Illinoisans For Mitt

We Have Moved!

2006-11-17T12:18:00.000-06:00

Illinoisans for Mitt has moved to it's new home with a new name. Check us out here at www.illinoisansforromney.com. You will also find some new contributors and nicer layout.

Jason

Romney hires ad man

2006-11-16T08:05:00.000-06:00

Romney hires Bush ad man Castellanos.

Romney Courting Ken Mehlman?

2006-11-11T10:02:00.000-06:00

Word has it that Romney is courting Ken Mehlman saying he has "revolutionized american politics." Lets hope he gets him.

I would like to think my little exchange with Mehlman helped tip the scales, but I doubt it.

Romney fighting Gay Marriage

2006-11-10T08:02:00.000-06:00

Romney is still fighting the fight against gay marriage in Mass. again. With over 170,000 signatures on petittion requesting a ban on gay marriage be put on the next ballot, the state legislature recessed- effectively killing the petition so as to keep the vote from becoming a reality.

This is a real joke. The only reason I can conjure is that proponents of gay marriage knew it might pass. After all, in the last election 7 states based bans on gay marriage.

Romney had this to say:

"Today, by effectively avoiding the constitutionally required vote on same-sex marriage, 109 legislators disgraced their oath of office," Romney said, adding that it was clear the intent was to kill the measure altogether."

The gay activist were full of their usual garbage:

You don't have to live next to us. You don't have to like us," state Senator Jarrett T. Barrios, an openly gay Cambridge Democrat, said in an emotional speech. "We are only asking you today to end the debate so that we can sleep easily knowing . . . that we will at least have the right to enjoy the same rights the rest of you have enjoyed for time immemorial."

What? Some how I missed this one. How is marriage a right, but the right to be able to vote on it is not? Voting is found in the constitiution and in this specific incident in the MA state constitution, but where is marriage found? Gay marriage proponents know that when gay marriage is put to a vote, they don't win. That is why they resort to tactics such as this one, and getting judges to overrule the majority mind of the people.

Every dog has his day...

2006-11-09T23:41:00.000-06:00

Me and the Illinoisans for Mitt Blog made it on TV. It was on one of Chicago's 2 PBS stations.

If you send me a self adressed stamped envelope I can mail you an autographed photo of myself.

Election Day Adventures

2006-11-08T22:00:00.000-06:00

What an interesting past couple of weeks to say the least. I was out of the town about 8 of the last 10 days before the election. Along with this 2 of our cars broke down, and my wife has an art gallery opening next week. So my contributions to the political fights here locally were less then I had hoped, but fun none the less.

A couple days before the election I went knocking doors with Pam Newton who was defending (and won) her county board seat. Pam is a very energetic person! I honestly had no idea some one could be so excited over knocking doors with me, but I do have an excellent knock. I ran across several interesting people, most were very polite, and surprisingly only one said no thank you to my material. The highlight of the that afternoon was the guy with the original 1970 Chevelle LS6 in his garage, nice guy, but I wonder if really voted.

On election day I spent 8 hours in the polling stations as a poll watcher for Congressman Mark Kirk. There were two highlights:

1.Saying hello to Richard Dent, a member of the '85 bears, as he came into vote. The guy was huge (and I am 6'5”) but I could tell he was a real teddy bear, j/k. Actually the sad part was not finding him on my Republican Tally sheet from the Kirk Campaign. Equally sad was not finding myself on that sheet!
2.Meeting the nice election lawyer who represented Mark Seals- the Democratic Candidate for Congress. He was a nice guy, but I couldn't telling him after he asked if there were any problems with the voting by telling him all minorities were being turned away. It took him a second but he laughed and patted me on the back. I then gave him an old dutch rub. OK I made up that last part.

Our precinct did well. We brought home the bacon and had a good turnout. Our congressman won and so did several other Republicans.

I am still contemplating what to think of the election. I was sick and mostly speaking in slurred speech until about lunch, but then I began to see it in a different light. I really think this is going to bring the Repubs (of which I am one) back to some sort of reality. The truth is spending was way over board and power can corrupt. I would like to see a very fiscally restrained house, and face it, it would never had happened with a reelection. I really though worry about tax hikes under Pelosi and Wrangle and supreme court nominees. I worry even more about a spending war over Iraq. There is a sense of relief though with Rumsfeld gone, although I thought he was great.

Anyway, it's Romney Time!

It's finally here...

2006-11-06T22:38:00.000-06:00

Midterm Elections. I hope everyone who reads this is planning on voting tomorrow. Very important. It will be interesting to see how things turn out. I am am still hoping the Republicans can hold on to both houses. It may be wishful thinking, but don't underestimate voter turnout.

On a local level this election, I think, is even more important. In illinois, the make up of the atate legislature will detemine some of the important issues like parental notification, ERA and Democratic control of our transportation system- a complete mess.

So get and vote.

Thanks George...

2006-11-01T11:11:00.001-06:00

George Will has written an article detailing why Romney is benifiting from the current GOP seen more than any other contender.

Lets just say this now, Romney Rocks!

Voter Guides

2006-10-30T07:24:00.000-06:00

Well needless to say this blog has slowed down the last couple of months. Sorry about that. I have been pretty busy with work and some family related stuff. But I am now able to write more often and hopefully bring you some high quality content. Hopefully this week Illinoisans for Mitt will move to it's new location. I will inform you when it does.

Here is some info on Voter Guides from the Illinois Legacy Website:

The voter guide from Culture Campaign will both help you identify the candidates who will appear on your district's ballot as well as help you understand the candidates' stand on key family values issues. Furthermore, if the candidate did not respond to the survey, but is an incumbent, information on their voting record on that issue is provided. http://www2.vgt2004.org/a-culturecampaign/

The voter guide from the Illinois Family Institute includes a question on whether the candidate supports the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA).
As the ERA will most likely come back up for a vote in the Illinois Legislative Assembly this spring, this question helps us choose candidates who will support our opposition against the ERA. Please note that the questions (and question numbers) for the national level candidates are different from the questions for the state level candidates.

Click Here. If you find the print difficult to read, try the larger print special break out versions of this voter guide for each congressional district. Click Here.

Summary of Romneys activites with LDS Church

2006-10-23T07:52:00.000-05:00

A good summary of the LDS church/Romney controversy can be detailed here.

Apparantly emails were published over the weekend by the Boston Globe between Romney Consultant Don Stirling and Deseret Book Publisher CEO Sheri Dew. On the surface these e-mails appear incriminating but a further analysis show they are nothing but an over zealous supporter. The church has emphatically denied any such collaboration with Romney.

Even if everything the Globe has reported was true, would it damage Romney? Probably not. Two points to remember:

1. Romney is not an official candidate so it would be impossible for the church to be breaking anysort of IRS laws concerning their support of a political candidate.

2. What potential candidate would not use his social networks?

In the aformentioned Tribune article quoted Pollster John Zogby:

As for political ramifications of the story, veteran pollster John Zogby said Sunday the revelation so far probably doesn't carry much weight with potential voters.

"The polling that we've done indicates a very strong national consensus on separation of church and state," Zogby said. "This is seen as more of a social network than a church network. Everyone who runs for office calls upon their social network."

In my mind I can't help but wonder why a newspaper would be willing to carry a story with such major ramifications with only a couple 3rd party emails. The follow up question would be how in the world did the Globe obtain these private emails? I am sure that neither Dew nor Stirling would have handed them over so one is left questioning the tactics of the Globe. The Globe seemed to eager to play this up from the start. The original articles with black and white mugshots on the side of Jeffrey Holland, Kem Gartner and Josh Romney were something worthy of The Onion.

I have a feeling that from here there is not much more room for the story though, unless they find Jimmy Hoffa in the Commonwealth PAC meatlocker (I am sure they have looked.)

Lastly the LDS church released (as does prior to every major election) it's statement on political neutrality:

"In this election year church members are again reminded to exercise their right to study the issues and candidates, and then vote for those they believe will most nearly carry out their ideas of good government.

"While affirming its constitutional right of expression on political and social issues, the church reaffirms its long-standing policy of neutrality and does not endorse candidates for political office. Church facilities and membership data are not to be used for political purposes.

"Members who hold public office should not imply or give the impression they represent the church as they work for solutions to social problems."

Mehlman, McSweeney, Roskam

2006-10-20T14:29:00.000-05:00

I just got back from a great rally with Ken Mehlman- chair of the RNC and two congress hopefuls, Dave McSweeney and Peter Roskam. Also in atte4ndance was IL state party chair Andrew McKenna.

Mehlman did a wonderful job outlining the differences of Dems and Repubs on key issues such as taxes and the war on terrror. He was a very spririted speaker and very knowledgable. Mehlman gave an interesting time line of terrorists attacks on the US putting into perspective Bush's efforts and the need to keep pounding on the terrorists. Afterward I went up and shook his hand and introduced myself to him. I told him I did some online blogging for Romney he gave nice smile and said, "He's a good man." I guess I can't expect to get much more out of the head of the RNC.

Both McSweeney and Peter Roskam were very good speakers. Roskam brought up that the other night he had a debate with his opponent. Afterward the producer told him Al Jazeera was covering the debate! What in the world? That blew me away. It really shows the interest this midterm election has to our enemies in the Arab world. Something tells me Osama is not voting for Roskam or any conservative.

When I was leaving I ran into Roskam in the parking lot and spoke to him for a moment. A very amiable person. He could have been someone you run into at the super market, a very down to earth person.

Ingraham and Buchanan

2006-10-20T09:52:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I was listening to Laura Ingraham while she intervewed Pat Buchanan. After asking him a couple questions about his employer MSNBC laying off employees (more people watch the Japanese Language Station) the topic turned to midterm elections. From there the two started talking about Romney. Laura stated that Romney was someone who could lead the party. Buchanan expressed some reservations about Romney but finally agreed that Romney will probably be the Dark Horse candidate.

Buchanan said he wasn't too sure about the Mormon in the South thing but basically said that Guiliani has no chance having done nothing yet, and that he would be killed if he were to try and run. It seemed that while Buchanan has some reservations about Romney he is open and waiting to see.

Two thoughts:

1. As long as people like Ingraham, Medved, O'reilly, Rush, Hewitt, Prager and others continue to speak well of Romney I think the Mormon thing will go away with the base. Most of the base listen to these guys and will be swayed. Actually these voices might be Romney's best bet in the South.

2. Buchanan is going to be embracing Romney soon, because in 2 words: McCain stinks.

After this the conversation turned to Santorum. Both of them agreed that Santorum will likely be the Republican wonder if he gets through this current election in tact. They were hinting at a possible run, when Laura said he would make a great VP. Romney-Santorum?

Ken Mehlman in IL for McSweeney

2006-10-19T23:23:00.000-05:00

Ken Mehlman will be in Rolling Meadows tomorow at Dave McSweeney's victory office tomorow at 11:30am. Mehlman is head of the RNC and will be there to support McSweeney's bid for congress against Mellissa Bean, a liberal.

I am going to try to make it.

Commonwealth Hires on some Talent

2006-10-18T09:18:00.000-05:00

A press release from the commmonwealth announces new additions to the commonwealth staff. There names and bios can be seen here.

Pics from Romney in Chicago

2006-10-17T00:19:00.000-05:00

Here are a couple pics from the event here in Chicago last week. I would have more, but since I have no idea how to get a camera to work indoors I had to rely on someone else for their photos.

Romney with Julie Johnson (My Man Mitt) and me with the new super cool "Vote for Mitt" Napolean Dynamite T-shirt. Apparantly Mitt has mastered the art of keeping his eyes open for photographs. I guess that's another qualification for our nations top office. We also gave Mitt an official "MittHead" pin. What else do you get for the man who has everything?

Ade, Mitt and Paul. Ade and Paul are Buisness School students at the University of Chicago and Romney supporters. Thanks to Ade for the tip off on the event and for the photos.

ROMNEY AT THE CAPITOL CLUB IN D.C.

2006-10-17T00:12:00.000-05:00

This post is brought to us by Justin Hart, a blogger who lives in D.C.

Timing in comedy is everything. Timing in politics doubly so. If you can master both mediums... the world is yours.

