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 Saturday, June 23, 2007
Jonathan Martin has a piece up about the fundraising race for the second quarter. Mostly it talks about the expectation gaming that each candidate is doing. Some (i.e. McCain) have more pressure than others to lower the bar so as to exceed expectations. Obviously each campaign is working furiously to get as much as possible. Martin had one note in particular that I found amazing:
While his public schedule has been markedly light, at least compared with Romney and McCain, Giuliani has kept up the fundraising pace. His campaign declined to say how many total events they did for the quarter, but said they’ll do around 50 in June alone. Romney had 30 events scheduled for June. McCain had 35. Obviously, McCain and especially Rudy are doing their best to generate cash. I think the point of all this, for us Romney supporters, is that we need to increase our efforts to support Romney. Personally, I think Romney is the president that this country needs: smart, innovative, a strong and effective executive, personally upright, god-fearing, and most importantly has the vision and message to confront the challenges that face us now and in the future. He's really the type of man and leader that comes along only about once a generation. That he is running for president is really amazing. Thus, we should seize the chance to help in Romney's efforts to lead this wonderful country. There are several ways to donate. Here at MMM or over at the official campaign website. Help make the second quarter as successful as the first quarter! Labels: fundraising, Jonathan Martin, Politico Friday, June 22, 2007
Following up on the McCain Mormon Whisper Campaign we now have another reported attack coming out of Camp McCain.
So lets take a look at some ConserveNH's leaders: 1. ConserveNH was founded, and presumably ran by Doug Lambert, Skip Murphy, Paul Nagy and Patrick Hynes. 2. Doug Lambert and Skip Murphy both claim that they are no fans of Romney. 3. Pat Hynes is a paid consultant of McCain's and needs no introduction. From all accounts he is an excellent blogger and real "nice" guy, so I am not here to knock on him personally. 4. It's not too hard to find tough-on-Mitt-pieces-easy-on-McCain-pieces at Lambert and Murphy's blog. 5. For Paul Nagy (who actually petitioned the AG) attacking Romney is nothing new. Now lets looks at the two causes ConserveNH has taken on: 1. Protecting Marriage in NH by an online petition. 2. Protecting innocent NYTimes reporters, by calling for an investigation by the State Attorney General into Mitt Romney. It doesn't take much thought to come to a quick conclusion the ConserveNH is really a puppett group for attacking Mitt Romney. An online petition with a whopping 600 signatures and official request to investigate Romney. I cannot confirm that they are in the bag with McCain- because their is nothing beyond circumstantial evidence in my view. But, (and that is a big "but") it's highly probable in my opinion. Now lets take a look at some of the claims ConserveNH is making on this: Nagy said the letter was sent independently of the McCain campaign and said he was unaware that Hynes is on McCain's payroll. ...uh...Naggy, you only have 4 people on your board and you have no idea Hynes was a paid consultant of McCain. Wow. "We want attention to the indiscretion," said Nagy, who said he is not supporting a candidate. "I think there is a bunch of arrogance involved in this. We just don't do that to guests when they visit our state during the presidential primary season." Apparently Nagy has two things they want to protect: Marriage and scared NYTimes reporters who stories are unsubstantiated to this point. I believe this is the first time a Conservsative action group has taken up the cause of protecting the NYTimes. Lastly...
Noticed she said "supporter" in the singular form. Judging by McCain's New Hampshire numbers that sounds about right. Scott Helman of the Boston Globe (a pretty cool guy in my limited interaction with him) has written a pretty enlightening piece about how the rival campaigns of McCain, Giuliani, and Brownback have all had official campaign staff attacking Mitt's Mormon faith. It's been happening here in Iowa.
