Leadership by Mitt Romney

…………………. [see video of Oprah with Chris Christie below the fold] ………………..

Before addressing the subject I chose, I would be remiss if I did not congratulate Governor Romney on behalf of the MRC team and its loyal readers. Congratulations to Governor Romney, his family, campaign team, grassroots volunteers, and the voters of Iowa and New Hampshire for this historic beginning of the 2012 election year! Amazing results from very hard work indeed.

Leadership skill is claimed by all six Republican candidates – Governor Romney stands well above them all as a gifted leader. Governor Romney’s Iowa and New Hampshire finishes are quite simply the result of masterful leadership at all levels. Competitors and pundits will spin these last 10 days for advantage – but, trust me on this – when Rick, Jon, Rick, Newt, and Ron get to pillow talk each night with their wives, each one is saying, “Whoa, that is incredible what Mitt put together and what he is accomplishing! Unbelievable!”

Congratulations Mitt!

Ronald Reagan was famous for saying to Jimmy Carter, “Now there you go again!” when Carter strayed from the truth. I caught Piers Morgan’s interview with Mr. Gingrich Wednesday night when Gingrich came right out and said, “I am going to win South Carolina.” My reply to the television was, “Now there you go again!” He can’t help it. Politics is as much about setting the right expectations as it is about anything. Contrary to Gingrich’s lemmings who think otherwise, he is not as bright as they surmise. During this interview, he repeated a string of lies about Gov. Romney, at least two times, that included references to abortions, liberal judges, raising taxes, etc. Ridiculous. “Now there you go again.” But Gingrich uses free advertising to get his sound bites out knowing full well that many people in South Carolina will not dig deeper for truth. We (you and Team MRC) as grassroots volunteers are going to do everything we can to make Mr. Gingrich eat those words and then beg to join the team.

IMPORTANT: Please do not believe any polls that state that Governor Romney is leading or is expected to win South Carolina. PLEASE! Accepting any mindset of complacency is dangerous and could result in a loss that would wipe out any momentum gained in the last 10 days. Even worse, it sets a precedent that could reverse the trend. We cannot stress this enough. As hard as every volunteer worked these last ten days, the time to redouble efforts is right now and we can never let up until January 22nd — a day of rest will be good then. If you hear about positive polls, I hope that will only steel your determination to work harder to get to every last voter to get them out to vote. Can you help us at MRC spread the word on this throughout the United States to all volunteers willing to make phone calls to South Carolina voters? Gingrich and Perry are desperate. Their state of mind will likely lead them to cross the ethical line many times in the next 10 days.

Observations after New Hampshire: In my opinion, CNN’s coverage of both the Iowa and New Hampshire election nights was superior to FOX by a factor of 10. CNN had numerous pros on deck and their coverage and analysis were balanced and insightful. FOX seemed more like entertainment and shallow, especially in Iowa. I detected a shift with CNN away from their liberal bias reputation toward balance. By the way, Hannity cannot hide the fact he is biased against Governor Romney. On the night of the amazing New Hampshire win, you could see in his face and posture that he was disappointed that his favorite boy Santorum finished poorly. Are you as tired as I am of Hannity’s constant cliche repeats of what Democrats want? If he throws a football or repeats those cliches again, I may not check back until March.

Side Note: New Hampshire final exams result in combined scores for Gingrich, Santorum, and Perry of 21% — Compared to Ron Paul’s final score of 23%. Feeble Trio Diffused! Keep it up!

