Gotta wonder what this is all about.  Does he want to distract people from his second electoral drubbing in one week or is he taking his ball and going home?  We shall see.

Instead of the traditional election night party, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich will hold a press conference after the Nevada Caucus on Saturday, raising new speculation about his future in the race.

An e-mail sent to reporters on Saturday morning set the Las Vegas press conference for 11 p.m. to midnight

Gingrich has had a rough time on the trail ahead of the Nevada Caucus, the first presidential contest in the West. Sources in or close to his campaign gave reporters incorrect information that Donald Trump would endorse Gingrich (he endorsed rival Mitt Romney). Gingrich also missed a meeting with the Silver State’s popular governor, Brian Sandoval, a Rick Perry supporter who was viewed as a possible Gingrich endorsement after Perry dropped out and endorsed the former House Speaker, according to The New York Times.

A Las Vegas Review-Journal—KLAS-TV poll released on Friday gave Romney a large 20-point lead over Gingrich heading into Saturday’s caucus.

National Journal

I couldn’t agree more with this analysis from Dick Morris:

For students of American politics, following the way the Romney campaign played Newt Gingrich in Florida is a lesson to learn and to keep. Romney’s people must have realized that Newt does best when he is positive. His bold ideas, clear vision, revolutionary insights and extraordinary perspectives resonate with voters and win him millions of supporters.

Romney, less compelling but more consistent, doesn’t need stellar debate performances or bold vision to win. The case for the former Massachusetts governor is more circumstantial: He can reach out to independents by virtue of his past apostasies on healthcare and abortion. He looks, talks and acts like a president. His record of job creation is exemplary.

But Newt needs the bold sally, the breathtaking moment of rhetorical clarity, to prevail.

So Romney’s people set out to mire Newt in negatives so he couldn’t and wouldn’t get out the positive message he needed to project to prevail. They tormented him with negative ads in Iowa. While the ads were generally accurate — the allegation about backing China’s forced-abortion policy aside — they presented only one side of the story and were stinging in their impact. Without funds, Gingrich couldn’t answer the negative ads. He fumed but watched, in impotence, as his vote share fell away.

In Spanish bullfights, the picadors torment the bull by sticking darts into his shoulders. Enraged, bleeding, frustrated and in pain, he lowers his head, snorts, paws the ground and charges straight at the matador, oblivious to the sword awaiting him behind the red cape. That’s about what Romney did to Gingrich in the January primaries.

The Hill

Mr. Morris is right.  Newt Gingrich is a higly educated, articulate man.  But he is also a man with an enormous ego and accompanying temper that he has great difficulty controlling.  As I have said in other posts, he simply does not have the temperment to go up against Barak Obama.  If he was whining about unfair treatment from Mitt Romney, he would literally self-combust against the President and his Chicago buddies.

Mitt Romney, on the other hand, has proven that he can not only dish it out with the best of them, but can take it as well and he can do so without losing his head.  He has shown, as Mr. Morris points out, “consistency” through out the campaign and “he looks, talks and acts like a president.”  He has also demonstrated a strong committment to traditional family values which the hard right values.  Mitt Romney’s “apostasies” are in the past.  In FL, Newt Gingrich proved that he hasn’t really changed all that much from his inconsistent, fiery, ego induced gaffe filled career and that turned voters off.

I, along with other Conservatives, have been quite dismayed over the last few weeks by the tactics of some Republican candidates in their quest to achieve the nomination of their party to run against Barak Obama. I was taken aback by Newt Gingrich’s assault on Mitt Romney’s business record which came straight out of Ted Kennedy’s 1994 campaign book and, no doubt, President Obama’s 2012 book as well. But I am even more disturbed to hear that now, some Conservatives are dismissing Mr. Gingrich’s past marital infidelities saying, in essence, “character doesn’t matter, we just want to win.”

Let me make this clear, I believe Newt Gingrich is a highly educated man who has done great things for the Conservative movement and, given the choice of him or President Obama, I would reluctantly vote for the lesser of two evils, Mr. Gingrich. But to dismiss his infidelity to two previous wives as a matter of political expediency is both moral and political suicide. Either Conservatism stands for traditional morality or it doesn’t. If we now, after having hounded Bill Clinton from office for similar offences, wink and nod at Newt Gingrich’s behavior, are we not surrendering to the Left’s insistence that traditional morality has no place in our political process? What standing do we leave ourselves on other moral issues such as gay marriage or abortion?

I first realized that the Left held nothing for me when I observed Ted Kennedy’s behavior in the aftermath of Chappaquiddick. He insisted that the whole thing was a personal failure and that he should be forgiven for it. And, as a young kid, I thought “OK, he made this one mistake, maybe he should be forgiven.” But then, in the ensuing years and culminating with his performance in the Bork Hearings, I observed his total lack of forgiveness towards others (read Republicans) with far less lethal “personal failings.” I then came to the conclusion that the Left, since so many of them to this day insist that Mr. Kennedy did nothing unforgivable on that lonely island road, had decided that Mr. Kennedy’s politics and political viability were far more important to them than the mere life of another human being. Am I now to learn that Conservatives feel the same way about marital infidelity? Was all that was said about Bill Clinton just hot air?

