THE SPARTAN STATE GOP DEBATE

ON YESTERDAY'S DEBATE:

Well, your Mittiot has seen the debate two and one half times now, and in my very bias opinion - as a Michiganian - Sheffield couldn't have knocked it out of the park any further Mitt Tuesday night.

Just between you and me, fellow Michiganians - the choice is clear - the Spartan State cannot afford to pass up a Romney Presidency. Mitt knows manufacturing, Mitt knows the auto industry, Mitt knows Michigan. I don't give a flyin' rat what you say about any other candidate - when it comes to Michigan, there's none better than Mitt Romney. PERIOD (and, yes I spelled out the punctuation).

My good friend Jason McBride (who is doing a bang up job as Michigan Campaign Director) sent me the following run down of "What They're Saying About Romney:"

The Street.com's John Fout: "Former Mass. Gov. Mitt Romney, who I think won the debate, was best prepared to answer the question. He suggested everyone had to pitch in to help the economy, including business and government. He recognized the need to fix schools, invest in technology, encourage free trade and keep taxes down. He took a shot at Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm, a Democrat, by jokingly suggesting he was 'nervous she would put a tax on the debate.'" (John Fout, "Middle Class Can't Read GOP's Lips In Debate," The Street.com, http://www.thestreet.com/markets/marketfeatures/10383621.html, Posted 10/9/07)

The New York Times' Adam Nagourney And Marc Santora: "Mr. Romney was sharpest in attacking Mr. Giuliani for efforts against the line-item veto. 'Mayor Giuliani took the line-item that the president had all the way to the Supreme Court and took it away from the president of the United States,' he said. 'I think that was a mistake.'" (Adam Nagourney and Marc Santora, "Romney and Giuliani Spar as New Guy Looks On," The New York Times, 10/10/07)

Detroit News Editorial: "All get the connection between lower taxes and higher economic growth, but only former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney brought it home to Michigan, slamming Gov. Jennifer Granholm for the recent budget-balancing tax hikes." (Editorial, "GOP debate validates state's primary decision," Detroit News, 10/10/07)

ABC's Brett Hovell And Christine Byun: "Romney delivered the line of the debate with his analysis of the actor's entry onto the stage. 'Is this our sixth debate, I think, something like that?' Romney began. 'This is a lot like "Law & Order," Senator. It has a huge cast, the series seems to go on forever, and Fred Thompson shows up at the end.'" (Brett Hovell and Christine Byun, "Romney Vs. Giuliani On Taxes," ABC News, http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/story?id=3709996&page=1, 10/9/07)

The New York Sun's Seth Gitell: "The former Massachusetts governor also scored early in the debate by bringing up the tax increase supported by Governor Granholm of Michigan, an issue of intense interest to Republicans in the Great Lake State, where Mr. Romney's father, George Romney, once served as governor." (Seth Gitell, "Giuliani, Romney Outshine Thompson In GOP Debate," The New York Sun, 10/10/07)

The National Review Jim Geraghty: "Romney: Overall, prepared and seemed sharp… ." (Jim Geraghty, "The Republican Debate In Michigan: The Wrap-up," The Campaign Spot Blog On The National Review, http://campaignspot.nationalreview.com/post/?q=ZWM3OTU2MTM3ZTEzYjI2MmUyNjQ4MDg2ODNlZWM5NjQ, Posted 10/9/07)

Detroit Free Press' Joe Guy Collier & Justin Hyde: "Michigan native and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney offered the most extensive comments on the industry's plight, saying the next president should have an open door to industry executives and boost spending on research into new energy-saving technology." (Justin Hyde And Joe Guy Collier, "Candidates Touch On Auto Industry," Detroit Free Press, 10/9/07)

Columnist Matt Towery: "Best Performances: Romney… Most 'Presidential': Romney…" (Matt Towery, "Thompson Becomes Real - Now He Has To Get Better," Insider Advantage Georgia, http://www.insideradvantagegeorgia.com/restricted/2007/October-202007/10-10-07/Instant_Analysis101019633.php, Posted 10/9/07)

The Politico's Jonathan Martin: "Romney was at his best in citing his native's state economic troubles and explaining to appreciative Michigan Republicans in the audience what he thought part of the problem was. 'Jennifer Granholm has made a big mistake by raising taxes,' Romney said of the Democratic governor Wolverine State Republicans love to hate." (Jonathan Martin, "Rudy-Romney Dust-Up Overshadows Fred Debut," Politico.com, http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1007/6276.html, Posted 10/9/07)

