Tim Pawlenty Decides to End His Campaign and His Supporters Should Read This

By Rebel Ross | August 14, 2011 - 7:59 AM | 2012 Election, Ann Romney, Mitt Romney, Tim Pawlenty 1 views

Tim Pawlenty and Mitt Romney

Running for President of the United States is a very unique undertaking that virtually all of us will never even come close to attempting. Tim Pawlenty was a very good governor, but he didn’t offer much to the table that Mitt didn’t. Almost everything that Tim Pawlenty did well, Mitt did even better. Plus, the media branded T-Paw as boring from the start which certainly impeded his ability to get traction. Gov. Pawlenty brought an unique voice to the race and we hope he stays active in the campaign to make President Obama a one-term President.

One of the most telling moments of the entire campaign so far was when Gov. Pawlenty refused to trash Gov. Romney. Gov. Pawlenty did go after Mitt’s record at the most recent debate, but we could tell that was more out of necessity and not out of spite or anything nefarious. Plus, it gave Gov. Romney another chance to enlighten the audience on this important issue. My main point is that I want to make sure people know how close Gov. Pawlenty and Gov. Romney really are. Gov. Pawlenty hired some of Romney’s 2008 staffers for his campaign, the two of them did some campaign events together in 2010, they were both Republican Governors at the same time, and they both have focused on defeating President Obama more than they have focused on attacking other republicans. Oh yeah, and guess who Ann Romney chose to sit next to at the 2008 GOP convention while Mitt was speaking?

Ann Romney with Tim and Mary Pawlenty

Here’s a little blast from 2010: 2012 Preview? Mitt Romney and Tim Pawlenty Team Up In Minnesota

We’ve all said that Tim Pawlenty would’ve been a far superior president than President Obama and we would’ve supported him with great ease should he have been the GOP nominee in 2012. Goal #1 has always been and must remain that President Obama is a one-term President!

Any supporters of Tim Pawlenty are welcomed with open arms to join us here at Mitt Romney Central or even to just stop by and chat/see what’s going on from time to time. Together we can Bring America Back and help people who’ve lost faith to Believe in America again!

UPDATE - Governor Romney issued this statement:

Tim Pawlenty and his entire team ran an honorable campaign. I admire his accomplishments as a two term Governor with a record of results for his state. I consider him a friend and I know he has a bright future ahead of him as a leader in the Republican Party.”

More reaction here.

And the Winner of the 2011 Ames Straw Poll is… Michele Bachmann

By Rebel Ross | August 13, 2011 - 4:15 PM | 2012 Election, Herman Cain, Iowa, Jon Huntsman Jr., Michele Bachmann, Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich, Polls, Rick Perry, Rick Santorum, Ron Paul, Sarah Palin, Tim Pawlenty 1 views

4 Comments

Michele Bachmann is the winner of the Ames Straw Poll.

On a day when Gov. Perry announced he’s running for President in South Carolina, Michele Bachmann has taken the top prize. Congratulations to Bachmann and her supporters, a hard-earned and well-deserved victory.

May the best candidate win when the actual votes are cast in 2012.

2011 Straw Poll Results (Note, this is the first time write-ins were ever accepted at Ames.):

1. Michele Bachmann – 4, 823 (28.55%)
2. Ron Paul – 4,671 (27.65%)
3. Tim Pawlenty – 2,293 (13.57%)
4. Rick Santorum – 1,657 (9.81%)
5. Herman Cain – 1,456 (8.62%)
6. Rick Perry – 718 (4.25%)
7. Mitt Romney – 567 (3.36%)
8. Newt Gingrich – 385 (2.28%)
9. Jon Huntsman – 69 (0.41%)
10. Thaddeus Mccotter – 35 (0.21%)

162 votes were ‘scattered’ (0.96%).