Look, none of our candidates in this crop are perfect. Everyone makes mistakes, some more serious than others. Mitt Romney’s record has inconsistencies, I know. But so does Mr. Gingrich’s. So, the question becomes, which inconsistencies can we live with? Can we live with inconsistencies that are born of the politics of running for office in one of the bluest of blue states or can we live with those of someone whose failures are more personal in nature? To my mind, it is easier and preferable to deal with someone who can be persuaded to change a political opinion than it is to deal with someone who has demonstrated more than once that wedding vows, which are meant to be a sacred covenant between two people, are nothing but meaningless words. To accept such personal behavior undercuts all that Conservatives stand for and accepts the Left’s proposition that “character doesn’t matter.” Thus, in the primaries, I cannot support Newt Gingrich.

San Diego Union-TribuneBy:  John Marelius

FIELD POLL: GOP gubernatorial race

45%: Meg Whitman
17%: Steve Poizner
38%: Undecided

Former eBay CEO Meg Whitman has opened a commanding lead in the race for the Republican nomination for governor in the wake of former Rep. Tom Campbell’s decision to drop his bid for governor and switch to the U.S. Senate race.

A new Field Poll shows Whitman leading state Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner 45 percent to 17 percent among voters likely to cast ballots in the June 8 Republican primary election….

What does this say about California GOP voters that they have given Meg such a commanding lead over Steve Poizner??  I think it means that the people of CA are tired of financial incompetency at the helm and are ready to vote in someone with real world economic experience, and Meg certainly has that(Meg created thousands of jobs as the CEO of ebay)!

Furthermore, what will a Meg Whitman win mean for a future Presidential candidate names Mitt Romney?  Let’s just say that Romney only lost CA to McCain by 5% in 2008.  Meg will have developed a fresh popularity, not as much as Scott Brown, but Mitt will have both of their endorsements.  Even if Meg only wins the GOP nomination, her endorsement of Governor Romney will still have a huge influence on the GOP voters in CA.

See here for some Romney vs Obama stuff.

This morning Governor Mitt Romney sent out the following message regarding the battle between Scott Brown and Martha Coakley for the Massachusetts Senate seat.  As President Obama and others on the left are making a desperate attempt to create a win for Martha Coakley, especially after the most recent polling which shows Scott Brown in the lead as well as endorsements coming his way, Governor Romney is asking for your help.

I will get right to the point. The Senate race here in Massachusetts is incredibly close and turnout is going to hold the key to victory.

The Democrats have a plan: Bring in paid union members from across the country to man phone banks and knock on doors, smear Scott Brown’s good name and record, and get Democrats to the polls. They are doing this because they know it is the only way they can win.

That is why I am writing today, because getting Scott Brown voters to the polls will be critical to victory. I am asking for your help to counter the Democrat machine. I am asking you to help make calls to Scott Brown supporters from your home. Here’s what you do:

Just click this link: http://www.brownforussenate.com/call-from-home-registration

Then request your username and password. After that, an email will be sent with instructions. It’s that easy!

Listen, the Democrats can bring in all the hired guns that they like, but this is still the people’s Senate seat. There is simply no substitute for personal contact in a race this close. It is the most important thing you can do and it could help provide the difference between victory and defeat Tuesday.

It is one thing to say you like Scott Brown. It is another to actually contribute your time to making sure that Scott Brown becomes the 41^st Republican vote in the Senate.

I want you to know that we have won big before in Massachusetts when people said it was impossible, and Tuesday we are going to do it all over again.

Thank you so much for your time and for your help.

Sincerely,

Governor Mitt Romney

Mitt and Ann Romney were recently by Fox News’ Gretchen.  That interview will air on Wedsnesday.  Here are some excerpts of what Governor Romney had to say about his plans for 2012.

Former Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney says he will decide after the 2010 Congressional elections whether to take on pro-abortion President Barack Obama. Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, ran as a pro-life candidate against eventual nominee John McCain.

Romney is one of several Republicans considering a bid against Obama and consistently polls in the top three in most surveys of Republicans and American voters.

He has ranked as one of the top potential candidates along with pro-life former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee.

In a new interview with Fox News slated to air Wednesday, Romney discusses his plans.

“It’s always a possibility, and you keep the options open, but, you concentrate on the task ahead, for me that’s trying to get some good people elected in 2010,” he says on the Fox News program “Fox and Friends.”

“And, I know once that’s done the next item on the agenda is what’s 2012 going to be; and, Ann and I will give that some thought and make the decision then,” he added.

Appearing like a candidate, or at least an advocate for “change” in 2010, Romney voiced criticism of Obama, saying he has governed from the left when he pledged to be a moderate.

“I had higher hopes for him,” Romney said. “I knew he was a smart individual — I thought that he would learn that governing from the middle was the right way to go, as president Clinton learned his second term, but he’s made a lot of the mistakes that ideologues often do, which is thinking that everybody in the country voted for their extreme agenda.”

