Romney is Bulletproof

From Politico:

Sen. John McCain said yesterday that former Gov. Mitt Romney's comments earlier this week about the importance of catching Osama bin Laden reflect a "naivete" about the war on terror.
Hosting a conference call with bloggers while on his announcement tour in Iowa, McCain was asked by writer Jennifer Rubin about Romney's remark in an AP interview Wednesday that "it's not worth moving heaven and earth spending billions of dollars just trying to catch one person." McCain, who has largely avoided direct critiques of his GOP rivals, noted his hesitance to respond to his opponents' comments, but said he would make an exception for a national security matter.
"[I]t takes a degree of naivete to think he’s [bin Laden] not an element in the struggle against radical Islam," McCain said. A McCain aide indicated that the attack came because the question was raised and that it was "about a very serious issue." Responding to the gibe, Romney spokesman Kevin Madden said his candidate "believes it's important that we continue to hunt down and capture or kill bin Laden," but reiterated the campaign's message about the broader war on terror.
"If other candidates believe that only one person should be our sole focus, instead of recognizing the larger threat of regional and global terrorist networks built by al-Qaeda and others and destroying them, then I think it has much less to do with naivete and instead is merely a disagreement," Madden said. "We would disagree with a candidate who thinks our military and [intelligence] efforts in the war on terror should only focus on one terrorist leader.
"McCain's tweak comes on the heels of his formal announcement this week were he touted his long experience and even his age as a key asset. Though Romney has devoted considerable time in the campaign to national security -- including a major speech Thursday in New York City on the threat of nuclear terrorism -- the one-term governor lacks any background in the military or foreign policy. Asked about his lack of experience in an interview with Politico Tuesday, Romney likened himself to Ronald Reagan, stating that the former governor was "one of the best foreign policy leaders our country has known" and was at "no disadvantage" despite his statehouse background.

If this is the best "shot" McCain can take at Romney, I'd say Romney is bulletproof. To insinuate that taking out bin Laden will magically end the war on terror is beyond naive. Nobody, including Romney, wants to discount the value of eliminating bin Laden, or the fact that he is the current #1 enemy of the United States, but there is no doubt that long lines of bin Laden wannabes would quickly take over his role as soon as we take him out.

If weeds are growing in the field and you trim the weeds down to the ground (a la McCain) they will grow back. Romney wants to rip them out by the roots and then spray the whole field with Roundup.

Who donated to whom?

Playing around with The New York Times' campaign contribution search engine, I found some interesting information...

(Information below: Donor name and address, employer, donation amount, recipient)

Hefner, Hugh
Los Angeles
CA
90024
Playboy Enterprises
$2,300
Hillary Clinton

Can Hugh be in the Village that raises my child?

More to come...

Bravo to Giuliani

A great quote from Rudy today:

GIULIANI: They hate us, not because of anything bad we've done. This has nothing to do with any aggression on the part of the United States of America. It has nothing to do with anything America is taking from anyone. It has nothing to do with Israel and Palestine. They hate us for the freedoms that we have and the freedoms that we want to share with the world, because the freedoms that we have and the freedoms that we want to share with the world are in conflict with their perverted interpretation of their religion, their maniacal, violent, and perverted interpretation of their religion in which they train their young people to be suicide bombers, and they train them to hate you and despise you, and they train them to hate your religion, and to not allow you to have religion of your own, or anyone else. They hate us for the reasons that are the best about us, because we have freedom of religion, because we have freedom for women, because women are allowed to participate in society, because we have elections, because we have a free economy. Well, we're not giving that up, and you're not going to come and take it from us.

Thank you, Rudy, for putting the war on terror in terms we can all understand. Although Rudy does not come with the entire package, he does know his stuff when it comes to Islamic Jihad. Bravo to the Republican candidates for staying on message, taking swipes at the enemy and not each other.

By the way, David Alvord thinks that it is messages just like Rudy's that accounts for the large Republican presence among LDS voters. see article

Why evangelicals could support this Mormon

by Mark DeMoss

Last fall near Boston, a dozen evangelical leaders joined me for a three-hour conversation in the living room of then-Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, who, as the world knows, is a Mormon. Over soup and sandwiches, the Republican presidential hopeful took questions about Iraq, Iran, North Korea, immigration, government spending, taxes, the Supreme Court, abortion, stem cell research and the federal marriage amendment. Two of his lunch guests quizzed him about faith — about Jesus and salvation.

