Mothers for Mitt

Today, FoxNews is reporting on a bogus Christmas card sent to South Carolina Republicans, claiming to be sent from Romney and the Mormon church, citing various passages claiming to point out controversial interpretations of scripture. The postcards were claimed to be “Paid For By The Boston Massachusetts Temple”, which is ridiculous since the temples of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints never send out such cards, especially since the church adamantly stays out of political parties and discussions.

“It is sad and unfortunate that this kind of deception and trickery has been employed,” said Will Holley, Romney’s South Carolina spokesman. “There is absolutely no place for it in American politics.”

South Carolina Republican Party Chairman Katon Dawson said he intends to “contact the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Elections Fraud Division and other appropriate authorities, provide them the copy of the mail piece delivered to South Carolina Republicans and ask for a thorough investigation into this matter.”

Further on the article says:

Such a mailing isn’t surprising for South Carolina politics, a state known for political mudslinging and backdoor maneuvering.

Those tactics backfire, said Warren Tompkins, a political consultant who ran George Bush’s 2000 campaign in South Carolina and now is Romney’s top consultant in the state. “Anything this outrageous and childish and nonsensical would have a significant fallout on whoever did it and on whose behalf it was done,” Tompkins said.

Personally, I am very offended at this attempt to be sending cards for political purposes on behalf of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Obviously, this kind of action is completely uncalled for and is absolutely false–only targeted to hurt Romney and try to influence the South Carolina primaries on January 19. Hopefully, we’ll see that whoever did this ends up fessing up and taking responsibility for and outlandish act.

Watch a 3-minute segment with Chris Matthews from MSNBC’s Hardball with CNBC’s Jim Cramer from “Mad Money” on the prospect on having Mitt Romney as president… Cramer has a lot of respect for Romney as a person who understands business as well as anyone. In fact, Romney wanted to hire Cramer back in the 80’s. Some of Jim Cramer’s comments include: “Romney is like the best businessman in North America!”

Mitt Romney is rapidly rising in his prospects within the Republican Party.  He has always known that he doesn’t have the national name recognition to be leading in the polls at this point in the race.  That is why he is working on a strategic campaign to spend his money and time where it matters.  Hence, Mitt has reached out to voters in early primary states like New Hampshire, Iowa, and South Carolina.  If he can capture some of the momentum of the presidential campaign right near the beginning of the primaries, then he will certainly get plenty more name recognition.

As a result of all of this campaigning, Romney has become the front runner in some of these states.  This shows that his strategy seems to be working and that the more people know Mitt, the more they like him.  He will only continue to climb.

The Post Chronicle reports that Romney has a lead in the New Hampshire polls at 35%.  This is up from last month’s 25%.  So, Romney has jumped 10% in just one month in a critical, early primary state.  Whereas McCain saw a decline and Guliani remaind stagnant in their poll numbers, and are tied at only 19% support.

This article reports that Romney is leading in Iowa with 30% of the support while McCain is receiving 18% and Guliani is receiving 17%.

What can we say?  Where Romney is campaigning and people are getting to know him, they like him.  The more we know, the more there is to like.

This is a good editorial pointing out the Media Bias about Romney’s Mormonism.  It’s called, “Mauling Mitt for Mormonism.”  Some excerpts:

FOR once, the media aren’t so thrilled by a “first.” Usually being the first African-American, woman or anything else to run for a major office gives a campaign a frisson of excitement in the press. Such pioneering campaigns are said to hold important lessons about the toleranceof the American public.

But former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney represents the first “first” that has elicited a lukewarm reaction from the media. Journalists constantly run stories about whether Romney can become the first Mormon president - with an undercurrent suggesting that they’d be just fine if he can’t.

Romney is not only a Republican, diminishing his “first” appeal, he represents a community with strict conservative mores. Among Mormons, stereotypical 1950s family life - a mom, a dad and lots of kids - never went away. So, this “first” has to strike many reporters as a bizarre step back. “Ozzie and Harriet” is not what they usually have in mind when they write about “making history.”

A trope in Romney-as-Mormon stories is that evangelical Christians won’t be able to vote for a Mormon. There’s a whiff of wishfulness to this, as if reporters hope evangelicals prove as bigoted as reporters have always suspected they were.

Yet the harshest anti-Mormon condemnations have come from the left.

So, Mitt Romney did great in the debate last night. I thought that he answered the questions that were posed to him in an intelligent and articulate manner. (Not a huge surprise.)

It was also interesting to me to see the other candidates, and sort of put a face and a demeanor to the names I have heard floating about. I thought Mike Huckabee, governor of Arkansas did a good job and would make a very good VP for Romney.