Gathering for their April meeting at the county courthouse, Republican activists from Warren County, Iowa, planned for this summer's county fair and vented about illegal immigration. Next Iowa example: Emma Nemecek, an Iowa field operative for Senator Sam Brownback of Kansas, had recently forwarded an e-mail to Iowa Republicans containing a number of criticisms of Mormonism, including a charge that it is not a Christian faith. The e-mail closed with a quote from a Founding Father, John Jay: "Providence has given to our people the choice of their rulers, and it is the duty as well as the privilege and interest of our Christian nation to select and prefer Christians for their rulers." I know Emma and like her. I even put her campaign sign in my yard when she was running for the legislative seat last election cycle. I was disappointed by her action, but I also know that she's a very energetic and involved individual. I'm willing to cut her some slack and write this off as an over-exuberance in supporting her boss. I'm sure she's been frustrated in not "converting" many folks over to Brownback because they are firm Romney supporters. What she did was unacceptable, but I maintain that she is a good person and a good Republican. Hearkening back to the first example: The April meeting in Warren County is one of several instances in which a representative of McCain's campaign has tried to highlight Romney's membership in the Mormon Church. The attacks are coming from non-campaign places as well. Romney has faced repeated slights against his religion from other quarters as well. A Florida televangelist, Bill Keller, told followers recently that a vote for Romney is a vote for Satan. And a small group of worshipers from the Faith Christian Outreach Church in Mount Pleasant, Iowa, has been going door-to-door distributing a DVD that takes a critical look at the Mormon Church. There's not a whole lot of stuff to attack Romney on . . . so we will continue to see these kinds of desperate and misguided "whisper campaigns". Thursday, June 21, 2007
Via Jonathan Martin at the Politico:
Per ARG: Romney: 23 Giuliani: 21 McCain: 16 F. Thompson: 16 Undecided: 15 Not to get too excited or anything, but that makes 5 states (Iowa, New Hampshire, Michigan, Nevada, and Utah) where Romney is leading. The story today about the left-leaning contributions of reporters gives me a great excuse to disclose a few things. I have no problem doing this because:
A) Everybody already knows who I support B) I'm not a reporter I'm proud of the fact that I announced my intentions to support Mitt Romney in November of last year. I was so convicted of this fact that I dropped my long time personal blog (Right Side Redux) to focus on building MyManMitt.com. It's a risk I don't believe I will regret. MyManMitt has been a great success raking in over 1200 users a day after starting from scratch in January. Jason Bonham, my cohort in this effort, and numerous other bloggers have made this a reality. Disclosure #1 As many of your know Jason and I hold a position on the Faith and Values Committee for the Romney campaign. I should note that you don't have to endorse a candidate if you are on a committee (although it's likely most members do). Being part of the committee in no way indicates that I am a campaign "official" as some have implied. Disclosure #2 I am now a paid consultant for the campaign. This was more of a fluke than anything else. I am not consulting them on blogging (they have Stephen Smith for that)... rather I have a really nifty computer and the a decent speaking voice. Read on... The campaign is using SalesForce.com to manage relationships with potential donors. The vast fundraising team uses this tool to give them a dashboard of money raised etc... SalesForce.com is a great tool but it requires some training. I thought I would help my fellow unpaid fundraisers and put together a video demonstrating some of the functions of the application. I submitted the video screen capture to the campaign. They loved it! But, they are clean-nosed crew and said they had to pay me for it. Disclosure #3  As many of you know I have taken a position as Vice President of Communications for the Lighted Candle Society. This new job requires a lot of attention so I will probably be scaling back my MyManMitt activities a bit. Since I have a more public position I will probably be cautious about all of my dealings going forward. If your interested... we could certainly use your help at the Lighted Candle Society. More info here. Labels: Justin Hart, Lighted Candle Society
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
As many of you know I've joined forces with the Lighted Candle Society.
LCS is a non-profit organization with a unique vision on how to win the culture war. Our primary fight is against pornography and the damage it inflicts on families, individuals and society. We do this by supporting civil litigation against pornographers. (A little legal jujitsu, taking a page from the ACLU). To find out more click on the logo below and sign up to help us: Apparently Giuliani made a poor choice for a state chairman in South Carolina. Thomas Ravenel was indicted on a cocaine charge on Tuesday. From The Greenville News:
[Larry] Sabato said the incident reflects on Giuliani, who accepted Ravenel's aid when he was first putting his campaign together and most of the state's top Republicans had committed elsewhere. Hat tip to South Carolina '08.com. Labels: Giuliani, Greenville News, south carolina From the Caucus:
"In a speech that Mr. McCain is delivering here today on Latin America, he calls for reestablishing the United States Information Agency as an independent agency. “Dismantling an agency dedicated to promoting America and the American message amounted to unilateral disarmament in the struggle of ideas,’’ he will say, according to excerpts of the speech obtained from the campaign. "The Romney campaign lost no time in pointing out to reporters that Mr. McCain voted for the 1998 bill that merged the United States Information Agency with the State Department – a bill that also authorized payments to the United Nations and authorized spending for the State Department." Labels: John McCain Much has been made of New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s recent switch from Republican affiliation to unaffiliated. Of course the question right away has been “Who does this hurt?” Chuck Todd has his thoughts:
Looking at voting patterns and the strength of both parties' bases, a true three-way race may help the Democrats more than the Republicans. Why? It’s simple -- the South. The irony of a Bloomberg candidacy is that it could make the Democrats more competitive in the South because their 35% base vote in the South is made up of die-hard Democrats.Jonah Goldberg at NRO counters this thinking: Moreover, is it inconceivable that the logic Todd & Co. use about the South might also have applicability in the Northeast and California? Splitting the limousine liberal vote in New York, New Jersey, Conn., California and Mass. could change the dynamics for a Republican quite favorably (depending on the Republican). Indeed, the Republican contender wouldn't need to actually win all or almost any of these states in this scenario. He could however force a Hillary or an Obama to spend time and money in areas a Democrat should have locked up.Personally I think that Goldberg is too conservative in his assessment. A piece by Ben Smith at the Politico sums up some of Bloomberg’s positions on issues: His political and personal views are more in line with moderate Democratic Party politics: His first major act as mayor was a large property tax increase, his most controversial was a citywide ban on smoking, and the signature accomplishment of his first term was an education reform that mixed centralized control with increased spending.Does this sound like someone taking the votes of social conservatives, foreign policy hawks, or fiscal disciplinarians? It seems unlikely at the least. Rather, assuming that Bloomberg is against the war in Iraq, it seems likely that Democratic-leaning independents would vote for Bloomberg rather than Republican-leaning independents. People are presented with two options for an anti-war, big government, socially liberal candidate. None of those positions lines up well with Republican voters. Of course, all the fanfare is much ado about nothing given that we all know that Romney will win, regardless of who he’s pitted against. Update: Marc Ambinder follows my logic, here. Labels: Chuck Todd, Michael Bloomberg, national review, Politico No Child Left BehindSocial Security and Notch BabiesImmigrationMcCain seems to be literally obsessed with Romney. I guess it's that whole dying gasp thing. First he was going to open www.mittvstruth.com, then he was thinking about it, now it's definitely off the table. Now he is in Massachusetts taking pot shots at Romney, all the while sinking himself into presidential obscurity:
Has anyone told McCain about his local party in Arizona and their thoughts on him? McCain was flanked by Former Acting Governor Jane Swift (emphasis on acting.) Jane offered some underhanded criticism of Romney as well:
You might remember Mrs. Swift as the fine Republican Governor who the local GOP loved so much they decided to look for another governor. Romney is why she has no job. From what I understand this is the same reason Utah Governor John Huntsman joined McCain as well, he was hoping to be the Salt Lake Olympics CEO. Didn't quite happen. So what do you get when you stack a candidate with supporters who are continually getting snubbed over for Romney? This. What do you get when you have a candidate who is more concerned about serving the Nation then tearing down his competitors? This. Tuesday, June 19, 2007
 (From left to Right: Jeff Fuller, Jason Bonham, Kavon Nikrad) Should have some more videos of our screamin' time with Mitt later tonight or tomorow morning. Wondering where Jeff got that all too "Dynamite" Romney shirt??? Jason has done a tremendous job posting videos over the last few days. To help facilitate this venture we give you (with a generous hat tip to Patrick Ruffini's 2008 wall) the Mitt Romney Iowa Video Wall:
Monday, June 18, 2007
Strengthening FamiliesThere will be more video up tomorow! Personal AttacksRomney is asked by blogger Jeff Fuller of Iowans for Romney and travel buddy extrodinaire his opinion on his rivals making personal attacks. One of his best answers the whole weekend in my opinion. Importance of Vietnam VeteransAfterwards I found this man and he said he was very satisfied with Romney's answer. More on VeteransSecond part to the previous question on Vietnam Veterans. NAFTACuba and CastroOccupying IraqGun Control...in the case of Mitt v. Facts. Jonathan Martin reports that the McCain camp will not be launching the attack website.
Why the change in direction? Perhaps it would have violated McCain-Feingold. We all know how McCain is principled on these types of things. Labels: John McCain, Jonathan Martin, Politico Marc Ambinder over at the Atlantic has a small preview of what will be an important decision from the Supreme Court in Wisconsin Right to Life v. The Federal Election Commission. The case challenges McCain-Feingold's restrictions on speech. Wisconsin Right to Life was represented by one James Bopp. Most of us Romney followers know him from his advising role to Governor Romney, but in the conservative movement he is most prominently known for his role in arguing conservative causes before the Supreme Court.