Today the Commonwealth PAC hosted a luncheon with Mitt Romney at The Capitol Club in Washington, D.C. About 500 people turned out (donations in hand) including myself to hear the Mass. Governor give a few words.

The Capitol Club is a block south of Capitol Hill and shares a building with GOP headquarters (if these walls could talk!). I've been down there several times for briefings from the Republican pollsters strategies and leaders but this is the first time I paid for the opportunity.

Actually, I was glad to make the donation... it's a relatively small PAC with a decent contribution record. Romney is the key affiliate of the PAC.

The original plan was a sit down luncheon for about 100 people. There was no public notice of the event just word of mouth but that was enough to change the format to standing room only for 500 people.

After about a half-an-hour of carousing Ken Mehlman, chairman of the National Republican Committee, offered the introduction to Romney who spoke for about 15 minutes.

The crowd was full of dignitaries, former governors, congressmen, lobbyists, lawyers, staffers and interested crazy right-wing bloggers like myself. The event organizers told me afterward that 29 ambassadors were present. I won't say it was the who's who of Washington but it wasn't short of power.

"Be careful what you wish for..." Romney opened with good joke pointing out the huge and unexpected turnout for the event. The Governor was quick with the one-liners throughout the speech which flowed naturally from one topic to the other. From SLC Olympic musings to a touching tribute to 9/11 Romney didn't miss a beat.

Romney's grasp of the modern day subjects was spot on. Discussing his trip to Afghanistan he recalled a conversation with his wife. She asked if he was adjusting to the time change. He responded: "The 11 and a half hours are not bad, it's the 800 years that are difficult." He pulled no punches pointing out this "challenging times" for the nation. He described with pretty good deftness the Jihadist threat to install a caliphate everywhere in the world.

Romney stayed afterward to take pictures and greet people until almost everyone had left.

At one point he declared: "I am not a full-time politician, this hasn't been my life." It may not have been his life, but I doubt it can remain that way, not if the crowd today has anything to say about it.

But hey... you didn't have to pay the money, you can be there too. See here.

Do you like Cheese? Romney does.

2006-10-12T10:22:00.000-05:00

Romney will be a short hop skip and a jump from Illinois this saturday. He will be at a fundraiser in Milwaukee, a short drive from Chicago. From the Journal-Sentinel:

Madison -- Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney is coming to Milwaukee on Saturday.

Romney, a Republican eyeing a run for president, has twice had to cancel recent plans to come to Wisconsin. He put off a July visit after a ceiling collapsed in a highway tunnel. Then, in August, he decided to stay in Boston when news broke of a plot to blow up trans-Atlantic flights.

Now, Republicans say Romney really is coming to Wisconsin. He is scheduled to appear from 7 to 9 p.m. Saturday at the Milwaukee Athletic Club for a fund-raiser to help the state party get out the vote in the Nov. 7 gubernatorial election.

Romney Giving Money to Topinka

2006-10-12T10:11:00.000-05:00

On his trip here to Chicago Romney said that the RGA will be giving more money to Topinka's efforts, especially after the news of Blagojevich's findraisor being indicted.

Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, chairman of the Republican Governors Association, was in Chicago Wednesday and said before the indictment was unsealed that the group had given Topinka $250,000 and that the number would grow.

LaHood said after Romney heard about the indictment, he said he would try to bring in another $700,000.

Topinka, meanwhile, offered herself as the choice for voters fed up with corruption in Illinois.

"If you've got a constituency that once again wants to believe in government and the governor, they've got a choice, a good choice," she said at a fundraiser in Lincoln.

For more information regarding this read here.

Chicago Event

2006-10-12T09:39:00.000-05:00

I had a chance to hear Romney Speak yesterday at a lunchtime meeting for students at the University of Chicago School of Business. Needless to say it was very impressive. Romney gave a different talk geared towards business students rather than the usual stump speech.

The room was full of attentive students, probably about 100-200 people were there. Needless to say Romney made a very strong impression on the students and faculty in attendance. Julie Johnson who helps with My Man Mitt was in attendance. I was also able to make some contact with some new Romney supporters who were won over there at the event.

I couldn't help but think that if I was supporting another candidate (read McCain) I would have been very worried to here such an intelligent speech with good delivery from another candidate.

Here are some details about Romney speech.

He was introduced by who I presumed was the Dean of the school. He gave a short Bio of Romney and quoted briefly from the Economist that deemed Romney “a scarily perfect presidential Candidate.” Then he turned it over to Romney.

Romney outlined the four steps he used in the business world to turn companies and enterprises around.

1.Throw out Conventional Wisdom.

2.“I Love Data” Read all Data that can possibly be found.

3.Rigorous Analysis of the Data.

4.Assemble people who think different then yourself, the more different the better.

This is the approach that Romney has taken into the public sector. He then gave an interesting story of when he was first governor and tried to gather some data reports. There were none, no one looked at Data, most officials just acted on what they thought was the best idea not on statistics and facts. This was interesting to Romney since this type of leadership would never compete in the business world. Which is were the fundamental difference with government and business lies, government has no competition. If the voters of Massachusetts don't like there government, there isn't another one they can go to.

Romney gave several examples of streamlining government in Massachusetts. One such was court houses. He did a study after being asked for $250 million for a court house. He found out if strategically placed he could have 6 court house in MA and all citizens would be within an hours drive, 12 if you want 30 min drive. How many are there? 112. Why? All the staffers and friends of politicians need jobs in the off-season.

Another example was of the highway commission. Most states have one, MA had three. He has nearly condensed it to one. Government is wasteful Romney says, because it does not apply the basic rudimentary skills business students learn in there first 3 weeks of business school.

Romney than talked about the 4 problems he sees facing the US, and his solutions:

1.Under attack from Jihad-ist. These are not some wackos in the hills, these are a real enemy who we could face for the next 20-30 years.
2.Emergence of Asia as a super power.
3.Too much governmental waste in Washington D.C.
4.Dependence on Oil.

Lastly he spoke on his healthcare plan and how he applied those four esteps mentioned earlier in its creation. He ended with a quote by Abigail Adams, “Great necessities call out great virtues.” It was a great ending to his speech and I think made a great impact.

He then opened the time up to some questions. Two which I will write about.

Q: I couldn't hear
A: We need to continue growing the economy. We need to reign in the entitlements and use that money for military and technology.

Q: Asked about his energy ideas
A: Out energy problem is a supply and demand issue.

Supply: We need more. We should support things like off shore drilling and ANWR. He also supports finding alternative sources for energy such as bio-fuels etc.

Demand: We are way too inefficient. We should have incentives for Hybrid technology and energy saving solutions.

Romney in Chicago

2006-10-11T06:36:00.000-05:00

Romney will be at the University of Chicago today speaking at a lunchtime forum. I will be there along with some others. I will be easy to find, look for me in the Napolean Dynamite style "Vote for Mitt" T-shirt.

Romney Speaks at Summit on Race

2006-10-11T06:34:00.000-05:00

Rommney was the keynote speaker at the summit on race in Detroit. Read about it here.

Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, the keynote speaker at today's luncheon, said Metro Detroiters and others across the nation are up to the task. Romney's father George Romney is a former Michigan governor and a co-founder of New Detroit.

"America will always solve the problems it faces if it owns up to them," he said. "You can work as I will on the answers."

Romney in Chicago

2006-10-05T09:04:00.000-05:00

Here is some more info on Romney in Chicago.

http://www.chicagogsb-dss.org/

If you are intersted let me know. It's a free lunch time event to my understanding. There are so far about four of us going to be there. It should be great.

Romney and the Religous Right

2006-10-05T07:37:00.000-05:00

James Dobson makes the pronouncment that Christians won't vote for Romney. It is truly sad, but wrong. Dobson making these remarks are no surprise when you consider it was Dobson's wife who refused to allow a Mormon to pray at the National Day of Prayer event in Washington D.C. a couple years back.

But in other ways it is surprising since a simple googling of "James Dobson Mormon" will give you many articles of Chrsitians complaining that Dobson is bed with the mormons and selling out. Could this have anything to do with his recent comments? I don't know.

So where will this go? Probably no where.

A Secure Article

2006-10-05T07:31:00.000-05:00

Family Security Matters writes a glowing article of Romney. PRaising Romney's recent decisions with the Iranian Khatami editor Charles Mitchell had this to say,

Those are some actions. But in this war, words are also extremely important. During a global war on Islamic fascism that will likely last decades, the president must be able to rally the nation (and sometimes even the world) to the cause. He must be able to explain exactly what we are doing and why we are doing it. At this point, most reasonable people will probably admit that for all his virtues, President Bush often struggles in this regard.

But Gov. Romney does not. Nor does he fall into the trap of saying this war is just against terror. “They are terrorists, yes, but more directly they are jihadists,” he told ABC recently. Basically, he is just as security-minded as Bush—noting that Iraq is the central front in the war—but just says it better. (For example, he criticized the decision to rely so completely on WMD justifications to go into Iraq in favor of a broader and more positive case.) He also does not fall into the trap of saying the war is about one man, be it Saddam Hussein, Osama bin Laden, or whoever. Here is what he said on TV when Sen. John Kerry (remember him?) made that error:

I think it shows a complete lack of understanding of the kind of enemy that we’re facing. This is not a small group of wackos in the hills that all we have to do is go find one person and it suddenly goes away.

He also had this to say:

More recently, he has endorsed (unlike Sen. John McCain, who led a Republican revolt) President Bush’s plan to interrogate detainees at Guantánamo Bay.

Romney in Chicago

2006-10-04T11:46:00.000-05:00

Mitt Romney will be speaking at the University of Chicago Buisness school next Wednesday at lunchtime. More details will come soon.

Romney announces New Hampshire Commonwealth steering Commitee

2006-10-04T11:44:00.000-05:00

Governor Mitt Romney’s Commonwealth PAC Announces
New Hampshire Steering Committee
October 4, 2006 – Governor Mitt Romney’s New Hampshire Commonwealth PAC unveiled a Steering Committee today consisting of prominent Republicans and business leaders in all ten New Hampshire counties, from Coos to the sea. The Steering Committee will provide guidance to the Commonwealth PAC as it continues to provide financial and political support to New Hampshire Republican candidates in 2006.

“I am honored that so many prominent Granite Staters have joined the Commonwealth PAC’s Steering Committee,” Governor Romney said. “These people are statewide and community leaders who are committed to New Hampshire’s future and I’m proud to have them on the team.”

“This is a critically important election year for New Hampshire,” said Bruce Keough, Chairman of the New Hampshire Commonwealth PAC Steering Committee. “The Commonwealth PAC will continue to be a source of support for our candidates, local organizations and the grassroots leaders who are committed to ensuring the New Hampshire Advantage and our unparalleled quality of life remain intact.”

The New Hampshire Commonwealth PAC Steering Committee

Title
First Name
Last Name
Town
Association

Mr.
Tom
Boucher
Bedford
Former Chairman, N.H. Lodging & Restaurant Association

Sheriff
Dan
Collis
Laconia
Sheriff, Belknap County; Chairman, Law Enforcement for Bush 2004

Mr.
Bryson
Cook
Bedford
Branch Manager, Smith Barney

Atty.
Wayne
Coull
Laconia
Acting County Attorney, Belknap County

Atty.
Craig
Donais
Bedford
Former N.H. Assistant Attorney General

Mrs.
Nancy
Dwight
Lyme
Former Executive Director, Republican National Congressional Committee

Hon.
Don
Dwight
Lyme
Former Lt. Governor, Commonwealth of Massachusetts

Mr.
Scott
Earnshaw
Bedford
President, New Hampshire Traditional Marriage and Family Institute

Mrs.
Liz
Feren
Hooksett
Former Hooksett GOP Chair

Hon.
Kevin
Gage
Nashua
Former Alderman, City of Nashua

Hon.
Mary
Griffin
Windham
State Representative, Deputy Majority Whip

Hon.
Tony
Giunta
Franklin
Former Mayor, City of Franklin

Hon.
Peter
Heed
Westmoreland
Former N.H. Attorney General

Hon.
Will
Infantine
Manchester
State Representative

Hon.
Bing
Judd
Pittsburg
County Commissioner, Coos County

Mr.
George
Kassas
Derry
Founder & Exec. V.P., Cedar Point Communications

Hon.
Bruce
Keough
Dublin
Steering Committee Chairman, Former State Senator & 2002 GOP gubernatorial candidate

Mr.
Doug
Kruse
Manchester
School Board, City of Manchester

Mr.
Beno
Lamontagne
Colebrook
Chairman, Coos County Economic Development Corp.

