Great stuff.

Mitt Romney’s Oval Office aspirations have not been swept away like discarded convention confetti, a new poll shows.

If John McCain fails to win the presidency Nov. 4, Romney is considered the most likely front-runner for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination.

A National Journal poll of GOP political insiders places the former Bay State governor miles ahead of the pack with 55 percent of the vote.

Rising GOP superstar Sarah Palin, who beat out Romney to be McCain’s running mate, trails the entire field with 3 percent of the vote. But Republicans are just getting to know this fiery, 44-year-old mother of five. Link

Eric Fehrnstrom point out though...

the poll is moot - because McCain will be victorious.

“Governor Romney is working hard to elect John McCain and Sarah Palin, and that is his only objective right now,” Fehrnstrom said.

In the presidential primary this year, there was only a single NY Assemblyman that had the guts to support Mitt Romney when the rest of the party was touting Rudy. That guy was Assemblyman Greg Ball. When the the establishment abandoned Rudy to back John McCain, Greg Ball stood firm in the Romney camp.

Now Greg Ball is in the middle of one of the ugliest primary battles I've ever seen. And one of the craziest, too. Because the guy who's challenging him for the Republican ballot line, is also the Democrat candidate! The Albany insiders are really that serious about trying to take Greg out, because he famously stood up to Assembly boss Sheldon Silver and said "This is the most dysfunctional Legislature in the United States of America."

Greg's backed Mitt along with the rest of us. He's even using a familiar slogan "Bold. New. Leadership." for his re-election campaign.

Now I'm asking that we Romney supporters help Greg out. He needs to win in next Tuesday's primary, and then fair or not, he's got to be that same Democrat again in November.

Here's a link to his campaign website

And if you want to show your appreciation for Greg Ball's unwavering support of Mitt by helping fund his campaign, here's a link for donations.

For archiving purposes:

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John McCain is already winning over voters who are most concerned about terrorism. He’s gotten social conservatives excited by picking Palin, and aiming to pick up some blue-collar, working class votes with her “conservative populism”. He’s going to try and make a large dent in the demographic of women. Now, there’s one key demographic he’s still got to shore up and he might just win this thing: fiscal conservatives.

Fighting pork and wasteful spending is nice and all, but Obama’s attack ads about McCain not offering a middle-class tax break have some ring of truth to them. That’s why I’m proposing McCain get together with Mitt Romney to announce some bold economic proposals lifted straight out of the Romney playbook (after all, Romney’s fiscal and economic prowess and his detailed economic plans are what drew me to him in the first place). Ideas such as:

• Eliminate federal taxes on all types of savings — interest, capital gains, dividends, etc.
• Eliminate the payroll tax for anyone over age 65
• Reduce all the income tax brackets, including lowering the lowest one from 10% to 7.5%
• Federal tort reform
• Completely eliminate the estate tax

Automatically, you get investors and seniors and anyone with a savings account more excited about your campaign, and by stressing the lowest tax bracket drop you highlight your commitment to lower and middle class workers. Throwing in some support for a balanced budget amendment would be icing on the cake.

I’m hoping McCain will lay out some ideas like these during his speech tonight, when tens of millions of Americans will be watching.

Hat tip to Myclob for this transcript which he sent in an e-mail yesterday.

Mitt Romney’s Speech Wednesday night to the 2008 GOP Natl Convention

FORMER MASSACHUSETTS GOVERNOR MITT ROMNEY:

For decades, the Washington sun has been rising in the east -Washington has been looking to the eastern elites, to the editorial pages of the Times and the Post, and to the broadcasters from the coast.

If America really wants change, it’s time to look for the sun in the west, cause it’s about to rise and shine from Arizona and Alaska!

Last week, the Democrats talked about change. But let me ask you — what do you think Washington is right now, liberal or conservative? Is a Supreme Court liberal or conservative that awards Guantanamo
terrorists with constitution rights? It’s liberal! Is a government liberal or conservative that puts the interests of the teachers union ahead of the needs of our children? — It’s liberal!

Is a Congress liberal or conservative that stops nuclear power plants and off-shore drilling, making us more and more dependent on Middle East tyrants? — It’s liberal!

Is government spending - excluding inflation - liberal or conservative if it doubles since 1980? — It’s liberal!

We need change all right - change from a liberal Washington to a conservative Washington! We have a prescription for every American who wants change in Washington — throw out the big government liberals and elect John McCain!

It’s the same prescription for a stronger economy. I spent 25 years in the private sector. I’ve done business in many foreign countries. I know why jobs come and why they go away. And I know that liberals don’t have a clue.

They think we have the biggest and strongest economy in the world because of our government. They’re wrong. America is strong because of the ingenuity and entrepreneurship and hard work of the American people.

The American people have always been the source of our nation’s strength and they always will be!

We strengthen our people and our economy when we preserve and promote opportunity. Opportunity is what lets hope become reality.

Opportunity expands when there is excellence and choice in education, when taxes are lowered, when every citizen has affordable, portable health insurance, and when constitutional freedoms are preserved.

Opportunity rises when children are raised in homes and schools that are free from pornography, promiscuity and drugs; in homes that are blessed with family values and the presence of a father and a mother.

