Money and Wives

So many good things to talk about today.

After NewsMax’s glowing article about Mitt over the weekend, NewsMax has another positive take on Romney’s big number yesterday:

When early polls showed him trailing Rudy Giuliani and John McCain, Mitt Romney urged all listeners to watch his presidential campaign blossom over the long election season.

On Monday, it burst into full glory after just three months.

The results not only cemented Romney's status as a first-tier competitor, but they also threatened to further erode support from McCain's already-flagging campaign, and to dry up funding for other lagging candidates.

I’ve been saying for a long while that the long election cycle favors Romney more than a short cycle would because he needs name recognition and time to persuade conservatives that he truly belongs with them. Both of these tasks are more easily accomplished over a longer period of time. The money primary is one of the first steps in that process, as described by NewsMax. Romney get to trumpet a win, get some more name recognition, and get a fresh look from previously skeptical voters.


In response to my prediction that the hedging on Romney’s numbers would start quickly, the New York Times has an article describing Romney’s support as mainly “Wall Street and the Mormon Church”. MyManMitt has a good response, so I won’t fully address the article here.


Noted Romney enthusiast Kathryn Jean Lopez at NRO has gushing article about Ann Romney's speech to the NFRW. KJL ends with this contrast of Ann Romney and Judi Giuliani:

A wife isn’t going to make or break a campaign. But she is a reflection of the candidate and his character. And there, in the wives’ stories, the contrasts are no small thing. Even with the occasional she-hates-puppies headlines, Judith Giuliani is already being humanized from the New York tabloid image many, especially in New York, probably have of her. But the contrast of glamour shots of a third wife on her husband’s lap (a husband who was someone else’s husband when she started dating him) with a couple that’s been married for 37 years and still clearly in love is no small thing. It’s no small thing, especially, considering conservatives are being asked to compromise on both the character and policy fronts. Sure, Republicans have had personal issues before — but when they ask us to give in on important policy matters as well, the personal can’t help becoming even more political.

Finally, there is a new Rasmussen Poll out and there is good and not so good news. Important to note is that the polling took place from March 26-29, 2007. This means that the news about Romney’s fundraising was still unknown. First, the good news: Romney’s support remains steady from the last Rasmussen poll and Giuliani falls by 9 points to 26%, his first dip below 30% in 7 weeks. The not so good news is that Thompson, Fred Thompson, is ahead of Romney 14% to 8%. I think that the polling will continue to show a narrowing of the numbers so that there is a very close and competitive field. Also important is that this is the second poll where Thompson's numbers have largely come at Giuliani's expense. My question still is: Does Thompson, assuming he declares, have staying power?

Romney "Youtubed" Again

After being distracted by Giuliani for awhile, Youtube has once again turned its gaze back to Romney... this time with Ann and Mitt teaming up on abortion in a 2002 interview:

Romney Zeroes In On Hillary

At a campaign event in South Carolina yesterday, Mitt Romney spoke at length on Iran, criticizing Clinton for "a lack of understanding" in advocating engagement with Iran. I'm wondering if the strategy is to provoke Clinton in some way on this issue. Instigating an Obama-Clinton-like public debate with Clinton on Iran would be a dream scenario for Romney in my mind. It would allow him to burnish his foreign policy credentials while opposing someone who is a pretty polarizing figure among his Republican base. It is to this end I think Romney is circulating a letter he wrote Clinton and several other New York politicians calling for them to "launch a policy of strategic disinvestment from companies linked to the Iranian regime."

I can't find the full text of his remarks yesterday, but the Globe quotes him as saying: "You don't want to reward bad behavior. . . . We want to squeeze the pressure on that country and get them on the right track. . . . We don't want to give a signal of support or accomplishment to someone like [Iranian President Mahmoud] Ahmadinejad."

