Mitt Romney for President My Man Mitt: 2/4/07

Before introducing myself, I would to say I am very thankful for having the opportunity to contribute to the My Man Mitt blog. I also post at the MichigandersforRomney blog.

I am Ryan Thompson, a junior double majoring in political science and history at Hillsdale College in Hillsdale, Michigan. At Hillsdale, I am the Chair of the College Republicans and have been helping the campaign as a volunteer along with working at the school library and maintaining on the Dean’s List. I have lived in several states including North Carolina, California, Pennsylvania, and now Michigan.

I have been a fan of Mitt Romney since before he even ran for Governor. His work with the Utah Olympics was impressive to say the least, but based on his record in the private sector it should be no surprise how successful he was at turning the games around and making a profit for the people of Utah. He brought this track record of success to the office of Governor by balancing the state budget by cutting the size of government and not raising taxes. I come from a family who champions success and fiscal responsibility, and Mitt more than fits this mentality with his record.

Along with his record of success in turning faltering organizations around, Mitt has the right vision to put this nation on the right track for the 21st Century. We must meet the challenges facing our nation from abroad and at home with innovation and the power of individuals not government. Mitt has proven time and again his support for using the power of individuals not the government to fix problems that most others would view as hopeless.

Most importantly, Mitt has lived a life based on strong moral character that should be expected of our leaders. Mitt will lead our nation to a strong and prosperous future where my family will live for generations to come. These are the reasons I am proud to support Mitt Romney for President.

Labels: Michigan


	3 Comments: Is that that same Hillsdale College that Michael Medved always mentions? By Anonymous, at February 11, 2007 9:31 AM Yes it is the Hillsdale College widely talked about. By Ryan Thompson, at February 11, 2007 5:38 PM Is it true that the Romney campaign promised Hillsdale a bus and a free weekend stay at the Omni only to send vans and put you guys in the Days Inn? I also heard the campaign spent $350k on the entire operation. Ouch. That must hurt. By Anonymous, at March 4, 2007 3:10 AM Post a Comment

The Michigan Republican Party had its convention over the last two days (Friday and Saturday) in Grand Rapids, the home of late President Gerald Ford. On this cold February weekend, around 3000 of the Michigan Republican Party faithful gathered to elect statewide party offices and listen to two perspective Presidential candidates give speeches including Mitt Romney.

In regards to the Michigan Republican Party officer elections, every race except the Youth Chair race, the lowest statewide office, featured only one candidate. The Youth Chair race came down to a nailbitting recount of the 9th Congressional District caucus, where the margin of victory of Matt Hall fell from 20 to 8. Both candidates tried to appeal to the camps of the respective Presidential candidates for support as seen with both having endorsements from multiple camps. I was sort of shocked by the closeness of the race as many expected Hall to win by a wide margin.

Beyond the party office races, the Presidential campaigns of Mitt Romney, John McCain, Rudy Giuliani, and Sam Brownback had representatives and volunteers at the convention. I was helping the Romney campaign by doing the general campaign work like handing out stickers, manning tables, etc... While the McCain camp was expected to have a large delegation seeing their strength in the western part of Michigan, the Romney team had a large presence.

The reaction of the delegates and others at the convention to Romney's candidacy shocked me. I knew Mitt was popular among the party faithful, but the exceptionally strong levels of support for Mitt convinced many of us that he is the favorite among the majority of the party activists at the convention. While this is driven to a certain extent by fond memories of his father's three terms as Governor among the older delegates, some of whom shared their memories of George Romney to the volunteers, a great deal of Mitt's support comes from those who are impressed by Mitt himself.

Along with these exciting details, it is obviously important to note that Mitt's speech to the Convention was very impressive as he talked about his record, his family, and his vision for America. The strong support for Mitt was evident from the crowd's reaction to his speech and the impressive welcome he received as he entered the convention hall. Along with his speech, his receptions on Friday night and Saturday afternoon were well attended by the party faithful.

The convention definitely showed the strength of Mitt's campaign in Michigan at levels I did not even expect to see. From seeing the reaction to Romney at the convention, I am more confident than ever he has a strong chance in the Michigan primary next year.