Atty.
Tom
Laporte
Chester
Chair, Attorneys for Bush-Cheney 2004 & Member, Chester Budget Committee

Mr.
Eric
Letendre
Tuftonboro
Principal, Shannon Investments

Mr.
Gary
Levy
Portsmouth
COMMPAC-NH Finance Chairman; President, State Street Discount

Sheriff
Dan
Linehan
Danville
Sheriff, Rockingham County

Hon.
George
Lovejoy
Barrington
Former State Senator & Co-Founder, Granite State Taxpayers

Atty.
Gordon
MacDonald
Concord
Former Campaign Director, Gordon Humphrey for Governor

Ms.
Patricia
Mahoney
Rye
NH GOP Chair, Town of Rye

Mrs.
Betty
Maiola
Newport
Select Board member, Town of Newport

Mr.
Shane
McKinney
Conway
Carroll County co-chairman, Bush 2004

Hon.
Ken
Merrifield
Franklin
City Councilor, City of Franklin

Atty.
Jim
Merrill
Manchester
Chairman, COMMPAC-NH; Grassroots Co-chair, NH Bush-Cheney 2004

Lt. Col.
Mike
Moffett
Concord
Lt. Colonel, U.S. Marine Corps Reserves; Professor, N.H. Technical Institute

Hon.
Claira
Monier
Goffstown
Executive Director, N.H, Housing Finance Authority

Hon.
Paul
Needham
Derry
Former Chairman, Derry Town Council

Mr.
Kent
Nolan
Goffstown
School Board member, Town of Goffstown

Mr.
Karl
Norwood
Bedford
Principal, Norwood Realty Group

Mr.
German
Ortiz
Bedford
Member, Governor’s Advisory Commission on Latino Affairs

Hon.
Steve
Panagoulis
Plymouth
Former County Commissioner, Grafton County

Hon.
Betsey
Patten
Moultonborough
State Representative; Former Carroll County GOP Chair

Mr.
Ray
Pinard
Deerfield
Principal, Monticello Group; Former Chairman, Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce; 2004 Bush-Cheney Small Business Chairman

Hon.
Pam
Price
Nashua
State Representative; House Majority Whip

Hon.
Jim
Reams
Hampton
County Attorney, Rockingham County

Mr.
Jim
Rivers
Concord
Senior Aide to NH House Speaker; Former Press Secretary, Governor Stephen Merrill

Mrs.
Barbara
Russell
Dover
NH Bush-Cheney Campaign Co-Chair 2000; Former Vice Chair, NH Republican Party

Mr.
John
Sangenario
Hampton
Town Chair, Bush-Cheney 2004

Mrs.
Jeanne
Sangenario
Hampton
Town Chair, Bush-Cheney 2004

Mr.
Gene
Savage
Barrington
Former Vice Chancellor, Univ. System of New Hampshire (USNH)

Hon.
Paul
Smith
Farmington
Former State Representative

Mr.
Mark
Sykas
Stratham
Town Chair, Bush-Cheney 2004

Mrs.
Sharon
Sykas
Stratham
Past President, Seacoast Federation of Republican Women

Mrs.
Siobhan
Tautkus
Manchester
Former Staff Member, Office of Governor Steve Merrill & Alderman Candidate, Manchester

Hon.
Jim
Tollner
Nashua
Alderman At-Large, City of Nashua

Cotton Candy For the Masses

2006-09-30T21:31:00.000-05:00

Sen. Obabma (D-IL) our homestate senator was busy serving political cotton candy to the masses today in Iowa. Townhall had these quotes:

"I am happy to have a national security debate with the Republican Party," Obama said Saturday during his second visit in two weeks to Iowa, which traditionally opens the presidential nominating season. "What we need is a tough and smart national security agenda."

Obama said Democrats must stand up to Republicans' strategy of portraying them as weak on national security. He said Republicans "have a lock on the tough and dumb strategy" that Democrats must expose.

"We can't afford to be bullied because there's too much at stake," Obama said. "The only strategy the other side has is fear. That's what you're seeing and you're going to see more of it."

It has been my contention that Obama has been nothing more than a Cotton Candy Candidate. Since I first saw him in one of the most laughable psuedo-debates on WTTW with Alan Keyes I came to the conclusion the only thing this guy had to offer was his humble begginings story and a glass of lemonade. He certainly had no plan or original idea.

Take for instance his speech to at the Democratic Convention in '04. Can anyone tell me what it was about? I don't think Obama could tell me what it was about.

Now we have Obama reciting lines from Twisted Sister, yelling "We're not gonna take it!" But, what are his ideas? All I know is that he won't be bullied. But not only does offer no plan for the war on terror, he offers no plan for not being bullied on the War on Terror.

To quote Baracky again,

"The only strategy the other side has is fear. That's what you're seeing and you're going to see more of it."

Should we not fear the terrorists? I think there is room for a healthy amount of fear. If we had no fear, we wouldn't mind them. Obviously we do mind them, so fear is neccessary. But this is not one for the guy who's platform is "Hope" and "Hope."

I "hope" people see Obama for what he is.

And I am sure that people will see Romney for who he is. Most understand that we need thinkers, innovators and action men in office. We don't need dreamers and arm chair quarter backs. Do we really need a smiley face without a clue? I think we need the smiley face with good noggin behind it.

Some Important Bills

2006-09-28T21:17:00.000-05:00

Here is a letter from Karen Hayes, Concerned Women for America, Illinois. These are some important issues that need the public to vocalise there opinions on.

Dear Friends,

Your action is needed immediately on two important bills that will be voted on today in the House of Representatives. Please act before Congress adjourns for the campaign season!

Child Custody Protection Act

The first is the Child Custody Protection Act (CCPA) (S. 403), a bill that passed the House as the Child Interstate Abortion Notification Act (CIANA) (H.R. 748) and the Senate as the CCPA, but which Senate liberals have deliberately kept from moving to conference since late July.

Today the House will take up S. 403 and replace the Senate-approved language with the stronger language from the original H.R. 748. The bill will then be sent back to the Senate for its approval. The House will likely pass S. 403 (with the amended language), but liberals will fight to prevent the bill's passage in the Senate.

Your action is needed immediately. We have come too far to allow the liberals to kill this important legislation. It is overwhelmingly supported by Congress and by 80% of the American public. Please contact your representative and ask him to vote in favor of the House-approved S. 403. Also, please contact your senators and ask them to support S. 403 when the House sends it to the Senate for approval!

Public Expression of Religion Act

The second bill needing your attention is the Public Expression of Religion Act (PERA) (H.R. 2679), introduced by Rep. John Hostettler (R-Indiana). PERA will be voted on today in the House, and a vote on this bill is one of the best opportunities for a significant pro-family victory prior to Congress recessing for the campaign season.

PERA will prevent groups like the ACLU from using the legal system in a manner that extorts money from state and local governments and inhibits their constitutional actions.

PERA would amend the law to prevent the awarding of attorney's fees to prevailing plaintiffs in these cases and thus level the playing field against groups such as the ACLU, which have won millions of dollars in attorney's fees while forcing state and local governments to suppress religious speech.

Please contact your representative today and tell him to vote YES on H.R. 2679, the Public Expression of Religion Act. This bill is one of our best opportunities to gain a pro-family victory before Congress adjourns for the campaign season.

To send your representative and senators an email, go to the online version of this alert at http://congress.cwfa.org/cwfa/issues/alert/?alertid=9052421] (copy and paste this web address into your web browser to the email function). You can edit the email as needed. For Senator Obama, you may need to copy your email and paste it in directly on his web site at http://obama.senate.gov/. Or, call the Capitol Switchboard 202-224-3121 to encourage them to pass these pro-family bills.

Sincerely,

Karen Hayes, CWA of Illinois, and

The Legislative Department
Concerned Women for America

MittMobile

2006-09-27T18:28:00.000-05:00

Announcing the new Mitt Mobile. Well for a little while

Actually it's my 1967 Buick special. I started a short blog on it here. But here is a pic to keep you satisified. Right now it's a pretty mild engine, but be careful, there will be alot of beef under the bun soon enough. For now it's the MittMobile.

Commonwealth is Growing

2006-09-27T10:17:00.000-05:00

Iowa Commonwealth has hired on Iowa Speaker of the House Christopher Rants. Read about it here.

New Hampshire Commonwealth PAC hires on New Hampshire Republican Bruce Keough, to head up his N.H. Commonwealth PAC. Read about it here.

Romney Interviewed on Redstate

2006-09-27T10:15:00.000-05:00

Listen to the podcast interview at Redstate.

Romney Gets Grilled by Anti-Mormon

2006-09-24T10:11:00.000-05:00

Here is an interesting article emailed to me. Not sure on the link so I have provided it in it's entirity.

It's interesting to see how most Christian Conservatives will distance themselves from someone like the lady in this article.

Romney grilling 'in bad taste'
By LEE BANDY
lbandy@thestate.com (Charleston, S.C.)

The quarterly meeting of the S.C. Republican executive committee Sept. 16 ended on a sour note when one of its more prominent members cornered Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and grilled him about his Mormon faith.

It was not a pretty sight, according to witnesses.

Romney, a possible Republican candidate for president in 2008, was in town to address the state executive committee.

Cyndi Mosteller, chairwoman of the Charleston County Republican Party, one of the largest GOP organizations in the state, came armed with a bunch of material — and questions — about the Mormon church.

The incident only underlines what could become an uncomfortable debate over Romney's faith if he runs for the White House. The issue will be on the table in South Carolina's early primary contest, where roughly 35 percent of GOP voters are evangelical Christians, many of whom view Mormonism with skepticism.

Mosteller, an evangelical, said she especially was concerned about the church's attitude toward African-Americans and its stand on polygamy.

The Mormon religion was founded by Joseph Smith in 1830. Today, it is one of the fastest-growing faith groups in the United States. Based in Salt Lake City, Utah, it is known formally as the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Mormonism's short history has been tumultuous, with an early embrace of polygamy, which it later renounced. Still, Mormons grapple with their polygamous past.

It has been almost 30 years since the Mormon Church lifted a ban that kept black males from the church's priesthood.

Brigham Young, who succeeded Smith as church leader, wrote that God put a curse on Cain — a "flat nose and black skin" — for killing his brother Abel.

Mosteller said the issues of race and marriage concern her. She fears they could become campaign issues and hurt Republican chances.

She had planned to ask the questions in an open committee session, but Romney nixed that idea by ending his short address with a final "thank you."

The governor then proceeded to meet with the media for about 15 minutes.

Enter Mosteller.

Sensing trouble, Romney aides hurriedly ushered reporters out the door.

Afterward, Mosteller said the governor did not answer any of her questions. She described the meeting as "very tense."

Cindi Costa, a conservative Christian from Charleston and member of the Republican National Committee, waited outside the room. She earlier pleaded with Mosteller not to confront Romney.

"This makes me sick," Costa said. "Your personal faith is not game in politics. It's a private matter."

The Romney campaign said the governor is focused on seeing that S.C. Republicans get elected to office this year.

He has found Palmetto State voters "warm and open-minded." He shares their conservative values, said Julie Teer, political director for Romney's Commonwealth PAC.

On previous visits here, Romney has appealed to voters not to rush to judgment.

"They don't know what I believe necessarily — yet. But they will," he said in July.

For any evangelical who had doubts, Romney offered what amounted to a personal testimony. "From a religious standpoint, Jesus Christ is my personal savior."

Costa said Mosteller's questioning "besmirches her character. It makes her look hateful. This is not what we're about. The party does not give religious tests,"

"This is awful," said Spartanburg GOP chairman Rick Beltram. "I'm unhappy with Cyndi."