Obviously this decision will have political implications (that Ambinder lays out nicely). At the basic level, a win for WRTL would be a win for Romney. A win for the FEC would be a win for McCain and possibly Thompson, who was also a big part of passing McCain-Feingold. However, if the FEC wins this case, I can't see that McCain will suddenly have a boost in popularity. Conservatives are decidedly against McCain-Feingold and upholding the constitutionality of the law would not suddenly sway conservative votes. The decision is supposed to be out today and I will have my take as soon as I can read it. Labels: james bopp, John McCain, mccain-feingold, Supreme Court  At every event little cards where passed out to everyone in attendance. When they fill out the cards they are committing to a candidate. I took a picture of the stack of returned cards at one event. There were about 120 people at this event, and this is the stack they received. Just because you are at the Romney event did not mean you supported Romney. At this event I sat at a table of 8. There were 2 democrats who were there just to learn (a very nice elderly couple), a young man named "Tim" with a video camera who I am not sure who he was supporting- and the rest were supporters. Many of the people I talked were there just to meet Mitt and get a look. The campaign was excited to see so many cards. Every where I went I met people who were very dissatisfied with those who were dropping out of Ames. Many took it very personally for their home state; perhaps realizing that McCain and Giuliani had completely disregarded the state GOP and in effect the Iowa Caucuses. To quote Tancredo, "THEY WERE GOING TO LOOSE!!!" Sheep JokeWhile at a BBQ in Ames Romney Told a funny sheep joke. He really has a great self deprecating sense of humor. Honestly I am not a good camera man, so he looks more like a shadow here, but you get the picture- no pun intended. Primary SeasonRomney takes a question on the long primary season. It's a good answer. This was in Cedar Rapids, at an event with about 400, by far the largest. Interestingly, most events were around 100 people with fairly good access. After this event Romney stood in a line outside and shook everyones hand that left. Unfortunately I was stuck in the back of a long narrow room without a tripod which meant close ups where shaky and wide shots left me with bright lights in my face. Energy IndependenceRomney takes a question on Energy independence in Cedar Rapids. Here is a response from Mitt at an "Ask Mitt Anything" Townhall meeting, and a great video showing Ann Romney's humorous side.
Debutt in DubuqueAnn Romney fell down at a morning time "Ask Mitt Anything" meeting in Dubuque, Iowa on Saturday. The stand that Mrs. Romney was on had not been set up properly and gave out when she stepped on it causing her to fall to the ground. Ann immediately got up and started telling jokes about having been previously bucked off a horse that week. Off course none of this stopped CNN.com from posting a dirty article that at first said she had misjudged the step and that she suffered from MS. Later they noted the stage gave out, but still reminded us of her MS with a not so flattering photo. Biased??? You be the judge. This video is of her making a joke about it to Mitt and then walking out to the car afterwards. Politician or Statesman?An audience member asked what the difference is between a politician and a statesmen and which is Romney. Romney gave an excellent reply. Sunday, June 17, 2007
Tonight and tommorow I am going to start uploading some of the videos and Pictures from Iowa. I had a great time. Needless to say, the Iowa Campaign is strong, and within a couple of events it was very obvious to me why McCain and Giuliani chose the route of retreat.
Some quick impressions and then I will provide a narrative with videos and pics over several posts during the next day or so: 1. Ann Romney is an amazing person. I had the chance to talk with her a few times over the weekend. Undoubtedly, a spectacular lady and truly a first class human being. I am positive that Mitt would not be the candidate and person he is without the influence of her- and I think with this new home movie they have released we can all see why. 2. Mitt Romney is the energizer bunny. Me and Jeff Fuller were worn out by the weekend. We followed him everywhere we possibly could for 3 days, and were dead. Mitt was the one who had to perform. And he never seemed out of sync or without the right answer. It's amazing to consider the schedule he, or for that manner any of the candidates, have to keep up. 3. People walk out of meeting with Mitt on Fire. The governor knows how to campaign. Everywhere we went everyone was impressed. I don't think I met anyone who walked away unimpressed except for one guy who kept muttering, "What a liar"- I think for him it was an impossible task. I guess that and another guy named "Tim." Hi Tim!!! 4. Jeff Fuller is an Iowanian Icon. Something of a legend if you will. 5. Iowa was an amazing place, and it was a fantastic way to spend a Fathers Day Weekend. Here is a long but worthwhile video showing Mitt in his element at home at Christmas in 2006
Labels: video Last night I had the opportunity to share a baseball game with Tagg Romney and a bunch of other fundraisers. Wanna be part of the event? Email me here. Wanna donate? Every dollar counts: click here What did Tom Tancredo say about why Rudy and McCain dropped out of the Ames Straw Poll.
See it here. Delivered very effectively and humorously. Some real "Straight Talk." I move that we make Tom Tancredo official spokesman for the Romney campaign (in light of this comment too). Can I get a second on that motion? |
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