Labels: Michigan, Romney


	1 Comments: Hillsdale is awsome. By myclob, at February 10, 2007 10:12 PM Post a Comment


	1 Comments: Web 2.0 baby! By myclob, at February 10, 2007 4:05 PM Post a Comment


	11 Comments: Why are you putting something a 9th grader with a super-ego wrote on his cruddy website onto your website? By Alex, at February 9, 2007 11:12 PM Same reason Dean Barnett did? Sorry Dean forgot the Hat Tip. By jason, at February 9, 2007 11:31 PM The fact of the matter is that if Person A seriously believes that Person B is in some sort of cult, that Person A would actually be quite stupid if Person A voted for or supported Person B. Using the pejorative definition of the word cult, one comes to see a group of people who are completely under the mind control of someone or something. This usually comes in the form of a charismatic individual, and this individual’s followers would do anything for their leader. They would not allow any sense of reason to prove anything that the charismatic leader says to be wrong, no matter how obviously false it might be. My point is that any adherent to this type of cult would be too impressionable and easily controlled to have any real position of power with the general public. Imagine some person who survived from drinking the Kool-Aid in Jonestown coming back and running for President. We all know that this was a verifiable cult, and if a person had followed this cult even to the point of almost killing him or herself for this cult and its leader, then this person probably would not be stable enough to be the President of the United States. How about a follower of the Heaven’s Gate Cult, who survived and still believed in its tenets, running for President? The rest of his or her co-“religionists” are dead, but this person believes that he or she could make a good President. Well, to be honest, I think that I’d automatically disqualify either of these people from getting my vote, and I’d probably tell all of my family and friends not to vote for either person as well. And if anybody asked me why not to vote for said candidate, I would probably tell them, “Well, that person is in a member of the Heaven’s Gate Cult” or “that person was involved in Jonestown and still believes in it.” So, to say it clearly, if a person seriously believes that Mormonism should be classified as the pejorative type of cult and knowing that Mitt Romney is a follower of this “cult” still votes for him, that person would be a moron just like voting for the surviving Heaven’s Gate guy still clad in his jumpsuit and Nikes would be moronic. Being in a cult of the derogatory type that Instapunk believes Romney is in should disqualify any candidate from receiving electoral support. The real question here is: What is a cult in this sense and does Mormonism really qualify as a cult in a way that makes it more of a danger to vote for a Mormon than perhaps a Catholic (which some consider to be a cult) a Protestant (ditto to the hundreds of possible cults under this label) or a Jew (which some others consider to be a cult) or any kinds of religions at all, which all could be considered to be cults by somebody out there? In reality, Instapunk only has four options here: 1: be a moron and vote for someone he thinks is in a cult; 2: don’t vote for Romney because he thinks that Romney is in a cult; 3: vote for Romney after reevaluating his definition of cult so that Mormonism would no longer fall in this negative category; or 4: get with the program and stop being such a bigot about a religion that is hardly any weirder or cultish than whatever religion or lack thereof that Instapunk practices. The reason why I even respond to this entire thing is because this is something that has only begun and will only get worse. I get so angry when I see movies making fun of Omish people, because I know that devout Omish don’t even watch movies, so they can’t defend themselves. Or I get angry when I hear about someone who attacks a Catholic for opposing abortion and the death penalty. There has to be some religious belief or practice from every single religion in the world is going to be somewhat weird to somebody. Even if there was a “Church of No Weird Beliefs and Practices”, that church would be weird just because it thinks it is so necessary to be normal that it doesn’t do anything strange at all. Now that would really be weird. Instapunk, I’d almost call that a cult. By 206isCancer.com, at February 10, 2007 12:56 AM Justin, Just got MMM blog rolled as you well deserve. Jack www.charmaineyoest.com By Jack Yoest, at February 10, 2007 8:44 AM (Full disclosure...I am a devout Mormon) Very insightful comments by 206isCancer.com. I agree that if someone thinks Mormonism is a cult, they should not vote for a Mormon, based on the arguments set forth. I think the point of the original post is that the hateful tone of the Instapunk blog lends you to believe that he/she is more of a bigot, rather than having a clearly thought-out rationale for not liking Mormons, and thinking they are distrustful. In my personal experience, I have found that many people find Mormons to be, on average, more trustful than general public at large. This is more from a business-world perspective. This has come from personal comments made to me by several people over the years. The truth is, when taken in the context of controlling the country through the political process, Mormon teachings are probably less "cultish" than many other religions. The Mormon Church has never tried, from what I know, to significantly influence the national political process, except when it comes to issues of what are considered moral in nature (abortion, same-sex marriage, etc). In fact, many other churches has been MUCH MORE influential and public in trying to sway the political process. I know that in many other Christian churches, the Pastors, Priests, and other leaders often preach their political beliefs from the pulpit. They have that right, and I applaud them for that. However, in an LDS church, that would never be condoned. I have seen it happen once or twice, but each time the Bishop immediately (with care and tact) reminded the members that the church does not impose a political doctrine on them, and that they should participate in the political process as they see fit. The church is often asked to allow buildings to be used for political discussions. These requests are always rejected. Further, comparing the Mormon "cult" to Heaven's gate, or any other movement is a stretch at best, as we are never administered drugs, never threatened with our lives, never encouraged to isolate ourselves from people of other faiths. We are however, prompted to do all we can to support the teachings of Jesus Christ, and bring others to a realization that Christ is our personal savior, and only through him can we be saved and return to live for eternity with our Father in Heaven. There are doctrinal differences between Mormons and Other faiths, but this is not the forum to discuss those. What can be said, however, is one doctrine that is NOT true. Mormons are not trying to take over the U.S. by having one of its members run for president. The congress, the senate, the judiciary branch, and all of the American people would never let that happen. And that is the way it should be...the way the constitution set it up to be. By Michael, at February 10, 2007 11:14 AM I don't think we should give this guy a forum for his hate speech. By Brandon P, at February 10, 2007 1:58 PM I would challenge Jason to find out more about Mormonism. It is quite evident from his comments, that he has been grossly misinformed. Mormons are indeed Christians, and NOT a cult. When JFK ran for President, did anyone accuse the Catholics of wanting to take over the country? Of course not... Jason is obviously uneducated about Mormonism, and even more obviously full of hate. Mormonism is no threat to this country, but quite the opposite, a great asset. By Annette, at February 10, 2007 10:34 PM Annette, I assume you meant the guy from Instapunk and not me. I was quoting him to show how ludicrous he was. By jason, at February 11, 2007 12:35 AM Annette, Jason is not the culprit, it is that punkhead who has thought how knowledgeable he is about Mormonism and unfavorably making side comments of that religion. By the way, as the name implies,... INSTAPUNK, it has a description of a human being who has a brain smaller than the size of an anchovish fish and a behavior fit for mental asylum. What a mess to the normal society! By mike_dnc, at February 11, 2007 11:02 AM I think Mormons have nothing to worry about. They get some pretty begrudging backhanded compliments on their defense of theology and history from evangelical scholars who slam their own colleagues' ignorance. Google on: "Mormon Scholarship, Apologetics, and Evangelical Neglect: Losing the Battle and Not Knowing It?". Trinity Journal Fall '98, p179-205. Let's move one and figure out how to get this nation back on track. Mitt seems to be the leader everyone can get behind. By Al, at February 11, 2007 11:40 AM I can’t believe the lack of outrage by the mainstream media and other ‘rights’ groups. It is ridiculous that in a politically correct age an obscure "Macaca" comment can derail George Allen, yet all the outright bigotry toward Mitt Romney’s faith goes not only unchecked, but is further perpetuated by media outlets like the New York Times, etc. Unbelievable! -MR Together, we can find the truth… http://www.mittreport.com By Mittreport.com, at February 11, 2007 8:45 PM Post a Comment

