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 Saturday, February 24, 2007
What do you get when you pair Jennifer Dobner (the LDS Church watcher) and Glen Johnson (the Romney basher) together on an article about Romney's Marmon family roots? A hit piece like no other.
Jennifer is fairly tame in her decidedly left-leaning muckraking, though at times she inserts some fun axiomatic assumptions into her pieces (implying that the Mormon church would "punish" a man who entered into a "legal, same-sex marriage"). Glen has cut his teeth far deeper than Jennifer implying disappointment that Governor Romney doesn't carry over his displeasure with the Mass. Supreme Court into the public arena (see here and here). With their dual agendas the path to literary sniping was almost inevitable. Actually, I got a call from a friend this morning who indicated that reporters were poking around down in Mexico trying to interview some of the supposed long-lost polygamous cousins of Mitt Romney. It says something about the personal integrity of Governor Romney that his detractors have to scour back 3 generations to literally dig up a skeleton in a closet... since his closet is pretty darn clean. You see the main problem with AP hit pieces is that they don't state their claims.... they simply insinuate. So the article starts out like this: While Mitt Romney condemns polygamy and its prior practice by his Mormon church, the Republican presidential candidate's great-grandfather had five wives and at least one of his great-great grandfathers had 12.This would be funny if it weren't so contorted. They set up the sentence as a dichotomy but can't quite come to the realization of what that dichotomy is. So we need some MORE insinuation: Romney's father, former Michigan Gov. George Romney, was born in Chihuahua, Mexico, where Mormons fled in the 1800s to escape religious persecution and U.S. laws forbidding polygamy. He and his family did not return to the United States until 1912, more than two decades after the church issued "The Manifesto" banning polygamy.So the whispering voices that Dobner and Johnson want you to hear is that Romney Sr. was possibly a closet polygamist himself, that his immediate kin were Mormon defilers for decades and that Mitt obviously must have polyamorous leanings. What any of this has to do with Romney's presidential aspirations is unclear. Except this: Dobner and Johnson do not want you to vote for him. And nothing pulls on a voters heart strings like the strange estrangement and tears of Mitt's Great Great grandmother: "I felt that was more than I could endure, to have him divide his time and affections from me. I used to walk the floor and shed tears of sorrow. If anything will make a woman's heart ache, it is for her husband to take another wife. ... But I put my trust in my heavenly father, and prayed and pleaded with him to give me strength to bear this great trial."Again, I ask. What does this have to do with Mitt? This is agenda press politics at its best! Labels: AP, family, Glen Johnson, Jennier Dobner, mitt romney, polygamy, press
To start with the obvious Mitt Romney is most conservative candidate in the field who has, at present, a chance of winning. The press doesn’t like conservatives, or at the very least, is more hostile to conservatives than it is to liberals. The press sees everything regarding a conservative in the worst possible light; liberals are more likely to get the benefit of the doubt.This is one thing that conservative forget. Regardless how you think Romney REALLY feels about the issues his public stance is THE conservative candidate in the GOP candidate slate. Dean continues: A second reason is that Mitt Romney doesn’t look like a politician should, or at least the way the media thinks a Republican politician should. Given that Romney is constantly praised for his patrician demeanor, his impeccable manner and his smooth-as-silk politicking... The press has come to expect Republicans to fit certain molds. They are supposed to be inarticulate and not quick on their feet. The press has stereotyped every Republican presidential nominee since Ford in this way. They are also supposed to be intellectually unimaginative or downright unintelligent. Again, every Republican presidential nominee since Ford has had to live with this label. They are further required to be creatures of politics who have accomplished nothing or next to nothing outside of the political world. Lastly, all Republicans ought to have a bit of Elmer Gantry in them. They should preach about morality and piety, but they should always be obliging enough to have at least a few skeletons jangling in their closet.Think about our past slate of presidential candidates: Bush (inarticulate), Dole (dour), Bush 41 (unimpressive). Romney exudes something very different. As one press person put it: "Romney is straight out of central casting!" Dean summarizes this point: Mitt Romney fails to live up to any of these stereotypes. Intellectually, Romney graduated Harvard’s Business and Law Schools with top honors. Furthermore, it seems like he’s completely unfamiliar with the media dictates that Republicans should wrestle with English like it’s a hostile foreign language and make themselves available for lampooning as dullards.So why else are the press shooting at Romney? Lastly, and probably most frustratingly for the media, the Romney closet is depressingly barren. When Mitt Romney talks about family values, he’s able to point to his own wife of 40 years and a brood of children and grandchildren that seems too good even for a Christmas card.Barnett makes a great defense elsewhere on why this approach just won't work Labels: anti-romney, bash, dean barnett, flip-flop, mitt romney, press 
Governor Romey Released the Following statement today on current environmental debate. Saying that South Carolina Governor was right on this issue he continued:
Unfortunately, some in the Republican Party are embracing the radical environmental ideas of the liberal left. As governor, I found that thoughtful environmentalism need not be anti-growth and anti-jobs. But Kyoto-style sweepingBonus points to the person who can figure out who the governor may be referring to Labels: global warming, press release Local Vermont Newspaper Editorial Board gives Romney the GOP edge by a nose.