Time's Mark Halperin: "Mitt Romney: Frequent references to Michigan — where he grew up and where the debate w as held — were clever and well received in the hall." (Mark Halperin, "The October 9 Republican Debate," Time Website, http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/article/0,28804,

1669812_1669813_1669814,00.html, Posted 10/9/07)

Robert Bluey At Bluey Blog: "Mitt Romney had the best line during today's Republican presidential debate." (Robert Bluey, "Making Fun Of Fred," Bluey Blog, http://robertbluey.com/blog/2007/10/09/making-fun-of-fred/, Posted 10/9/07)

The Politico's Mike Allen: "The former Massachusetts governor showed backbone by saying he 'can't wait' to debate Hillary Clinton, who was the 10th albeit invisible candidate on the stage." (Mike Allen, "Head Or Gut?" Politico Playbook, 10/10/07)

Detroit News' Henry Payne: "Romney made a sharp joke at the outset about Governor Granholm's tax reflex, but for Democrats it's not funny. With a hugely unpopular- not to mention cruel - income tax on voters struggling under soaring home foreclosure and unemployment rates, Democrats have changed the subject in Michigan from war to taxes." (Henry Payne, "Thompson Loses, GOP Gains," Detroit News Blog, http://info.detnews.com/weblog/index.cfm?blogid=10730, Posted 10/9/07)

McClatchy's Steven Thomma: "In perhaps the best line of the evening, Romney likened Thompson's late entry into the debates to his often-late appearances in his TV series. 'This is a lot like Law & Order,' Romney said. 'It has a huge cast, the series seems to go on forever and Fred Thompson shows up at the end.'" (Steven Thomma, "Thompson's Debate Debut A Dud," McClatchy Newspapers, 10/10/07)

Fox News' Steve Doocy: "Former Governor Mitt Romney got the line of the day as he welcomed Fred." (FOX News' "Fox & Friends," 10/10/07)

Michigan State News' Ashley A. Smith: "One of the major candidates who seemed the most comfortable addressing Michigan's issues was Mitt Romney, said Bill Ballenger, editor and publisher of Inside Michigan Politics." (Ashley A. Smith, "GOP Comes To Mich," Michigan State News, 10/10/07)

As for the other candidates - God love 'em - it can't be easy coming into some one's own backyard and trying to out shine them. Your Mittiot gives 'em credit for trying, however.

Lastly, how 'bout that line item veto(LIV) debate? The question for Rudy is if it had been Libby Dole's current LIV proposal that went through and the president - regardless of who it was - struck out the same line item New York City "deserved" would Rudy have fought that all the way to the Supreme Court? The fact is the Supreme Court cannot act without a trigger - Giuliani was the trigger that killed the LIV.

~ so sayeth the Mittiot.

WE'LL COVER THE DEBATE TOMORROW

ON THE DEARBORN DEBATE:

"I was afraid Granholm was going to tax the debate. . ." - Mitt Romney. Priceless.

We'll hit the debate tomorrow. Your Mittiot was on the road from ol' Jack-town to Dearborn during most of it to join Mitt and Ann in Dearborn after the debate and missed everything but Mitt's opener. I'm hoping CNBC replays it late night. By the by, don't get the wrong impression, your Mittiot was with about 200 of "his closest friends" waiting to cheer Gov. & Mrs. Romney as they came to a local eatery - not just hanging out at the Ford estate sipping tea with our next president. . . At any rate, we'll do a breakdown of the debate tomorrow. If I had to sum up what I've read, heard, and pretty much know: "This is becoming a Rudy/Romney Race."

ON THE RUDY/ROMNEY RACE:

Speaking of that, did anyone out there in the Zone catch Hannity and Combs last night? I'm speaking specifically of the Dr. James Dobson interview.

"HANNITY: Let me run through this a different way, because I think if we believe the polls — and sometimes they can be wrong — but I think right as of now the candidate for the Republicans will either be Rudy Giuliani, Senator Fred Thompson, or Mitt Romney — Governor Romney. And in the case of John McCain, he's still doing fairly well in the polls. You have now said publicly you will not support Rudy, you will not support Fred Thompson, you will not support John McCain. . ."