The meeting broke ground, if only for bucking conventional wisdom that evangelicals would reject out of hand a Mormon running for president. I would not presume to think that the governor converted all of his lunch guests to his campaign. But, having spent my entire life in evangelical circles, I will say that I do believe many evangelicals will conclude they can — and indeed will — support this Mormon in 2008.

Read the rest of this insightful article

Romney's public speaking skills

A first hand account of Romney's last visit to Iowa:

Quote:
Romney is an excellent public speaker. If you go to hear him speak, you had better listen fast, because he throws a lot at you in a brief period of time. If Romney and Obama were in a debate, that would be a donnybrook I would pay to see. If Romney and Clinton were in a debate, Romney would make hamburger of Clinton. If Romney were in a debate with Giuliani or McCain… well, whatever they have to say after Romney has spoken is just white noise while you walk to your car.

Almost forgot to mention - the room was set for 250, but there were 500 people there if there was one. You couldn’t have got another person in the room with a crowbar.

Wondering what a donnybrook is? "An inordinately wild fight or contentious dispute; brawl; free-for-all."

Read more at http://inmuscatine.com/?p=1052

Rumor Debunked: Comstock's Not Leaving Team Romney

You gotta wonder how these rumors start... Or, more precisely, what are the motives of the publishers of such "rumors"?

http://hotlineblog.nationaljournal.com/archives/2007/04/rumor_debunked.html

Here's a rumor for you: The top staffers from McCain's camp and the top staffers of Giuliani's camp and my mom are all joining Team Mitt!

The American Way

A great answer to Harry Reid. Here we have two Mormons duking it out. This just goes to show that the election is not about religion, but about security and economic prosperity; both of which Romney is a master.

Read Full Interview

MKH: One of the quotes of the week, which doesn't even really need attribution at this point is, “The war is lost.” Your thoughts and what you’re hearing on the trail about that?

MR: Well, first of all it shows a remarkable lack of understanding by Harry Reid. The first phase of the war, the war to knock down Saddam Hussein was won by the United States, solidly, handily, decidedly, and Harry Reid is simply wrong. We won the war to take down Saddam Hussein, and to remove a sponsor of terror.

We’re now in a stage of conflict, which is to help the Iraqi people rebuild their own country. That’s a long process. The jury is out on that. But for him to come out and say we lost the war shows a lack of understanding of the fact that we won taking out Saddam Hussein.

And, secondly, it shows that he just doesn’t understand the nature of the conflict, which we currently are engaged in. And, I go back and think about George Washington. Can you imagine how different our nation would have been if, when the troops were having a tough time at Valley Forge, he just said, “well, we’ve lost.” Or, if Winston Churchill, when the British citizens were hiding in subway tubes, if he said, “Well, we’ve lost.” That is not the American way.

I’m afraid there are some Democrats who can’t get the word victory or success out of their lips. They see loss behind every corner, and instead of looking for our successes and our achievements, they’re always looking for the losses.

Shame on Harry Reid for saying something which will be dispiriting for our troops, and used as propaganda and rallying cries for jihadists around the world.

Romney raises the most from New Hampshire donors

According to first quarter campaign finance records released on Sunday, former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney raised more money from New Hampshire residents than any other presidential candidate, Republican or Democrat.

Below is a breakdown of how much each candidate raised from Granite State donors that gave at least $200.

Romney: $130,250
Obama: $51,012
Clinton: $45,800
Edwards: $23,350
McCain: $18,332
Paul: $16,950
Hunter: $16,900
Giuliani: $13,300
Dodd: $12,800
Biden: $7,950
Kucinich: $7,850
Richardson: $7,700
Tancredo: $6,700
Gravel: $3,515
T. Thompson: $2,300
Huckabee: $1,375
Gilmore: $1,000
Brownback: $950

Commentary:
-I thought NH was McCain territory?
-What? Romney raises more than the top 3 democrats COMBINED!
-Boy, good thing NH is packed with Mormons - which of course explains this amazing take ;-)
-I like how the Globe hides this information in the most obscure place it possibly can.

http://www.boston.com/news/local/politics/primarysource/2007/04/romney_raises_t.html

This is no game...

In a recent post, David Alvord offers what may be the most compelling reason to Vote Mitt come '08.