America cannot long lead the family of nations if we fail the family here at home!

Liberals would replace opportunity with dependency on government largesse. They grow government and raise taxes to put more people on Medicaid, to take work requirements out of welfare, and to grow the
ranks of those who pay no taxes at all. Dependency is death to initiative, risk-taking and opportunity.

It is time to stop the spread of government dependency to fight it like the poison it is!

It’s time for the party of big ideas, not the party of Big Brother!

Our economy is under attack. China is acting like Adam Smith on steroids, buying oil from the world’s worst, and selling nuclear technology. Russia and the oil states are siphoning more than 500
billion dollars a year from us in what could become the greatest transfer of economic wealth in history. This is no time for timid, liberal empty gestures.

Our economy has slowed down this year and a lot of people are hurting. What happened? Mortgage money was handed out like candy, speculators bought homes for free - when this mortgage mania finally broke, it slammed the economy. And stratospheric gas prices made things even
worse.

Democrats want to use the slowdown as an excuse to do what their special interests are always begging for: higher taxes, bigger government and less trade with other nations.

It’s the same path Europe took a few decades ago. It leads to moribund
growth and double-digit unemployment.

The right course is the one championed by Ronald Reagan 30 years ago, and by John McCain today. It is to rein in government spending and to lower taxes, for taking a weed-whacker to excessive regulation and mandates, for putting a stop to tort windfalls, and to stand up to the Tyrannosaurus appetite of government unions!

It is to pursue every source of energy security, from new efficiencies to renewables, from clean coal to non-CO2 producing nuclear, and the immediate drilling for more oil off of our shores! And I have one more recommendation for energy conservation — let’s keep Al Gore’s private jet on the ground!

Did you hear any Democrats talk last week about the threat from radical, violent Jihad? Republicans believe that there is good and evil in the world. Ronald Reagan called-out the Evil Empire. George Bush labeled the terror-sponsor states the Axis of Evil.

And at Saddleback, after Barak Obama dodged and ducked every direct question, John McCain hit the nail on the head: radical violent Islam is evil, and he will defeat it! Republicans prefer straight talk to politically correct talk!

Republicans, led by John McCain and Sarah Palin, will fight to preserve the values that have preserved the nation. We will strengthen our economy and keep us from being held hostage by Putin, Chavez and
Ahmadinejad.

And we will never allow America to retreat in the face of evil extremism!

Just like you, there has never been a day when I was not proud to be an American. We inherited the greatest nation in the history of the earth.

It is our burden and privilege to preserve it, to renew its spirit so that its noble past is prologue to its glorious future.

To this we are all dedicated and I firmly believe, by the providence of the Almighty, that we will succeed.

President McCain and Vice President Palin will keep America as it has always been — the hope of the world.

~Nate Gunderson

The media has been driving me absolutely crazy these last two weeks. The manner in which they have unabashedly attacked Sarah Palin and her family is deplorable, and their blatant bias is intolerable. I was discussing the media coverage of the two conventions with one of my brothers yesterday and he was remarking about the vast differences of the coverage by CNN of the two events. I watched the PBS coverage of the speeches last night and it made me absolutely sick. Whatever happened to fair and balanced? They had a series of liberal journalists the proceeded to rip apart Romney after his speech, but there was absolutely no counter argument.

Sorry for the rant. Just had to get that out of my system.

I Tivoed the speeches last night, but since I got home so late I was only able to watch Romney and Palin, and I thought their speeches were fantastic. I couldn’t be more pleased. I did delve a few minutes into Huckabee’s as well, which wasn’t that bad. I noticed he couldn’t resist doing the most subtle jab at Romney by once again pointing out that McCain was his second pick. Not bad though, in light of his numerous recent underhand jabs.

I’ve been amused by the coverage of Romney’s speech this morning. The writers are making the appearance of being unbiased, but can’t help inserting their true feelings somewhere along the way.

Romney Snarls and Takes Swipe at poor defenseless Michelle Obama in No sore loser, Mitt Romney delivers for John McCain from the Boston Herald.

The Boston Globe has the quote of the day (from Romney):

“Is a Supreme Court decision liberal or conservative that awards Guantanamo terrorists with constitutional rights? It’s liberal!” he said, as the crowd joined him in response. “Is a government liberal or conservative that puts the interests of the teachers union ahead of our children? It’s liberal! Is a Congress liberal or conservative that stops nuclear power plants and offshore drilling making us more and more dependent on Middle Eastern tyrants? It’s liberal! . . .

“We need change all right, change from a liberal Washington to a conservative Washington!”

And the stupid quote of the day:

In at least one case, however, Romney seemed to venture too far, saying that liberals want to “grow government and raise taxes to put more people on Medicaid.” Dependency, he said, “is death to initiative, to risk-taking, and opportunity.”

The Massachusetts health reform law, which Romney took credit for helping to create and signed into law in 2006, depends on expanding the Medicaid program to extend health insurance to more people. Since it was implemented, Medicaid rolls have increased by 72,000, and 176,000 people have obtained insurance partially subsidized with Medicaid money.

How about mentioning that the money used for this project came from the money that the government was giving away to pay for those who show up in the emergency room without health insurance and still get covered?

