is Mitt a Christian?

One of the frequent points brought up about Mitt Romney is it may be hard for him to be elected because he is a Mormon. Invariably someone posts the comment that Mormons aren't Christians. Just my two cents to address the, "Are Mormons Christians?" question.

I like the answer I've heard before that goes like, "From what you know of your friends and acquaintances who are Mormons, do you think they are Christians?"
For anyone out there who is really wondering if Mitt is a Christian I would recommend the following:
1. check out the website http://www.mormon.org/ When you are at that site, do you feel that Mormons are Christians?
2. Sit down with a copy of the Bible and The Book of Mormon. Read a few chapters of one, and then the other. Both books strongly make the case that Jesus Christ is the Savior.
3. Attend a Sunday meeting of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

Though it is sometimes disheartening to hear this question (to me it is like asking "Is blue a color?") for those who are wondering, curiosity about this opens an opportunity to learn the truth. Ultimately, it is every individual's responsibility who wonders to find out, "Are Mormons Christians?"

Mitt-bloggers' web

When I was in Utah visiting my brother and his family last week, I watched the animated movie Charlotte's web. Good show. I couldn't help but think about how it relates to campaigning.

Just a reminder of the plot. The spider Charlotte saves the life of Wilbur the pig by weaving in her web positive adjectives at the entrance of Wilbur's pig-pen. When the town folk see the miraculous words in a web, they get excited and come see the pig. They start to realize that Wilbur is "some pig," "radiant," "terrific," and "humble" - the words Charlotte spins in her web. Instead of slaughtering the pig, Farmer Zuckerman lets Wilbur live after showing him at the fair.

In a sense Mitt-bloggers are like Charlotte getting out the correct message about Mitt, so he won't get slaughtered - so to speak - in the campaign. Of course the analogy is not a perfect fit to the campaigning process. Though, I wonder if the rat Templeton has a corollary in this analogy too? Templeton is the character who does errands for Charlotte and Wilbur - but he performs these errands only in order to fill his stomach, or to preserve his life. I'll let the reader decide who or what Templeton might represent.

7 highly effective habits of backing Mitt

I've been thinking about this question recently - What is the most effective thing I can do in supporting Mitt Romney's prospects for becoming President in 2008? (I would donate money but I don't have much of that right now.) Would it be most effective to blog once a day; talk with family members about Mitt; talk with strangers I meet about Mitt; put a bumper sticker on my car that says, "Who the heck is Mitt Romney?" (to get people to at least see his name out there); encourage other folks to somehow contribute to the grassroots effort? All of these things are important and play their part. But I've come to the conlusion that perhaps the most effective thing to do is to talk with close friends and family members about Mitt Romney. I know for me that (in addition to gaining a favorable impression of a candidate from watching them on tv or in person) one of the most important ways to get me behind a certain politician is to hear that a trusted friend or family member supports that politician.

go after the opponent's strengths

I've started to hear political ads on the radio here in Washington State. The couple that I have heard so far seem to be well-done - since they focus on just one or two negative points of the opponent. One idea for a radio or tv commercial for Mitt would be, instead of focusing on a negative point about the opponent, state the good things about the opponent. "Mayor Guiliani succeeded in doing this, this, and this in New York." Then point out similar things Mitt has accomplished, but has done either better, more efficiently, with greater impact, or with longer-lasting effects.

people need to know

In an effort to drum up more viewership to this blog I have made a posting on the "public posting" section of soundpolitics.com regarding our blog existence. Hopefully some people will view it and have curiosity to come and peek at our site. I also made a similar posting at bluestateconservative.com .

If anyone reading this knows someone in WA who favors vouchers for public education dollars, they ought to tell them about Mitt since he is one of the most articulate and outspoken candidates that I have heard on this issue.

If anyone else knows about local blog sites that would allow a posting from us to stump for this site, please let me know, and I will try to make a posting.

It is amazing how few people seem to yet know about Romney, but nearly all people I get to watch his bio are completely blown away by his candor and wit!

Mitt vs. the rest

I agree with a post I read recently that once folks see Romney speak, they are likely to be impressed.