State GOP chairman Katon Dawson isn't pleased either. "She acted in bad taste."

O'reilly Picks a Winner

2006-09-23T10:26:00.000-05:00

According to Hotline on Call Romney has found a friend in Bill O'reilly. O'Reilly has picked Romney as his favorite to win the 2008 election against Clinton.

We can't find the link for this, but it appears as if those Fox News appearances are paying off for Mitt Romney. From the MIRS Capitol Capsule: "Fox News commentator Bill O'REILLY told a gathering here today that Massachusetts Gov. and former Michigander Mitt ROMNEY is his early favorite to win the 2008 presidential election over U.S. Sen. Hillary CLINTON (D-N.Y.) in what he sees now as the likely head-to-head race. Speaking at the Michigan Future Forum, sponsored by the Michigan Chamber of Commerce, O'Reilly said former frontrunner U.S. Sen. John McCAIN (R-Ariz.) will be hurt for his "soft" positions on the terrorist interrogation and border security issues."

Romney Fills the Allen Vacuum

2006-09-23T06:18:00.000-05:00

An article in the Boston Globe makes a case for Romney filing the vacuum left by McCain's liberal stances on Terrorism and Allen's inability to work past his current senatorial campaign.

As Allen has been forced to put his 2008 hopes on hold, analysts and observers say, Romney has rushed to fill the vacuum by appealing to the right on homeland security, immigration, and social issues, particularly in South Carolina, a crucial early primary state home to many conservative voters.

``He's maximized his window of opportunity very well in South Carolina," said Scott Malyerck, executive director of the state Republican Party. ``He's hitting those conservative buttons that folks are concerned about."

On his blog this week, conservative writer Andrew Sullivan called Romney the ``theo-cons' favorite nominee" who has ``clearly positioned himself as McCain's opponent on the issue" of interrogation methods.

The question I have is where's Guiliani? This guy doesn't seem to be doing anything.

Romney News

2006-09-18T07:40:00.000-05:00

Two things:

Romney gets kind remarks from US Senetor Richard Shelby in Alaama last night:

“"We know you are going to be in it, we believe you are going to be in [the presidential race] although it is not official yet," said Shelby, Alabama’s senior senator and a Tuscaloosa resident.

“You have a lot to offer," Shelby told Romney, who characterized his own state as the “most liberal in the nation."

“I think it is not the state you represent, it is what you believe in and what you stand for and you have done an outstanding job," Shelby said.

Pro-Life News had this to say about Romney in a recent article:

Romney insists: “I’m firmly pro-life.” “My position has changed,” he acknowledged to The Examiner newspaper. Romney explained that he realized that the unborn child deserves legal protect when he discussed embryonic stem cell research with two Harvard scientists.

Then the article went on to say,

Since the position change, Romney has vetoed a bill to promote embryonic stem cell research, opposed promoting the morning after pill, and called for a state investigation of child custody officials that pressed for the euthanasia death of a girl in state custody. Romney's position change, if authentic, could be important because some of the potential 2008 GOP candidates back abortion, such as Rudy Giuliani and George Pataki.

It's good to see that Romney is honest about his position change and can explain it beyond the accusations of political timing. What's also good to see is articles like this that are open to Romney and willing to accept new converts.

Romney Announces Emimsions Plan

2006-09-15T11:39:00.000-05:00

Mitt Romney announced his Emmisions plans that will take effect October 6. The plan detailed here includes a lot of avenues for buisness to not loose too much green by becoming green. His plan involves allowing companies to purchase credits from other companies for emmisions, even in other countries.

``We're talking aggressive reductions . . . but it protects us from unknown price impacts," said Robert Rio, vice president of government affairs for Associated Industries of Massachusetts, which represents Massachusetts businesses. ``It's a good balance."

California has a plan too, forcing energy companies to become green before taking their buisness.

Which one will work best? I don't know, but I generally think providing incentives for companies to become green is our best option. As long as conservation is not profitable it will never be a reality. To put in a bunch of laws requiring things with no incentives hurts the economy. Yet if we can find ways for buisness to become more profitable as they find enviromental solutions, green minded buisness will become a reality.

Out of Town

2006-09-12T12:37:00.000-05:00

Sorry, I have been out of town the last few days. I should be able to post something in the next day or something.

Evangelical could vote for a Mormon

2006-09-09T17:06:00.000-05:00

According to an article in the Salt Lake Tribune Evangelical Leaders are ok with a Mormon President.

The Rev. Ted Haggard, president of the National Association of Evangelicals, said Friday he would have no problem voting for a Mormon for U.S. president.
"We rejected an Evangelical [Harriet Meiers] for the Supreme Court and accepted a Catholic [Samuel Alito]," said Haggard, who was in Salt Lake City to address the annual convention of Religion Newswriters Association. "It's a question of competence."
Evangelical Christians are more interested "in good government," than in religious affiliation, said the founder and senior pastor of New Life Church in Colorado Springs, Colo.

This is good news for Mitt. This is not the first evangelical leader to say voting for a LDS candidate for President is not an impossibility. Falwell and Bob Jones University seemed to be ok with it.

Ever since I wrote this article on Redstate and the comments it recieved I have come to the opinion that the only people who think Evengelicals will not vote for a Mormon is the MSM.

MR08

2006-09-08T06:41:00.000-05:00

Alright, here is the last plug for my merchandise. This is the MR08 logo:

Really, there is no better way to support Romney than becoming a walking advertisement. I like the MR08 sticker idea. Some people see it as "Mr. 08" which would be a great title for Romney. I think it goes along with the trendy stickers for Jackson Hole (JH) and other cities. Whatever it is, when people ask you "What's MR08" you can then tell them.

Romney Making the Rounds

2006-09-08T06:32:00.000-05:00

Romney is making the rounds. This from the Salt Lake Tribune:

Romney, a Mormon who led the successful 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics, has visited Iowa -- the first caucus in the race for the nomination -- nine times so far exploring his potential presidential hopes. That's more than Sen. John McCain (1 visit), NY Gov. George Pataki (7 visits), and Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee (7 visits), and all other potential GOP 08ers, Hotline reports.

Romney also has visited neighboring New Hampshire six times, more than other wannabe Republican contenders, and he tied two other possible candidates for South Carolina visits -- four each.

As for Utah, Romney has visited the state four times, publicly that we know of, in the run up to the battle for the nomination. But conventional wisdom says Utah's probably in his column even if he never visits again.

Nice Jewish Boy

2006-09-07T17:10:00.000-05:00

Max Libling runs a website called Nice Jewish Boy, an intersting website. Libling is hot on Romney. Maybe he could start Nice Jewish Boys for Mitt!

Backyard Conservative on MItt

2006-09-06T18:53:00.000-05:00

***links fixed****

Backyard Conservative covers the Mitt's refusal to give support to former Iranian President Khatami's upcoming visit to Harvard. Anne is a pretty astute observer on local and national events.

Another couple recent good posts of hers cover Obama (can you say minority version of John Edwards?), immigration and the economy.

Illinois Governor Ryan sentenced to 78 months

2006-09-06T18:44:00.000-05:00

Former Governor George Ryan was handed down a 78 month sentance today for corruption charges. Read all about it at the Capitol Fax Blog. Governor Blagojevich's republican challenger had this to say:

“The sentence handed down today is a reminder that Rod Blagojevich had a golden opportunity to restore trust in government after George Ryan, he promised voters he would do that — and he failed miserably.

It is now Rod Blagojevich facing a record number of corruption investigations, the same designation as Public Official A, the same mountain of subpoenas and legal bills. It’s like voters are forced to watch the sequel to a bad movie.

I’m running for governor to move past the Ryan-Blagojevich corruption scandals and build a brighter future for Illinois.”

Looks like the guy that ordered the death penalty moratorium in IL to save all those "innocent" victims couldn't save himself.

BTW, Blago is worse.

Article VI on Mcain and Bob Jones

2006-09-06T10:39:00.000-05:00

Article VI blog, a interesting blog focusing on the question of Religion and Politics, has an interesting post about Bob Jones University and Romney.

My Mitt Fits?

2006-09-06T08:05:00.000-05:00

Powerline Blog gives high praise to Mitt for refusing to give help to a terrorist while visiting Harvard.

They make a defense against critics who cry political posturing every time Romney sneezes-

Score one for Romney. Some will say, no doubt, that his is merely a symbolic gesture. True, of course, but then Khatami's visit to Harvard is nothing but a symbolic gesture, either. Romney's act will also be denouced as "political." Right again! This is a democracy, and important issues of public policy are supposed to be "politicized": that is, debated by and before the people and resolved by the people's representatives. Carrying out symbolic actions that shine the spotlight on issues that need public debate is one of the important functions of a leader in a democracy."

Isn't politicizing the reason why we have politicians?

My Man Mitt

2006-09-05T12:25:00.000-05:00

Check out the new site I and a few others have created- www.MyManMitt.com. This has been a project of mine that has been in the works for the last few months. The idea behind it: rally people to do more for mitt.

It will have the blog and the links page, but also a few other things. One page I am excited about is Your Man Mitt. Here you can email pics of You and Mitt or if you want, just pics of you, I don't really care. The fact is, Romney has by far the most online popular support and is definitely an exciting candidate. He is very accessible at events and everyone who sees him speak is quickly drawn to him. So this is a space to show it.

Another page to check out is the Purchase Gear page- it's in it's infancy. Right now all of the items here are offered through Cafe Press. Check out the Napoleon Dynamite style clothing and the new MittHead logo, which is a feature of the MyManMitt website.

Also, Become a MittHead. Make sure to join up and get involved. We want nothing more than people to get active and use MyManMitt as a way to promote Romney through local activities.

Additionally, be on the lookout for the new Illinoisans for Romney site that is coming together. It should be awesome.

If you want to become more involved in supporting Romney and these projects email me at illinoisansformitt@gmail.com and let me know. you can also contact me throught the MyManMitt site.

You liked the Shirts, Now the Logo...

2006-09-04T18:49:00.000-05:00

I hope everyone has liked the Dynamite Shirts. They are cool and Thanks to Jeff for the idea once again.

Now if you went to the MittBazzare, you will notice this new design featured on the Pin:

A big thanks to my siter Emily who designed this Logo. It looks great and I think it is catchy too!

Make sure to comeback again, there is more to follow...

Dynamite Romney Shirts

2006-09-03T22:21:00.000-05:00

Thanks to Jeff Fuller at Iowans for Romney for his ideas and help on this one.

Would John Heder vote for Mitt? No idea. But as Jeff said in a past post on Iowans for Romney, he very well could favor him. So we took a great idea and made it available to Mitt supporters.

They are $17.50 and available HERE

Clinton may not run?

2006-09-03T07:50:00.000-05:00

Times online posts an article saying that Hillary's run for President might not happen. Now I am a fan of Hillary (ok that's a lie) so this is sad to hear.

“I would not be surprised if she were to decide that the best contribution she can make to her country is to forget about being president and become a consensus-maker in the Senate,” said a leading Democratic party insider. “She believes there is no trust between the two political sides and that we can’t function as a democracy without it.”

Yikes! Hillary building a consensus in the Senate is about as scarry as her as president. How come I have a feeling that her consensus building will be building a coalition for higher taxes and for ensuring we get rid of any remaining morality left in our country.

The solution, insiders say, is for Clinton to take over as Senate minority leader in 2009 from the lacklustre Harry Reid, senator for Nevada. One well-respected blog, The Washington Note, recently claimed that Reid privately told Clinton the job was hers if she gave up her presidential ambitions.

Kind of crazy. Reid giving up the spot he clearly loves? I don't know. But maybe he just knows it will be a tough sell for him to stay as the Mormon in charge of Dems in the Senate and have a Mormon as President of the US. Yeah, I am sure that's it.

Why do I like Romney?

2006-08-31T21:44:00.000-05:00

Well, it's a family affair.

I get asked a lot why I like Romney so much. Well, here is one more reason, I am supporting a family tradition (on my wifes side!)

