My personal journey following and volunteering for Mitt Romney
on the 2012 Republican Primary Campaign Trail
Mitt Romney's Des Moines, Iowa Campaign Headquarters 1/3/2012 - Running total: 13 hours of driving/702 miles - DAY OF IOWA CAUCUS!
Yeah, that's me working the phones at Mitt Romney's Des Moines, Iowa campaign headquarters on the day of the Iowa Caucus. I had driven all night from my home in Texas, and arrived in Des Moines at about 3:00 pm on January 3, 2012. I immediately went to Mitt Romney's Campaign headquarters and announced to the guy at the door, "I just drove here from Texas and I'm here to volunteer and will do whatever you need me to do." The guy Scott, said "That's great!" and he put me to work on the phones. I worked the phones for about three hours, and I figured I contacted a couple hundred people in that time, either speaking to them directly, or leaving a detailed message encouraging them to vote at the caucus for Mitt Romney. I even arranged a ride for an elderly woman who wanted to vote for Mitt, but had no way to get to the caucus. I found another woman in her area that was going and exchanged with them each other's information, with their permission of course. Later that night at the Motel 6 in Des Moines (the only night I was able to afford a hotel room), I was watching the results come in and viewed with interest how the lead was changing back and forth between Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum. When it was all said and done, MITT WON BY JUST EIGHT VOTES! I realized then, that ONE PERSON CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE and I resolved to travel from primary to primary at my own expense to help Mitt Romney win the Republican Presidential nomination -- NEXT UP NEW HAMPSHIRE!
So, who am I? And, what made me decide to leave "hearth and home" and follow Mitt Romney on the campaign trail? Well, my name is Heath Dooley and I'm 49 years-old. In the past few years, I have been a lawyer with fifteen years litigation experience; a former restaurant owner for two years until the recession caused me to close the doors in April 2010; and most recently, a Texas licensed mortgage loan originator during the past year until the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act made the banks overly regulated and cautious, and the lending standards too difficult for most people to qualify for a mortgage. So, you might say it's a combination of things that has made me decide to take this journey.
First, I learned a couple of weeks before Christmas, that I was being laid off by the law firm I was working for as a paralegal (after deciding my best bet was to get back into law). They hired me for a "few-week temporary project" - an upcoming trial that was supposed to occur within three weeks of my hire, but after about two-weeks of working for them they received word from the court that the beginning of the trial would be postponed for another six weeks. They decided to keep me on through the trial, and I worked hard and impressed them with my important contributions that improved the theory of the case and the legal positions that bolstered our likelihood of success. The highlight of my experience there came before the trial started, when they received notice from one of the other employees at the firm that she was leaving, and they liked the job that I was doing so much that they offered me her job to be formalized after the conclusion of the trial. However, the trial didn't go as well as they expected. What could have been, and should have been, a potentially multi-million dollar verdict in favor of our client, and a large contingency fee for the firm turned out to be a total loss. The firm was out well over two-hundred thousand dollars in expenses and fees alone. Ultimately, after three and a half months of employment there, and the promise of a future position, the firm decided that they were not in a financial position to bring me on afterall. They felt badly about the situation and were extremely benevolent and generous about it. In addition to paying me a $2,000 bonus for my hard work leading up to and during the trial, they felt so bad about the situation of letting me go during the holidays that they paid me for an additional two weeks and gave me a great letter of recommendation. They didn't even want me to come in and work for the additional pay, rather they wanted me to spend my time and efforts in hope that I could find another job, but they said if I didn't they would hope to bring me back as soon as they could afford it.. I spent the time off trying to decide what my next step would be, and began formulating a plan to hit the job market hard after the first of the new year -- when I figured businesses would more likely be hiring. That is, until something happened to change my plans . . .