THIS IS NO GAME (Link)

What Do You Believe Is America's Single Greatest Challenge?

The most happy and sincere presidential candidate in history! Watch Mitt's YouTube video and post a comment.

Mitt Rocks!

Video of Romney joking about his varmint hunting

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/VideoPlayer/showVideo.php?vidId=135137

Video clips from Ann Romney in Alabama

http://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070411/VIDEO/70411024

Is this how Cartoonists will draw Mitt in '08?

This appeared in the Deseret News on 4/10/2007

Letterman Out - Politics In

Author of my favorite book of all time, Ender's Game, Orson Scott Card shares his thoughts on Mitt Romney's candidacy, "Is Mitt Romney Serious?". Card discourages Mitt from appearing on Letterman, while simultaneously addressing Mitt's strengths and perceived challenges with candor.

Thanks to Bryan McEntire for the article alert.

R.I.N.O. Rudy is still pro-abort!

Republican in Name Only Rudy Giuliani is still for publicly funded abortions. According to a recent article in CNN :

Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani told CNN Wednesday he supports public funding for some abortions, a position he advocated as mayor and one that will likely put the GOP presidential candidate at odds with social conservatives in his party.

How long are we going to put up with these libs masquerading as conservatives?

Fellow conservatives, it's time to wake up and rally around the standard bearer...Mitt Romney!

Some Mitt articles are misleading

I really don't mind articles like this except for 3 problems:

1. Other candidates are spared such scrutiny. Why doesn't Mr. MacGillis's next article delve into the support Obama is getting from his fellow parishioners at The Trinity United Church?

2. Such articles, when hastily scanned by a busy and unreflective reader, can engender unwarranted skepticism and promote stereotypes about candidate's supporters.

3. Folks who have been duped by these generalizations may be so blinded by the contrived "conspiracy" that they don't take the time to carefully consider the candidate. In Mitt's case, this is a real shame, as he is SO CLEARLY the best person for the job.

If you want to express your concern about this article, post a response or email the "reporter" here.

Thanks again to MyManMitt!

How much did Letterman contribute to McCain?

We here at Mitt Rocks believe that one of the things that makes America great is that her leaders are chosen by the people! Does McCain understand this? Based on his behavior, one would think that McCain believes that it is the media and entertainers who will anoint a new president. All one has to do is compare the money raised by Romney vs. McCain and you will see who more people are passionate about leading our country.

We hope that McCain's visit to the Letterman show got him at least one donation...from Letterman himself.

The Media has propped up McCain because he is a critic of Republicans. He is being used by the Media...but whether or not he realizes it, McCain enjoys the attention so much that he can't help himself.

Mitt, meanwhile, is getting his message to the people and will get the nomination in the process!

Chris Matthews is an Idiot - Boycott his show!

In announcing Mitt's amazing 23 Million-dollar (all primary money) record-breaking fundraising effort, Chris Matthews acted like a complete idiot. I had to write the following email to his show...

Chris Matthews,

What's your problem with Mitt Romney? Your blatant anti-Romneyism is appalling.

I can't even begin to cite all the instances where you displayed both ignorance and prejudice against Romney.

For starters, why don't you check out PollingReport.com before you reference the 3% outlier poll? To make up for it, cite the 11% Time poll next time!

http://www.pollingreport.com/wh08rep.htm

Results of latest primary polls (all took place in March, 2007):

NBC News/Wall Street Journal Poll: 8%
American Research Group poll: 7%
Associated Press-Ipsos poll: 8%
CNN/Opinion Research Corporation Poll: 9%
Pew Research Center for the People & the Press survey: 8%
USA Today/Gallup Poll: 3% (Margin of Error: +/-5%)!
Zogby America Poll: 9%
Time Poll: 11%
FOX News/Opinion Dynamics Poll: 6%

Romney's Average for all of March: 7.7%

Romney's average if you take out the top and bottom outliers: 7.9%

In your interview with Kevin Madden you were acting belligerent and ill-tempered. It's easy to tell that Romney's success makes you squeamish, and that being said, you might want to find a new job until he leaves office in 2016.

Email him yourself: hardball@msnbc.com

Newsmax knows that Mitt Rocks!

"In the make-or-break caucus state of Iowa, a majority of Republican county chairmen who responded to queries from Roll Call in January said the one presidential candidate who is exciting the base is Romney."

Read this fantastic article