Tweet from Governor Romney:

Congratulations to Michele Bachmann for winning the Iowa GOP’s straw poll. Look forward to crossing paths on the campaign trailless than a minute ago via web Favorite Retweet ReplyMitt Romney
MittRomney

2007 Ames Straw Poll results:

1 Mitt Romney 4,516 votes or 31.6%
2 Mike Huckabee 2,587 votes or 18.1%
3 Sam Brownback 2,192 votes or 15.3%
4 Tom Tancredo 1,961 votes or 13.7%
5 Ron Paul 1,305 votes or 9.1%
6 Tommy Thompson 1,039 votes or 7.3%
7 Fred Thompson 203 votes or 1.4%
8 Rudy Giuliani 183 votes or 1.3%
9 Duncan Hunter 174 votes or 1.2%
10 John McCain 101 votes or 0.7%
11 John H. Cox 41 votes or 0.3%

Since Mitt didn’t pay for any tickets for his supporters this year, I think it’s very telling that he still garnered more votes than Fred Thompson, Rudy Giuliani, and John McCain did combined when they didn’t compete in the 2007 Ames straw poll.

UPDATE: A married couple, who supported Mitt during the 2007 Ames Straw Poll, showed up to vote today wearing the yellow t-shirts he handed out four years ago:

Jacqui Norman and her husband were both sporting yellow Romney t-shirts left over from a different time four years ago, when Romney was focused like a laser on winning the Ames straw poll.

“We’ve had lots of people come up and ask us where we got our t-shirts, because they wanted to find them,” said Norman, a 40-year-old from Ames who volunteered for Romney’s previous campaign. “We had a couple dozen stickers left over, so we gave those to some people.”

'Iowans for Romney' 2007

Team Romney at Ames, Iowa Aug 11, 2007

Miss the Iowa GOP Debate? Watch Entire Debate Here

By Nate Gunderson | August 12, 2011 - 12:20 AM | 2012 Announcement, Debate, Herman Cain, Iowa, Jon Huntsman Jr., Media Appearances, Michele Bachmann, Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich, Rick Santorum, Ron Paul, Tim Pawlenty, Videos 1 views

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Thanks Ross for finding these. The entire debate is split into 8 parts, all embedded below.

PART 1 of 8

..more after the fold…
(more…)

Who Won the Fox News Ames, Iowa GOP Debate?

By Rebel Ross | August 11, 2011 - 9:04 PM | 2012 Election, Debate, Herman Cain, Iowa, Jon Huntsman Jr., Michele Bachmann, Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich, Rick Santorum, Ron Paul, Tim Pawlenty 1 views

31 Comments

Fox News is already reporting that Romney may have increased his front-runner status after this debate. US News has proclaimed Mitt the winner and the sometimes hostile Hot Air is reporting that Mitt did the best as well.

The eight leading candidates for the Republican presidential nomination met last night for a debate that largely produced two winners and reports usually list Mitt and a different candidate. I think Mitt’s impressive performance earlier in the day carried over into the debate a bit. No one wanted to go after Mitt too tough after seeing the way Mitt handled it earlier.

If this report wasn’t enough to show who Team Obama fears, just look at what David Axelrod was up to last night. Their attacks tell us all we need to know. Hey, it looks like we agree with Team Obama on something… Mitt won the debate ;)

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

UPDATE – MittRomney.com has some commentary on the debate.

Time Magazine grades the debate

Finally, make sure to check out some more reaction to the debate here and here.

Mitt Romney Central: Presidential Debate in Ames, Iowa

By Nate Gunderson | August 11, 2011 - 5:18 PM | 2012 Election, Debate, Herman Cain, Iowa, Jon Huntsman Jr., Media Appearances, Michele Bachmann, Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich, Rick Santorum, Ron Paul, Tim Pawlenty 1 views

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Chat party for Romney supporters!

Best of luck to Governor Romney tonight! (Debate is live on FOX News at 9PM ET.)

(Thanks to the many people who joined the chat for an enjoyable debate. The chatbox has been returned to the sidebar, or you can view it full page in the chatroom.)