Romney really stood out in contrast with McCain, especially. McCain spent the entire debate talking about “coming together” “reaching across the aisle” and “negotiating.” He did this with a motion in which he intertwined his fingers to demonstrate cohesion, especially when talking about the Democratic party. I left thinking that McCain has been a Senator for so long and has had to negotiate everything so many times, that I wonder if he could lead. I know that as a leader you often need to negotiate and work with other people, but that’s not all, or even the most important thing you do. First and foremost, you LEAD. You stand out. You set and example to others. You are persuasive and firm when necessary. You inspire people to rise to the occasion and to follow you. I never feel inspired to follow McCain, only to try to get him to bend in a negotiation so that he will do what I want. I left thinking that he made a very good Senator but would make a poor president. I always feel like he is trying to get me to accept a situation based on concessions he makes, rather than by persuading me and inspiring me to rise to the occasion and give everything I have to the situation at hand.

This could not be farther from the way that Romney gets things done. He has proven successes with executive leadership in business, public service, and government. Negotiations under the table were what put the Salt Lake City Winter Olympics into the dismal situation they were in when Mitt took over. With a leadership style that assessed what needed to be done, worked within the realities of the situation, and then moved forward, Mitt LEAD the Winter Olympics to success. He did not accept excuses or mediocrity. His life is filled with similar examples of leadership. That is why I support Mitt Romney, and not McCain.

Mitt is currently conducting his sign up America campaign, so make sure you go to his website and become a new donor or volunteer. It’s most important to have a wide variety of people who donate at this stage, so make sure you give, even if it’s just a little. I am giving.

Well, Mothers for Mitt wants to wish a happy mothers day to all of the mothers in the world.  Today I have had the opportunity to reflect on Mothers, and on how much they do for us.  I don’t think any of us would be who we are today if it were not for our Mothers.  At the same time, as a mother myself, I know that I would not be who I am if it were not for my daughter and for the opportunity that I have to be a mother.  Being a Mom has deepened and enlarged my soul.  I have stretched and grown in ways that I could not previously imagine.  The pursuit has not been so much intellectual as it has been a becoming of a new person, the re-birth of me as a mother.

Part of this is just my own musings on mothers day, but part of it is related to Mitt.  From my experience being a Mom, I know the tremendous sacrifices, blessings, and most of all growth that comes from being a good parent.  When I participate in electing someone to a public office, I want to know that they have experienced the stretching that comes with being a good parent.  One of the things that I value about Mitt Romney is his family life, and the way in which he has clearly raised 5 good sons with his wife, Ann.  I like to know that he, as a good father, has experienced that stretching and growth that mean he has become a deeper person.  He can govern with an understanding of what it means to be a parent, to be a bigger person because you love someone more than yourself and more than you could imagine, and he will have stretched and grown through the process of parenthood to become a better person than he otherwise might have been.  I admire his family life and the way in which he has conducted himself within the walls of his own home.

This evening I watched a 20 minute segment about Mitt Romney on 60 minutes.  I thought he did a good job.  One of the things I thought was fun was how the family calls Ann Romney the CFO, or Chief Family Officer.  It is true that Moms often fill that role.  I know that my mother is definitely the Chief Family Officer!

There is another Republican debate coming up on the 15th of May.  Mitt is encouraging people to hold parties and socials in which they invite friends and neighbors to come and watch the debate.  The following day, Mitt’s team is attempting to get 24,000 new donors to his campaign in 24 hours.  For more information on how you can participate in all of this, click on the link to the right and get with Team Mitt.  Be sure and donate, even if it’s only a little bit right now.  The important thing is the number of donors, not the amount.

Well, now that I am basically finished with law school, I will hopefully have more time to blog on the site. And it’s just in time, since the race is heating up and Mitt is becoming one of the candidates to watch!

Not surprisingly, he did well in the recent debate. Hopefully we can get more people to watch the debates, because that is an arena in which Mitt really shines. He was articulate and he gave good answers to all of the questions asked. Romney also made a good performance on the Jay Leno show, where he came across as competent, presidential, and fun-loving.

People are basically referring to the first tier candidates as Romney, McCain, and Guliani. It’s good that Romney made the list, and hopefully now that there will be televised debates and appearances on high profile news and entertainment shows, the public will become more aware of Romney and his poll numbers will continue to rise.

Anyone catch Romney last night on Hannity and Colmes? I thought he did a fabulous job, and I also enjoyed hearing the discussion with Hugh Hewitt following the segment with Romney. Hugh Hewitt has written a book called, “A Mormon in the Whitehouse.” It sounds like a great read. I need to get my hands on it.