As many know Mitt's dad George ran for President in 1968. My wifes grandparents Fred and Elsie Busselberg were supporters of his. They lived in Milwaukee Wisconsin at the time, a short drive from Detroit. On January 20 1968 they hosted an open house for the Governor at their home on 2950 N. 46th street.

These are the pics from the event:

In this pic is Fred and Elsie on the left and Romney in the Middle. On the right is Elsie's mother Caroline Tegtmeier. The writing on the photo is a little illegible but we think it says,"To Mr. and Mrs. Fred Busselberg, Thanks for your house quarters. Best wishes always. Your Brother, George Romney."

This Next pic is of Mrs. Romney on the left with Fred on Elsie on the Right standing in front of their home with a campaign sign in the Window. (Maybe Mitt could do a sign that says, "Romney- great for 2008")

This begs the question, what do these little guys below have going for them besides being the cutest kids in Chicagoland?

They are born Romney lovers!

Romney Gets It

2006-08-31T12:29:00.000-05:00

Romney understands problems with the current Educational problem. A short article on his testimony today concerning Bush's "No Child Left Behind" act said this:

Governor Romney says spending more money on education doesn't correlate into improved student performance.

Instead, Romney says it's critical to get better teachers in the classroom.

Finally someone willing to recgonize the fact that study after study shows that more money thrown at education does not equal better results.

This article goes on to say:

One of the more controversial proposals Romney supports would force parents of students in the bottom ten percent of performing schools to attend weekend training sessions dealing with homework and after school programs.

This is new to me, and I would need to now more about this before commenting. But I will say that Romney does show that great performance by children in school begins with a positive educational approach in the home.

Mitt Romney on Cavuto today!

2006-08-31T10:25:00.000-05:00

Mitt Romney will be on Fox News's Neil Cavuto today at 3pm cst.

Romney and Stem Cells

2006-08-31T06:38:00.000-05:00

Romney is taking heat from elite Harvard and Democrats for protecting from abuses in stem cell research. In a heavily slanted article by the Boston Globe Romney is critisized for introducing ethics into scientific research.

In an interview, Paul Cote , the state public health commissioner, acknowledged that the rules were developed in ``active dialogue" with Romney's office and that the Department of Public Health was told to close what Cote described as ``loopholes" that would allow embryos to be developed strictly for research. Romney supports research using embryos left over from in vitro fertilization but opposes the creation of cloned human embryos in order to harvest stem cells.

A fair position one would think, yet Harvard and other institutions want the ability to create life in order to destroy it.

But creating human embryonic stem cells using that technique [cloning embryos with the genes of a person with a particular disease they want to study], also called somatic cell nuclear transfer or SCNT, in humans is ``only an idea or an ideal at the moment," said Kevin Eggan, principal investigator at the Harvard Stem Cell Institute . And ``it may or may not ever become a reality."

Nevertheless, he said, ``It would be a shame to rule out any reasonable alternative" to SCNT

"Reasonable" is definitly a subjective term. Romney and other pro-lifers feel it's "reasonable" to avoid creating a human life in a lab with the intentions of destroying it.

It would also be "reasonable" to assume that if stem cell research, such as the one Harvard is defending, was a viable source of new information than private companies would be all over it hoping to get there piece of the pie. But they are not.

Health Care Plan Already Seeing Dividends

2006-08-29T05:19:00.000-05:00

The Massachussets Health care plan is already doing it's job. According to a news study the state uninsurted rate has fell 19% or from 460,000 to 372,000. The Boston Globe Reports:

Governor Mitt Romney attributed the improvement to growth in jobs and to the state's aggressive efforts to enroll more poor residents in the state-federal Medicaid program. Most of the gains appeared to have preceded the launching in July of a state law intended to cover most of the state's uninsured by next summer.

That makes sense. Most people who need a law to get them to purchase health coverage will wait until the law takes effect. This does show Romney's effort are already working.

Another surprise was MA rise in employer health care plans:

But some advocates for the uninsured and health policy specialists said they were surprised by the magnitude of the drop shown by the survey, particularly since national data have shown that employers have scaled back coverage for their employees amid soaring premiums. The Massachusetts survey showed the opposite, that 83 percent of insured residents now get coverage through their employer, compared with 79 percent in 2002.

Some other statistics look very promising also:

The new survey found that the number of uninsured children had fallen to 2.5 percent, from 3.2 percent, while the number of uninsured adults under age 65 had dropped to 8.7 percent, from 10.6 percent. The number of uninsured residents dropped in every region in the state, officials said.

The officials credited employers for adding 58,000 new jobs in the past 2 1/2 years, and the state's expansion of Medicaid, some of which was required by the new health insurance law.

About 50,000 poor residents have been enrolled in Medicaid in the past year alone.

These statistics do look very promising. And it is no wonder why it is catching on with medical experts. This article out of US News Wire has senior fellows at the National Policy center seeing the Wisdom in Romney's plan:

"Instead of turning to taxpayers to solve the uninsured problem, we should use the free care money taxpayers are already providing to subsidize the purchase of private insurance," said Devon Herrick, senior fellow with the NCPA. "This is precisely what Mitt Romney is trying to do in Massachusetts."

While estimates vary, free care spending on the full-time uninsured range from $1,049 to a high of $1,548. At this rate, federal, state government and physicians and non-profit hospitals spend as much as $6,000 on charity care per uninsured family of four. In most states, that is enough to purchase a private insurance policy.

In addition, the NCPA noted the uninsured pay higher taxes because they do not receive the tax subsidies of employer- provided health insurance. However, their higher taxes are sent to Washington, DC, while the free care is provided locally.

"We should allocate the higher taxes the uninsured pay to any free care they require due to their inability to pay their medical bills," said Herrick

Would this be a plan Romney would support for the Nation? I don't know. But it is good to see that Romney's plan is taking effect and beggining to change the debate on Health Care from a socialistic Universal Health Care plan to one that focuses on the personal responsibility with a more effective spending approach to tax dollars.

Local Coverage: David McSweeney

2006-08-28T11:21:00.000-05:00

This post is from Julie Johnson a staffer on David McSweeny's US congressional campaign. We will be hearing more from Julie in the future.

Illinois is facing a ton of tough elections this year: Judy Baar Topinka VS Rod Blagoveich, Peter Roscam VS Tammy Duckworth, and the race that I will be covering, David McSweeney VS incumbent Democrat, Melissa Bean. David McSweeney is a great candidate who stands for our Republican values and we need to give him all the support we can. Melissa Bean has continually voted with the Democrats when she deceives her voters by letting them believe she is moderate. This has become one of the #1 races in the Nation because of how important this seat is for the Republicans. We need to win this seat back, the outcome of who controls the House may very well determine the outcome of the 2008 Presidential Election.

With this being said, here are a couple of events coming up in support of David: Congressman John Shadegg will be doing an event for Dave on Tuesday, August 29th. This will be a free event focusing on torte reform. This will be held from 6:00-7:30pm at the Biltmore Country Club. If you are interested please RSVP to me at 847.691.9278 or feel free to email me at JulieJohnson89@gmail.com. We also have a couple parades coming up and I will be sure to keep you posted. If you can lend us a couple hours of your time, any day, that would be great. David needs your support right now because this will be a very close race. Thank you.

Jeff FUller Sums it Up

2006-08-28T07:26:00.000-05:00

Jeff Fuller at Iowans for Romney makes a detailed post of Romney's judicial appointments. It's very interesting and shows the system Romney has had to work with in MA to get things done.

To me Romney's Judicial appointments sound like a very fair and intelligent way to get a tough job done- appointing qualfied judges through a process stacked with liberals.

Romney the Man of the Night in MI

2006-08-26T08:06:00.000-05:00

Saul Anuzis is the state chair of the Michigan GOP. He posts a regular daily post on Redstate entitled: "MI Morning Update." In today's post he said this about Romney,

Governor Mitt Romney, who chairs the Republican Governors Association, hosted a “pizza and politics” party for all the attendees. He took the time to talk with many as he thanked all for their work and stressed how important it was to elect Dick DeVos as our next Governor. Governor Romney was clearly the “hit” of Friday night. He worked the convention hall and his tent reception like a classic “candidate”.

While participating in the “round robins” with all our statewide candidates, Romney pitched his role as the Republican Governors Association chair and the importance of electing Dick DeVos our next Governor. Here is where “we Republican Governors” stand on the issues and this is why it’s important that you elect Dick DeVos as your next Governor…and with out saying a word, his “signal” for ’08 was lout and clear

It's great to see the GOP state chair in MI being so positive about Romney, it definitly will bode well.

Romney Donates $750,000 to DeVos

2006-08-25T19:17:00.000-05:00

A poster on Redstate who evidently is posting live from the MI meeting where Romney is speaking tonight just posted that Romney pledged $750,000 to DeVos campaign. This was followed by a standing ovation.

Great news for DeVos and it shows that Romney is really pulling out all the stops in MI.

You saw it first here at I4M. Unless of course you read it on Redstate!

Romney and Social Security

2006-08-25T11:25:00.000-05:00

Romney wants to tackle the social security issue and Medicaid. Based on his past performance of with the State Health Insurance plan in Mass. he could be the man to do what the nations been waiting for.

***Update***

Romney talks more on Social Security Reforms today:

Romney said there have been suggestions the Social Security issue be turned over to a panel similar to the one that recommended military base closings.

"That's an approach that's been considered and is probably not a bad idea," Romney said. "That may be where we have to go."

While Romney said "statesmen in both parties" could sit down and resolve the politically potent issues, he conceded that is unlikely.

"If there's a partisan divide, then we may have to move to a (base closing) kind of approach to end up with a solution that makes sure that we honor the expectations of our seniors, but also doesn't put us in the position where we can't honor the promises that are being made to 30- year-olds and 40-year-olds," Romney said.

I think, and correct me if I am wrong, Romney is the first presidential hopeful to begin talking about this hotbutton issue. This is of course to be expected. Romney has personal confidence in his abilities to fix goverment's problems. I would like to hear Guiliani's plan for Social Security or even McCains, I doubt they are very substantive if they even do exist. One thing is for certain- Romney knows buisness and economics like no one else in the field.

Redstate Straw Poll

2006-08-25T08:08:00.000-05:00

Cast your vote at the Redstate Straw Poll. Right now Romney is 3rd behind both Gingrich and Guiliani.

Mitt Romney's unique Presidential economic policy- Core Values vs Fear Factor .

2006-08-24T12:04:00.000-05:00

Sometimes forgotten in the hubbub of campaigning is the realization that American economic success rests on each individual American contributing to productivity and national job growth. 1 person launches a new business that grows to employ thousands. And those thousands in turn help spawn further new businesses and opportunity.

Unlike life-long politicians Mitt Romney knows this model well with his Bain and Company experience. In contrast, many of Mitt's opponents frequently see a different model. The same new business must have roughly 40% of its revenue removed by government taxes and regulation. And any new customer using the business must have 40% of their income taken by government. Yet both the business and customer must somehow live and grow on the 60% difference. This difference has been shrinking for years, finally reaching today's unprecedented levels.

Economists and politicians endlessly debate the economic and political forces causing this economic trap, but they seem to miss an essential factor not missed by Mitt Romney.... the foundation of the US economy rests on not just on American economic policy, but also on unique core American values.

This becomes clear in America's response to economic challenges. Consider our nation's looming economic challenges: competing with China and India, Baby Boomer debt and retirement, oppressive medical and legal expenses, over regulation and declining infrastructure. In more leftist nations, these would lead to crippling waves of fear stoked by press and politicians hoping to shortcut political debate
and grab easy voters.

Void of economic policy, Mitt's Democratic opponents also look to this cynical vote grabbing model as well. Its really all they have. "You could be out on the street, look to me to save you." "More jobs will destroy the environment, I know the way forward." "More government jobs instead of big business, I'll show you how." Permanent economic stagnation and turmoil is their reliable voter annuity plan.

Sadly peddling economic fear has worked in some areas of our nation. Why has it not swept all of our nation, even in tough recessions and downturns of the past? Because there is something stronger that fear in the United States economy. It is the core values held by a majority of Americans. Call them the 3 F's.