The Boston Globe also has the picture of the day:

And finally, from the Relentless WSJ: Romney Takes Aim at Michelle Obama
One, Romney’s dig at Michelle was just one comment, not the entire focus of his speech. Two, I agree that family members of the candidate of the family should be left out, UNLESS they are actively getting on stage and campaigning for the candidate. Equally I would agree that Ann Romney and her sons were fair game because they did so as well. Michelle Obama is an open target as far as I’m concerned.

UPDATE: Obama adviser Anita Dunn accused the McCain campaign in a statement of using Romney to violate a verbal agreement that family members are off limits. “Mitt Romney’s attack on a candidate’s wife is as pathetic as his failed presidential campaign,” Dunn said.

Petty and weak Anita.

~Nate Gunderson

From The McCain Blogette

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Embedded below are the speeches for Romney, Huckabee, Giulinani, and Palin.

Romney:

Huckabee:




Giuliani:




Palin:

With rousing convention speech, Palin becomes a force in McCain candidacy

~Nate Gunderson

One of my favorite moments at the GOP Convention last night was the crowd chanting "ZERO" in reference to the executive experience that Obama and Biden have.

If honor of that clarion call I thought I'd modify the infamous Obama salute slightly:

Transcript of his speech

Some more thoughts:

• This is pure talent. There's no way around it. You can't learn that.
• Her timing is fantastic! She keeps the applause at bay and the lines moving.
• She rarely gets interrupted by the crowd mid-sentence and her mid-applause game face is perfect.
• The world was expecting a demure inexperienced girl from the Northern Exposure. Not!
• The base is turned on and fired up!
• The MSM is speechless and dumbfounded

Sarah just set the bar VERY HIGH...

... but, thankfully, the MSM and the Left have lowered it for her to clear again!

Question: How do you reset expectations for Palin after the speech of a lifetime?
Answer: Let the Obama campaign and the media do it for you!

"It was her speechwriter" they all exclaimed. OK. You go on thinking that. Those hurdles get lower and lower every time you chime in.

If your significant other is anything like mine, politics is an indulgence rather than a passion. My wife was still indignant at McCain for the West Virginia/Hucakabee stunt during the primaries against Romney.

There was a moment when Palin was retelling the "pinhole" story of McCain as a POW. My wife commented that Palin got a bit teared up but it came across so sincere and unaffected that she instantly bonded with her and was moved to respect for the hero of the story, McCain.

This morning my wife said: "I was ready to vote for Palin on the ticket but last night Palin made me want to vote for McCain as well."

Meanwhile, you go girl!

I was hoping to sum up my experience here on MyManMitt, looking for a gentle denouement to a rapid fire campaign that is coming to a close for the candidacy of Mitt Romney... but I'm not ready to close shop yet!

What an amazing speech by Governor Palin last night. The reports coming in have left the MSM stunned and speechless. I can't say enough about it... more on her speech and Mitt's soon.

Over at National Review's The Corner blog, Jonah Goldberg has a simply hilarious line:

"She was put on this earth to do two things: kill caribou and kick butt. She's all out of caribou." ( ...http://corner.nationalreview.com/...)

Another great Sarah Palin Fact! ... http://www.palinfacts.com/

UPDATE: Palin hit a homerun. She was poised, funny and presidential. Ouch Dems, how many people watched this due to the personal attacks? More to come. 

 Sarah Palin’s speech tonight could decide whether or not John McCain can prevail in this election. Yes, her selection was a gamble. We will see tonight if that gamble pays off. She can either win or lose this election for the Republicans. Let’s hope she does well, not only for the McCain ticket, but to vindicate herself in the face of an unprecedented wave of ugly and vicious attacks against her and her children. Go get ‘em Sarah Barracuda!

Dems: Prepare to reap the whirlwind!

A little appetizer for all our Rombots:

This evening former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney will address the 2008 Republican National Convention. Governor Romney will expand on the convention’s overall theme, “Country First,” and the theme for today’s program, which is “reform,” as he discusses John McCain’s ability to repair Washington’s partisan environment and restrain the unchecked growth of the federal government.

Excerpts from the governor’s remarks, as prepared for delivery, are below.

On the need to change the culture of government in Washington:

“We need change all right - change from a liberal Washington to a conservative Washington! We have a prescription for every American who wants change in Washington - throw out the big government liberals and elect John McCain.”

On why John McCain is best qualified to be our next president:

“The right course is the one championed by Ronald Reagan 30 years ago, and by John McCain today. It is to rein in government spending and lower taxes, for taking a weed-whacker to excessive regulation and mandates, for putting a stop to tort windfalls, and to stand up to the Tyrannosaurus appetite of government unions.

“And at Saddleback, after Barack Obama dodged and ducked every direct question, John McCain hit the nail on the head: radical Islam is evil, and he will defeat it! Republicans prefer straight talk to politically correct talk!”

On the dangers of big government:

“Liberals would replace opportunity with dependency on government largesse. They would grow government and raise taxes to put more people on Medicaid, to work requirements out of welfare, and to grow the ranks of those who pay no taxes at all. Dependency is death to initiative, risk-taking and opportunity. It’s time to stop the spread of government dependency to fight it like the poison it is! It’s time for the party of big ideas, not the party of Big Brother!”