David Brody at CBN Asks: Who's the most maligned candidate? (in the GOP field) . . . see his answer below.

I must admit, I thought Rudy Giuliani, because of his liberal social values, would be the run away winner as the guy who comes under the most criticism from conservative Republicans in the buildup towards 2008. That still may happen but he's not the most maligned right now.

I thought John McCain may suffer too yet so far nothing urgent there either. People will go after him. It's coming but it hasn't galvanized yet.

The winner here, as of February 2007 (unfortunately for him) is Mitt Romney. It seems like everybody is going after him. His opponents are determined to paint him as a flip flopper on almost every issue from campaign finance reform, to taxes, to abortion, to marriage.

What does Brody think is the reasoning behind this?

Here's what I think is really going on. Romney's critics are concerned. They know he could immediately morph into the front runner here. Let's face it. He looks like a President, talks like a President, has been raising tons of money, collecting key endorsements and is running his campaign in a very professional way with competent people who know what they're doing. He's looked Presidential from the start and his opponents know it. They figure they must take him down early. They want to have him lose control of his image. Let's remember here: Americans, for the most part, don't really pay attention to the particulars of issues. So Romney's critics are going to try and paint him as this flip flopper and hope it sticks. If it does, he's in trouble. Romney’s challenge will be to calmly, easily explain this away without losing his cool or seeming so defensive. He'll need to take a page from Ronald Reagan's playbook and poke a little fun at himself and not take this all so seriously. It's challenging but what's a race without a challenge.

David Brody's pretty much spot on with this one. He realizes that there is a fury of oppostion to Mitt's surge. He's got half of the reason for why Romney is being maligned (competitors are scared), but, I would think that, as a reporter for the Christian Broadcasting Network, he would realize as well that the "anti-Romney rhetoric" might be elevated within his circles because of Romney's religious affiliation.

It may not be PC to say this, but people who don't want a Mormon POTUS won't say "Don't vote for him because he's Mormon" . . . they'll just overblow the few weaknesses that Romney has to a painfully disproportionate level. Other opposing candidate campaigns will fan these flames as well. It's gotten ugly already, but Brody's right that it will shift into a new gear over the next few months.

Am I wrong here?

Jeff Fuller

Labels: brody, competitors, jeff fuller, mitt, mitt romney, Mormon

Video of Romney speech at MI GOP Convention…

Introduction

Michigan Republican Party Convention Rundown

The Edge

There Are Bigots And Then There Are Bigots

Romney: "the most maligned candidate"

Candidates Blaze the Campaign Trail ... Online: Information Superhighway is the New-Age Road to the White House

More on Recent Iowa Visit

Mitt Romney is a Facebook Spokesman

The MittCast - Edwards Bloggers and True Campaign Influence

Hannity and Colmes Poll