Is there an interviewer out there who has recently spoken with several of the top presidential candidates (including Romney)? If so, a list of links to the videos of those interviews could be sent out on an email or post, and folks could easily see for themselves how Mitt compares with the others.

It may be more effective if folks could watch, say, 5 minutes of each candidate. Most people may not be willing to spend an hour watching interviews on their computer.

The best defense is a great offense

With the recent move by Senatorial hopeful Mike McGavick to air his own dirty laundry for the world to see, he has made an absolutely brilliant move that allows him to own and control the terms of those issues, and really making them blasse' before they can ever really be used as ammo against him by his opponent.

Seeing how this strategy plays out at the polls in November, if it works to bolster support for Mike (as all indicators show that being the case), perhaps Mitt Romney would do well to make a similar play. Mitt doesnt really have anything major to cough up, but what I am saying is that he could address his skeptics uncertainty about his religion, address his admittedly changed views on public policy with respect to abortion, and maybe any business failures he has had along the way.

This would allow him to own these issues and control how they are framed, thus negating any potential impact on him and possibly even turning them into terms of endearment toward him when people see a man who is not perfect but is constantly trying to improve his mind and standing in life as most all of us are.

a few ideas for stance on abortion

An idea for language on abortion for Mitt - He could say something like, "You know, I would prefer to live in a country where there would be no reason for a woman to want to get an abortion. If that isn't possible, my second choice would be to live in a county where unwanted pregnancies were not ended in abortions, but rather taken to term and raised by the mother (and father - if that is possible in the situation) or given up for adoption."

It seems that where we are now, if RvW were to be overturned, it would tear up political relations in the country almost as bad as family dynamics and values for life are being torn up now with all the abortions that are occurring. So instead of overturning RvW through Congress, RvW could be overturned in the sense of moving things toward the second choice (see above). Mitt could emphasize, then, a policy of greatly reducing the number of abortions by 1. encouraging teaching abstinence education in schools as an option (as I understand he has done in Massachusetts), and 2. supporting adoptions as the much better alternative to abortions.

I think these points could be incorporated into Mitt's stance that individual states should each decide their own stance on abortion.

what about McCain supporters?

I've recently spoken with some folks here in Utah who are McCain supporters. It seems to me that something to focus on would be to get McCain supporters into Mitt's camp. It might not be easy. McCain seems like a good, honorable man. I'm wondering what to say to these folks to encourage them to take a look at Romney.

Should I try and point out problems or weaknesses of McCain to try and create doubt? Should I try and prove that Romney is a better leader than McCain?

On Aug. 5th I posted 5 characteristics that are important to me in a President. What I'd like to do (instead of the two suggestions above) is to find an example in Mitt's political or business life which illustrates each of the 5 characteristics I mentioned in that previous post (honesty, selflessness, experience, mental and physical capability, and ability to compromise). Then I could share with folks some Mitt-promoting stories. In this way I would be planting seeds of support, rather than flinging the mud.

Speak up and be counted!

I challenge ANYBODY who reads these words to make some kind of reply to this posting, as we would like to take a head count as to who is currently visting this page. Keep it clean and respectful, but hammer away and let us know you exist. Love Mitt or not, or are indifferent, speak your mind here freely. Thank you.

sitemeter for Mitt-site?

Wow. I'm not sure who changed it, but I think the new template for this site looks good. It's like waking up inside a new, different house.

For the other bloggers on the site - are you familiar with sitemeter or statcounter? There's one at the very bottom of the iowansforromney blog. Check it out. What would you think of adding one of those to this blog?

My goal is to post daily, but I may have gotten a little carried away with the length of my posts. I think I'm going to try and condense my posts in consideration of the time of those who might come to the site.

Specifics and Optimism

There will be many who will campaign negatively. I believe that Mitt can stick out like a sore thumb by NOT doing that. I believe that the American people need optimism from a candidate. We want to vote FOR somebody, not AGAINST their opponent!