Which leaves "Governor Romney" as the only top-tier candidate "supportable" by Focus on the Family. . . COME ON SEAN, JOIN THE ROMNEY TRAIN. Hmmmmmmm, why won't the Media, Hufficrats and Hufficans acknowledge Mitt is the guy the GOP can/must support? [Read transcript - Watch video]

ON THE DEMOCRATS PULLING OUT OF THE MICHIGAN PRIMARY:

THIS WILL NOT BE ACCEPTABLE. Chairman Anuzis, we cannot - WILL NOT - have a repeat of 2000. The result was detrimental to our state and to our party. We have, quite frankly, been ignored by Washington ever since. Saul, call the Convention - forget the Primary ASAP (which means as soon as we know Hillary will be the only top tier candidate on the ballot - oh, it looks like we know this already). See story below:

Five Democrats Withdraw From Michigan Primary Tuesday , October 09, 2007

Five Democratic presidential candidates said Tuesday they would remove their names from primary ballots in Michigan, hoping to deal a blow to those who are pushing to elevate their home state's heft in the election process by front-loading the primary calendar.

Barack Obama and John Edwards, who trail only Hillary Clinton in the polls, as well as Bill Richardson and Dennis Kucinich filed paperwork to officially withdraw from the Jan. 15 contest, and Joe Biden said he would be following suit shortly.

Clinton's campaign said Tuesday she would remain in the Michigan race as did Connecticut Sen. Chris Dodd. In the most recent national polls, Clinton is leading her closest opponent — Obama — by 20 points or more, and could be breaking the three-way dead heat in Iowa among her, Obama and Edwards.

[See Complete Story Here]

It may be too early for I told you so. . . but I'm erasing the pencil and inking in the January 29th date - I recommend you do the same. Stay tuned Mittiots.

~ so sayeth the Mittiot

ROMNEY'S UP IN SOUTH CAROLINA!

ON THE RECENT S.C. POLL:

Holy Cow! Mitt Romney is in the lead in South Carolina according to the most recent poll. [Check it out here]

Sept. 2007.. Aug. 2007.. Jul. 2007

Mitt Romney.......... 26%..... 9%..... 7%

Rudy Giuliani ..........23% .....26% .....28%

John McCain ..........15%..... 12% .....10%

Fred Thompson ........10% .....21% .....27%

Newt Gingrich

(not running) .....,......7% .....6% .....7%

Undecided ...............13% .....12% .....13%

I know, I know polls-shmolls, but trends, my friends are valuable. For instance, your Mittiot wonders if the Media will finally acknowledge that "even those Southern Baptists could support Mitt" ("those" being how the Media and Hufficrats refer to the great conservatives of the South) instead of constantly beating the "they would never support a Mormon" drum. Another way to put it is: see Bob Novak, you're wrong - this is Media/Hufficrat hype. I've said it a dozens times, "Republicans want a man who share's their values regardless of how they come by those values. . . even "those" Southern Baptists Republicans.

ON FOX(?):

That's the question, isn't it? Will FOX acknowledge Mitt's lead in IOWA, NEW HAMPSHIRE, MICHIGAN, NEVADA, and now SOUTH CAROLINA? I guess we'll see.

The fact that MSNBC or the Hufficrats and other Media refuse to mention that Mitt's in the driver's seat is fine - it's expected, but ol' "fair and balanced" missing the point that where Mitt campaigns, Mitt wins? COME ON!

ON THE ISLAND:

For the Michiganians (or others looking to take a trip to the Great Lakes State), attached is the link to Mitt's Mackinac Conference album - where, by the by, Mitt took 39% of the straw-poll. . . which FOX. . . oh, never mind.

ON THE RE-RUN:

Your Mittiot's running a blog we ran a couple of weeks ago - it's not de'ja vu, just a damn fine blog I want to make sure is read! The Mittiot here is still stickin' to his suspicion about the January 15th "joint" primary. If Hillary becomes all but a done deal, as Gore was in 2000, look for the dems to go "Caucus" and shenanigans to happen in the "GOP" primary. If the DNC continues to play hardball, the Granholm and crew have the perfect cover.