On why the McCain-Palin ticket is the right choice for the future of America:

“Just like you, there has never been a day when I was not proud to be an American. We inherited the greatest nation in the history of the earth. It is our burden and privilege to preserve it, to renew its spirit so that its noble past is prologue to its glorious future. To this we are all dedicated and I firmly believe by the providence of the Almighty, that we will succeed. President McCain and Vice President Palin will keep America as it has always been - the hope of the world.”

When Sarah Palin walks onto the stage at the Republican National Convention tonight, we conservatives and the rest of the country will get a very good read on whether her selection as McCain’s VP was a stroke of genius or a grasping at straws.

Obama doesn’t seem poised to run the table at this point. So any significant bounce the ticket gets is potentially a game changer.

I can’t wait to see the crowd’s reaction to Gov. Palin. If she gets a thunderous reception and her address is well received, with numerous applause lines, it looks very good ( barring any major gaffes from either McCain or Palin ) for a Republican win in the general election.

I am also predicting a crowd explosion when Mitt walks on stage. Megan Kelly of FOX NEWS said earlier today that when Mitt walked onto the convention floor, the crowd roared it’s approval. Get the kids, brew a fresh pot of coffee and get your favorite snacks and get ready to witness history.

~~John Cronin~~

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FYI: Mitt to speak at 9:15 pm est. tonight -- Go Mitt!!

Listening to Ann Romney, you’ve never heard a woman more at peace with losing. That’s because she’s a winner.

In brief remarks delivered at a reception Tuesday night at the St. Paul hotel here, the wife of former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney talked about the couple being better people because of the many Americans they were privileged to meet along the campaign trail. But, in a first-things-first kind of way, she started by talking about her children. She described how proud they are of their father, as Mitt was proud of his father — George, who was governor of Michigan, and also ran for president, in a far-from-easy race.

Mrs. Romney, standing luminous in a white suit with her husband looking on adoringly, spoke as one having more important goals than the White House, but one delighted to have made the sacrifices that an arduous and often unfair campaign requires — because it was unquestionably the right thing to do. She emanated a self-confident pride in what Romney 2008 represented.

Ann Romney’s big-picture perspective points to the grounding that keeps men and women able to be in politics but not of politics, and to take the unjust blows without despairing. And she stands as a reminder of the crucial importance of having that foundation before ever considering putting oneself and one’s family through what can be an ordeal of a campaign.

Kathryn Jean Lopez, NRO

Romney! [Ramesh Ponnuru, NRO]

At a "Meet Mitt" event. The governor said conservatives have to stay organized to keep a President McCain on the straight and narrow.

Liberated!

• Speaker: GOPAC Chairman Michael Steele
• Speaker: Former Gov. Mitt Romney (Mass.)
• Speaker: Former Gov. Mike Huckabee (Ark.)
• Musical Performance: John Rich, Gretchen Wilson, and Cowboy Troy

I still presume it is 9:15 pm eastern time....??

Fred Thompson is on a roll. He's started a PAC, Fred PAC.

Visit it here.

I always figured we would be back, election postmortems would demand it.  As the race of journalism was replaced by the slow progress of historical writing (and as we attempted to add to it), I figured we’d have things to talk about here, but not this soon!

Old Business

Well, it did not take long for somebody to blame EVERYTHING that happened in re: Romney on religion.  In this case it is a Sprinfield, MO columnist.

We can thank the media for killing Romney’s chance at being two. With constant references to his religion, you’d think he was in the running for Assistant Head Pastor of America.

[…]

There is a double standard when it comes to religion. The media dumps on conservatives of all religious stripes, while giving liberals a free pass.

OK, having spent the last 2.5 years documenting the role religion played in Romney’s political fortunes, I would be a fool to say it was not important - particularly in the primary campaign.  I think, however, that it was not much of a factor in the Veep race.

LDS people need to be careful in how they approach this.  In the final analysis I think this is less about discrimination and more about identity.  Not so much that Romney was hated because he was LDS (save in some dark, dank, ugly corners of traditional Christianity), but that Huckabee, and now Palin, connect, on a pure identity basis, with people that just significantly outnumber the LDS.  In a different election with different players, this would have been a very different story.

It is way too early to start writing the history of this election and make final judgments about what mattered and what did not and whether “Mormons need not apply,” is a conclusion that can be drawn with sufficient evidence to support it.

As Romney supporters, all of us must exercise great care in not allowing our disappointment to override our reason when it comes to responding to the results.

Besides, the bigots still say it was “the flip-flop.”  Remember Lawrence O’Donnell? - The Big Love actor that levelled a rather bigoted diatribe Romney’s way on McLaughlin?  He was reported at the convention yesterday:

Dorchester homey Lawrence O’Donnell, who plays a Mormon attorney on HBO’s “Big Love,” said Mitt Romney’s faith wasn’t his downfall in the 2008 presidential election.

“It was much more do to with his wealth and his flip-flopping, said O’Donnell,” a former political operative for the late Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan and a writer/producer of “The West Wing.” “Being a Mormon was way down the list.

Well, of course it was from O’Donnell’s perspective; otherwise, instead of an astute commentator he would just be a bigot!