The Globe also noted what it saw as an implied shot at Giuliani and McCain: "Romney's wife, Ann, played a particularly prominent role last night, as Romney made a special effort to highlight the fact that he's been married to the same woman for almost 40 years. "She's been the person behind me all my life," Romney said. Left unsaid: His chief Republican rivals, Senator John McCain of Arizona and Rudy Giuliani, former New York mayor , have each divorced at least once."

Bopp on Romney

At the National Review Online, James Bopp Jr. writes at length about why conservatives should support Romney, while also taking some parting shots at both Giuliani and McCain. Of Romney's conversion on social issues, Bopp writes:

[H]ow is the sincerity of a conversion to be measured? There are two salient considerations in this regard: first, some defining moment that prompted a change of heart; second, the fact that deeds speak louder than words. Romney’s conversion exhibits both. First, Romney has had a life-changing event. It was when he was governor and researchers were proposing embryonic cloning at Harvard. As he recounts it, one of the researchers said that there “wasn’t a moral issue, because . . . they destroy the embryos at 14 days.” Romney said that “it struck me that we have so cheapened the value of human life in this country through our Roe v. Wade decision that someone could think that there is no moral issue to have racks and racks of living human embryos and then destroying them at 14 days.”

Of Giuliani and McCain, Bopp says:

Giuliani is simply not a social conservative. He is pro-choice, pro-partial birth abortion, and pro-special rights for homosexuals. He is also pro-gun control. Senator McCain opposes the federal marriage amendment, supports embryonic stem-cell research, and was a ringleader of the Gang-of-14 compromise that made it easier for Democrats to block President Bush’s judicial nominees. Also, he is the principal sponsor of the McCain-Feingold bill, which imposes severe limits on the participation of citizens groups and political parties in our representative democracy.

Much Ado About Mormonism

The press coverage on Mitt Romney's Mormonism has rolled into the weekend. The Washington Post, in particular, ran a number of substantive articles that discussed Romney and his faith. Much of this press argues that Romney's faith should not be a campaign issue. In all, I found most of these articles to be fair and pretty positive. While I think the issue of Romney's faith is sure to come up repeatedly over the next year, from the tone of this coverage, I think the myopic focus might be easing up a bit. Here's a sampling:

This Week With George Stephanopoulos (ABC News): ABC aired a recent interview this morning with both Ann and Mitt Romney. It's worth a read. In it, Ann said she thought the press coverage of her husband's faith was "a little unfair" while Mitt said of his relationship to the LDS Church, "I'm not running for pastor-in-chief. I'm running for commander-in-chief. So the best place to go for my church's doctrines would be my church." The transcript of interview can be found here and the video here. Reaction to the interview can be found here.

Romney Jumps In (Washington Post): The Post editorial page discussed what it viewed as the strengths and weaknesses of Romney's candidacy. It ended by saying "One challenge that Mr. Romney faces is something that we hope dissipates as an issue over time: winning over voters uneasy about his Mormon faith. In a Gallup poll this week, a disturbing 24 percent said they would not vote for a "generally well-qualified person for president who happened to be Mormon." Mr. Romney's religion could be a particular sticking point with evangelical Christians who wield significant clout in GOP primaries. As with another Massachusetts politician who ran for the presidency more than four decades ago and persuaded voters not to hold his Catholicism against him, Mr. Romney should be judged on a basis other than his faith."

What Matters About Romney (Washington Post): Written by a Latter-day Saint on the Post's editorial staff, this article discusses why Romney's faith might be garnering the attention it has and says: "But regardless of how uncomfortable some of these characteristics make some feel, it is unproductive to focus on Romney's Mormonism. A candidate's faith, like that of an L.A. high school student or anyone else is ultimately a complex and personal phenomenon, even in the context of a highly centralized religious organization. My experience in Mormon congregations across the country has taught me that it is impossible to tell precisely how individual Mormons will apply their religious principles to their professional lives. And beyond encouraging hard work and honesty, the church itself is hardly definitive on the subject. Consider the divergent examples of other well-known Mormons -- those of Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), say."

