Romney Vows to Carry on With Campaign

By GLEN JOHNSON

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Republican Mitt Romney, his family and supporters vowed to carry his campaign into the vote-rich Super Tuesday contests next week after narrowly losing Florida’s primary to rival John McCain.

In his concession speech Tuesday night, Romney issued a call to arms to conservatives to support him, vowing to cut federal spending, end illegal immigration and teach children “that before they have babies, they should get married.”

But it was his wife, Ann, who took the microphone after Romney delivered nine minutes of prepared remarks, who explained the reasons for continuing.

“We feel as though the conservatives are starting to rally around Mitt,” she said, as her husband stood beside her. “This is just a send-off point; this is not an end. It’s another beginning. We have 22 more states to go after, and we will be able to do that.”

It was the contrast in backgrounds that Romney highlighted in a concession speech that otherwise echoed familiar themes from the trail, as if the loss presented no jeopardy to the future of his campaign.

“At a time like this, America needs a president in the White House who has actually had a job in the real economy,” Romney said, adding that “at a time like this, knowing how America works is more important than knowing how Washington works.”

As the audience cheered, he declared: “Washington is fundamentally broken, and we’re not going to change Washington by sending the same people back, just to sit in different chairs. I think it’s time for the politicians to leave Washington and for the citizens to take over.

Romney’s wife stumps in LV
By: Paul Harasim | Las Vegas Review-Journal | Thursday, Jan 17, 2008

“If you’re Ann Romney, you can go to bed at 1 a.m. after a primary election victory party, sleep four hours, take a 41/2-hour flight from Michigan to Las Vegas, and then appear ready to pose for Town & Country magazine as you talk to Nevada supporters about your husband Mitt’s presidential candidacy.

“Not bad for anyone, let alone someone who was diagnosed in 1998 with multiple sclerosis, a degenerative neurological disease that often leaves those afflicted in wheelchairs.

“‘I’m in remission,’ the 58-year-old grandmother said in Summerlin, her wide smile evidence of the exuberance still lingering after her husband’s resounding win Tuesday in the Michigan primary.”
…
“Speaking to about 50 supporters in the home of Dr. Gregory Bigler and his wife Sally, Romney seemed confident that her husband would win Nevada’s Republican presidential caucuses Saturday.

“‘We’re organized,’ she told the women, who are responsible for getting out the Romney vote throughout Las Vegas. ‘I thank you for that.’
…
“The Las Vegas Valley residents who listened Wednesday to the woman who married her high school sweetheart 38 years ago are impressed with Mitt Romney’s commitment to family and the fact he headed a financial firm before becoming governor of Massachusetts.

“Elaine Fish, 82, who still works in the family business, John Fish Jewelers, said Mitt Romney’s business experience is what the country needs. ‘He knows how to get things done,’ she said. ‘And he stresses the closeness of a family.’

“Betty Rumford, 70, said she is impressed with Romney’s ability to bring people together. ‘He did it in Massachusetts and got a health plan together for all the people that worked.’

“Julie Hereford, 65, said, ‘Most candidates can talk a good game but they’ve never had to run a business the way he has. He understands how to strengthen the economy. That’s what we need right now.’”

I am so excited to know a great blogger Beth. We just had the greatest conversation about Mitt. And in honor of her BIRTHDAY, I am reposting her amazing analysis of “The Mormon Issue”:

I must credit the title to Steve over at www.mydryfly.wordpress.com

I quote from the comment that Steve made in his own blog over at when he refers to John F. Kennedy, as the first American-Irish Catholic running for President:

“People were worried about Catholicism in the White House. Catholicism has been around for a while and is fairly well understood. It was “old scary” for a lot of people. The LDS church, or Mormonism as it were, is “new scary”. In my experience, I would bet it’s about 80% of the people I’ve encountered still believe that polygamy is a Mormon practice. It’s been well over a century since that has been true, but people remain ignorant.