So many candidates for so many years have run campaigns where they tout vague generalities. Mitt can shine I believe by being very specific on what he would do on very specific issues. I believe that besides defense, two of those issues HAVE to be stopping illegal immigration and increasing domestic fuel production (ethanol and gasoline). But beyond saying that he will tow the line on these issues, He needs to be specific as to the who, what, where, when and how. This would not be like most candidacies wrapped in generalities, but I believe a man of his caliber is up to the task.

I have faith in Mitt.....

Have Dino and Mitt crossed paths?

Does anyone out there know if the baby dinosaur and the oven hand protector have met?

Since the 08 gubernatorial election in this state is likely Dino's to lose as many people feel Rossi was robbed last time around, wouldnt that be a perfect time for Mitt to build some name recognition here in the evergreen by stumping for Rossi, even using some of that commonwealth PAC clout to drive Rossi into the governors mansion?

Many polls show Rossi wining by a large victory in 08 if he decides to run against Queen Christine. I think the opportunity could put Mitt ina very favorable light with the masses here should he choose to align himself with a Rossi push.

What say all y'all?

New to the blogosphere

I have been invited to post on this site and so this is really nothing more than a test post.

I will chime in more later, I am at work right now and have to get back to work...

Just a quick note, One thing I think would be interesting to do is to find some positions Romney has and show how if they were implemented on a national level would have a direct impact on Washington, and what those impacts would be.

I have seen his 10 point plan to keep America the #1 military and economic power in the future, we could post what those platforms would specifically do for Washington.

More to come...

Nivek

widening the base

How to recruit Romney supporters (for grassroots efforts) who are members of churches other than the Mormon church? I see on some of the other blogsites bloggers from several other churches. I am very encouraged by that. The greater the variety of backgrounds of Mitt-supporters we can bring together, the better. Mitt needs to be seen as having backing from a much wider audience than just Mormons.

Mitt is catching

I received a comment a few days ago from nivek (by the way, nivek - email me at romneyin08@verizon.net if you see this post) asking to check out the Mitt climate here in Utah. I've spoken with just a few folks so far - one of my good friends, and a few of my cousins. They all seem to be very positive about Mitt. However, they don't feel he has a good chance of the Republican party's nomination. Another thing they mentioned was that they are doubtful that Hilary will get the Democratic nomination because she's too extreme. I checked out http://www.utahnsformitt.com/ - a very nice site. However, I don't see a blog coming out of Utah yet?

It sounds like Mitt had a successful visit to CA the other day. Some good dough raising, and lots of supporters. Way to go CA and way to go Mitt!

trying to learn about history of Presidential primaries

I was curious to read up on some history of previous presidential primaries and party national conventions to see how frequently candidates who start out scoring low in the polls (a year or two before the primaries), are able to do well in the primary elections. I didn't find exactly what I was looking for, but I did find some good wikipedia articles that have some of the background information that is helpful.

I'd recommend checking out the three links, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Presidential_primary,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republican_National_Conventions, and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democratic_National_Convention.

I just read an article at this location:
http://feed.insnews.org/v-cgi/feeds.cgi?feedid=149&story_id=2078848

"Gov. Romney should absolutely visit storm-ravaged areas so he can see the
devastating effects Mother Nature's wrath has had on communities," said state
Democratic Party spokeswoman Cyndi Roy. "But he ought to start with Greenfield
or Pittsfield or Peabody or Winchester where floods last spring ravaged those
areas."

Perhaps Mitt could appoint some Democrats to help out with keeping track of those areas where spring floods hit. If this is done, though, it ought to be done with the best intentions in mind - not just to "get back at" the Democratic party.

how many folks know who Mitt Romney is?

Today on my plane trip I sat next to a young man from Layton, Utah. I started talking about Mitt Romney, and he wasn't familiar much at all with Mitt. That started me to thinking - What percentage of U.S. voters out there 1. have at least heard of Mitt Romney; 2. know some things about Mitt; 3. know he is looking at the 2008 Republican Presidential nomination; 4. (of those who know some things about Mitt) have a favorable impression of him?

