I got to listen in on a conference call this morning announcing the launch of a new website devoted to Mitt’s loving spouse, Ann Romney. The website is a mix that reflects Ann’s personality, with sections about Ann’s causes (like MS), Ann’s recipes, and AnnTV (not to be outdone by her husband’s MittTV).
A few questions were asked to Ann, starting with a question from Jennifer Rubin about stem cell research. Ann talked about her own “soul searching” on the issue, ultimately finding the creation of life for the purpose of experimentation to be an “ethical line in the sand” that she would not cross. Rubin has a fuller account of the exchange here.
Asked about the new media (i.e. the humble blog you are now reading), Ann talked about the positive of allowing more people to get to know the candidates (and herself), but also being open to more scrutiny and criticism.
In all, Ann is almost a perfect match for her husband; personable, sincere, and (like her husband) supremely capable. That she has been given her own website shows the value that she is to Mitt’s campaign.
I was at the Rally for Romney in Irvine, California, last night calling everyone I know to persuade them to give money to Mitt for his election campaign. Ann imitates the Mitt bobblehead dolls in this video. What was amazing is how many people were willing to donate something, without convincing because they have heard good things about him.
Vic Lundquist has a great write-up with photos at Elect Romney in 2008 (although he didn't take a photo of me, so, I remain anonymous. Oh wait, Justin is adding photos to the new design. Darnet!).
The Spartanburg Herald Journal runs a piece on Romney in advance of his being in Spartanburg, S.C. today. In the Q & A portion Romney talks about marriage, school choice, and parenting:
SHJ: At the Beacon, you'll be a block away from one of the poorest neighborhoods in this city. Spartanburg has a high concentration of public housing, and many people here are born into poverty, live their lives in poverty, and die in poverty. What specific things would you do help these families break that cycle?
ROMNEY: "The most important single action a society can take to break the cycle of poverty, is to encourage marriage before babies. A child that is born to a single parent is four times more likely to be raised in poverty. We also need to improve our schools, so our kids - particularly in the inner-city - are given the skills they need for the jobs of today and tomorrow. Increasingly, our urban schools, and often those with minority populations, are failing our kids badly. The civil rights issue of our generation is the failure of inner-city schools to provide minority kids with the educational skills they deserve."
At a campaign lunch in Greenville and the reception in Columbia, Ann Romney talks about other things, of course, touting her husband's record on health care while governor and his role in turning around the scandal-plagued Salt Lake City Winter Olympics in 2002.
Still, the crowd becomes hushed and attentive as she talks — sometimes matter-of-factly, sometimes with a catch in her voice — about how he stood by her during the worst days of her struggle with MS. She says it's taught her that everyone carries "a bag of rocks" — some personal challenge or tragedy — even if others can't see it.
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