Lowell adds:  After McDonnell’s shocking on-air anti-Mormon meltdown on McLaughlin, I’m surprised anyone cares what he thinks about anything.  I don’t.  By the way, he plays a polygamist attorney on “Big Love,” not a Mormon.

Ah, but then Romney was never the victim of his religion in this cycle - it was Mike Huckabee?!

With the mounting complications over John McCain’s pick of Sarah Palin as his running mate, some conservatives have been asking why the expected Republican nominee didn’t choose former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, who won eight GOP primary and caucus contests and appeals to the same Christian social conservatives who have hailed the Palin pick. After all, Huckabee has more executive experience, was vetted by the media during the primary season, and honed his debating skills in myriad televised matchups. The answer, according to Richard Land who heads the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, is pretty simple. Huckabee is an ordained Baptist minister and, Land says, “polls show that 15 to 20 percent” of the electorate don’t think a minister should be president.

I am going to bet that Land is being taken a bit out of context there, but regardless, talk about being “way down the list.”  Which one of Huckabee’s opponents EVER brought up, even as an “innocent question” to a reporter, his former occupation?  Just wondering.

New Business

Lowell and I cannot seem to stop talking politics.  So, we were discussing the issue of the Palin daughter pregnancy yesterday and  Lowell said this little wonder:

Morally, we are about to see a mini-debate on families, pre-marital sex, sex education, abstinence, parental responsibility, sin, forgiveness, responsibility, unconditional love, and so forth.  Those are not good subjects for the political arena, and are not safe in the hands of the MSM.  Nor are they McCain’s strong suit.  It will be interesting and probably a little depressing.

And, as if on cue, as soon as I turned to my feedreader, Al Mohler had risen to precisely that point:

But the entire nation felt the awkwardness of the situation, and even part of the embarrassment.  Yes, as Steve Schmidt said, “Life happens,” but not always like this.  And Mark Salter is certainly correct in describing the situation as “an American family.”  Still, this is not the script many families would choose — especially evangelical families who had been most encouraged by Gov. Palin’s choice as Sen. McCain’s running mate.

Said Rich Lowry:

The fact is that Palin was largely a political, not a governing choice.

Which Jonathan Martin backed up with:

All that complaining over the years by Republicans about identity politics and political correctness

Yeah, never mind.

But it is probably best summed up in Hugh Hewitt’s repeated citation on his radio show of the Tee shirts he saw at the convention yesterday reading “I am Sarah Palin.”

Palin’s obvious appeal is identity based.  Her daughter’s pregnancy puts us in the unfortunate position of having to “identify” with a family that has responded in the best possible manner to a most unfortunate circumstance, but in so doing we seem to lose sight of the fact that the ideal is to avoid the circumstance altogether.  Reminding people of that is likely to bring charges of “religious zealot.”  Such debate will undoubtedly degenerate into a debate over whether Christianity is essentially about forgiveness or standards - which simply has no place in politics.

Too early to say whether this helps or hurts the McCain campaign.  But not too early to judge that this lowers the level of national debate - again - and that is sad.

And now, hopefully, we can get back to transitioning from events to history on this blog . .  . .

OK, the guy is not the nominee, he's not VP and he is refusing to even take a cabinet position (good for him!) should McCain win, but the MSM assisnation squads are still working overtime to drag him down. The latest:

Boston Globe still trying to find any window in it's use of the flip flopper label:

"Mitt Romney, responding to reporters' questions about sex education policy in the aftermath of the news that Sarah Palin's teenage daughter is pregnant, told reporters he had always thought abstinence should be part of a comprehensive sex education curriculum.

...But in 2006, as then-Governor Romney prepared to enter the Republican presidential primary, he announced with great fanfare that he would redirect money from a federal abstinence education grant -- money that had the state had been using to promote abstinence within comprehensive sex education programs and in PSA's -- into school programs that taught abstinence alone.

What's really amazing about this is that Boston.com leaves Eric Fehnstrom's clarifying quote for an update, happy to let an untrue article stand:


Eric Fehrnstrom says Romney's position on sex education has never changed and that all of the schools in Massachusetts with abstinence-only programs, he said, also had comprehensive sex ed programs.

Shoot first, ask questions later, eh?

He is scheduled to speak at around 9:15 EDT tonight, and plans to outline differences between the visions of John McCain and Barack Obama.

Boston Globe

More:

Romney spoke today to the Michigan and Minnesota delegations, is also meeting with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, and will be making the rounds of several cable news shows this afternoon before making final preparations for his speech.

Former governors Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee are slated to speak at the Republican National Convention Wednesday evening according to sources. McCain's two former rivals will address attendees at 9:00 p.m., ET.

CNN

   
The folks at Fox News report that Governor Romney received "a rock star welcome" when he entered the arena of the GOP Convention! We all still love you Governor and we can't wait to hear you speak tonight!!

Speaking to Mass. delegation
click here to watch

Romney addresses Mass. delegation

The exact time will be available soon.

Stay tuned...