At this stage in the game, what are the best and most efficient ways of increasing the number of folks in 4. above? Finally, what are the 3 most important messages grassroots folks can pass on about Mitt?

blog theory - goin' to Utahr

Excellent! Thanks to Dave and Kevin for the link to www.ovaloffice2008.com
I should have figured that someone had put together a site of all the 2008 Presidential hopefuls’ blogs and websites. Good site.

An idea would be to have some kind of rating system to display how active each of the blogs are. It could be rated with 3 numbers. Perhaps the first number would be how many different folks have blogged for that site over the last 30 days. The second number could be how many blogs during the last 30 days. The third number could be how many comments during that time (from non-blog administrators). For instance (3, 23, 5) would mean 3 different accounts wrote blogs; 23 blogs were posted; and 5 comments were posted. (Of course, in order to be a meaningful rating system, the blog posts should not be counted multiple times if the same ones are posted on multiple sites.)

I’m going on vacation for about a week (down to Utahr to visit family), so I won’t have as much time to read up on the Romney news. Though I intend on still posting regularly. Please forgive me if my comments during this time may show a lack of knowledge on the most current happenings.

like where are the others' blogs?

Ok. I thought I would take my advice and try and learn almost as much about the other prospective candidates as I am learning about Mitt Romney. So I went to Wikipedia, and I went to Google’s blog search. I was looking for blogs which are exclusively about the various prospective candidates - Rudy Giuliani, John McCain, Hilary Clinton, John Edwards, George Allen, Newt Gingrich. I figured that the grassroots blogospheres for these various folks would be similar in quantity to Mitt’s. But no. There’s not much out there. Many of these listed candidates have at least one blog about running for President in 2008. However, the blogs that are out there (at least the ones I could find in a short search) don’t have many recent posts. (One big exception is an active blog out there for Rudy Giuliani - http://giulianiblog.blogspot.com/ )

So where are all the blogs?

Let’s go all you Giluiani supporters; come on McCainites; where are the Clinton bloggers? hearken ye Edwards-ers, Allen-folk, and Gingrich-ians. Come out to the blogosphere and start talking up your candidates!

staying on message, and more

The other day I attended a meeting for learning how to talk about a particular initiative that will be on the ballot here in Washington State in November. It was a lot of fun. Of course the idea is, when you are talking about the initiative to focus on the 3 most significant points. Always stay on message. Don’t go into the opponent's "box". It was fun practicing this. It’s the thing that people do on tv and radio all the time when being interviewed. If they don’t want to answer a particular question, then that’s no problem. They just go around the question, and turn the conversation back to the message.

A few of the folks in the training group, however, said that politicians not answering questions in interviews is one of the things that frustrates them greatly. And/or the idea that the media’s questions are often manipulative. I feel the same way.

So, I would add a few other points to being good at explaining or defending an issue - besides just staying on message. The first and most important thing would be for the interviewee to be honest, caring, and respectful of the other party. Secondly, they ought to know the issue as well as possible. And third, stay on message.

I watched an interview Mitt gave on a PBS show some weeks ago. He is polished. He does a great job staying on message, and dealing with prickly questions. He also has the ability to stay posed and in control during an interview. Go Mitt go!

don't forget the gray hairs

If you go to the Massachusetts Governor’s page at http://www.mass.gov/ you will see that Mitt has unveiled a new energy plan for his state. (See the PowerPoint presentation at http://www.mass.gov/Agov2/docs/Energy.ppt ) I made some suggestions on the issues of renewable energy and environmental issues on this blog on Aug. 10th - then Mitt’s folks come out with their energy plan on the 11th - the next day. That was pretty quick. Way to go Mitt!

Any future candidate for the President of the United States needs to pay special attention to the elderly. The percentage of the population who is over 60 is only getting bigger. They are a politically powerful group. Unfortunately many are neglected - politically and individually. But they have so much to offer and provide to their local communities across the country. It would be well for Mitt to have as good relations as possible with the AARP and other similar organizations. Programs like Senior Corps could be promoted and/or expanded. Of course it is important for the Romney campaign to pay attention to the elderly in order to get elected, but more important is to help take care of the elderly once he is elected. Even the hundred of thousands of folks out there who are even partly or largely incapacitated because of their age and health - they are both benefited greatly and contribute much by well-run programs for the elderly.

learn where Mitt stands

If you are interested in reading what Mitt Romney has said and done about various issues while governor in Massachusetts, check out Mike Laub’s blog at http://myclob.pbwiki.com/on%20the%20issues
It’s really a quite comprehensive collection. Mike has really done a great job here.

mud shield

I must admit, as you can see from the last couple of posts, I’ve been up late at night writing these. It kind of strains the body to do that. So, my plan is to blog earlier.