Romney also talked about Palin in the interview on the Fox News show and diffused rumors that she may consider a third-party presidential bid.

“I don’t know what her plans are but my expectation is that she’ll stay in the Republican party,” he said.

“Look, she’s a great, energizing member of the party. She has good ideas that have galvanized a lot of support for the party and she’s a welcome addition,” he added.

During the campaign, Romney said he is pro-life on abortion and went as far as endorsing the overturning of Roe v. Wade so states can again protect women and unborn children from abortion.

However, the former governor came under fire from some quarters for his state health care plan, which includes taxpayer-funded abortions. Romney countered that the state Supreme Court required abortion funding under the program.

A Gallup survey asked Republicans to say whether they would like any of several potential presidential candidates.

Some 71 percent of Republicans say they would seriously consider voting for Huckabee while the same 65 percent say they would consider Romney or Palin, both of whom ran as pro-life candidates in 2008.

A previous Rasmussen poll found 29% of Republican voters nationwide say Huckabee is their pick to represent the GOP in the 2012 presidential campaign.

The survey had 24 percent preferring Romney and 18% would cast their vote for pro-life former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin.

The full interview is set to air on Wednesday but Fox was able to give us a peak into their interview with Ann:

There is a cover to Mitt Romney’s new book which is set to be released on March 10, 2010 and is available for pre-order at Amazon.com. The title of this book is, to me, an indication that Romney may be gearing up for the challenge of digging Barack Obama out of The White House. The name of the book is No Apology: The Case For American Greatness.

Who has been apologizing for America lately? Barack Obama has been the biggest apologist for America we have ever known in a U.S. President! Jimmy Carter would definitely come in 2nd place.

Governor Romney has written only one book prior to writing this book. That book is titles “Turnaround: Crisis, Leadership and the Olympic Games.” As many well know, the 2002 Olympics was rocked by major debt and scandal when Governor Romney turned it around and made it a huge success. Then he went to MA, where the state was in a 3 billion dollar deficit, turned that state around and made it a surplus. I am very excited for the release of his new book. I think the launch date will prove to be the right timing.

As Governor Romney continues to campaign for 2010 candidates, I am confident that we will see his strength in the polls increase. He is already ahead in nearly every poll out there. He is, and has been all year, establishing a strong network as he has been out campaigning for other candidates at a grass roots level. He has appeared on major news networks and has hit President Obama hard on health care, bailouts and national security, including the recent decision to abandon missile defense in Europe.

He is laying a very solid foundation for a 2012 run for President by helping others get elected and in the process is able to establish, more fully, his outstanding credentials and qualifications for POTUS.

No Apology: The Case For American Greatness will be published by St. Martin’s Press.

..the book outlines what appears to be a campaign platform: Mr. Romney’s views on how to create a stronger economy, military and families, and his vision on jobs, education, health care, energy and citizenship. The manuscript is currently 304 pages.

For other books on Mitt Romney, scroll down and you will see them on the right side of this blog under “Recommended Books.”

Update since this post was created:

Mitt was recently interviewed on State of The Union and was asked “are you hoping that the release of your new book will help move you toward a run in 2012.”  Mitt said, “what I hope it does is help people understand that we are headed on a course of real uncertainty….and could easily be eclipsed by other nation like China.”

Mitt also states, when asked if he thinks his book will help him catch up to Sarah Palin’s money figures, “no, it’s not a book about my life, it’s a book about America and the challenges we face as a Nation.”  This is one of the things I love about Mitt Romney.  His PAC is not named after himself, like the other candidates, the proceeds of his book will go to charity, and his book is NOT about himself or his life, but about America.  The name of Romney’s PAC is “Free and Strong America,” not Romney PAC (Huckabee and Palin both named their PAC’s after themselves).

In a recent article it was announced that Alec Baldwin has decided he is no longer interested in acting.  Mr. Baldwin, apart from his roles in such movies as “The Hunt for Red October” and “Glengarry Glen Ross”, is also know for being a highly opinionated man with a volcanic temper.  He has, in the past, called for Republican Henry Hyde and his family to be dragged out into the street and stoned to death and has described his own daughter as a “rude, thoughtless little pig.”  And in this most recent story about his decision to leave acting, we learn that he doesn’t mind having ended his relationship with his girlfriend of seven years because “I’d rather be lonely than wrong.”   This statement is both shocking and entirely unsurprising;  Mr. Baldwin abuses friend and foe, including family because he would rather be alone than admit he was wrong.  It explains quite a lot, really.

Now, Mr. Baldwin is no hero over at Free Republic.com.  His decidedly Liberal point of view and consistently over-heated, dishonest and hysterical declarations about Conservatives (not to mention the garbage he points at his supposed loved ones) earns him nothing but derision at FR and deservedly so.  And yet, many Freepers (particularly the head Freeper himself) share this very trait they hate so much in Mr. Baldwin.  Enemies are not just wrong, they are evil incarnate.  And, even the slightest degree of disagreement is cause for breathless, hyper-critical and dishonest denunciations of people who are, in most other respects, their allies.