Second, sometimes you just need a change of scenery to clear your mind, and refocus the direction of your life. Then, just last week, I had a moment of epiphany in my life. I was following the developments leading up to the beginning of the Republican Primary contests, and I realized that I had a deep belief and conviction in Mitt Romney as THE BEST CANDIDATE FOR PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. So profound was my belief that Mitt Romney was the right man for the job -- in my mind, the ONLY candidate that could lead our country out of this disastrous economic quagmire and dangerous foreign affairs situation that we find ourselves in -- that I began to post political commentaries on my facebook site. I often would go head-to-head debating with many Ron Paul supporters on facebook, until I realized that I needed to do more than just sit on the sidelines and make comments on facebook. I felt that if I truly wanted to make a difference, I needed to get into the 'battle" and try to make a difference in the "trenches". I felt like there was no better place to make a contribution than where the "battle" was being waged, and I decided to go to Iowa and volunteer for the Mitt Romney campaign. I left Texas about 7:30 pm on Monday January 2, 2012 with my clothes, only about $1,000 in the bank, all the canned food that I had around my house, and blankets and a sleeping bag so I could sleep in my car; and made the 13 hour drive to Iowa through the night, stopping and napping in my car along the way -- You know the story from there.
After the votes were counted in Iowa, and I saw that Mitt Romney won by a mere eight votes, I felt an even greater sense of conviction that I needed to continue on with my volunteer efforts and head to New Hampshire -- the site of the next primary. So, here I am in New Hampshire, and this is the ongoing story of my journey -- PLEASE FOLLOW ALONG WITH ME ON THIS JOURNEY, AND EMAIL ME YOUR COMMENTS, IF YOU'RE SO INCLINED, TO HELP ME HELP MITT -- I THANK YOU FOR YOUR INTEREST IN MY JOURNEY: Please Email me with your comments: HeathDooley@live.com
So, who am I? And, what made me decide to leave "hearth and home" and follow Mitt Romney on the campaign trail? Well, my name is Heath Dooley and I'm 49 years-old. In the past few years, I have been a lawyer with fifteen years litigation experience; a former restaurant owner for two years until the recession caused me to close the doors in April 2010; and most recently, a Texas licensed mortgage loan originator during the past year until the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act made the banks overly regulated and cautious, and the lending standards too difficult for most people to qualify for a mortgage. So, you might say it's a combination of things that has made me decide to take this journey.
First, I learned a couple of weeks before Christmas, that I was being laid off by the law firm I was working for as a paralegal (after deciding my best bet was to get back into law). They hired me for a "few-week temporary project" - an upcoming trial that was supposed to occur within three weeks of my hire, but after about two-weeks of working for them they received word from the court that the beginning of the trial would be postponed for another six weeks. They decided to keep me on through the trial, and I worked hard and impressed them with my important contributions that improved the theory of the case and the legal positions that bolstered our likelihood of success. The highlight of my experience there came before the trial started, when they received notice from one of the other employees at the firm that she was leaving, and they liked the job that I was doing so much that they offered me her job to be formalized after the conclusion of the trial. However, the trial didn't go as well as they expected. What could have been, and should have been, a potentially multi-million dollar verdict in favor of our client, and a large contingency fee for the firm turned out to be a total loss. The firm was out well over two-hundred thousand dollars in expenses and fees alone. Ultimately, after three and a half months of employment there, and the promise of a future position, the firm decided that they were not in a financial position to bring me on afterall. They felt badly about the situation and were extremely benevolent and generous about it. In addition to paying me a $2,000 bonus for my hard work leading up to and during the trial, they felt so bad about the situation of letting me go during the holidays that they paid me for an additional two weeks and gave me a great letter of recommendation. They didn't even want me to come in and work for the additional pay, rather they wanted me to spend my time and efforts in hope that I could find another job, but they said if I didn't they would hope to bring me back as soon as they could afford it.. I spent the time off trying to decide what my next step would be, and began formulating a plan to hit the job market hard after the first of the new year -- when I figured businesses would more likely be hiring. That is, until something happened to change my plans . . .