Family values
Freedom
Faith in the Future - due to widespread traditional American economic
values of hard work, invention, risk taking, and picking yourself up,
unashamed.

These well-known liberal "mocking points" remain essential to American economic policy. Mitt Romney knows this well. Consider any American business success story and you'll find some combination of Family, Freedom, or Faith in the Future at work. They effectively counter the inevitable failures, heartaches, and dead-ends encountered along the way to economic success.

The support of family, whether economic or otherwise has made the difference in many business ventures. The same is true of Freedom. It would take volumes to list those who left repressive lands to build economic success in the US. Or consider individuals forced into education systems that stifle the chance to build one's own dream.

American Faith in the Future is self evident. American economic values enables our nation to maintain the most diversified economy on the globe, delivers constant business growth and opportunity and delivers astonishing feats of technological progress.

Only Mitt Romney's record stands up, in both personal experience and moral values, to these most essential American economic factors: family, freedom, and Faith in the Future.

Between now and 2008, media, business and political leaders will lay blame and debate all the usual economic suspects: regulatory burdens, worker skill, fiscal and economic policy, etc. Honest debate of these points are critical. Yet Mitt Romney takes these debates further with his personal experience, moral principles and proven values.

In contrast, those who peddle economic fear do so to grab votes at our expense. Our government already has enough of these cynics. I salute our era's fear-conquering "Morning in America" theme-bearer, Mitt Romney.

--Jonathan Thatcher

Romney Announces MI team

2006-08-24T07:50:00.000-05:00

Romney announces his MI leadership, looks really good. It's a long list, full of high level Bush Fundraiser (Rangers) and some influential politicians in the state. Along with this you will notice the large quantity of CEO's. As Hotline on Call said:

The release of these names is a shot across the frontrunner's bow of Sen. John McCain, who has the support of Michigan's two national committee members, among others. It's also a signal to the media, in Michigan and nationally. And to Republican donors. And to uncommitted activists in other states. And to those pesky National Journal insiders who keep ranking McCain ahead of their guy. And even to the White House.

Jeff Fuller wrote about over here at Redstate.

Here is the list of Romney's team, as listed in Hotline on Call:

Speaker Craig DeRoche Co-Chairman; Speaker, Michigan State House of Representatives
John Rakolta, Jr. Co-Chairman; 2004 Bush Ranger, Chairman and CEO – Walbridge Aldinger Corporation
David Fischer Co-Chairman; Chairman and CEO, The Suburban Collection
Scott Romney Michigan State University, Board of Trustees; Attorney
L. Brooks Patterson Oakland County Executive
Congressman Joe Knollenberg U.S. Representative, 9th District
Yousif Ghafari 2004 Bush Ranger, Chairman – GHAFARI, Inc
Bill Danhof 2000 and 2004 Bush Pioneer; Managing Partner, Miller Canfield
J.C. Huizenga 2000 Bush Pioneer
Ed Levy, Jr. 2004 Bush Pioneer; President, Edward C. Levy Company
Bob Liggett 2004 Bush Pioneer; Chairman, Liggett Management
Paul Welday 2000 and 2004 Bush Pioneer, Former Oakland County Chairman
Peter Karmanos Chairman and CEO, Compuware
Robert Taubman Chairman and CEO, Taubman Company
Ronna Romney Former U.S. Senate Candidate
Rep. Daniel Acciavatti State Representative
Rep. Fran Amos State Representative
Rep. Richard Ball State Representative
Rep. Darwin Booher State Representative
Rep. Jack Brandenburg State Representative
Rep. Tom Casperson State Representative
Rep. Bruce Caswell State Representative
Rep. Bill Caul State Representative
Rep. Judy Emmons State Representative
Rep. David Farhat State Representative
Rep. John Garfield State Representative
Rep. Shelley Goodman Taub State Representative
Rep. Geoff Hansen State Representative
Rep. David Hildenbrand State Representative
Rep. Jack Hoogendyk State Representative
Rep. Scott Hummel State Representative
Rep. Joe Hune State Representative
Rep. Rick Jones State Representative
Rep. Jerry Kooiman State Representative
Rep. Phil LaJoy State Representative
Rep. David Law State Representative
Rep. James Marleau State Representative
Rep. Tom Meyer State Representative
Rep. Gary Newell State Representative
Rep. Michael Nofs State Representative
Rep. David Palsrok State Representative
Rep. John Pastor State Representative
Rep. Phil Pavlov State Representative
Rep. Tom Pearce State Representative
Rep. Tonya Schuitmaker State Representative
Rep. Fulton Sheen State Representative
Rep. Rick Shaffer State Representative
Rep. John Stakoe State Representative
Rep. Bill VanRegenmorter State Representative
Rep. Howard Walker State Representative
Rep. Lorence Wenke State Representative
Paul Viar Michigan Republican State Committee Member – 10th District
Bob Hogan Huron County GOP Chairman
Terri Kowal Michigan Republican State Committee Member – 10th District
Nancy Danhof Member, Michigan Board of Education
Dennis Cowan Oakland County Republican Party Chairman
Jim Carabelli Macomb County Republican Party Chairman
Dr. Tim Tarry Eaton County Republican Party Chairman
Jon Williams Jackson County Republican Party Chairman
Anthony Stackpoole Chippewa County Republican Party Chairman
Robert Law Michigan Republican State Committee Member
David Frey West Michigan Business Leader
Dan DeVine 2004 Oakland County Bush/Cheney Campaign Chairman
The Hon. William Runco Michigan Republican State Committee Member -15th District
Ilija Letica CEO, Letica Corporation
Matt Kiriluk President, Kirco
Kevin Prokop Director, Questor
Mickey Shapiro Lautrec, Inc.
Robert Shumake CEO, Inheritance Capital Group
Jerry Roe Former Executive Director, Michigan Republican Party
Robert Anderson Former Michigan Republican State Committee member
Wendy Anderson Former Michigan Republican State Committee Member
Marianne Packer Former Michigan Republican State Committee member
Steve Linder Former Michigan Republican State Committee Member
Lori Wortz Former Michigan Republican State Committee Member

Mormon Question

2006-08-23T10:35:00.000-05:00

WorldMagBlog has an post up asking readers if they could vote for a Mormon. This was aksed at the request of Hugh Hewitt who seems to be quite a Romney fan. Go check it out.

McCain after Romney

2006-08-23T07:25:00.000-05:00

Houston Chronice has printed an article today called, "Why McCain camp frets about Romney in Iowa." The article could have been a one liner: Because McCain's nuts. But instead they made the article several paragraphs long.

The article goes through the Ames straw poll and ties it to Romney's visit to Ames in July (one year before the actual poll) quoting a staffer as saying "wink, wink." Then we here about the great comment of Yepsen, "Of all the 2008 Republican presidential candidates making the rounds in Iowa, none is doing better than Mitt Romney,"

Now an intresting peice of info:

The most interesting tidbit I picked up in calling around Iowa is that the McCain operation, which loves for its guy to be seen as a maverick, appears to be playing a traditional, old-fashioned game in the politically important state: questioning Romney's position on abortion.

Yes, McCain knows he doesn't have much. He has a lot of name recognition but beyond that, he's a paper tiger. He is a marginal speaker with dicey people skills and a keen ability to offend people. Once in visit here to Chicago McCain walked into a 5 million dollar mansion and said,"This is a nice middle class home." Which leaves me wondering why he would want to inhabit such a blue collar track house like the white house.

Yet McCain knows Romney is pro-life and so do those who are on the pro-choice side:

Ted Miller, a spokesman for NARAL Pro Choice America, said his organization considers both McCain and Romney as "anti-choice."

Ufortunately for the United States our dear senator McCain has decided to begin this whisper campaign against who could be the pro-lifes movement most eloquent defender.

Personally I am not worried about McCain, why would I when Romney just gives him old fashion spanking after spanking. Still, McCain will continue to be a thorn in the side of candidate with serious ability.

Local Illinois Election Coverage

2006-08-21T20:29:00.000-05:00

This commentary is brought to us by Don Castella, Chairman of the Vernon Township GOP. It concerns an article in the Daily Herald about a questionable pork expenditure from a candidate up for election, Terry Link. Link's (D-30th district) state senatorial spot is being challenged by Charles Fitzgerald this November. There is a link to the Vernon Township sight in the right sidebar. And if you can-Support Charles!

I found Russell Lissau’s August 18 article, “Cook library gets surprise $500,000 gift”, amusing but troubling. While a politician passing out money to local institutions in an election year is hardly surprising, it is troubling.

The current budget imbalance in Illinois is due primarily to profligate spending by the Blagojevich administration and Democrat-controlled General Assembly. The General Assembly approved this bloated spending on party line votes with majority Democrats voting to increase both spending and Illinois spiraling debt load.

I found it humorous that the article pointed out “The source of the $500,000 hasn’t been determined”. My wild guess is that the money for this 'gift' is coming from taxpayers.

Given the Democrat administration’s penchant for raiding public pension funds, special funds, and highway funds to balance their Enron-style accounting system, one must wonder how many generations of Illinois taxpayers will be paying for this ‘surprise gift’. I suspect the real surprise will come in the form of higher tax bills that further erode Illinois competitive position in the global economy and hamper job growth.

This ‘gift’ may prove to be more of a curse if the tax money helps create more needless duplication of overhead and administrative costs for library services in Libertyville and Vernon Hills. Will this largesse make these two communities even more beholden to future Democrat handouts?

While Sen. Link and Rep. Ryg ponder how many votes this election-year gimmick might buy them, we taxpayers can ponder the certainty of higher tax bills for both ourselves and future generations.

Don Castella
Lincolnshire, IL

Squeezing Juice from Oranges

2006-08-20T06:36:00.000-05:00

Romney hit it big in Orange County, California- making $1 million in Dana Point. Said Adam Probolsky,

"You're not going to overcome the Romney effort in Orange County," Probolsky said. "It's just not going to happen. He owns Orange County."

Having grown up in Mission Viejo next door to Dana Point, I can see why. Actually I used to deliver papers for the O.C. Register in 7th grade, the publisher of the above linked article. It's good to hear not everyone in CA qualifies under the nut's and fruits category. Most of those are Northerners anyway.

In Michigan

2006-08-18T07:04:00.000-05:00

Here is a funny post on RedState that mentions the work Romney is doing in Michigan.

This shows again that Romney will have no problems leading the Republican Party when he is elected President. He has shown that he will go to bat to keep the party strong.

posted by me,Corben

Arthur Allen

2006-08-18T06:39:00.000-05:00

Arthur Allen is the Chairman of the Massachussets Aeronitc Commission. Allen spoke at a Rotary Club meeting for the greater Georgetown area. In his address he had an important comment concerning what has been done for air safety under Romney:

"Under the leadership of Mitt Romney, we have forged a powerful partnership with the Federal Aviation Administration and airport owners and operators throughout the commonwealth," said Arthur.

This is key. With security of the Nations airways a huge deal right now, this is another arrow in Romney's homeland security quiver. It sounds redundant but I think this highlights more of Romney's ability to build coalitions with important partners.

Romey in Mississippi

2006-08-18T06:33:00.000-05:00

Article on it here. To say the least he was a hit.

They had seen the handsome governor from up North on
Fox News and had read about his leadership of the Big Dig in local newspapers.

So when the ladies dressed in red welcomed Governor Mitt Romney to this Gulf Coast town yesterday, they had no interest in the handshakes Romney was offering. They went in for hugs.

Trent Lott gave Romney high praise:

Lott promptly returned the favor, telling reporters at a press conference that Romney is ``definitely in the top tier" of Republican presidential candidates, alongside Senator John McCain of Arizona and former New York mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani. Joshing about his looks, Lott called the governor a ``real pretty one," but was serious about his prospects.

``He's got an excellent chance. Everything I have seen about him has always been impressive," Lott said. ``We may actually get to vote for somebody from Massachusetts before it's over."

New Commonwealth PAC Site

2006-08-17T20:58:00.000-05:00

Commonwealth has a new site setup. It looks good, check it out.

The Cool Crowd

2006-08-17T09:52:00.000-05:00

Well now I know why I am attracted to Romney- He is part of the cool crowd.