311polo

Mitt speaking to the Massachusetts delegation:

“I want to underscore one other thing,” Romney said. “And that is that when you lose and election, lose the nomination, if you think the election is just about the person — one person — then of course you have sour grapes; you don’t get involved with the new person. But if you believe, as I do, that the election is about a series of beliefs and values you think are important — for your for your constituency, for your state, and for your nation — then when one person loses and the other person wins, who shares those values and those views, then you jump on that team and work just as hard as you did the first time.”

Mitt Romney's schedule at the Republican National Convention this week is packed with speeches and appearances, including a nightly reception dubbed "Mitt's Meet & Mingle in Minnesota" at the M Street Cafe. But whether he would have a prime-time speaking slot remained uncertain tonight.

Romney, a strong contender in the Republican primary, had originally been given a high-profile speaking slot Wednesday night. After Alaska Governor Sarah Palin was chosen to be McCain's running mate, he was bumped to tonight. Then because Hurricane Gustav forced the GOP to shorten its program Monday night, he was removed from tonight's line-up.

Eric Fehrnstrom, a spokesman for Romney, said the governor ran through his speech on the convention floor this afternoon, but that he was still waiting to hear exactly when he might speak. Romney, he said, was not at all concerned about the uncertainty.

"We'll do whatever they ask us to do," he said.

One comment to this story from a reader:

If Romney gets snubbed by the McCain campaign, I may just consider staying home on November 4.

Boston Globe
photo: AP

Stay tuned: Wednesday schedule

Now that’s power

The two storms influencing the RNC

MSNBC

(more…)

Hadn't seen these clowns in a while.

Looks like McCain just energized the gun-totin' religious right.

>> Update: Mitt is not listed to appear tonight. Newly released schedule here

Is Mitt speaking tonight???

Romney, left, listens as stage manager Howard Kolins explains the podium arrangement in preparation for his appearance at the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minn., later on Tuesday, Sept. 2, 2008. (photo: AP)

RNC Tuesday schedule

photo: AP

Le plus célèbre journaliste Américain se prononce en faveur de Mitt Romney et de Rudy Giuliani pour des postes dans une possible administration McCain, en expliquant que sans eux, le désigné Républicain risque de ne pas l'emporter en novembre.

Au cours des derniers jours et depuis que l'on connait le choix de McCain pour la Vice-présidence, les soutiens pour Mitt Romney commencent dors et déjà à s'organiser. Certes le choix était bon, mais pour beaucoup, le risque de défaite Républicaine sans Romney sur le ticket augmente beaucoup. A voir. Ce qui est sur, c'est que nombre de réseaux s'organisent pour être prêts à lancer la campagne pour une candidature de Mitt Romney en 2012 si le duo McCain/Palin venait à s'effondrer. Tout cela n'empêchant en rien ces Républicains de soutenir activement l'actuel désigné du GOP, afin de voir la défaite de Barack Obama en Novembre.

Pierre

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Bill O’Reilly is beating the drums for Mitt Romney and Gen. Petreus among others for high profile jobs within a McCain administration, to offset the perceived inexperience of Gov. Sarah Palin.

I am paraphrasing what they said, something to the effect that because of the high level of success and respect that they have achieved, they would lend their status as Party heavy weights to the McCain/Palin ticket.

To switch gears a bit. Kathy has asked to add her perspective on the McCain Rally in Missouri Sunday.

Kathy was on the opposite side of the stadium from me and she got the best view of the work the Secret Service did both before and after the Straight Talk Express pulled into the stadium. She is at a pool party and I assume she’ll be late. ( at the home of my Uncle Joe, who is not known for cutting Cronin get togethers short ) I told Kathy, my son Pat and his girl friend Jamie, to go without me. After being in the heat and the sun for 8 hours yesterday, the last thing I wanted to do was sit around the pool today and soak up some more rays. So hopefully we can get the details of the rally from both of our views tomorrow.

In the meantime, one thing is clear. St. Louis, a predominately Catholic town, LOVES MITT ROMNEY! I was in the VIP section right behind the Governor and to his left and I can assure you he rocked the house when he got off the bus and so did Sarah Palin.

Huckabee? Not so much. Polite, but underwhelming.

~~John Cronin~~

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...literally. From the PolitickerMA:

A lot of people talked about Mitt Romney filling out the Republican ticket this year, but, according to a former campaign adviser, Romney was actually betting against himself.

Ron Kaufman, a close friend of Romney's who worked on his aborted presidential campaign, said there was a bet between the two of them over Romney's chances of getting tapped as John McCain's vice presidential nominee.

Kaufman bet the former governor would be on the ticket. Romney said he wouldn't make it.

With Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska prepared to accept the nomination here this week, Kaufman said he is donating his stake to two charity events Romney is attending during the Republican National Convention.

The beneficiaries of the wager will be U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) and Erik Paulsen, who is running in Minnesota's 3rd Congressional District.

From Kathryn Jean Lopez, NRO:

If the McCain campaign had been adult about it, they would have made Mitt Romney the vice-presidential nominee. He made a lot of sense as McCain’s Number Two. He wins the experience debate, having much more than Joe Biden — he’s been an executive in the corporate world and in the political world, and he cleaned, fixed, and ran the Olympics in Salt Lake. He would have helped electorally, particularly in Michigan. And he would have handled some blind spots for the McCain administration, most especially on the economy. Despite some campaigns against him, he’d have reassured many on the Right who saw him as a full-spectrum conservative, as National Review did.

