ROMNEY: LOOKIN' GOOD

ON ROMNEY "DOING IT THE RIGHT WAY:"

Your Mittiot just got back to his computer after a weekend of hunting wood chickens (grouse, for you non-hunting types) and closing the family shack down for the long Spartan state winter. As the primary gets close here in Mitt-chigan, your Mittiot is getting more and more antsy. When I picked up my pop to head North, I felt "good" about our campaign and the effort being put forth by - most importantly - our man Mitt, but when I got the chance today to get caught up regarding the weekend's headlines: YOUR HAPPY MITTIOT FEELS GREAT!

It started with this little gem:

Keene: Romney in Best Position for GOP Nomination NEWSMAX By: Ronald Kessler Monday, October 29, 2007 10:35 AM http://www.newsmax.com//kessler/Keene_on_Romney_Giuliani/2007/10/29/44799.html Mitt Romney is in the best position to win the Republican nomination, Dave Keene, chairman of the American Conservative Union, tells Newsmax.

While Rudy Giuliani leads in the polls, Keene says most people have not begun to focus on the election. Once they do, they will recognize how liberal Giuliani is on some social issues like abortion and gay rights, and Republicans overall will tilt against him. Then Romney’s strategy of focusing on key states like Iowa and New Hampshire could propel him to the nomination, Keene says.

“Romney’s doing it the right way, in my view,” Keene says over lunch at the Palm. “My view’s colored by history, and these other guys seem to be betting that history doesn’t matter, and I’m not sure that’s true. If you win the first contest, and they’re close enough to the second contest, you get an enormous boost. And the idea that the onrush of big primaries makes those early contests unimportant may be 180 degrees wrong.”

[Full Article Here]

Had a sprinkle of this (after reading the 140th email - it would be nice if everything stopped when you went on vacay. . .):

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: GOVERNOR ROMNEY ON CNBC'S "MAD MONEY"

Governor Mitt RomneyCNBC's "Mad Money"October 26, 2007

Governor Romney On The Democrats' Massive Tax Increase Proposals:

CNBC's Jim Cramer: "One of the things that you have been noted for, you've been a great tax cutter, which has worked. Are there situations where you could see it on some vice, perhaps, or it's some way to be able to help the energy situation, that you would actually favor a tax or a higher tax than we currently have?" Governor Romney: "You know, when you open that door, you end up saying, 'Katie, bar the door.' The Democrats, like Hillary Clinton, want to put in place a new Social Security tax, they want higher income taxes, higher taxes on capital gains, dividends and interest. Charlie Rangel just came out this week saying he wants to put a surcharge on taxes, largest increase in the history of America. Look, more taxes are what the Democrats have in mind to fund many of Hillary Clinton's million good ideas. We can't afford that. It would slow down the economy. It would kill job creation in this country. The right answer is always to keep taxes down. Don't add new taxes, but instead allow the American people and the entrepreneurial spirit to grow our economy. That's the best way to get revenues for government and the best ways to get good jobs for our people." To watch Governor Romney, please see: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_0p6T2ui4A

Governor Romney: "We're Tired Of All The Talk, We Want To Get Somebody Who Can Get The Job Done":

Cramer: "You're running as a business president. I've seen something – I do this college tour, and I've seen something that's pretty amazing about it. The people in their 20s and their 30s in this country, now revere business, respect what business people do, and I think are inclined to want to talk openly about making money and I think would embrace a candidate like you because you've made a lot of money. Are you seeing the same thing on your campaign trail?" Governor Romney: "You know, I do think people want to have individuals who are not lifelong politicians, but folks that know how to solve tough problems. And you know, if you've been in the consulting world or the investment world, you learn how to look at a tough situation, get people to come together, analyze it, take it apart, figure out the right direction. And frankly, our country needs to have some smart people with private sector experience, business experience, to look at the problems we have here and around the world and solve them, to get the job done. We're tired of all the talk, we want to get somebody who can get the job done." To watch Governor Romney, please see: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJsYBgCCqCI

Cramer On Being Interviewed By Governor Romney:

Cramer: "And then there was the second man, the man I'm about to bring on, who perhaps more than any recruiter I ever met influenced me toward a new career. That man's name is Mitt Romney. He was working at Bain at the time, the top consulting company in the country. And he sat down with me, not that he would ever remember, and grilled me about what I could bring to the Bain party. He quizzed me about going around the globe fixing companies worldwide and about how I could assess companies on returns, on equity returns on investments, present value of the earnings stream, how earnings could be augmented. Synergy. I listened as he asked in his intense, eye-piercing way, rattling off questions like a Gatling gun, asked me perhaps the most difficult inquiries I've ever been grilled about. At the end of the meeting, I'd made up my mind. The guy was just too darn smart and demanding, too way ahead of me, too rigorous a businessman for Cramer! I was, in a word, intimidated!

"I'm trying to think about another time in my life that I've ever had that experience. Anyway, he made my mind up. I was going, not to Bain, but to Goldman. That's why I had no problem when I was on Chris Matthews’ show recently and called him perhaps the best businessman in the country. It was personal experience. Now, the quote's been enshrined in the businessman's ads, caused me some grief, and I must add amusement, because I didn't mean it as an endorsement for anyone for president. I just meant to tell the truth about his rigor, acumen and ability." To watch Governor Romney, please see: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B5JZCvLGQMc

And finished with this:

Election 2008:

New Hampshire Republican Primary New Hampshire: Romney 28% Giuliani 19% McCain 16% RASMUSSEN REPORTS Friday, October 26, 2007 [SEE POLL HERE]

Mitt Romney has re-asserted his lead in the New Hampshire Republican Presidential Primary. The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey shows that Romney holds a nine-point advantage over Rudy Giuliani in the Granite State. That’s up from a three-point lead in September. .

Romney is also ahead in Iowa where Fred Thompson and Mike Huckabee are in a virtual tie for second. In Iowa, six-out—ten voters said they might change their mind before the caucus and vote for someone else. The current New Hampshire poll finds that roughly half of the potential voters for this first-in-the-nation primary are open to changing their mind. Giuliani is viewed favorably by 77% of Likely Primary voters, Romney by 75%. Positive reviews for McCain come from 69% while only 51% say the same about Thompson. Forty-five percent (45%) have a positive impression of Huckabee who remains an unknown to 19% of the state’s voters. Thompson has accomplished something once thought impossible—he now has higher negative ratings among Republican Primary Voters than McCain. Thirty-eight percent (38%) of those likely to vote in New Hampshire’s primary have an unfavorable opinion of the former Tennessee Senator.

WHAT A WEEKEND!

~so sayeth the Mittiot