This peice from Human Events online is interesting to say the least. The author opines on Romney's acceptance in the D.C. G.O.P. cool crowd. He's unconvinced if this is good news though:

Make no mistake about it. Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney is quickly becoming the GOP "establishment" candidate for president in 2008. And that may not be such a great thing...

...having this officially unofficial group behind you -- the cadre of conservative kingmakers that I like to call the "Too Cool for School Group" -- can also prove a recipe for success.

I guess from reading the article they have backed campaigns that haven't gone anywhere a couple times but most have been winners.

First, a little background on what I mean by the "Republican establishment." In the 1960s, this clique was known as the Rockefeller Republicans. In 1976, they were the big money and political influence behind incumbent President Gerald Ford's successful effort to fend off a challenge by Ronald Reagan. In 1980, this same group split. Some backed John Connelly and others George H.W. Bush. But few if any of them were on the team of the man who would emerge victorious that year and become an icon -- Reagan.

OK, be fair. Who picks a winner every time?

After this the author gives some good insider info on Romney:

Nowadays, I can certainly see why this powerful force in GOP politics is attracted to Mitt Romney. I spent time with the governor recently. I found him to be well-spoken, attractive and versed in many of the issues that public opinion surveys reveal as near and dear to the hearts of voters.

A prime example is his aggressive approach to health care. He advocates an innovative method that would provide both more freedom for and accountability from Americans

It looks good for Romney, the man is an endless mindspring of innovative ideas. The name recognition factor is not anywhere near where it should be, but over the last couple weeks he's become more of a househould name.

One friend of mine didn't know who Romney was when I informed him of my blog. When I told him Mitt was the governor of Massachusetts he said, "Oh him! I heard about him. He is that governor kicking butt with all that Boston Constrution stuff." (One word was ommited from this sentence and replaced!)

I've had several Democrat friends say they are interested in him too. Not because of any specific policy, but because he is man who can fix things in an honest manner, something we don't see much of in Illinois.

So who is this cool crowd? Don't know, I was kicked out of their association in 6th grade after making fun of some of them at lunch. But I can tell you this: this time they've got their thinking caps on.

Romney Delivering

2006-08-16T21:10:00.000-05:00

Romney announced tonight at a Fundraiser in Dubuqe that Commonwealth PAC will be donating $500,000 to Jim Nussle's campaign for Iowa's Governor.

This puts Nussle that much farther ahead of his Democratic counterpart Chet Culver:

"According to estimates from Nussle aides, the congressman has raised about four-point-five (m) million dollars for his campaign. Culver aides say the Democrat has raised three-point-two million (m) dollars."

Romney thinks it's worth it according to the article:

Romney calls Nussle's campaign a "top priority" for the G-O-P, and he wanted to make sure Nussle had the financial edge.

This is one more reason why Romney has the leading edge in Iowa.

Romney chooses Illinoisans 4...

2006-08-16T16:40:00.000-05:00

the Big Dig Safety Check. Read about it here.

Hatch Touts Romney

2006-08-16T12:34:00.001-05:00

Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) gave a good endorsement(???) yesterday for Romney while speaking in Tooele, Utah (W of Salt Lake):

Hatch reeled off the names of several potential Republican candidates for president. "Mitt Romney would be the best candidate. He's the best manager, he's been a terrific governor working in a liberal state, he's charismatic, handsome and wealthy, and he made it on his own," Hatch said. "The Mormon issue could hurt him because people don't know a lot about Mormons. They still think Mormons practice polygamy and have other ideas. John F. Kennedy was able to break through though as the first Catholic president."

Speaking of Hillary:

"I think Hillary (Clinton) could be the Democratic candidate if she wants it. I call her 'Hill.' I don't think women will vote for her."

All About Mitt

2006-08-16T09:00:00.000-05:00

New Blog AllaboutMitt. Their sight says:"Keeping an eye on Republican Mitt Romney of Massachusetts as he gears up for a 2008 presidential bid."

It seems to be a thoughtfull neutral blog keeping tabs on Mitt.

Romney In Control

2006-08-16T08:57:00.000-05:00

Romney swears in new Turnpike head John Cogliano today.

Romney Protects States Rights Again

2006-08-16T08:52:00.000-05:00

Romney,the states rights man of choice, has joined 50 other governors in rejecting proposed legislation that would hand authority of the National Gaurd over to the President in cases of National Emergency.

Oregon Going Full Steam

2006-08-16T08:25:00.000-05:00

Good News, Oregon is blogging. Steve over there has had a website up for a while. Now he's blogging, go over and wish him well.

Jason

We Have a New Blogger!

2006-08-15T14:14:00.000-05:00

We have a new blogger- His name is Jonathan Thatcher and he has written a compelling peice.

Our nation is once again in deep water. A global war of extremists openly seeks to divide and wear down our national will. However, it is the domestic extremists that pose . Our nation is functioning with only a single intact political party, the Republican Party. The Democratic Party has become little more than a fund raising and media coordination machine, marching to the tune of the Clintons, George Soros and their allies who no longer value the United States of America. The extremists in their camp openly mock their own citizenship, our nation's miraculous history, and the very Americans who lay down their lives in defense of our own lives. Insensitive to the very shoulders they stand on, and profoundly blind to history, they create a concept of a disloyal American opposition. 230 years of enduring moral values, national accomplishments, respect of life and family, and expectation of freedom and democracy stand in the way of their "inevitable" rule. Inevitable to them because of their policy of fear. Fear that our nation is collapsing too fast --that America's bedrock values that sustained us through civil war, depression and two world wars are no match for their "enlightened" 1960's era non-democratic leadership.

It will be up to the skill, wisdom, and experience of the President to defend and strengthen American values in the face of such challenges. This calls for a Statesman, not a politician. A politician acts in 90% self-interest and in 10% the common individual. A Statesman reverses and exceeds this ratio, particularly during times of war or great challenge, often with astonishing courage and wisdom. A stark example is the comparison of President Clinton to Winston Churchill.

Mitt Romney is indeed a Statesman. His record of past and present accomplishment is truly unmatched, and always favors the individual, whether as shareholder or as citizen. And his courage to engage difficult burdens and work undaunted until victory is legendary. No ordinary politician would have dared touch, let alone righted, the Salt Lake Olympics, itself reeling from the corruption of intense self-interest. Few governors would have acted so swiftly to remove the entrenched Massachusetts tollway fiefdom in favor of the safety and accountability for the citizen. All are sure losers in the face of media and campaign advisers. To a politician, this is all important. To a Statesman this is far less important. A Statesman understand the dynamics of business, politics, and leadership and will openly rely on deep core values to deliver enduring solutions.

However, as a contender Mitt Romney has a Primary and National election to win. And not enough of our nation truly knows him. The liberal media already see him as a threat. However, 21st Century style campaigning will help bypass this issue. The solution is on our very computer screens. Enabling awareness of Mitt Romney is a worthy citizen task as the burden on the next president will be an awesome one. Defense of values in the face of fierce opposition is never easy just as it was for Americans that the very dawn of our nation.

Defense of values in the face of fierce opposition marks the challenge of our new century also. Yet history shows that steady weakness and failures of early 20th century politicians lead to decades of calamity and world war. How different are Europe's and Russia's leaders in our day? As the only remaining superpower, US politics and politicians as usual no longer seem up to the task. Our Presidential vote is indeed a global one.

No doubt the noise of political pseudo-psychology and media-manufactured 'opinions and soundbites' will compete for national attention. However, let it be us to help enable a true Statesman, Mitt Romney, to compete for the Presidency of the United States. As encouragement for our action, some wise Americans left us these time-honored words:

We the people, in order to form
a more perfect union
establish justice
ensure domestic tranquility
provide for the common defense
promote the general welfare
secure the blessings of liberty for ourselves and our posterity
do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America

-Jonathan Thatcher
jthatcher@gmail.com

Lessons of the Father

2006-08-14T07:32:00.000-05:00

A Globe article on Romney and lessons he learned from his father's presidential run in 1967. The article mostly is a critique of what the writer views as Mitt's overcompensation for his father's off the cuff remarks. The article offers some interesting insights into Romney's early life and some lessons he learned along the campaign trail with his father. It's a pretty long article.

Romney Grassroots Growing

2006-08-13T18:13:00.000-05:00

Check out the coverage on Romney's grassroots activity at Jeff Fuller's Iowans for Romney.

There should be some exciting announcements about this blog in the next week or so. Check back often!

Romney on CSPAN

2006-08-13T10:10:00.000-05:00

Romney will be on C-Span's "Road to the White House" tonight at 6:30pm (I am assuming that is Eastern Time.) Thanks to the Elect Romney Blog for this.

MASSPIRG

2006-08-12T10:51:00.000-05:00

MASSPIRG, an enviromental lobbying group released a statement in support of Governor Romney's latest enviromental efforts:

We appreciate his careful consideration and treatment of this issue. We hope the legislature will accept his amendments. They are an effective compromise that will continue the Commonwealth’s commitment to supporting the development of new, clean renewable energy—exactly what we need to solve our energy crisis.

And then were Romney really gets the glowing compliment:

This makes the right call by committing to put efficiency first, and that’s a very positive step. It is clear that a lot of thought has gone into this plan, and, for the sake of comparison, this plan is light-years better than what Congress and the Bush administration have put together in recent years.

These people are not 100% sold on Romney though. This statement from the end of the release should be pointed out:

...no energy plan for Massachusetts is complete without support for Cape Wind and joining RGGI, the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative. We continue to be disappointed by Gov. Romney’s rejection of those two promising opportunities.

All in all, Romney's record on the enviroment will be a powerful tool in the general election, possibly turning what is a Democratic issue into a common issue for both parties. If you really care about the enviroment than I would suppose that would be a victory.

John Kerry: He's really annoying

2006-08-12T07:20:00.000-05:00

First in the spirit of full disclosure: I can't stand John Kerry.

Well Romney is taking on Kerry and the Democratic naysayers according to a Boston Globe article titled "Romney, Kerry spar over fight on terror: Governor raps senator for criticizing Iraq war." It's good to see Romney isn't above using Rap.

Anyway, there were some interesting information tidbits in this article.

Asked about Kerry's comments during an appearance on the MSNBC cable network, Romney blasted Kerry. The governor said the senator failed to recognize that the United States is locked in a long-term war against terrorists and that Iraq is a central front.

``I think it shows a complete lack of understanding of the kind of enemy that we're facing," said Romney, a Republican. ``This is not a small group of wackos in the hills that all we have to do is go find one person and it suddenly goes away."

Kerry's response?

In turn, Kerry's communications director, David Wade, questioned the governor's knowledge of issues related to Iraq and terrorism.

``Mitt Romney's command of national security is about as real as the weapons of mass destruction in Iraq," Wade said.

Why do I have a feeling that Wade took some time to think of that? And C'mon Kerry, you want to loose again? If not you have to bring some ideas to the table, not revert to high school level of personal attacks on the person who takes you to task.

But the saddest part of the article is this:

Their comments were made as members of both parties scrambled for a political edge following Tuesday's arrests in what authorities called a well-planned, sophisticated terrorist scheme to destroy jetliners in midflight from London to the United States.

Republicans cast the arrests as evidence that President Bush's aggressive antiterrorism policies are working. Democrats pointed to gaps in US transportation and border security and missteps in Iraq to argue that the nation is more vulnerable than ever.

The first part is honestly terrible. We really don't need politicking. Although I guess when you put human nature and a 2 party political system in a bag with GWOT and shake this is what you get. But it is unfortunate.

As for the second paragraph, what does the Globe mean when they say GOP'ers are trying to "cast" this? This is spin? Give me a break. To me it's simple. If you stop a major terrorist plot, you're doing your job. The fact that Dems are arguing that this is a result of a failed Iraq policy means that they beleive we would have no more terrorism if we didn't go into Iraq. In other words terrorist can be appeased. Is the Democratic party the party of Appeasement, the party of Chamberlain?

mmmm Bacon

2006-08-11T10:24:00.000-05:00

***Reposting this since it was swallowed up by all the other postings yesterday***

Mmmmm thick sliced hickory smoked bacon…. Oh wait that’s not what I was talking about.