For all of us who are Romney followers, most of the arguments from both sides sounded like things we had heard before. In watching the segment, though, one thing that really struck me was how much Alan Colmes, the liberal commentator on the show, was trying to paint Romney as a “flipflopper” for converting to a pro life position on Abortion. Then later, Hugh Hewitt commented that liberals are going to try and bleed Romney’s conservative support, because they are, rightly, worried about Romney.

I have heard again and again the arguments that Romney is a flip flopper. It’s a little bit odd to me, since many of the strongest people in the pro life movement converted to the movement at some point. (Including, as Romney pointed out in the interview, Ronald Reagan and George Bush, Sr.) This is a movement in which we welcome converts. In my experience, people who convert to a cause are often some of the most dedicated to that cause. I don’t think that most people who are truly pro life will be too concerned that Romney is a convert.

However, for some reason the people I hear bring up this issue most often are either McCain supporting bloggers or liberals like Alan Colmes. What purpose could they have in attacking Romney’s pro life credentials? If they didn’t feel he was truly pro life, wouldn’t they be gleeful? If Liberals really think Romney is how they portray him, they should be jumping up and down. He will fool conservatives, take the white house, and turn out to be pro abortion and pro gay marriage. In short, he will turn out to be a liberal.

Funny, though, that the liberals don’t seem to think this is what will happen. Otherwise, they wouldn’t try to fight Romney so hard on these issues. They would just sit back and be gleeful as conservatives were “tricked.” Liberals don’t think Romney is tricking conservatives. They just want conservatives to think he is not sincere. This is because Liberals think that Romney is for real. And for once, they are right. He is the real deal, a real conservative who also has a good sense for political possibility and reality.

Fortunately, I don’t think most conservatives fall into liberal media traps. I am hopeful that as conservatives, we will see that Romney is the real deal, and look through claims FROM HIS OPPONENTS that his conversion to a pro life philosophy is false. Come election time, we will see that there’s a good reason liberals and McCain are running scared and trying to paint Romney as a flipflopper. It’s because they know, and so do we, that Romney is the real deal.

In a very, very interesting article by LA Times writer Mark Z. Barabak, results from a poll of RNC and DNC members show that Romney and Clinton have the most support from their respective parties. The poll also shows that there are significant divisions among each party. The full article can be read here:

Among the most interesting quotes:

The poll surveyed members of the Democratic and Republican national committees, the governing bodies of the two major political parties. Though relatively few, these insiders could have an important role in deciding which of their candidates face each other in November 2008, thanks to the influence many wield in their states.

Among Republicans, Romney had the most backing among party insiders, with 20% support, followed by Giuliani with 14%, McCain with 10% and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich of Georgia — who has said he might enter the race in the fall — with 8%.

In a potentially worrisome sign for McCain, just over 1 in 10 RNC members said they would not support him if he won the party’s nomination in his second attempt.

The survey turned up a dramatic split over the direction of the country and the problems the presidential candidates should address.

Whereas 83% of Republicans said the country was on the right track — and all said the economy was doing well — 95% of Democrats said the country was headed the wrong way, and more than 6 in 10 said the economy was in bad shape.

Republicans were more optimistic about the chance of electing a Mormon, which probably reflects good feelings for Romney. Nearly 8 in 10 GOP insiders said the country would elect a Mormon president, compared with 48% of Democrats.

Overall, Mitt is having a great showing among conservative organizations and the Republican National Committee. He seems to be emerging on top in the insider circles and is showing how good of a presidential candidate he really is. When party debates and more public campaigning begins, the American public will likely agree and see how Mitt is the right fit for 2008.

In a great showing for Mitt, 21% of attendees at the Conservative Political Action Conference–placing him first among more than a half-dozen GOP presidential hopefuls. Here’s part of the article from the AP:

WASHINGTON - Mitt Romney won the most support for the Republican presidential nomination in a straw poll of GOP activists attending an annual conference.

Despite his record of inconsistency on some social issues, the former Massachusetts governor got 21 percent of the 1,705 votes cast by paid registrants to the three-day Conservative Political Action Conference. They were asked who their first choice would be for the Republican nomination.

Rudy Giuliani, the former New York City mayor whose moderate stances on social issues irks the party’s right wing, was second with 17 percent.

Both were among the more than half-dozen White House hopefuls who spoke at the conference.

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., who rounds out the top tier of serious GOP contenders, skipped the event — and was punished for it. He got only 12 percent of the vote.

Ahead of him were Romney, Giuliani and two others. Sen. Sam Brownback of Kansas, a favorite of religious conservatives, got 15 percent, while former House Speaker Newt Gingrich of Georgia, who says he won’t decide whether to run until the fall, got 14 percent.

Others got 5 percent or less.

Read more here: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17442986/