Second, sometimes you just need a change of scenery to clear your mind, and refocus the direction of your life. Then, just last week, I had a moment of epiphany in my life. I was following the developments leading up to the beginning of the Republican Primary contests, and I realized that I had a deep belief and conviction in Mitt Romney as THE BEST CANDIDATE FOR PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. So profound was my belief that Mitt Romney was the right man for the job -- in my mind, the ONLY candidate that could lead our country out of this disastrous economic quagmire and dangerous foreign affairs situation that we find ourselves in -- that I began to post political commentaries on my facebook site. I often would go head-to-head debating with many Ron Paul supporters on facebook, until I realized that I needed to do more than just sit on the sidelines and make comments on facebook. I felt that if I truly wanted to make a difference, I needed to get into the 'battle" and try to make a difference in the "trenches". I felt like there was no better place to make a contribution than where the "battle" was being waged, and I decided to go to Iowa and volunteer for the Mitt Romney campaign. I left Texas about 7:30 pm on Monday January 2, 2012 with my clothes, only about $1,000 in the bank, all the canned food that I had around my house, and blankets and a sleeping bag so I could sleep in my car; and made the 13 hour drive to Iowa through the night, stopping and napping in my car along the way -- You know the story from there.
After the votes were counted in Iowa, and I saw that Mitt Romney won by a mere eight votes, I felt an even greater sense of conviction that I needed to continue on with my volunteer efforts and head to New Hampshire -- the site of the next primary. So, here I am in New Hampshire, and this is the ongoing story of my journey -- PLEASE FOLLOW ALONG WITH ME ON THIS JOURNEY, AND EMAIL ME YOUR COMMENTS, IF YOU'RE SO INCLINED, TO HELP ME HELP MITT -- I THANK YOU FOR YOUR INTEREST IN MY JOURNEY: Please Email me with your comments: HeathDooley@live.com
Manchester, New Hampshire - Mitt Romney Headquarters - 1/7/2012 12:00 NOON - Running Totals: 37 hours driving/2141 miles (with excursions to Nauvoo, IL, Carthage Jail, IL, Kirtland, OH, AND Boston, MA) - 3 Days Until NH Primary!
Here I am again working the phones for Mitt. It's a different enviornment in New Hampshire than it was in Iowa. In Iowa, Mitt had not spent much time campaigning there, and quite frankly, I thought there was a good chance that he wouldn't do well in Iowa at all. Here in New Hampshire, Mitt has a commanding lead. The combination of his familiarity to New Hampshire voters because of his recent governorship of Massachussetts, plus the heavily Republican area of New Hampshire creates a receptive environment for Mitt. Mix in a little "front-runner" bragging rights from Iowa, and we have all the markings of a commanding lead going into tomorrow's primary vote. But Mitt is taking nothing for granted -- he's hitting the campaign trail hard, as if he is behind in the polls, when he actually is showing about a 20 percentage point lead over his next closest rival. I am cautiously optimistic and predicting a strong showing tomorrow. The poor people of New Hampshire have been flooded with so many phone calls - they're just sick of it. Maybe I'll do something different tomorrow than just work the phones.
Mitt & Ann Romney visit NH campaign HQ
It was a nice surprise that Mitt & Ann Romney came in to thank all the volunteers working at campaign HQ. Mitt even took the time to make a few phone calls!
Mitt working the phones!
Mitt Romney sitting just a few feet away from me and working the phones to speak with prospective voters! I like his style!
1/9/2012 Bedford, NH Rally
Ann Romney gives a stirring speech in advance of Mitt's speech.
WHAT A GREAT FIRST LADY SHE WILL BE!
1/9/2012 Bedford, NH Romney Rally
New Hampshire U.S. Senator Kelly Ayotte endorses Mitt Romney for President.
Hello!
MITT WINS NEW HAMPSHIRE WITH 40% OF THE VOTE!!! -- GO MITT!