Last week the MA congress overrode Romney’s veto to prevent the spending of 200,000 dollars on a theater house at MIT. “Legislators disagreed and overrode the veto last week, a move that pleased state Rep. Marty Walz, who sponsored the funding.”(see link at top)

I am pleased to see that Romney has no fear of the veto pen. I think Mitt's actions as governor show that he can be a great leader of our country. How many times has he used his veto pen? Plenty, even when he knew it would be overridden by a liberal congress.

I’ll never forget Bush’s face when he signed the port bill preventing the sale of a port to the United Arab Emirates. He had promised to veto it and did not. He had a look of constipation as he signed it and I couldn’t help but wonder, “Why are you doing it?” I wouldn’t want my signature on that bill just because I thought a veto would be overridden.

I think Mitt has a proven record that shows a willingness to use the veto power and perhaps he will be able to shame the Republicans into being fiscally responsible again when he becomes president. Congress has shown itself unable to close the purse strings. Perhaps a strong president who is not afraid to veto can help them do their job.

Posted by me(corben)

Romney's Actions Well Recieved

2006-08-11T00:58:00.000-05:00

Romney's deployment of the National Gaurd has been well recieved by pundits and Dems, The Boston Herald Reported.

“I think the governor’s actions were most appropriate, under the cirumstances,” said U.S. Rep. Martin T. Meehan (D-Lowell). Asked how Romney’s take-charge persona is playing out on the national political scene, Meehan replied: “Anytime an executive makes the right decisions under pressure, voters respond.”

U.S. Rep. Barney Frank (D-Newton) agreed, saying: “I think what he’s done is appropriate. We have bad guys trying to kill people and you’ve got to respond.”

Alexander Lamis, a political professor at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, said Romney’s response to the Big Dig collapse and the latest terror plot make him “somebody who certainly has to be taken seriously in the presidential race.”

COMMENT ON LAST POST

2006-08-10T22:47:00.000-05:00

I recieved an email chastising me for my last post on Robin Williams. I just wanted to say that my comments were meant to argue that there is a lack of personal responsibity amongst public figures. Williams publicist quote seemed to me to be indicative of this. Obviously we all have personal problems and we all fall short. I was not knocking his alcholism, but rather the comment.

Also the article about leading presidential candidates offended some also. Sorry. I write this blog to keep others up on the current Romney buzz. This article shows a distinction in Romney that seperates him from the rest, his marriage. It is worth discussing. I think it is something to be applauded. I realize being remarried does not preclude one from being a good person, and being married your whole life does not make you so.

If you have any problems with this feel free to write me or comment. I am only in this to help Romney and I am sure I will make a couple mistakes. All blogs by myself are my personal opinion, I am not paid nor promised future pay for doing this.

Jason

What You Always Dreamed Of...

2006-08-10T17:37:00.000-05:00

After Clinton, most Americans were left with a rotten taste in their mouth for public figures. Actually, most pulic figures actions taste like rotten milk on a hot day. Just today Robin Williams checked into Rehab for Alcholism. I chuckled when his publicist stated Williams "Found himself drinking again." Found Himself? Was it a surprise? Did someone get inside his body and start drinking for him?

Our nations political leaders have an even higher obligation than an actor who dresses up like an alien and sleeps in a huge egg. For instance, it's common knowledge that sexual activity rose among teenagers after Bill and Monica were exposed. Our nation took a bigger shot to its ego after Watergate. When our elected officials can't live with integrity, we take it to heart.

This Blog makes a compelling case for Romney's stellar leadership being part of a greater picture: his character. They use his own marriage to make this point. Why should they not? That is a good mans first responsibilty.

As Stephan Covey would teach, at the heart of every decision is your moral center. If it is week, so will be your desicions. If you moral center allows you to cheat on your spouse, it will undoubtedly lead to cheating in other areas. Your morals are the marrow of your decisoins skeletal system.

The ending of the previously mentioned Blog sums it up for Romney:

We are being frank when we say we respect Mitt Romney. Why? He comes from a distinguished political family. His roots are in politics and he has the present advantage of being the Governor of Massachusetts in a race where, historically, more Governors than Senators have ascended to the Presidency.

Mr. Romney is pro family, pro life, and pro traditional marriage. He has been married to the same fine woman for over 30 years, throughout which no scandal has ever been connected to his name or position. Mr. Romney does not deliver double-talk. This is a man who looks you straight in the eye, speaks without hesitation, and delivers his own honest responses. He speaks from his heart with a confidence that comes from years of experience and knowledge of his subject.

What has allowed Romney to be so successful has little to do with ability. His intellect and skills have been indespesible in all his achievments, yet at the heart of Romney's success is his moral alliance to honesty and integrity. Hence when we support Romney, we are not onoly supporting an innovative thinker and consensus builder, but also some who will be a powerful moral compass, someone we can put our trust in.

Romney on TV

2006-08-10T17:26:00.000-05:00

Romney will be on Hardball at 6pm and Hannity and Colmes at 8:30pm. Tomorow he will be on Fox News at 7:45am. These are central times.

Top 10 Candidates

2006-08-10T08:52:00.000-05:00

Got this blog/article off of Article 6. Romney is the top of the list. Interting take.

It also names Harry Reid as a potential contendor. Now that would be interesting!

Romney Activates National Gaurd

2006-08-10T08:46:00.000-05:00

No link for this yet, but FoxNews just announced after an interview with Romney concerning todays uncovered terrorists plot in the UK, that Gov. Romney will deploy the National Gaurd to Boston's Logan Airport.

This will be the first time since 9-11.

***Update- Here is a link for the Boston Globe on the troop deployment

Globe Defends Against Romney Attacks

2006-08-10T08:37:00.000-05:00

The Boston Globe makes a defense for Romney against attack adds by Democatice candidate for MA governor, Thomas F. Reilly. One interesting point is clarification of the Romney's record on Education:

Massachusetts does rank in the bottom 10 nationwide in per capita spending on higher education, according to a recent report by the State Higher Education Executive Officers. But on a per-student basis, the state ranks among the country's top spenders. Why the discrepancy? Only about half of Massachusetts students attend public universities, compared with about 80 percent on average nationwide.

Interesting twist of statistics.

Nothing New to Romney Supporters

2006-08-09T16:36:00.000-05:00

NewsMax.com ran an article today on the vulnerability of John McCain. I mean look at this guy, would you vote for him? Obviously looks have nothing to do with it. But McCain has some major hurdles in front of him.

A USA Today/Gallup poll in late June found that overall, 56 percent of Americans have a favorable opinion of the Arizona senator, while 25 percent have an unfavorable opinion and 19 percent have no opinion.

However, only a slightly higher percentage of Republicans, 59 percent, rate him favorably. By comparison, while President Bush has only a 40 percent favorable rating overall, 86 percent of Republicans rate him favorably, and 75 percent of Democrats rate Hillary Clinton favorably.

Why isn't McCain the darling of the Republican party? Read a little further.

Among the reasons respondents cited for disliking the likely presidential candidate, according to Gallup, are "Wishy-washy/Needs to take a stance,” "Don’t agree with his views/positions,” "Doesn’t have true Republican views or values,” and "Too liberal.”

That's the kind of polling McCain doesn't want to see.

No Problem

2006-08-09T10:30:00.000-05:00

This is what Romney is up against. Do the Dems really stand a chance with this as their voice of reason?

If Moore and Dean are the best of Liberal/Democratic thinking, than no doubt we can look forward to a landslide MR08.

Can They Just Give it a Rest?

2006-08-08T11:10:00.000-05:00

Now that "Tar Baby-gate" has blown away into the backhills of the Berkshires, The Boston Globe has begun to paint Romney as a rascist.

Hosting a cocktail reception in South Carolina for local Republicans over the weekend, Romney joked about the attitude of some in the South toward the Civil War, referring to the region's views that the conflict was one of ``Northern aggression" against the South.

The article here by the Globe never actually quotes the joke, only paraphrases it. This should be a major tipoff to the reader. The globe was very quick to fully quote the Tar-Baby comment, why not this? Maybe because they are reaching for straws.?

The Globe then tries to link Tar-baby gate, with other comments by Romney:

Romney talked of baseball player Johnny Damon's leaving the Red Sox to join the Yankees. Romney told them that he and the audience have common ground: They both hate Yankees.

Heavens No!! He used the word Yankee!!

Going on:

``It was just a passing reference," Fehrnstrom said. ``Everywhere the governor speaks, he tells a joke."

Romney's remarks were made a week after he apologized for using the expression ``tar baby" when referring to the political risks involved in his taking charge of the Big Dig project.

The phrase is considered a racial epithet by some, although the Merriam-Webster dictionary defines the expression as ``something from which it is nearly impossible to extricate oneself."

Wow! What in the world are they implying? Somehow a Yankee joke proves a pattern of rascism?

To my eyes the read-between-the-lines implications of this article are obvious and sickening. Despite the fact this double standard has been covered in other places, liberals spray this rascist name-calling like airfreshner in truckstop bathroom. If we rewind back to the 1994 campaign against Kennedy, we see playing the rascist accusations against Romney become a historical precedent. This was covered in the Weekly Standard:

ROMNEY KNOWS FIRSTHAND how his religion can be exploited in negative campaigning. When he ran against Ted Kennedy in 1994, then-congressman Joe Kennedy, the senator's nephew, said Romney was "a member of the white boys' club,"

Is this a conspiracy? I am not saying that. Is it laying a foundation for the Dems to work against Romney? Perhaps. The opposition knows the power of subtilty and making impressions. They know a small comment here and a small comment there can snowball into something big.

New Poll

2006-08-07T17:51:00.000-05:00

Illinoisans for Mitt will conduct weekly straw polls concerning various topics. It is located in the right hand sidebar.

I Told You He's Dangerous

2006-08-07T13:59:00.000-05:00

To articles on Democrat's fearing Romney.

Here and Here.

Romney is Dangerous

2006-08-03T22:42:00.000-05:00

check all the links on this post!

It's an interesteing article and will surely make you excited.

As a student of 17th century counterpoint, I can tell you authoritatively- this is music to my ears:

“When I talk to each of the presidential candidates, every one of them brings up Romney — unsolicited — because they’re all focused on him as the smartest, toughest guy in the race,” Norquist told reporters Wednesday at a breakfast hosted by the Christian Science Monitor. “He is very well thought of.”

Pow!!!!!! Kapoww!!!!!Johnny-You better duck! Dont worry, the vodka will wear off.

Its All the Rage! Everyones Doing It!

2006-08-03T21:37:00.000-05:00

Well I took this test like a few others. I always new I was hard core capitilist. To paraphrase someone elses line, Capitalisms terrible- until you consider the other option.

You are a
Social Moderate
(50% permissive)

and an...
Economic Conservative
(86% permissive)

You are best described as a:

Capitalist

This is what the page had to say about me, I guess my ego grew a little on this:

"You exhibit a very well-developed sense of Right and Wrong and believe in economic fairness"

Link: The Politics Test on Ok Cupid
Also: The OkCupid Dating Persona Test

I4M Pop Quiz

2006-08-03T06:35:00.000-05:00

The Evans-Novak Report had this to say about Romney in their weekly email:

Neutral Republicans believe Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney has the organizational head start in the '08 presidential primary, in contrast to his anemic standing in the popular opinion polls. Romney looks particularly good in Iowa.

It's a no brainer to me. OK, now it's time for your first I4M pop-qiuz:

Who has the most organizational leadership?

A senator from Arizona who splits his party and drinks vodka shots with liberal socialist. He was invited to run as VP on the Democratic '04 presidential ticket.
A retired mayor who dresses in drag. A moral liberal who's claim to fame was a national security event that most mayor's would have shined on.
A proven buisness leader who has turned around dozens of profitless buisnesses, a scandel plagued Olympics and a state with huge fiscal and health care problems. Oh, did I mention this guy is clean as a whistle?

If you answered #3, you're correct!

OK, definitly a rigged question, but you get the point. Now go back to work and stop wasting company time on the internet!