NOTEWORTHY:

DANGER ZONE: Whether the harsh criticism will make Romney — who last week eked out an eight-vote win in the Iowa caucuses — a better candidate in the long run, as some suggest, or permanently handicap him if he is the nominee, as Democrats hope, remains an open question. — NPR, 1/10/12

GOP ATTACKS: The sudden intraparty assault has helped Mr. Romney in one way, prompting even conservative skeptics like Rush Limbaugh to come to his defense. The conservative Club for Growth singled out Newt Gingrich for “economically ignorant class warfare rhetoric” that is “downright Obamaesque.” — The New York Times, 1/11/12

ECONOMIC WOES IN S.C.: How much Ms. Haley’s support for Mr. Romney factors into the race will be closely watched. Although some here applaud her nearly singular focus on sharply reducing government spending and lowering the state’s unemployment rate, which now sits at 9.9 percent, she is not broadly popular. — The New York Times, 1/11/12

NEW HAMPSHIRE CATHOLICS: One surprising finding: Santorum, a Catholic, won only about 8 percent of self-identified Catholic voters, a serious underperformance on his part since Catholics accounted for more a third of the electorate Tuesday. Gingrich, also a Catholic, won 10 percent of Catholic voters, according to exit poll interviews. Romney, a Mormon, dominated among Catholics winning 45 percent of them. — NBC Politics, 1/11/12

DNC STRUGGLING TO RAISE FUNDS: Emmerling challenged the notion that the host committee was having a difficult time raising money. [...] “It hasn’t been easy,” Harris said of the host committee’s fundraising efforts. “But there’s no question in my mind it’s going to happen.”Another member of the host committee, a Democratic activist who asked not to be identified, told the Observer that host committee leaders have said the Obama restrictions have made it tough to raise money, but they believe it will be done….”Are they working hard and losing sleep over it? Yes,” the source told the Observer. “But they didn’t seem at all desperate. … I don’t have inside information, but I think they’re over halfway there, though.” — Charlotte Observer, 1/11/12

OBAMA LACKS MORAL COMPASS (Belafonte): [no second term] If there was the kind of moral compass serving Barack Obama the way we hoped, the moral force would have helped him make choices, the absence of that force in his equations, that barometer to guide him when he has to make these decisions that are hugely complicated, he should have come to the table with the things that would have helped us in this moment of crisis.” — Big Hollywood, 1/10/12

GINGRICH/PERRY SHILLS (Gov. Romney quotes): “But, you know, Rick Perry and Newt Gingrich are going to be the witnesses for the prosecution. I’m not worried about that. They can take it as they like,” he said. “You saw last night that approach didn’t work very well for (them). And so we’ll take it to the next level.” CNN, 1/11/12

DAVID GERGEN, ROMNEY’S WILD CARD: It is worth remembering, too, that the Olympics hired Romney to head the Games while he was at Bain Capital. Is it logical to think the Olympic committee had any sense that Romney was a predatory capitalist? The question answers itself. — CNN, 1/11/12

ROMNEY MADE THE FIELD WEAK: But Romney didn’t just face a weak field — he made it weak. His strength, money, and organization scared off some serious challengers. [...] He simply beat one former governor who many in the press — this writer included — thought would beat him, Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota, and drove him out of the race early. When another governor, Rick Perry of Texas, made a late entry as the Romney killer, he instead wound up illustrating how well prepared for this battle Romney really is. — Politico, 1/11/12

VIDEO OF CHRIS CHRISTIE & OPRAH: According to a tease from the network, viewers will “see Oprah travel to the home of New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie to discuss his lifelong struggle with weight, why he resisted a run for the White House and more.” — Politico, 1/11/12

MRS. OBAMA DEFENSIVE: “If there’s communication that needs to happen, it’s between staffs,” she said. “I don’t have conversations with my husband’s staff.” — The New York Times, 1/11/12

GINGRICH BACKPEDDLES A BIT: Some prominent Republicans have chastised Gingrich for going after Romney’s successful business, contending that he’s giving capitalism a bad name…..The Bain attacks weren’t generating much traction elsewhere in South Carolina when Rick Perry on Wednesday again trotted out the line about Bain’s “vulture capitalism” that he has been using in recent appearances in Lexington. — Politico, 1/11/12

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“Abuse of words has been the great instrument of sophistry and chicanery, of party, faction, and division of society.” — John Adams
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