Ann Romney & Me (Unfortunately, my camera is difficult to take pictures with which accounts for the blurriness)
While Mitt worked the phones, I took the opportunity to ask "Sister Romney" if I could pose with her for a photo - she immediately picked up on the "Mormon Code talking" and asked me, "Where are you from?" I told her Arizona and Texas . . . and said, "Yesterday I attended the Bedford Ward, and they all are very supportive of Mitt." She was very gracious, and would make a GREAT first lady!
Tiffany (from Utah) and Ann Romney
The girl on the left is Tiffany and when I walked into the HQ, she immediately recognized me and said she saw me at church yesterday (Sunday) and appreciated my testimony. She's from Utah and came to New Hampshire just to work on the campaign. Here, she poses with Ann Romney.
1/9/2012 Bedford, NH Romney Rally
Former Minnesota Governor, Tim Pawlenty endorses Mitt Romney for President as he introduces Mitt to the crowd at the rally.
1/9/2012 Bedford, NH Rally
Mitt Romney going for the gusto - WHAT A GREAT PRESIDENT HE WILL BE!
New York City!
Good bye New Hampshire -- you've been good to us! Now it's off to South Carolina! HELLO NEW YORK!
A WHITE CASTLE SLIDER!
What would a trip to New York be without stopping for a White Castle "slider"? My first, and I have to say I don't really understand what the hub bub is all about!
A common sight if Ron Paul were to be elected President! -- GOD FORBID!!!
I've never seen this before! -- A SHARPS CONTAINER IN A REST STOP BATHROOM IN NEW JERSEY COMPLETE WITH IV NEEDLES! I guess if Ron Paul were elected President and he had his wish of legalizing drugs in the U.S. we could see more of these!!!
COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA! 1/12/2012 8:00 PM - Running Totals: 54.25 driving hours/3,157 miles with an excursion to Gettysburg, PA.
I showed up here in Columbia, South Carolina at the Mitt Romney Campaign HQ on Friday January 13, 2012 and this campaign HQ was much different than Iowa and New Hampshire. Where both of those other offices seemed like they had lots of volunteers and they had been in place for a while, there seemed to be a skeleton crew in South Carolina. It made me feel more needed. I introduced myself to John Eddy - the volunteer director for South Carolina and he immediately put me to work.
The robo calls were doing there thing here, so making phone calls wasn't a priority yet. So John had us pitching in at the Romney Rallies and appearances around the state. On Saturday, we helped out at the Sumter, SC Rally where I met the famous former NASCAR driver Bobby Allison. I got the assignment of guarding the back door of the Rally near Romney's tour bus where he entered and exited the building. I was joined in my assignment by a cop by the name of "Heath" and we shared a few chuckles at the coincidence. We were the beneficiaries of some Chick-Fil-A dinners that were bought for the Romney enterage that they decided not to eat.
On Sunday, John Eddy (the man in charge of the office here) found out that I had been sleeping in my car at night and showering at the YMCA, so John made a call to a donor and arranged for me to stay with one of the other volunteers, Jeff, in his hotel room at the Marriott for no charge - they are nice people to be looking out for me that way. I very much appreciate it!
On Monday, We drove down to Myrtle Beach, SC to help out at the rally and the debate down there and had quite the experience. They recruited me and another volunteer Jeff to be drivers in the Romney motorcade. I drove the second vehicle in his motorcade to the Rally and debate with his senior advisors in it - I'm starting to feel a little like Forrest Gump - always pictured in the background at significant events! lol
Florence, SC Rally
The Governor and Mrs. Romney appearing in Florence, SC at 8 am on January 17, 2012, just a mere 8 hours after the Myrtle Beach Debate the previous night.
Florence, SC Rally
Governor Romney on "fumes" giving the crowd something to cheer about!
Irmo, SC Rally 1/18/2012
This is me and Allen. He and I both worked Des Moines, Iowa; then Manchester, NH; then Columbia, SC - He's another lawyer from the DC area. Really nice guy! My assignment tonight was to guard the back door of the hall where Mitt was speaking to restrict access in and out of there.