Yep.

A great column by Gerard Baker (of The Times of London), contrasting Sarah Palin's achievments to Barack Obama's.


[-------""Sarah Palin vs. Barack Obama
By Gerard Baker
Democrats, between sniggers of derision and snorts of disgust, contend that Sarah Palin, John McCain's vice-presidential pick is ridiculously unqualified to be president.

It's a reasonable objection on its face except for this small objection: it surely needs to be weighed against the Democrats' claim that their own candidate for president is self-evidently ready to assume the role of most powerful person on the planet.

At first blush, here's what we know about the relative experience of the two candidates. Both are in their mid-forties and have held statewide elective office for less than four years. Both have admitted to taking illegal drugs in their youth.


So much for the similarities. How about the differences?

Political experience

Obama: Worked his way to the top by cultivating, pandering to and stroking the most powerful interest groups in the all-pervasive Chicago political machine, ensuring his views were aligned with the power brokers there.

Palin: Worked her way to the top by challenging, attacking and actively undermining the Republican party establishment in her native Alaska. She ran against incumbent Republicans as a candidate willing and able to clean the Augean Stables of her state's government.

Political Biography

Obama: A classic, if unusually talented, greasy-pole climber. Held a succession of jobs that constitute the standard route to the top in his party's internal politics: "community organizer", law professor, state senator.

Palin:A woman with a wide range of interests in a well-variegated life. Held a succession of jobs - sports journalist, commercial fisherwoman, state oil and gas commissioner, before entering local politics. A resume that suggests something other than burning political ambition from the cradle but rather the sort of experience that enables her to understand the concerns of most Americans..


Political history

Obama: Elected to statewide office only after a disastrous first run for a congressional seat and after his Republican opponent was exposed in a sexual scandal. Won seat eventually in contest against a candidate who didn't even live in the state.


Palin: Elected to statewide office by challenging a long-serving Republican incumbent governor despite intense opposition from the party.


Appeal


Obama: A very attractive speaker whose celebrity has been compared to that of Britney Spears and who sends thrills up Chris Matthews' leg

Palin: A very attractive woman, much better-looking than Britney Spears who speaks rather well too. She sends thrills up the leg of Rush Limbaugh (and me).


Executive experience

Obama: Makes executive decisions every day that affect the lives of his campaign staff and a vast crowd of traveling journalists

Palin:Makes executive decisions every day that affect the lives of 500,000 people in her state, and that impact crucial issues of national economic interest such as the supply and cost of energy to the United States.

Religious influences

Obama: Regards people who "cling" to religion and guns as "bitter" . Spent 20 years being mentored and led spiritually by a man who proclaimed "God damn America" from his pulpit. Mysteriously, this mentor completely disappeared from public sight about four months ago.

Palin: Head of her high school Fellowship of Christian Athletes and for many years a member of the Assemblies of God congregation whose preachers have never been known to accuse the United States of deliberately spreading the AIDS virus. They remain in full public sight and can be seen every Sunday in churches across Alaska. A proud gun owner who has been known to cling only to the carcasses of dead caribou felled by her own aim.


Record of bipartisan achievement

Obama: Speaks movingly of the bipartisanship needed to end the destructive politics of "Red America" and "Blue America", but votes in the Senate as a down-the-line Democrat, with one of the most liberal voting records in congress.


Palin: Ridiculed by liberals such as John Kerry as a crazed, barely human, Dick Cheney-type conservative but worked wit Democrats in the state legislature to secure landmark anti-corruption legislation.

Former state Rep. Ethan Berkowitz - a Democrat - said. "Gov. Palin has made her name fighting corruption within her own party, and I was honored when she stepped across party lines and asked me to co-author her ethics white paper."


On Human Life

Obama: Devoutly pro-choice. Voted against a bill in the Illinois state senate that would have required doctors to save the lives of babies who survived abortion procedures. The implication of this position is that babies born prematurely during abortions would be left alone, unnourished and unmedicated, until they died.

Palin: Devoutly pro-life. Exercised the choice proclaimed by liberals to bring to full term a baby that had been diagnosed in utero with Down Syndrome.

Now it's true there are other crucial differences. Sen Obama has appeared on Meet The Press every other week for the last four years. He has been the subject of hundreds of adoring articles in papers and newsweeklies and TV shows and has written two Emmy-award winning books.

Gov Palin has never appeared on Meet the Press, never been on the cover of Newsweek. She presumably feels that, as a mother of five children married to a snowmobile champion, who also happens to be the first woman and the youngest person ever to be elected governor of her state, she has not really done enough yet to merit an autobiography.

Then again, I'm willing to bet that if she had authored The Grapes of Wrath, sung like Edith Piaf and composed La Traviata , she still wouldn't have won an Emmy.

Fortunately, it will be up to the American people and not their self-appointed leaders in Hollywood and New York to determine who really has the better experience to be president.""------]

THE LINKS IS AFTER THE JUMP:

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2008/09/sarah_palin_vs_barack_obama.html

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2008/09/sarah_palin_vs_barack_obama.html

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2008/09/sarah_palin_vs_barack_obama.html

Some of his speech...