So the fear of having a religious man in office still exists, a man that belongs to a mostly misunderstood religion is the number one reason why a lot of people will not even take the time to figure out what his political stances are before they write him off.”

So this is what we’re facing — “the new scary.”

Perhaps it’s part of the maturing process of America - to learn to accept the ‘unacceptable’ - the un-understood. After all, isn’t that what is at the root of prejudice* — lack of understanding?

I’m just old enough to remember when John F. Kennedy ran for president.
I lived in Massachusetts then, and, of course, my parents were conservative Republicans and were going to vote for Nixon. I was perplexed, as one of my classmates (in 1st grade) told me: “Well, I’m voting for John Kennedy. He’s cuter!”

Well, that was true — he definitely was cuter. And he got elected as President that year.

But his Catholicism, at the time, was a big deal. It was a huge obstacle.

Many people may not realize it now, but a lot of Protestants believed that Catholics were going straight to hell and … a lot of Catholics believed that Protestants were going straight to hell. (Ireland, anyone?)

I dated a lot of guys who qualified as “pond scum” when I was in high school in the late 60s. My father interviewed every one of them. They all passed — they were Protestants. Except one … Jim Lowe.

Jim Lowe was one of the nicest and most moral guys in my high school.
]
But this guy, Jim Lowe, was a Catholic, and he was forbodden. I could not date him. No. Not ever.

Well, when my parents told me I couldn’t date him, I ran away (to my girlfriend’s house) and eventually got my way and dated Jim Lowe.

Today, my mother (still Protestant) works with Jim Lowe’s mother (still Catholic) in the Right to Life endeavor in my home town in Indiana.

They have found a common bond. They are now united in that bond.

I tell you this story because it is extremely relevant to what is happening today.

Christians, Catholics, Mormons, Orthodox Jews, and other people of various faiths who hold the value of human life in high esteem can all find a common denominator.

America is in the process of getting educated … once again.

I implore my Mormons friends to be patient with the Protestants of today.

I have come to believe that my job, as a conservative political activist, is one of education.

People are so poorly informed. It is human nature to form quick opinions about things we don’t understand. It’s a survival mechanism.

But when we start to talk to people, and really listen to people and then have the opportunity … we can inform people about the way things really are … then we have a done a tremendous service for our country.

I implore you, Mormons and non-Mormons, those who are supporting Mitt Romney for the GOP presidential nomination — Be Patient!

Fear is a real thing for many people.

Listen. Ask questions.

People don’t care what you know, until they know that you care.

I see Mitt Romney living this out in his campaign. He is an amazing man.
He understands that people are afraid. Afraid of what they don’t understand.

And, as you can see, the more people get to know him, the more they rally behind him.

*From the American Heritage Dictionary: prej·u·dice (Noun) An adverse judgment or opinion formed beforehand or without knowledge or examination of the facts. A preconceived preference or idea. The act or state of holding unreasonable preconceived judgments or convictions. Irrational suspicion or hatred of a particular group, race, or religion. Detriment or injury caused to a person by the preconceived, unfavorable conviction of another or others.

My friend Eric sent me this article about the Governor’s speech at the Americans for Prosperity Conference in DC last weekend. The times I have talked with the Governor, he is incredibly warm and funny!! I understand that people think he’s “too polished”. But isn’t our President supposed to be on top of his game - witty and sharp?! I think so!!

I am a member of Americans for Prosperity and had several friends attend the conference, including Eric. I received comments from EVERY ONE OF THEM about Mitt’s speech. They might not have made a decision about their candidate yet, but every person I talked to said that Mitt was the most impressive speaker!! I have said it before on this blog and I will say it again - to know him is to love him….

My Funny Man Mitt
By Amanda Carpenter  |  Sunday, October 7, 2007

Republican presidential hopeful Gov. Mitt Romney delivered an arsenal of red-meat, anti-liberal jokes for the fiscally conservative audience at the Americans for Prosperity “Defending the American Dream” Summit Friday night.