Harmon's Tree Farm, Gilbert, SC Rally 1/20/2012
Mitt Romney and Governor Nikki Haley of South Carolina at the Rally at Harmon's Tree Farm in Gilbert, SC
Gilbert, SC Rally - the Romney Campaign Bus
I've had the chance to talk to the bus driver quite a few times - he's a nice guy!
John Eddy - the man in charge!
This is me and John Eddy from Arkansas and originally from Mesa, Arizona. He is the man in charge of the Columbia, SC HQ office. He is a volunteer also, but he has some serious experience with running political campaigns. In fact, that's what he does for a living. He took some time off from his regular job to help out Mitt. We've had the chance to spend quite a bit of time traveling around the state of SC going to various events. We've had a lot of fun! DID I HAPPEN TO MENTION THAT HE'S GOING TO BE THE NEXT CONGRESSMAN FROM ARIZONA!
Harmon's Tree Farm, Gilbert, SC
This is me and Jeff Capolla, another Romney volunteer who I am rooming with.
Vicki Robbins from Columbia, SC HQ
This is Vicki - the first person I met when I got to the Columbia, SC office. She is so sweet! She has made cupcakes, and chilli, and all kinds of treats for us. Plus, she's just the nicest person. Did I happen to say that she resembles Elizabeth Taylor and she's so sweet?!
Another Driving Opportunity - this time to Mitt's Primary Night Party
I met Maya, who works with Mitt's high-roller donors and had the chance along with Jason Simmons to be drivers of the two white vans transporting Mitt's big donors to the Primary Night Party - Unfortunately it wasn't a victory party. When we returned to the Marriott Hotel, I pulled in right behind Mitt's SUV and I had the chance to shake his hand for the first time, I told him, "I was with you in Iowa, and New Hampshire, and here in South Carolina, and I will be with you in Florida too, because I believe in you." He said, "Thank you, I really appreciate that." and patted me on the shoulder - I'll always remember that!
MITT LOSES SOUTH CAROLINA TO NEWT - 40% - 28% -
SHAKE IT OFF WE'RE OFF TO FLORIDA!
WHAT WE DID WRONG IN SOUTH CAROLINA – 5 SOLUTIONS!
(A view from the “trenches”)
By Heath Dooley – Romney volunteer in
Iowa, New Hampshire, & South Carolina
I am by no means a professional political strategist or advisor. I am just an average middle-aged man from Texas via Arizona, but I believe I can relate to the common man from middle America – the type of man whose vote Mitt Romney has been losing to Newt Gingrich and the other candidates in the South Carolina race. Since I have a little first-hand experience from having volunteered on Mitt’s other campaigns that were more successful in Iowa and New Hampshire, and my education and life’s experience in rhetoric and public communication, I thought I would include my observations about what went wrong in South Carolina in my humble opinion, and how to correct those missteps:
1. Robo-calls need to decrease in frequency: In Iowa and New Hampshire we did not receive the backlash from prospective voters we were calling in GOTV efforts like we did in South Carolina. The voters in SC that we called were irate, and complaining that they had been inundated with 5-6 robo-calls per day! Many said they were on the fence and considering voting for Mitt, but the incessant robo-calls made them decide that they were not voting for Mitt. I know there is a statistical formula for the number of calls needed to influence a voter to vote for a particular candidate, but I am sure that formula was exceeded to the point of diminishing returns and negative pushback.