Doug Gross, who was chairman of Romney's presidential campaign in Iowa, said he would be shocked if Romney were not named to a Cabinet position in a McCain presidency.

He's clearly a guy who has got all the executive tools to solve some of the problems our country faces. I very much expect that, Gross was quoted as saying.

Despite not being the GOP vice presidential nominee, Romney will continue to be a pretty powerful force in the Republican Party nationally, said former Massachusetts Gov. Paul Cellucci.

Ron Kaufman, a member of the Republican National Committee from Massachusetts and Romney senior adviser, said he was disappointed Romney was not McCain's pick.

I'm a huge fan of Mitt Romney, and I think he's a tremendously talented person, and would bring lots to the table in ways that are different than the governor of Alaska, Kaufman said.

source
Photo: Reuters

Photo: AP

Despite being passed over for the place on the GOP ticket, both Romney and Huckabee played the part of good foot soldiers as McCain continued his weekend of introducing Palin to the rest of the country.

Romney, the former governor of Massachusetts, also fell comfortably into his assigned role of attacking Democratic opponent Barack Obama — with a smile, nonetheless.

“You want to make sure that the people of America understand that when it comes to strengthening our economy, we’re not in favor of raising taxes and cutting off trade and drawing a line and saying no nuclear, no coal and no more drilling,” Romney said to the roar of the crowd waving McCain-Palin signs.

All of the animosity between the trio (Romney, Huck, McCain) seemed to melt away in the sweltering sun. Huckabee, known for his mean and snarky comments about Romney during the primary, introduced Romney as “my colleague and my friend.” And although Romney relentlessly attacked McCain during the primaries, he had nothing but praise for the unofficial Republican nominee.

Romney even pulled out one of his hokey stories as he welcomed McCain to the podium. “I just got back from the Olympics over in Beijing,” Romney said. “Some people around the stadium were noticing me and taking my picture…(My wife) pointed behind me, that was Kobe Bryant sitting behind us.”

Romney continued: “I feel the same way, you don’t want to listen to me, let’s listen to the next president and the next vice president of the United States, John McCain and Sarah Palin!”

McCain had kind words for both of them, assuring the crowd that Romney, who was among the finalists for the VP spot, would have a prominent place in his leadership team. “I will need him by my side in January,” McCain said.

As for the Huckster, it wasn’t as clear. “And Mike Huckabee, what can I say?” McCain said...

WSJ: Wash Wire
Photo: AP

To view the following movie you need to have Real Player installed. I don’t think it’s worth installing just for this video, but if you already it click the link below to view the full 42 min C-Span coverage of the rally held yesterday in Missouri.

Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) Campaigns in O’Fallon, MO (August 31, 2008)

Huckabee begins at 8:30 (minutes into the video),
then Romney at 12:00,
McCain at 15:00,
Palin at 26:30

Below is the only clip on YouTube I could find of Romney’s portion. The clip is only 1 minute though he spoke for 3.

~Nate Gunderson

Well, the first polls are out since Senator McCain took my months old advice and selected Sarah Palin and the results are staggering. We all know that the Palin pick has changed the race and the numbers now support that assertion. According to the latest Zogby and CNN polls, Sarah Palin alone has wiped out Obama’s convention bounce and the race is once again a virtual tie. Whereas polls conducted during the Democratic Convention showed a 5-8 point Obama lead, the latest numbers indicate that Sarah Palin has engineered an almost double-digit swing. I think even the most fervent Republican pundits couldn’t dream of such a quick return on a VP pick so soon.

Zogby: McCain/Palin: 47%  Obama/Biden 45%

CNN: Obama 49% McCain 48%

The numbers demonstrate that Sarah Palin has indeed changed the entire narrative of the race and is possibly the gravest threat the Democrats have yet seen since Reagan. If one can take her opening speech as a sign of things to come the Dems have every reason to be VERY afraid. With things now tied again it remains to be seen if the Republican Convention, such as it is, will give McCain/Palin a nice 5-7 point bounce. Stay tuned…

     In case you haven’t seen Governor Palin’s speech…be afraid Dems, be very afraid!

Some more-than-candid words from the former POTUS candidate Tom Toncredo in a recent interview:

[John] McCain had been farthest away. I remember thinking and saying to my wife, when this was all over with, I said, “Well, at least McCain is not going to make it.” And it’s just kind of strange. Because remember, he was like $25 million in debt. He was nowhere in the polls. So it really did look like he was out of it.

It was the Huckabee factor. [Former Arkansas] Governor [Mike] Huckabee decided to stay in even though he could not have won. He absolutely made a difference, and he knew it, and that difference was he was able to keep Mitt Romney out of the play by draining off conservative votes. And I think he did it to a large extent because Mitt is a Mormon. It was really to ruin Romney’s chances. So that created the pathway for Senator McCain.

Click here for the read the whole interview from NationJournal.com.

~Nate Gunderson

Lest we forget amid the Palin-mania going on, there is a Democratic candidate in this race named Barack Obama. Click here to learn a bit about his parents. (trust me on this, it’s worth at least 3.5 chuckles)

H/T: Hotair

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