One of the best moments of the debate

Some Predictions and an Opportunity to Make Your Voice Heard

By Rebel Ross | August 10, 2011 - 10:41 AM | 2012 Election, Herman Cain, Iowa, Jon Huntsman Jr., Michele Bachmann, Newt Gingrich, Rick Santorum, Ron Paul, Sarah Palin, Social Media, Tim Pawlenty 1 views

7 Comments

Romney Wins Ames 2007

Gov. Romney is taking part in at least three events in Iowa today leading up to the Fox News/Iowa GOP debate tomorrow. Mitt is attending a house party hosted by Nick Van Patten and Tommy and Jessica Ghrist in Des Moines. He is also hosting a business roundtable at Vermeer Corporation at 1210 East Vermeer Road, Pella, Iowa at noon, and Mitt is speaking at a Polk County Republicans Fundraiser at 6020 SW McKinley Ave., Des Moines, Iowa at 5:30 tonight. Tomorrow, Mitt will stop in at the Iowa State Fair before attending a nationally televised debate at the campus of Iowa State University.

However, Mitt will be in New Hampshire on Saturday during the Ames straw poll which is consistent with his pledge not to compete in any straw polls. He is focusing all of his resources on highlighting the failures of President Obama and not on fighting fellow republicans. Knowing that no resources have been devoted to the Ames straw poll and that the Ames straw poll is widely recognized as being a fundraiser for the Iowa GOP (Mitt’s F&SA PAC and campaigns have donated generously to the Iowa GOP the last several years) in which the most amount of money/organization almost always wins the day, here are my predictions for the Ames straw poll:

1. Bachmann (My guess is undecideds will break her way to try to make sure Ron Paul doesn’t win)
2. Paul (his supporters have literally been organizing for this for years and a lot of resources are being devoted)
3. Pawlenty (Easily spending the most amount of money, but the enthusiasm gap should put Paul and Bachmann over the top)
4. Santorum (nobody has done more events in Iowa this year)
5. Cain (Usually does spectacular in straw polls he speaks at, but lack of resources and manpower will hurt him)
6. Perry (will be penalized for upstaging the poll by his announcement of intentions in South Carolina during the Ames poll)
7. Romney (7th is perhaps a bit optimistic all things considered, but his debate performance and 2008 campaign should help a bit. Not paying for any supporters tickets will hurt a ton.)
8. Gingrich (will this be the final nail in his campaign coffin?)
9. Palin (write in ballots only)
10. Johnson (maybe the end of his campaign as well)
11. McCotter (not in the debate)
12. Roemer
13. Huntsman (has completely written off Iowa and has virtually no base in Iowa)
14. others

Who will win Thursday’s debate (based on media and social network buzz)?

1. Romney
2. Bachmann
3. Pawlenty
4. Paul

What will Rick Perry Announce on Saturday?
That he’s running for President

Who will drop out within a week or two of the Ames straw poll?

Herman Cain and Gary Johnson

Out of everyone who hasn’t announced yet, who actually will?

Rick Perry only

Make your predictions about this or anything else you can think of in the comment section. Hopefully we get enough comments to put together results before the end of the debate tomorrow. Stop by during the debate (8 PM EST- 10) for a live chat tomorrow.

UPDATE Sarah Palin is reportedly bringing her bus tour to Ames in time for the straw poll. How much will that affect her straw poll results?

Watch an impressive new video showcasing how President Obama has failed America below the fold (more…)

Marriage Pledge Signed by Romney

By Jayde Wyatt | August 5, 2011 - 4:28 AM | 2012 Election, Family Values, Gay Marriage, Iowa, Michele Bachmann, Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum, Same-Sex Marriage, Tim Pawlenty 1 views

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Mitt Romney has signed a pledge from the National Organization for Marriage (NOM) supporting marriage between a woman and man:

Wall Street Journal

August 4, 2011
Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) and former Sen. Rick Santorum have signed a pledge from the National Organization for Marriage to oppose gay marriage at several levels of the federal government, The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday.

But former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, who has sought to burnish his credentials as an evangelical Christian, declined to sign it, possibly putting him at odds with the social conservatives he is trying to court in Iowa. The National Organization for Marriage (NOM) is running a four-day Iowa bus tour leading up to the Aug. 13 straw poll in Ames.
[...]