RE-RUN - ECHOING YOUR MITTIOT:

ON THE FULL OUT ASSAULT ON THE TRUE GOP FRONT-RUNNER:

Alex Gage, Strategist for the Romney Campaign, sent out a memo to Team Romney giving a thumbnail of where we are and what to expect. No real revelations, just sound, "gut-check time," advice. [The full memo can be read here.] The bottom line: NOW IS THE TIME we have less than 100 days before Iowa and if you were looking to get involved, well, WE NEED YOU. Contributions are great, but what your Mittiot truly needs is the commitment to get yourself to the Michigan primary - to answer the calls when the pollsters ring - to become a VOCAL advocate for Mitt Romney - to talk to your neighbors and write into the paper. NOW IS THE TIME.

Listen, here's how it's gonna play out. Your Mittiot is still not convinced there will be a joint primary with the dems this January 15th. As such, going it alone - and allowing the dems and left-leaners to dink around in our GOP primary - is not on the table. If the dems pull-out, and I believe there's a better than 50/50 chance they will, we need to be ready to go with a GOP State Nominating Convention January 29th (so hold that date). We're in good shape if we do go to the convention back-up, as highlighted by the Mackinac Conference. HOWEVER, we need to collectively keep working the delegates.

Now, your Mittiot knows not all GOP faithful are as enlightened as we Mitt-backers, BUT your Mittiot also knows that Giuliani is the least favorite choice of the tried and true conservative. The second, item in the "play out" scenario is that this race is shaping up to be one between Romney and Giuliani (and Paul. . . no not really). Hear me out: Thompson never should have entered the race and his "I'm in now" bump has all but evaporated in the EP states, the fact that Newt is looking to get in should be an indication of Thompson chances. Leaving McCain and Giuliani and the rest of the guys.

McCain has had a "surge" according to the Media but the truth is he's nearly out of cash and individuals aren't popping open their pocket books, again, or "this time" with the looming, large, shadow of doubt cast upon the chance of a McCain victory. As one former McCain-backer said to me, "we're looking to jump, we're just not sure where to land." Glad to say, he's now on the Romney Train.

Newt may get in, but he faces a similar problem Thompson witnessed. If he does jump in, it better be real soon to take advantage of Fred's disappointment and McCain's sinking ship. He's looking to have pledged 30 million, and I believe Gingrich won't try to fool himself into thinking he has a chance unless he actually does have 30 million lined up.

Though the Media might like to see Huckabee be more of a player, 100 days out is not enough time to really mount a campaign to victory (which is also a disincentive for Newt). Hey, you can come in a strong second in Iowa and New Hampshire and Michigan and South Carolina and at the end of the day. . . your still not any state's first choice. Your Mittiot understands Huckabee is looking for a Dobson bump (as is Brownback) but Mr. Dobson, too, has to recognize how near we are to the big dance and the time to be corting a candidate that needs to cover ground was back in August. In addition, we are getting dangerously close to ensuring a Giuliani win by dividing the conservative vote. I am certain Mr. Dobson and GOP leaning interests groups are getting a little antsy. The NRA, for one, has already indicated they'd like to have a say in the primary - I'm thinkin' Rudy's not "in their sights" so to speak. Is Mitt? He should be, it'll be one or the other representing the GOP come November.

A bit back The Daily Mittiot ran a blog that gave the "insiders" projection. They smartly identified then this would be a Romney/Rudy race and that's exactly how it is shaping up to be. The question is, which of those individuals do YOU want to be our candidate? Your Mittiot can tell you who the Media wants - who the left-leaners want - who the Hufficrats want: It's Rudy Giuliani, for obvious reasons. I can also tell you who the dems, Media, and Hufficrats fear most: Mitt Romney.

For your Mittiot, it's been mostly anecdotal that Romney is being piled on at every given turn. However, within the Gage Memo what your Mittiot figured to be true has been substantiated:

"So what can we expect to see over the final stretch? To start, we know that Gov. Romney will continue to be attacked from all sides. Some of our GOP rivals began their attacks in the run-up to the Ames straw poll in Iowa; the Democrats also have not waited to begin their assault on Gov. Romney. Since the start of this year, the DNC has put out 81 releases attacking Gov. Romney, 22 more than any other Republican candidate. The attacks will only intensify over the next few months, but we continue to be prepared to respond." -Alex Gage

Mitt Romney has the experience, the record, the message, the charisma, the family, the financial backing, the TEAM, and the strategy to become President of the United States. Sometimes its worth judging the strength of a candidate by how hard the OPPOSITION seeks to weaken them.

Mitt Romney is the candidate and NOW IS THE TIME.

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~so asketh the Mittiot