Currently, with Obama and Congressional Democrats trying to remake this Democratic Republic into a Socialist Democratic country in the  European socialist mold, Islamic terrorists regaining their strength and motivation  and our very Constitution hanging in the balance, Jim Robinson has decided that the biggest enemy that the world faces right now is…Mitt Romney.  Mr. Robinson has gone so far as to insist that not only was Mitt Romney strongly pro-abortion but that Romney himself is a “big government socialist butcher.”  And, when it is pointed out to him that Conservatives like Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity have (or at least had at the time) a different view of Mr. Romney despite having seen the same videos and same information Mr. Robinson is presenting as proof of Mr. Romney’s myriad sins against humanity, this was his reply “(It) Doesn’t matter to me what Rush Limbaugh or anyone else says about the man.” and “Some on your list of conservative leaders may be in line for a sudden demotion if they continuing pushing the RINO line.”  Mr. Robinson, meet Mr. Baldwin.  You have at least one trait in common.  Jim Robinson would rather be “alone” politically than admit even the possibility of being wrong.

Free Republic has been and is today a great resource for news gathering and the dissemination of the Conservative view point.  Mr. Robinson has done Conservatism and the country a great favor with his site.  However, when the dialog goes from simple disagreement to accusations of “butcher” and “pig” over quotations that have been deliberately taken out of context and exaggerated for political gain, the benefit of such a site is diminished greatly.  Mr. Robinson has declared Free Republic to be off limits to those who support Mitt Romney.  At the same time, he is using his site to promote a view of Mitt Romney that borders on slander.  Yes.  It is his site and he can use it as he wishes.  Likewise, Mr. Baldwin has the right to say what he says, regardless of how idiotic, abusive and destructive to his own family they may be.

The big problem with the attitude of “I’d rather be lonely than wrong” is that it is tragically short sighted.  You may not “need” others right now, but you will in the future.  And when you do, you will in fact be completely alone.  We all have the right, whether it be online or elsewhere, to burn our bridges.  However, what we don’t have the right is to then expect in the future, when we find that we actually do need others, that we can just demand help from those we drove away all those years ago.  No human being is perfect.  No one gets all of the facts 100% right all the time.  Insisting that your interpretation of the facts is the only possible interpretation, particularly in the face of evidence that others you respect have a differing opinion, is nonsensical and ultimately self-defeating.

Mr. Baldwin is likely to end up old, alone and even more bitter about life than he is now.  We can only hope that Jim Robinson and the merry band of yes-men who want to drive out all those who disagree with them, can discover reason before they follow Mr. Baldwin down the path of self-destruction.  And for what its worth, here’s hoping Mr. Baldwin can find reason as well.

On November 2nd, Bill O’Reilly asked the millions of people who watch his nightly cable broadcast, “The O’Reilly Factor”, to vote in a poll that is found on his personal website (www.billoreilly.com).  It’s not the fact that he has a poll for people to vote in, nor the fact that he has a personal website that is so interesting!  It’s the nature of the poll that is most intriguing!  It’s WHAT the results of the poll could do for Governor Romney’s popularity and momentum as we inch our way closer and closer to (the process of) nominating our next president

The question found on Bill O’Reilly’s poll is:

• At this point in time, which Republican could beat Barack Obama?

It’s an interesting question to say the least and the mere thought of Barack Obama no longer having access and ability to inact his radical agenda while occupying the most powerful position on the planet is down right celebratory and uplifting in the highest degree!!!  This simple question almost immediately stirs up the hopeful emotions that (current polling data shows; see: Zogby, Oct/Nov 2009) a majority of Americans are patiently…and some/most impatiently…dreaming about.  While it is (unfortunately) still too early for Obama’s staff to begin planning his multi-million dollar (paid for by the tax-payers) farewell party (which will more than likely be hosted by the likes of Jeremiah Wright, ACORN leadership, SEIU members, Van Jones, and Fidel Castro…with a surprise visit from Raul Castro dressed up like Mao), it isn’t too early for the masses of able-minded and constitution-loving Americans to begin thinking about who should take his place in the Oval Office.  It’s never too early to begin building momentum and if enough people can take part in Bill O’Reilly’s poll in support of the Governor (Romney) then there’s a good chance for some real ”moMITTum” to take root in the minds of voters while propelling the thoughts of people across the country to start taking Governor Romney seriously as the only viable choice to unseat “the Chosen One”.