Romney began his speech by discussing the newly-elected President of France Nicolas Sarkozy’s admiration for Republican President Ronald Reagan. Romney said this contrasted with the admiration top Democrats running for President have for France’s traditional, socialist policies.

“In my opinion, Hillary Clinton couldn’t even be elected the President of France, let alone President of the United States!” he panned.

While hammering away on Democrats, Romney offered a small dose of GOP-deprecating humor: “We sometimes didn’t act like Republicans. We spent too much, we earmarked too much and our ethical standards became the punch-line for Jay Leno,” Romney said.

Romney also gently teased attendees when they showed fatigue applauding his extensive tax-cutting pledges. He told them: “Which of these you get depends on how long you clap for each one, so pay great attention!”

Romney’s most hearty-applause lines, however, came when he poked fun at those on the other side of the aisle. Below is a sampling of those jokes:

ROMNEY: Someone sent me an email the other day that said when Hillary Clinton thinks “private sector” she thinks that’s a new recruit to the Army.

ROMNEY: Hillary Clinton stands up and says she’s the candidate of “change.” Well, I think she would change America—we’d go from prosperity to poverty.

ROMNEY: Those who are promoting a culture of dependency are selling that spending is a measure of how much you care. I used to try that on my parents at Christmastime. It didn’t work

Read more here

Sorry for the delay in posting folks - busy week! I would like to share a link to a great post over at Evangelicals For Mitt. They defended their support for Mitt and I really like their reasons!

Evangelicals For Mitt

In the New York Post column, Page Six, Richard Johnson talks about the absolute clout Mitt displays in Florida:

Advertising mogul Jordan Zimmerman - the owner of the Florida Panthers hockey team who recently had President Bush to dinner at his waterfront mansion in Boca Raton and raised a whopping $1.2 million for the GOP - has been courted by several Republican contenders. But he seems to have settled on Romney.

According to the piece, the two were at a dinner together Monday Night at Maxwell’s Chophous in Boca where they were overheard strategizing about the presidential race.

Mitt has friends in high places for a reason. He is a true leader! Business leaders and our elected officials are getting behind him in record numbers now!

Former Gov. Mitt Romney launched his presidential campaign far from Massachusetts, near his hometown of Detroit, where he emphasized his managerial skills.
BY STEVEN THOMMA  |  Miami Herald   Feb 13, 2007

DEARBORN, Mich. - Mitt Romney ran away from home Tuesday to seek a new one — the White House.

The former one-term governor of Massachusetts decided not to kick off his campaign for the 2008 Republican presidential nomination in that state, which conjures images of liberal Democrats such as Sens. Ted Kennedy and John Kerry.

Instead, he flew to his childhood home of Michigan, hoping to wrap himself in the mantle of conservative Midwestern values.

His venue was the Henry Ford Museum, whose icons of industrial innovation he used as symbols of his private-sector background, which he said gave him can-do management skills rarely found in government and absent in his political rivals.

Romney, 59, hopes that twin-theme approach will set him apart from a long line of Massachusetts liberals — and from such likely Republican rivals as Sen. John McCain of Arizona and former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who have longer résumés in public office.

”I do not believe Washington can be transformed from within by lifelong politicians,” Romney said in Dearborn. “There have been too many deals, too many favors, too many entanglements and too little real-world experience managing, guiding and leading.”

Romney underscored his record as a man who gets things done — successful venture capitalist, the man who rescued the scandal-plagued and debt-ridden 2002 Winter Olympics — as well as a governor who restored his state’s fiscal health and expanded healthcare.

”I do not believe Washington can be transformed by someone . . . who has never run a corner store,” he told several hundred supporters.

Romney said he staged his announcement in the Ford Museum to underscore the country’s history of innovation, particularly in the auto industry.

”If ever there were a time when innovation and transformation were needed in government, it is now,” he said.