Let me put out these ideas. No matter what Mitt says or does, there are institutions and folks out there who are going to hate him, protest against him, and drag his name through the mud. Politics can be kind of messy that way. The question for a Mitt Romney supporter is how to deal with the negative without becoming negative ourselves?

1. See what kind of merit the negative comments have in them. Maybe the person giving the comments are doing so out of an honest heart and with good intentions. There very well may be some things that Mitt or the party may want to address or change that are mentioned in the negative remarks.

2. Don’t heed those who blame and complain the most. It’s not worth our time listening to someone who spends more of their time tearing down, than building up. It is likely that these types of folks will have problems staying with the truth, and will therefore eventually dig their own pit.

4. Agree with the opponent where you can.

Mitt is going to get hammered like anyone in the national political spotlight. But as long as the majority of the people are willing to follow an honest leader like Romney, our country will be good to go - no matter how much negative is out there.

go green, Mitt, go green

I have this feeling that it may be time for the Republican party to become more overtly green. A recent cover story from Newsweek magazine talks about how important being environmentally conscious is to Americans these days. Crude oil is getting kind of expensive. The world is developing great technologies in renewable energy.

From emails and blogs I have read, Governor Romney has a positive record on environmental issues. Check out http://www.enn.com/biz.html?id=1230. In an Aug. 5, 2006 posting to the Mitt_Romney_For_President_2008 yahoo email group, Mike Laub put together an excellent list of actions and quotes by Mitt on environmental issues. There may even come a time when any Republican political candidate without a strong pro-environment stance will be looked down on by the Republican party.

Certainly the Democrats will make fun of it, but I think the Republicans should start sending a strong message about why their ways to “be green” (using market-driven forces) are better than the other's methods (which may include protests, lawsuits, getting upset, making folks feel guilty, etc.) Why not have this change start with Mitt Romney? I feel if the greening of the Republican party is to happen, the sooner the better. Why not encourage Mitt, during the last couple of months as a governor, to do one more thing big, green, and long-lasting. Right now the things people most associate with Mitt are Presidential candidate; Mormon; governor; the Big Dig; 2002 Olympics; and health care reform. The next thing to add to that list could be a political leader who is big on clean and renewable energy, and protecting the environment.

But what could that achievement be?

Maybe some kind of Massachusetts-wide (or even nation-wide) open competition to design something green as a solution to a government-related issue in Massachusetts. Maybe something related to the Big Dig project. I feel that a competition like this is a something that the Republican party could pull off better than the Democrats. Competition sounds like free markets, right?

how to fix old pipelines

Just over the last couple of days we have learned that BP has had to shut down their pipeline from Prudhoe Bay which carries 8% of the nation’s domestic production of crude oil. On the news they said that the pipeline hadn’t been tested for like 16 years.

Not good.

Whatever the reasons behind this happening, and whomever is at fault, I thought that it is an interesting example of how big things can go way wrong. I envision in my mind a scenario like this:

Let’s say that John Doe begins working for BP in 2005 up in Alaska as some kind of entry-level technician. When he first sees the condition of the pipe, he thinks to himself, “this pipeline does not look like it is in good shape.” He asks his colleagues, some middle-level technicians, “How long is this pipe supposed to be good for?”
“Oh, about 25 years.”
“How long has it been in use?”
“30.”
“Why doesn’t the company invest in a new pipeline?”
“The head engineers say that it should be good for another 6 or 7 years. It would cost millions of dollars to invest in a new pipe - money which the company doesn’t have right now. Besides, if it does break it’s not our fault.”