What Is Mormonism? (Washington Post): Richard Ostling, the author the book Mormon America and a widely-read Time magazine article on the LDS Church, gives a brief run-down of Mormonism. The article is accurate, but some might object to its heavy focus on elements of the Church that Ostling thinks might be problematic for voters. In the end he says: "Will any of this matter to Romney during his presidential campaign? The Constitution demands that the government impose "no religious test" for holding public office. Yet voters make their own choices and public opinion polls show that when it comes to Mormons, many people do worry. When a recent USA Today-Gallup poll asked respondents whether they would vote for a qualified woman, Mormon or black candidate to be president, the results were striking. About 94 percent said they would vote for a black nominee, 88 percent said a woman and 72 percent said a Mormon. In the current field, that could spell trouble for Romney."

A Man With A Mission (Washington Post): This is a fascinating article that I highly recommend reading. It pieces together a collection of reminiscences about Romney from a former LDS missionary companion of Romney's in France, a couple of High School friends, several former business associates, the COO/CFO of the Salt Lake Organizing Committee, his former Lieutenant Governor, and a former political opponent. Most are glowing in their praise of Romney, while a couple criticize him somewhat on abortion.

Romney Candidacy Will Stir Up Anti-Mormon Feeling (Salt Lake Tribune): This is a pretty unique article by a Latter-day Saint who is not excited about Mitt Romney's run for president. He's not opposed to Romney, to the contrary likes him, but he fears the inevitable anti-Mormon attacks in the primaries. He says: "Romney could be a terrific president. Given the choice, I'd probably vote for him. But with the minuscule possibility of ever getting that choice, I question the cost. The thought of things sacred to Latter-Day Saints being discussed on "The Today Show" is not something I look forward to."

Romney's Religion Shouldn't Matter, But It Does (The Decatur Daily): This is a good article that argues strongly that Romney's faith should not be an issue, but concedes that it will be nonetheless: "Given the poll numbers, Romney has little choice but to give a public address about the relationship of faith and politics in his life. . . . There’s plenty to debate in Romney’s positions on public policy without getting distracted by the non-issue of where he goes to church. Unfortunately, prejudice against Mormons leaves Romney little choice."

Romney Responds to Religious Heckler in Florida (St. Petersburg Times): At a speech in Florida this weekend, Romney was heckled by a man who said: "You sir, you are a pretender. You do not know the Lord, you are a Mormon." Romney drew a standing ovation with his calm response "Let me offer just a thought. One of the great things about this great land is we have people of different faiths and different persuasion, but we need to have a person of faith to lead this country." Afterwards, Romney many of those in attendance "lavished praise" on Romney.

Romney News Media Round Up

To follow up on Kyle's recent post on how the press covered Mitt Romney's announcement this last week, I thought I'd do another media round up. I've been away from the blog for a few days, and there's been some interesting stories:

Romney's Mormonism

Poll Numbers Looking Up - Much has been made about the large numbers of people who say they couldn't vote for a Mormon. The numbers seem to be softening a little though. 72% of those polled by USA Today last week said they could vote for a Mormon, much better than the thirty-something% of people that other polls have shown saying they couldn't. A closer look at the numbers suggest Romney still has his work cut out for him (58% said they could vote for a Mormon without reservation, 14% said they could with reservations, 24% said they could not, and 4% weren't sure). All in all, it's good news for Romney though, given how bad some polls have been in this respect.

Will Mormon Faith Hurt Bid For White House - In light of its new poll numbers, USA Today takes a look at Romney's faith and the hurdles he might face. "The emergence of former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, a Mormon waging a strong campaign for the GOP presidential nomination, spotlights a religion often viewed as odd despite its rapid growth and attempts to go mainstream. Hartley and others say they welcome the scrutiny. For Romney, set to announce his candidacy today, it may be less than a blessing."