Here are the choices for participants of the poll to choose from (www.billoreilly.com):

• Mike Huckabee
• Mitt Romney
• Sarah Palin
• Newt Gingrich

The reason this poll is so intriguing for supporters of Governor Romney (as well as for those who are hopeful for someone who has the experience and ability to “fix” what Obama has so massively broken) is because of the viewership that Bill O’Reilly has on a nightly basis.  He has the MOST WATCHED cable news program on all of cable television and his numbers are staggering when compared to any other program on any other cable channel!  In fact, when you add up all of the other news programs during the same time-slot on all of the remaining competing channels he STILL has more viewers!  Even his nightly “re-runs” on Fox News has more viewers than his prime-time competition, which is impressive.  You don’t have to like Bill O’Reilly…you don’t even have to be one of the millions who watch his show; you just have to respect the sheer volume of viewers that his nightly news commentary program gets and recognize that as a major opportunity!  If Mitt Romney can get enough numbers on this poll to make his name stand out, or…even better…WIN…then he would be in the minds of millions of Americans throughout the country as someone whom the public ALREADY admires and respects!  Folks, this isn’t a cheesy FaceBook or iPod-application poll!  This poll…the one found on Bill O’Reilly’s web page (www.billoreilly.com) …will be viewed by millions and millions of people from coast to coast (as well as in various countries across the planet, which certainly must drive BSNBC’s Keith Odormann and that cute little boy, Rachel Maddow absolutel nuts…as well as the twelve people across the country who regularly watch their shows)!  This is a great opportunity for Romney supporters to help get the Governor’s name “out there” as well as an opportunity to show the country that Mike Huckabee is NOT a viable candidate nor a respected individual, let alone a politician.  It’s an opportunity to squelch the hype that is Sarah Palin, too!  It’s high-time she just stayed away from national politics and enjoyed the private sector for at least the next decade.  With as many viewers as Bill O’Reilly has access to on a nightly basis…the results of this poll could very well imply that (to her and her single-minded supporters)…loud and clear!  Let’s keep our fingers crossed!!!

Like a staunch foot odor or single-celled bacteria, Mike Huckabee has been tirelessly trying to worm his way in front of people in an effort to become more popular and likeable, while hoping that we’ve all forgotten what he’s done, what he’s doing, and what he’s willing to do.  He’s even recently proven that he’s willing to barter his (already much-maligned) reputation for a weekly paycheck and a spot on a seldomly-watched weekend television show named after himself so he can ”jam” on the bass guitar in an effort to appear hip and cool…just like his buddy, Bill Clinton.  Hmmm.  For those who are already informed and could never forget, we already know Huckabee’s ethically-challenged record and his willingness to exchange morals and integrity for a chance to ruin Governor Romney’s chance of winning the nomination.  The mere fact that Huckabee “teamed up” with his cohort-in-crime John McCain (one of the absolute biggest RINO‘s in the land) during the primaries of 2008 should have been enough for ALL of his past and current God-fearing supporters to write him off and discard him into political irrelevancy!  The fact that he was willing to “sell his political soul” to John McCain in order to possibly become his running-mate was down right despicable and shamefully obvious.  This poll is a perfect opportunity to help “nudge” Huckabee’s single-issue supporters into realizing the inevitable, which is that he is unelectable (just like Sarah Palin…especially like Sarah Palin), unqualified to “un-do” that which Obama has done, unethical, and politically inferior, but morally comparable, to Barack Obama.  Well, maybe they won’t be able to infer ALL of that just from Bill O’Reilly’s poll, but maybe if “the Huckster’s” numbers are low enough then they’ll start investigating other contenders who don’t act as whorish during opportunities of a political nature?!  Heaven help us if he (or Sarah Palin) end up winning O’Reilly’s poll.

Romney has a very motivated voting-base who have all helped him get his message of a free and strong America out into the public.  Here is yet another way for Romney’s impressive base of supporters to show the rest of the country that we mean business.  It’s an opportunity to show America that Governor Romney ALREADY has a lot of support even if it is three years until the election of 2012!!!  It’s an opportunity that we really should take full advantage of…and I hope that we will!

While it may be too early to send Barack Obama into the over-saturated public speaking circuit or to allow him to pursue his dream of becoming the next U.N. Secretary General, it is NOT too early to begin planning and preparing for it!  Still…to this day…there has yet to come another individual aspiring to the presidency with as much raw experience, strength, ability, leadership, or integrity as Mitt Romney…and I defy the person who tries to prove otherwise!!! Everyone who is reading this post knows this already, but we have to wonder about those who are not reading this.  We have to do what we can that will prompt our fellow Americans to begin thinking about or considering a Mitt Romney administration!  One of the great things about being a Mitt Romney supporter is that we have absolutely NOTHING TO HIDE about him!  His past speaks for itself and his accomplishments speak even louder!  We just have to get more Americans to start looking into who Mitt Romney is and at this point in time there isn’t a better opportunity than by helping the Governor show BIG numbers in Bill O’Reilly’s poll!

Again, here’s the web site where the poll can be found at:  www.billoreilly.com

Go!  Go and do! Tell your friends and your family members and your co-workers and cohorts!  Let’s take advantage of this great opportunity and let our numbers do the talking!  We all know the magic that Mitt Romney worked at the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City.  Well, my fellow Americans, I hate to break it to you, but AMERICA is now the “Winter Olympics” and we desperately need Romney to work his magic…on a slightly bigger scale this time!!! He’s done it time and time and time again with private companies for more than twenty years and I say it’s time for us to let him do it to our aching country…to bring us back to our roots and repair that which is utterly and shamefully broken!  YOU know this; I know this; now let’s allow our neighbors to know this by bringing his name to the forefront in November 2009.  Like I said before, it’s never too early to begin establishing solid moMITTum…even if it is three years until that moMITTum will yield a desired result!