One could say that our country has some items that have been getting worse for several years now. We have societal pipelines that are leaking some oil. I think one of the most important characteristics of a good President of the United States is being able to look back at the last couple of decades - even centuries - and understanding how we got to where we are today. Then they need to make decisions based on citizens living today as well as those living decades, even centuries in the future. I think Mitt Romney has the kind of leadership ability not only to fix the leaks when they are there, but more importantly - to make sure the pipeline is being tested and updated all along, if you know what I mean.

how about a political Consumer Reports?

Say I’m speaking with a salesperson about buying a digital camera. As he’s explaining about camera A, I ask, “what about camera B?” He responds, “camera B is totally a bad product. I wouldn’t buy it.” If the salesperson doesn’t have a good explanation about why camera B is so poor, that is a red flag for me. I generally wouldn’t listen much more to that salesperson. It makes me want to go to my Consumer Reports magazine and find an article where they have tested those cameras. It may be that the salesperson was right on the money about camera B, but I personally like to have more information about the options.

I’m amazed at the blogs out there about Mitt Romney. Great pictures, quotes, arguments, etc. Some really good quality information. However, I start to get the idea that most of the readers of these blogs are already strong Romney supporters. That is all fine and good. These blogs are where we get current events and learn about Mitt. But if I’m a voter trying to decide between, candidate A and candidate B, I want salespeople who can tell me the strengths and weaknesses of both candidates, so that I can decide for myself whom I prefer. What I’m saying is that to be effective Romney supporters, we ought to know almost as much about the opponents as about Mitt. Secondly, in addition to the blogs in the Mittosphere, there ought to be some type of forum where people can go and get an equal amount of information on each candidate, written by folks who are able to be objective about the situation. Something approaching like a Consumer Reports for politics. In that type of forum, I feel that it would be much easier for voters to see why Mitt is the best presidential candidate out there.

I have been reading several articles online and blogposts about the electability of a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints to become President of the United States. There are some good discussions out there. I think it’s great what Mitch Davis and Randy Davis are doing at runmittrun.org
In the recent Los Angeles Times poll which found that 37% of the U.S. would not vote for a Mormon to be President, the poll also questioned respondents if they would vote for a Muslim for President. That got me to thinking. Whom would I be willing to vote for? To me, the things I would look for in a president would go more or less in this order:
1. Are they honest? (This may sound strange, but if the person believes in God, I feel being honest would include the idea of the candidate having a clear conscience before God.)
2. Are they a selfless leader?
3. Do they have proven experience?
4. Are they mentally, psychologically, and physically fit to do the job well?
5. Are they able to work well with others by building consensus and by compromising when needed?
Given a choice of candidates, I would try and vote for the one who possesses these characteristics in the most abundance. To me, it wouldn’t matter if that person were male or female; black, white, or any other race; heterosexual or someone who experiences same-sex attraction; or if they were Catholic, Jewish, Protestant, Muslim, atheist, or agnostic.
The prospect whom I feel has the best qualifications for President of the United States for 2008 happens to be a Mormon.

Introduction

I was invited by Casey to be a blogger for this site. Thanks very much to Casey. My name is Mitchell, I live in Everett, and I studied political science at BYU in Utah. Right now I work at Everett Community College running a computer lab for English as a Second Language students. (I'll have to go put some more information about me on my account page.) I'm kind of a general news and politics junkie, but I've never been really interested in election politics because of all the partisan confrontation involved. I don't like the mud-slinging. But Mitt Romney gives me a reason to be interested in the 2008 presidential election. I feel he is someone I can really support.

As a BYU student I interned in Washington, D.C. in 1995 with Senator Patty Murray of Washington State. I don't agree with her politics in several areas, but I enjoyed the experience very much.

I'm new to blogging so please bear with me as I learn how this works. (As you can see, when I signed up to this service, I called my own blog, "I didn't really want a blog.") To tell you the truth, it blows me away to see how much there is to read out there on political blogs. One could sit in front of the computer and read these all day.

At any rate, this should be fun. I'm up for a good fight - a war of words, opinions, ideas, and commentary. Bring it on. Mitt and his Washington State supporters are ready for the struggle.