Romney's Announcement

Romney's Family Values - "Just before Republican Mitt Romney formally embarked on his race for the White House, his high school sweetheart and wife of nearly four decades, Ann, called him to the podium in glowing terms. Their five grown sons, five daughters-in-law and 10 grandchildren gathered nearby. The images and speech provided far-from-subtle campaign messages -- an unspoken claim that Romney is an actual practitioner of family values and the spoken argument of the need to strengthen the country's families. . . . The family image was a reminder of how Romney differs from his top GOP rivals, the once-divorced Sen. John McCain and the one divorce, one annulment Rudy Giuliani. It also echoed of a more famous political family from Massachusetts -- the Kennedys." (Romney Announces Candidacy With Family)

Romney Downplays Massachusetts - I think the Boston Globe is still a little bitter that Romney chose to announce in Michigan: "It's been his foil, his punch line, and his source of political achievement, but yesterday Massachusetts earned just two passing mentions in Mitt Romney's presidential announcement." Friday, however, Romney "came home": "With the Boston skyline as a backdrop, Mitt Romney reclaimed Massachusetts as his home state last night, telling hundreds of supporters at a fund-raiser for his presidential campaign, 'My lifetime has been spent with you.'"

Parsing Romney's Speech - Over at the Fix, Chris Cillizza breaks down Romney's announcement speech. (Analyzing Romney's Announcement Speech)

Romney's Wife Ann

ABC Interview - ABC aired a fascinating interview with Ann Romney, who opens up about her battle with MS, her conversion to Mormonism, and her thoughts on her husband's candidacy (she says she is "totally onboard with it"). The Boston Globe had a run down of the interview yesterday. I think this was a good thing for Mitt, it really humanized him. We haven't heard all that much from Ann up to this point, if Romney's smart, we'll hear more.

Campaigning and Endorsements

Battle Over Massachusetts - Former acting Massachusetts Governor Jane Swift endorsed McCain over Romney last week (her opinion mattered again for all of 10 seconds). While Swift certainly has bones with Romney, the GOP in Massachusetts has certainly not been lining up behind Romney. Three prominent GOP State Senators were the latest Massachusetts Republicans to announce their support for non-Romney candidate, this time it was Giuliani.

Good News From Florida - "Jeb Bush, who hasn't publicly picked a favorite in the Republican presidential race, privately is talking up the candidacy of Mitt Romney and steering some of his closest advisers to the campaign." (Jeb Bush Steers Advisors Toward Romney).

Fundraising Juggernaut - Romney raised more than $1 million at a fundraising event in Boston on Thursday. Whatever his hurdles he may have, fundraising is not one of them. I think Romney will make some serious waves and raise a lot of eyebrows when he announces his first quarter's fundraising totals on March 31st.

Conservative Members Retreat

Today, Romney will address the Heritage Foundation Conservative Members Retreat. He has released portions of his remarks online and says he will be discussing "his record of strong conservative leadership and the right strategy to deal with the threat posed by Iran." Question is whether he will take National Review Editor Rich Lowry's criticism to heart and bring up Iraq. Should he?

Romney's Courtship

The Boston Herald reported yesterday on this recent website post by Mitt Romney on his wife Ann (which is simply excerpts from a speech back in November). The Herald summarizes some of the highlights which it calls "Way too much information":

[Romney] confides that [Ann] nearly was stolen away from him by lusting Brigham Young University studs while Romney was away on a Mormon missionary stay in France. But love prevailed and Mitt proposed. The couple has been married for 38 years. Here are Romney’s own words about their love, from the site: "Ann is an angel. She’s a hot angel, but she’s an angel nonetheless"

Seems like a case of the Herald turning the innocuous into the sensational, though anyone who might have attended Brigham Young University or served a mission probably gets a kick out of it.

Romney's National Review Summit Speech

The National Review has the full text of Mitt Romney's remarks at last night's National Review Summit. Both the New York Times and the National Association of Manufacturer's Website recap Romney's speech today.

Update: Here is what Romney is posting on his site about his remarks at the Summit.