FYI…I believe that the Bill O’Reilly poll (www.billoreilly.com) will be finalized at the end of the week (or possibly even Thursday) so time is of the essence!!!

Here’s hoping for a Romney/Gingrich ticket in 2012!!! Heck…a guy can day-dream, right???

God Bless America!

NOTE: I don’t want to make it seem as if ALL is riding on this non-scientific poll conducted by a television personality.  It’s just a poll and I’m sure it won’t “make or break” anyone listed on it.  I do believe that this is a great opportunity to develop some momentum for Romney if he can have a strong showing, but he isn’t going to win in 2012 just because of Bill O’Reilly’s popularity poll.  I’m pretty sure everyone reading this understands my point.  I’m personally very much looking forward to 2012 as an opportunity to erase one of our country’s biggest mistakes and strongly believe that no one could more successfully erase that mistake (and a lot of the residual that will be left over from said msitake) than Mitt Romney.  So, like I said…it’s just a poll, but it’s also an opportunity that I hope is taken advantage of.  Be well!

Mitt Romney addressed the American-Israel Public Affiars Comittee (AIPAC) this morning in San Diego.  Mitt had some harsh words for Iran, and for President Obama for his lack of spine in dealing with Iran.

Here is a short take from Chris Cilliza on The Fix.

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (R) condemned the Obama Administration’s approach toward Iran, a republic he described as “unalloyed evil” and controlled by “ruthless and fanatical” leaders in a speech to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee today in San Diego.

“Stop thinking that a charm offensive will talk the Iranians out of their pursuit of nuclear weapons,” said Romney. “It will not.” Later in the address, he punctuated that sentiment by noting: “Once an outstretched hand is met with a clenched fist, it becomes a symbol of weakness and impotence.”

Here is the full text of Governor Romney’s address to AIPAC:

It is a pleasure to participate in this national summit. The work you do has always been important— working to make Israel more secure, ensuring that American support remains strong, and confirming that Israel and America stand shoulder-to-shoulder in an increasingly dangerous world. I believe that your work is about to become far more important. It is for that reason that I flew here today to speak with you.

I have been to Israel twice – mostly recently in 2007. I came away encouraged by what I saw. On that last trip, I traveled (with some of the people in this room) by helicopter to Al-Fay Menasha. It was to tour a strategic span in the security fence, standing between the center of Israel and the West Bank. It is at that point that one can see just how narrow the waist of Israel actually is.

I was struck during that tour by the IDF officer that was briefing us. He bent over backwards to explain how low and how unobtrusive the fence was—how much effort had been expended to keep it from being too imposing. At one point, I respectfully interrupted him to explain that he didn’t need to apologize…at least not to this American. Because if America lived in a neighborhood like Israel’s, with suicide bombers crossing into our country to kill children in school buses, we’d be building a fence that was higher, thicker and hard as concrete. Israel should be proud that it values the blood of its countrymen—of its children—above the approbation of foreign bureaucrats.

During my last trip, I was impressed with the business community. As you know, my career was in business, as a management consultant, a venture capitalist and as a private equity investor. While in Israel, we met with entrepreneurs and business people. Their ingenuity demonstrated why it is that Israel has the highest density of start-ups in the world, and more companies on NASDAQ than all of India, China, Korea, Japan, and Europe combined. I understand that there is talk among some European organizations about boycotting Israeli products and barring Israeli academics. If they do, they will be punishing themselves more than they hurt Israel. Brilliant innovation and technology have always been able to penetrate the walls built by the uninformed, protectionist and prejudiced, and they always will.

Most of all, I was impressed with the people of Israel. That people actually immigrate to Israel, rather than fleeing from the threatening and violent neighborhood of the Middle East, is a testament to their courage, faith and character. It is an inspiration to an often self-indulgent world.

America and Israel are bound together by common commitments and shared values. We believe in representative democracy and human rights. We believe in the rule of law–in learning, scholarship, and free inquiry. We believe in the dignity of the human soul and in its God-given right to ascend above government domination… with freedom to speak, worship, associate and think as one desires.

And because we share the same values, we also share many of the same adversaries. We reject oppression, terrorism, authoritarianism. Violent Jihadists have referred to America as the “great Satan” and to Israel as the “little Satan.” Of course, they don’t recognize the irony, committed as they are to the imposition of power over others, to violence, to brutality, to the subjugation of women and girls and to bigotry and racism.

Israel has been fighting all of these things from the moment it was born. As the United States carries on that fight in countries scattered across the globe, we know that Israel is America’s most ardent ally in the Middle East.

The world is fast becoming a more dangerous place. Liberty and peace are threatened in new and frightful ways. Russia is returning to its authoritarian ways, fueled by its energy stranglehold on Europe. China has married the power of free enterprise with the oppression of Communist rule. Violent Jihadists are fighting to crush people and nations across the globe. And rogue nations with maniacal autocrats are recklessly pursuing nuclear capabilities that puts the world in jeopardy. Left unchecked, a nuclear race will be joined by many, many others.