Candidates who sign the National Organization for Marriage pledge promise to support a constitutional amendment that defines marriage as being between a man and a woman, defend the Defense of Marriage Act in court, appoint federal judges who do not see a legal argument for gay marriage and establish a “presidential commission on religious liberty” to protect gay marriage opponents.

The pledge also calls for a referendum on gay marriage in the District of Columbia.

Press release from National Organization for Marriage (NOM):

“Three marriage champions have emerged,” says Brian Brown, President of the National Organization for Marriage.

“Many candidates say they support traditional marriage (like President Obama!) but three GOP presidential candidates today stand head and shoulders above the crowd as marriage champions, for their willingness to go beyond words to commit to concrete actions,” said Brian Brown, president of NOM, speaking on the eve of the launch of the Values Voter Bus Tour through 22 Iowa cities, which NOM is co-sponsoring. “We are grateful to Michelle Bachmann, Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum for their courage and their leadership in standing up for marriage, and so are millions of Americans who care about protecting marriage.”

PPP: GOP’s Best Bet to Defeat Obama is Mitt Romney

By Jayde Wyatt | August 3, 2011 - 2:41 PM | 2012 Election, Barack Obama, Herman Cain, Jon Huntsman Jr., Michele Bachmann, Mitt Romney, Nevada, New Hampshire, Newt Gingrich, Pennsylvania, Ron Paul, Sarah Palin, Tim Pawlenty 1 views

3 Comments

Public Policy Polling asks “Does the GOP need Romney to win?”

PPP research in Nevada, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, Virginia, Michigan, and North Carolina reveals the answer…

A broad theme has been emerging in our state by state Presidential polling over the last couple months: if the Republicans nominate Mitt Romney it’s a toss up. And if they nominate anyone else it’s 2008 all over again. Our newest Nevada numbers very much reinforce that trend.

Barack Obama took the Silver State by 12 points in his first run. But if he had to stand for reelection today he’d be in a very competitive race against Romney, leading only 47-46 in the state. Pit him against any of the other Republicans there though and the numbers look pretty similar to last time- 9 point advantages over Herman Cain and Rick Perry at 48-39 and 49-40 respectively, a 10 point lead over Michele Bachmann at 50-40, and a 12 point advantage over Sarah Palin at 51-39.

Over the last month we’ve had similar findings in:

-Pennsylvania, where Obama is tied with Romney but leads all other Republicans by at least 7 points.

-New Hampshire, where Romney leads Obama by 2 points but all other Republicans trails Obama by at least 7.

-Virginia, where Obama leads Romney by 4 but has at least a 9 point advantage over all the rest of the GOP hopefuls.

-Michigan, where Obama has a 5 point advantage over Romney but at least a 15 point lead over everyone else.

-North Carolina, where the disparity between Romney and the rest of the Republicans isn’t quite as great. Obama and Romney are tied while Obama leads all the others by at least 3 points.

Taken all together it makes you ask the question: do Republicans have to nominate Romney to defeat Obama next year?
[...]
Obama’s holding his ground against everyone but Romney in Nevada because voters there find the whole GOP field even more unpalatable than him. Romney comes close to breaking even on favorability at 38/43 but the rest of the Republicans are quite unpopular- a -9 spread for Cain at 24/33, a -12 for Perry at 24/36, a -21 for Bachmann at 30/51, and a -28 for Palin at 32/60.

(emphasis added)

Read complete details here.

Considering ALL the media exposure Obama receives and that Romney, as the presumptive front runner, is taking hits from all sides, and that The Gov is just now shifting his presidential campaign into higher gear, our man Mitt is doing pretty darn well against our bully pulpit President.