Hugh Hewitt sat down with Rudy this week and asked the mayor about Mitt's Mormon faith. Rudy responded:
Rudy is a decent guy who admittedly is ahead in the polls right now (but behind in fundraising and endorsements). We applaud Mayor G. and hope we can continue to focus on the issues. Cheers. Friday, February 23, 2007
Brody File has the scoop:
Out of all the Presidential contenders that showed up, Mitt Romney had the biggest turnout. An Evangelical leader who was inside the meeting told me that about 150 people showed up and that he received a "tremendous reception". About 100 people showed up at the McCain event. 80 for Brownback. This person tells me though that what's interesting is that the McCain and Brownback events were at the hotel where NRB was holding their convention. The Romney event was off site, about 2 miles away and he still drew the biggest crowd.Really, this is reasonable to me. I drove through the middle of the night from Chicago to Detroit to live blog the official kick-off. 2 miles is nothing to see the next president. I'm told that Romney was questioned firmly on the abortion question and his answers were not sound bite oriented. He actually gave detailed answers which were described as candid and honest. The topic of judges came up too and the war on terror. Judge Charles Pickering was there and he had questions for Romney as well.Romney is honest and candid, he's a spectacular candidate. What's great about Romney is not only his ability to appeal to the social conservatives, but he has a hard line on terrorist and by far the keenest economic mind. Labels: david brody, event, mitt romney, national broadcasters convention  Many thanks for reader Glenn for pointing us to this article.Today, Elanor Clift, the wily leftist pundit, pens a quick piece entitled: "The Christian Right's Dream Candidate". She's speaking of Jeb Bush. A lot of people believe that Jeb could win the primary and the general election handily if it weren't for one big handicap, his last name. She notes that the debate is still out for who the Christian Right will choose, but the chosen successor for the Bushes? The Bush family seems to be moving its chips to former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. Several of Jeb’s gubernatorial staffers have signed on with Romney, and Jeb’s sister, Doro Bush Koch, is cohosting a fund-raiser for him. Mom and Dad are reportedly telling friends he’s a fine man and the class act in the race. With front runner John McCain faltering and Rudy Giuliani an unlikely fit with Republican primary voters, Romney looks like the Bush Dynasty’s best bet.Interesting! Labels: bushes, eleanor clift, jeb bush, mitt romney Could they be ducking you-know-who? From the Hotline:
 Chart as of 2/23 We admit up front that this list is not official. We've gathered the names from public news articles and on the candidates website. With that in mind there is no mistake that Mitt Romney increased his endorsement edge. The difference seems to be a good majority of the Utah delegation getting behind him and making their names public. But there were also numerous endorsements from Georgia and South Carolina. Next week we will make available an endorsement application that will allow you to make contributions to this effort. We will try to source each of these as well.
Labels: david brody mitt romney, election, endoresements, Endorse, Endorsement, Endorsements, McCain, rudy Just an announcement, I have started on as a contributor for www.Race42008.com. It's a great site ran by Kavon Nikrad. Basically the jist of the site is 5-10 contributors blogging for a candidate they favor- mine is Hagel (that's a joke), with an open comments section. It's a lot of fun to read and I would encourage all of you Romney Die-Hards to visit, comment often and support OurManMitt.
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I think that the Governor’s religion is not an issue in any way in the campaign, and any more than John Kennedy as being a Catholic was an issue, or Senator Lieberman as being Jewish when we ran for vice president. I mean, these things…I think we’re way beyond that, and I don’t think it’ll be an issue. I mean, obviously, by an issue, people will comment on it, but I think the American people have gone way beyond that, and they’re willing…what they want to do is look at the person, and what kind of…how have you performed in public office, what have you done, have you acted as a fair, impartial person in dealing with people of all different religions or whatever. And if that’s the case, those are the issues, not is what is someone’s religion, but how have they acted.
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