For all these reasons, America needs strong allies. This is one reason why I am so very concerned by the current drift in our government’s relationship with Israel. In pursuit of a peace process, the United States today has exerted substantial pressure on Israel while putting almost no pressure on the Palestinians and the Arab world.

Consider how little we ask of the Arab world. Why is it that only Egypt and Jordan have peace agreements with Israel? What about Saudi Arabia? The Saudi government will not even sit in the same room as the Israelis, let alone normalize relations or work towards a realistic peace agreement. In 2007, at the height of the Olmert-Abbas peace track, the Saudis were demanding that more U.S. companies comply with their boycott of Israel.

Israel, on the other hand, has repeatedly demonstrated its commitment to a lasting and realistic peace. As you know well, in 2005, for example, Israel handed over the Gaza strip to the Palestinians. This generous, unilateral act was met in return with rockets fired into Israel, with a coup by Hamas in Gaza, and with two wars – one on the Lebanese border and another in Gaza.

Inexplicably, the United States now places the burden on Israel to make still more unilateral concessions. At the United Nations, we decried the building of new Israeli settlements but ignored the launching of Palestinian rockets. How is this possible? Have we not yet learned from the concessions in Gaza, as well as from all recorded history, that giving in to the demands of oppressors always and only leads to more demands, not to peace?

We can encourage both parties in the conflict, but we must never forget which one is our ally. Nor must we forget that Hamas, like other violent Jihadists, does not have a two-state solution as its objective—it has the conquest and annihilation of Israel as its objective. The notion that Hamas and violent Jihadists are motivated by “shared interests” and “common goals” is naïve in the extreme and dangerous to the entire free world.

This is one reason why America must never cede to the United Nations our commitment to Israel, our leadership of the free world and our defense of liberty. I will happily agree that the UN has done some good in its history. But I will also insist that it has also done terrible damage to the causes it claims to uphold. And on no issue has it been more irresponsible and morally reckless than when considering the fate of Israel.

Time and time again, the UN has become a forum for invective against the Jewish state. We saw it in 1975, when the UN passed an anti-Semitic resolution that condemned Israel as racist. And we have seen it in just the last few weeks, when the UN gave a platform to a Holocaust-denier who has pledged over and over again that he will wipe out Israel. It was a grotesque moment and another stain on the reputation of the United Nations. And congratulations to Prime Minister Netanyahu for having the moral courage to say what needed to be said to those members of the United Nations who stayed to listen to Mahmoud Achmadinejad—”Have you no shame!”

But the outrage did not stop there. A report, titled “United Nations Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict,” was the latest in a long line of infamous acts. The so-called Goldstone Report took Israel to task for defending itself after being pummeled by more than 7,000 missiles fired on Israel by Hamas. Hamas not only was targeting innocent civilians — it was also using innocent Palestinians as human shields. Israel took extraordinary measures to prevent civilian casualties. Yet who did the UN Human Rights Council see fit to condemn? Israel. Again, the words of Prime Minister Netanyahu, “A democracy legitimately defending itself against terror is morally hanged, drawn and quartered, and given an unfair trial to boot.”

A world in which America is more attuned to the approbation of the United Nations than to its ally Israel is a world in peril. May this never be so.

My concern extends to our entire foreign policy. If the U.S. Government engages tyrannies and autocracies – countries like Iran and North Korea, Syria and Russia, Sudan and Zimbabwe – based on the conviction that we are dealing with common interests more than competing interests, it will not end well.

Dean Acheson, President Truman’s Secretary of State, offered wise and timely counsel. Following the 2nd World War, America had recognized that not every power on this planet shared our goals and values. And this realization is what shaped the foreign policy that has guided us for 60 or so years. Truman, he said, had been “released from the acceptance of a dogma that builders and wreckers of a new world order could and should work happily and successfully together, [Truman] was free to combine our power and coordinate our action with those who did have a common purpose.”

Our approach to international relations must continue to adhere to the vision of Truman and Acheson. First, we should treat our allies like the allies they are. That means, for starters, not being harder on them, or demanding more from them, than we do from our adversaries. It means treating them with respect rather than offense. It means striving to make their lives easier rather than harder.

In short, we should honor the basic rules that govern state-to-state affairs. “Foreign policy commitments are not to be made and unmade at will,” Margaret Thatcher once said. “We cannot expect others to keep their word to us, unless we keep our word to them.”

Keeping our word to our allies is a matter of honor, but it is also a matter of self-interest. The United States needs allies for economic, political, and national security reasons. Good allies and strong alliances allow us to share the burdens we carry, complement and supplement our efforts, and present a united front against those who wish us harm.

When we treat any ally in a desultory manner – and especially if we act in a way that causes them to question our reliability, our resolve, our commitment and staying power – then they as well as our other allies, all of whom are watching very closely, will turn to others for their security.
When Poland and the Czech Republic are humiliated by us, they lose confidence in America’s support for them, and they may decide that they must incline more toward Russia.