H/t Lori
► Jayde Wyatt

Money & Social Media: Romney Campaign Leads

By Jayde Wyatt | July 30, 2011 - 12:41 AM | 2012 Announcement, Fundraising, Herman Cain, Jon Huntsman Jr., Michele Bachmann, Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich, Rick Santorum, Ron Paul, Social Media, Social Networking, Tim Pawlenty 1 views

4 Comments

OhMyGov! is a website that monitors the interconnection between media mentions and social media activity. Their analysis reveals that the Romney campaign is the most financially supported and in the best social media position at this point in the 2012 GOP presidential race:

Romney Leads GOP Race for Money and Social Media

[...]
First, as always, we concentrate on the money. According to his Federal Election Committee quarterly report for the period March – June 2011, the former Massachusetts Governor has over $18.3 million in donations to his credit. That puts him second only to President Obama in terms of money raised, and far ahead of the rest of the GOP field. Just for some perspective, Romney raised nearly half (46%) of all the money donated to major Republican candidates in the last quarter. No other candidate raised more than $4.5 million, putting Romney in an enviable financial position.

[...] According to OhMyGov, Romney accounts for nearly 45% of the Facebook audience for Republican candidates, and ranks highly on Twitter as well.

With more than a million Facebook fans, Romney is in a class by himself in the GOP field. The second most popular Facebook candidate is Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann, who has almost 620,000 fewer fans than Romney. [...]

It is not only the size of Romney’s share of the Facebook pie that is impressive, but the rate at which he’s picked up followers. During the 2nd quarter of 2011, Romney gained Facebook fans at an intimidating rate (188,000+), far ahead of rivals Bachmann, Tim Pawlenty and Jon Hunstman. [...]

Surprised at who has the most Twitter followers?

So what can we glean from these numbers? Are Tea Party favorites like Herman Cain and Michele Bachmann hot on the heels of establishment pick Mitt Romney? No, they probably aren’t. What one can begin to assume from these numbers however is that while some may go to Twitter for quick blurbs and sound-bites from entertaining characters (do you really think all of Sarah Palin’s followers actually like Sarah Palin?), they go to Facebook for news and updates on people they are legitimately interested in or support. Mitt Romney’s relative Facebook popularity is matched only by his undeniable financial support, a combination most candidates would take over 10,000 new Twitter followers any day.

(emphasis, italics added)

For further details, click here.

► Jayde Wyatt

Pawlenty NH Steering Committee Member, State Rep Shaun Doherty, Resigns to Help Mitt Romney

By Jayde Wyatt | July 26, 2011 - 5:19 PM | 2012 Election, Endorsements, Mitt Romney, New Hampshire, Tim Pawlenty 1 views

1 Comment

Pawlenty’s loss, Romney’s gain…

DROPPING PAWLENTY

State Rep. Shaun Doherty, R-Pelham, says he still likes and respects GOP presidential candidate and former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, but he’s frustrated with the lack of New Hampshire activity by his campaign.

As a result, Doherty told the Granite Status, he’s resigned from Pawlenty’s New Hampshire steering committee and has decided to back former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.

Doherty was one of the original eight Granite Staters named to the Pawlenty steering committee in April.

He said today that since then, he’s shown up at some events and has called friends and his own supporters on Pawlenty’s behalf, but has not been asked to do anything specific by the campaign.

“I have an enormous amount of respect and admiration for Tim Pawlenty,” said the 23-year-old second-term lawmaker, who four years ago was the state youth chairman for John McCain’s New Hampshire campaign.

“The campaign hasn’t really developed into what I thought it would develop into,” Doherty said. “They’re doing a lot of really good things but it doesn’t seem to be working. And their not quite capitalizing on the momentum that they had with their launch.

“They haven’t capitalized on their opportunities. It just hasn’t developed.”

Doherty said Romney “is running a very strong campaign in New Hampshire and I feel I’d like to participate in that campaign.”

Pawlenty has not been to New Hampshire since the June 13 presidential debate, spending almost all of his time in first-caucus state Iowa leading up to the Aug. 13 Ames, Iowa GOP presidential straw poll

“But that’s not the only real factor. There were a lot of small things,” he said.

Doherty is the second state House member to have expressed frustration with Pawlenty in the past week.

We spoke last week with Rep. Win Hutchinson, R-Manchester, who told us he briefly considered bolting the Pawlenty camp out of frustration with Pawlenty’s initial comments about Michele Bachmann’s migraine headaches, but then reconsidered and decided to stay on board, at least for now.