RE Mitt Romney on C-Span in S. Carolina. Gave me the creeps.

[saltpoint]

He was speaking sometime yesterday I think to a banquet-hall-size room of Republican donors and party stalwart-types. They were all nicely dressed.

Romney seemed over-prepared and in a bit of a rush to get through the buzzpoints and down-home flag-waving cliches.

The donor audience seemed less than enthralled with him. I think they might have been wondering why a "moderate" Republican of a New England state would be in South Carolina hawking Norman Rockwell Americanisms. But there he was.

His wife took the podium for a couple minutes and offered that "We just love it here," meaning South Carolina generally rather than the banquet hall specifically, and she cited the great weather South Carolina enjoys. Not sure, but there was an undercurrent that suggested the Romney handlers want it made clear that their candidate has but one spouse. McCain and Giuliani have been married more than once. I'm guessing there were quite a few more Baptists in the crowd than Mormons.

Possibly Romney is trying to channel Ronald Reagan with the heart-warming flag stories and Boy Scouts and patriotism and so forth. But the applause lines were clumsily delivered and the applause was mostly tepid, except for the red-meat passages about immigration. That woke a few snoozers up at the back of the room.

He came off as creepy. Not as someone who tortures insects but as an insect himself.

[TheCowsCameHome]

1. He's a chameleon and a weathervane. He's going nowhere.

Thank goodness we got rid of him up here.

[saltpoint]

2. I like your new governor a whole lot better than your old one.

I'd read about Romney's organization and wondered about his viability, but after that address in S. Carolina yesterday, I agree with you -- he seems to be going noplace in a hurry.

[brook]

3. They both rang false to me. eom

[saltpoint]

8. Hi, brook. Yes. Same for me. They both seemed nervous, and

out of place.

The audience seemed polite but not very persuaded.

[brook]

9. It was as if...

they didn't believe themselves either. I'll be surprised if he goes the distance, though I'm somewhat
inclined to think he's a stalking horse for old Jebbie. If that's true, all bets are off.:)

[saltpoint]

12. A stalking horse for Jeb? A horrifying thought, but plausible in this

era of Republican skullduggery. These people will stop at nothing, including stealing two consecutive presidential elections.

I think your take is right-on with Romney and that crowd.

[depakid]

4. "a "moderate" Republican....hawking Norman Rockwell Americanisms"

LOL.

This post is about the best take on Mitt that I've ever heard.

I suspect I'd have been creeped out by the CSPAN video, too.

Glad I didn't watch it- but props to Old Crusoe for filling us in!

[saltpoint]

5. Hi, depakid. If you missed Romney on C-Span yesterday, you showed

a lot more sense than I did.

Kind of like when people drive past a car crash -- it's horrifying but they look anyway.

Thanks for your post & let's get through the calendar and start a big blue wave for 08.

[brazos121200]

6. Can someone tell me who the religious fundamentalist repubs are going to go

for next year? They don't like or trust McCain, Giuliani has been married multiple times and supports gay marriage and is pro choice, and Mitt Romney is a moderate who just changed his core positions to appeal to a particular group. I can't see them supporting any of the three and the other potential Repub candidates don't seem to be getting any support from them either.

[saltpoint]

7. That is a great question. I have no idea which of their candidates

the fundies will finally break for.

Probably there will be some behind-the-scenes bargaining and deal-making among the campaigns and the fundie fatcats, but going into Iowa next January, I think McCain, Romney, and Giuliani all face uphill climbs for that demographic.

As it looks now, Sam Brownback stands to get a pretty good chunk of the fundie vote.

Which is really frightening.

[LSK]

10. I caught about a minute of it, long enough to hear about personal responsibility

And how taxes rob people of freedom, blah blah blah

[nam78_two]

11. Yeah

I missed it but plan to catch it over the week-end..My boyfriend saw it and said it was scarily riveting.


I wonder if Romney would be the nominee..I hope he is. I cannot see him becoming the president. My fear is that it will be that ass Guiliani, who for reasons unclear to me, is popular with some "moderates" :shrug:.