If our friends in Latin America like Colombia become convinced that we are turning our back on them, they may feel compelled to become more accommodating to Hugo Chavez.

If Japan believes the United States is weakening its commitment in the Pacific, it may distance itself from America and draw closer to China.
When defenders of democracy and the rule of constitution and law in Honduras find that we have sided with their pro-Chavez illegal opposition, freedom fighters across the world, re-calculate their chances for success.

And if Arab nations believe that we will accommodate Iran’s ambition to dominate the Middle East with nuclear weapons, they will move closer to that very nation.
Whenever or wherever America steps away from one of its friends and allies, or shrinks in the face of belligerent tyrants, those who are allied with us may understandably or inevitably step closer to our foes. The advance of human rights and the defense of liberty demand that America stands firm with its allies—all of them.

I now want to say more about Iran. The Iranian leadership is the greatest immediate threat to the world since the fall of the Soviet Union, and before that, Nazi Germany. Mr. Ahmadinejad, has gone well beyond the boundary of outrage — beginning with his calculated desecration of history. When he denies the Holocaust, he could care less about history. His point is about the present and the future. His purpose is not merely to deny the Holocaust, but also to deny Israel. He is testing the waters. He wants to know who will object. And how they will register their objection.

The Iranian regime threatens not only Israel, but also every other nation in the region, and ultimately the world. It is a repressive regime… an intractable enemy of liberty and human rights… the world’s leading sponsor of terrorism and subversive war. The threat it poses to the world would take on an entirely new dimension if Iran were allowed to become a nuclear power.

Earlier this month, senior staff members of the U.N. nuclear agency concluded in a confidential analysis that Iran has acquired “sufficient information to be able to design and produce a workable” atom bomb. We also learned of a previously secret, illegal uranium enrichment facility that the Iranians had been hiding near Qom. A nuclear Iran would be a tipping point in the proliferation of nuclear regimes. It is beyond the scope of this address to provide a detailed tactical and strategic approach to Iran, as I endeavored to do at the Herzylia conference two years ago. In that address, I detailed the six critical steps that would have to immediately be taken to dissuade Iran from nuclear folly. Not a single one of them has been taken by America.

At this late stage I would simply say that it is long past time for America to recognize the nature of the regime we are dealing with. The Iranian regime is unalloyed evil, run by people who are at once ruthless and fanatical. Stop thinking that a charm offensive will talk the Iranians out of their pursuit of nuclear weapons. It will not. And agreements, unenforceable and unverifiable, will have no greater impact here than they did in North Korea. Once an outstretched hand is met with a clenched fist, it becomes a symbol of weakness and impotence. President Eisenhower said it well: “the care of freedom is not long entrusted to the weak and timid.”
The President of the United States can employ his admiration and good will to actually accomplish something meaningful and real in Iran– comprehensive, withering sanctions, diplomatic isolation, and international support for the forces of freedom within Iran. The people of Iran represent a major source of strength. By and large, they have not been radicalized by their government and clerics; in fact, the regime’s effort to crush the uprising against it has only alienated the people of Iran. They fear economic stagnation and they hate political repression. Most are not seeking a military confrontation with the West. Indeed, most want greater engagement with the West.

And the military option must remain on the table – and that threat needs to be credible. Unfortunately– for reasons that are unfathomable to me – our Government has signaled that the military option is effectively off the table. How can that be countenanced when an ally of the United States faces an existential threat?
I don’t pretend for a moment that the course of action to take with Iran is easy or obvious; there are costs to anything we do – but there are even greater costs if we do nothing at all. If we allow Iran under the rule of the mullahs to get a nuclear weapon, it will make the problems America faces today look like a walk in the park.
The clock is ticking, with no real progress to show for the precious time that has already lapsed.

Earlier I mentioned President Truman. I’d like to end my remarks by recounting a remarkable day in the history of our two nations, as told by Michael Oren – Israel’s ambassador to the United States. He tells how word of Israel’s birth reached Washington on May 14, 1948. At that moment, the armies of Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, and Iraq were mobilizing for war against the nascent state. The question on everyone’s mind was whether the United States would recognize this new nation of Israel and its self-proclaimed government.

Alone in the White House, with much of the world and many in his own Administration against recognizing Israel, Truman pondered the ramifications of his decision. At eleven minutes past six in the evening, an administration spokesman appeared before reporters at the White House. “This Government has been informed that a Jewish state has been proclaimed in Palestine and that recognition has been requested by the provisional government thereof.” Then, reading from a printed text, understating the momentousness of his message, the spokesman said, “The United States recognizes the provisional government as the de facto authority of the State of Israel.”

Truman never regretted his decision or the key role he played in mid-wifing the birth of the Jewish state. He understood how on every level – moral and geopolitical, cultural and historical – it was right for America to stand with Israel. Harry S. Truman was a wise and courageous president, a person of unshakeable principles, and a man who helped bend history in the direction of justice. Truman was a great president – in part because he was deeply committed to our friends, to our national character, and to the State of Israel. As it was, let us hope it shall be again.

Thank you very much.