cars you see on the roads are made here in the good old U-S-of A.
 
“People know that pop is not a relative, it’s a soft drink, and they know that Vernors is the best ginger ale in the world.
 
“And of course, for me, I have a lot of memories here.  This is where both Ann and I were born.  It’s where I met her.  We were in our senior year when we went to a party together. I was in senior year, she was a sophomore.  She came with someone else.  I noticed her at age 16.  She was very interesting. I went to the guy who brought her there and said, ‘Look, I live closer to Ann than you do, can I give her a ride home?’  We’ve been going steady ever since.
 
“So we know each other real well.  I said to her after we made the decision to get into this race, and you’ve probably heard it before, I said, ‘Ann, in your wildest dreams did you see me running for President of the United States?’  And she said, ‘Mitt, you weren’t in my wildest dreams.’  She’d be here today, but she’s in Lansing, by the way, speaking at another event for me.

I don’t want to cause people to have to scroll too much on the front page, so click  “more” to read the rest.

More »

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I wanted to share some of the enthusiasm coming out of Missouri. Below is an excerpt from an email from Nicole Brown, Deputy Political Director, Romney for President–Missouri.

The polls Nicole is referring to have been posted here, so I didn’t include them.

Michigan Primary Update
Date: Mon, 14 Jan 2008 17:26:34 -0600

Dear Missouri Leaders:

I just wanted to give you an update on Michigan – which is looking great for Mitt!! I’m listing some recent polls that have us tied or in the lead for 1st. Governor Romney’s turnaround record is really resonating with Michigan voters.

We have two Missouri teams in Michigan – one in Detroit and one in Holland . Our Holland team made more calls than any other group in the state yesterday, and they were trying to break their own call goal today.

Don’t forget to let me know what shifts we can count on you to fill for the GOTV!

Best,

Nicole Brown

Deputy Political Director

Romney for President - Missouri

~~John Cronin~~

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During a speech on immigration John McCain was booed on the issue of immigration. Man, does he looked flustered toward the end…and enough with relating immigration to the war in Iraq. For crying out loud not every illegal immigrant has some one serving in Iraq!

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