2. Second Amendment Gun Rights Needs to be Affirmed: Early in the week preceding the primary election in South Carolina, the National Association for Gun Rights sent out a “hit piece” to prospective voters claiming that they sent out a survey to each candidate about their position on gun rights and Ron Paul was the only candidate that chose to return their survey. They urged all the voters to call the other candidates, and provided their campaign HQ phone number, and boy did they ever call. Many people called to ask about Mitt’s position on Second Amendment rights and why he didn’t return the survey. I was pleased to hear Mitt address the issue in one of the debates, but unfortunately I don’t believe he addressed it in a credible way that put gun owner’s minds at ease. He seemed to be confused about whether he last hunted moose or elk, and wasn’t sure when that occasion was. I believe this lack of familiarity with the hunting theme is only hurting his position on this issue, and I also believe that part of the problem is the advice that he is being given by his advisors from Massachusetts – a very liberal state that doesn’t value gun rights and many there only believe guns are to be used for hunting. The best way to put this issue to rest is to have a photo op of Mitt on a gun range firing a rifle, preferably an automatic weapon. Not only will a “picture speak a 1000 words”, but it will show the American voter that not only does Mitt say he supports gun rights he ACTUALLY enjoys those rights. Firing a gun at a shooting range is a perfectly acceptable use of a gun and does not turn off the animal rights people, but pleases the gun enthusiasts. Plus, it will help ease the frustration of the loss in South Carolina! (lol) Seriously though, Florida is a perfect place to do this as Florida has a very popular Concealed Weapons Permit that is viewed positively by the American gun rights enthusiasts at large. There have been three highly publicized problems in New York in the past couple of months involving concealed weapons permit holders getting arrested for carrying their guns into New York, unknowingly and disclosing them to the authorities and summarily getting arrested, thrown in jail and charged with felonies. The first involved a woman who was a concealed weapons permit holder and went to the WTC ground zero memorial and saw the sign about no weapons permitted and asked a security guard if there was a locker or place for storage, only to be arrested. The second involved a Marine who was a CWP holder who visited the Empire State Building and saw a similar sign banning weapons and offered his gun to a security guard only to be arrested and charged. The third, and most important incident involved a high-ranking member of the Tea Party movement who was flying out of a New York airport and had his gun, unloaded in a TSA approved locked case in his checked baggage. He declared it to the ticket agent who called police and arrested him. It seems if Mitt spoke out in support of these individuals on these incidents, perhaps advocating a national “full-faith and credit” concealed carry law, requiring all states to honor the concealed carry permit of another state, would be a good way to curry favor with the national gun rights people and speak directly to the Florida voters with an issue important to them.
3. Tax return disclosure needs to occur right now: Newt and the liberal media are having a heyday with this issue, because it looks like Mitt has something to hide, even though I am sure he does not. People’s imagination about the unknown always gets carried away, and it always turns out upon disclosure that “The devil that you know is never as scary as the devil you don’t know” but only imagine. If the issue is only paying 15% tax on investment income – Oh well, that’s the law, and it’s designed to encourage those with capital to invest it in business – the common man understands this. The common man also understands there is nothing wrong with wealth, and in fact, he aspires to attain it as well. If the issue is overseas investment or accounts, then the response is everything was perfectly legal, and it is a common practice. If the issue is the significant sums of tithing paid to the LDS church, then again the answer is that is the common practice of church members, and he is no different than other Latter Day Saints (See Item #5 for further LDS issue clarification)
4. Bain Capital issue needs to be put to bed in a dismissive fashion: Mitt needs to stop apologizing for being a free market capitalist. Instead, the response should be, “Sometimes capital investments in companies work and they’re successful, sometimes they don’t and you have to close the doors.” PERIOD!
5. Establish Common Ground with Evangelical Christians: I know from feedback on the ground that many Conservative Christian voters in South Carolina voted for Newt instead of Mitt because of the ongoing negative perception they have about the LDS church. I don’t believe this negative perception can ever be completely eradicated, but I believe it can be effectively mediated. My experience here as a former non-denominational Christian who converted to the LDS church some 25 years ago makes me uniquely qualified to opine on this subject. First, establish a positive orientation and image in the eyes of the conservative Christians to refute the “Not a Christian allegation” by showing a video of Mitt and his family at home around the dinner table saying a blessing on the food and closing by invoking the name of Jesus Christ – something that most all Christians can relate to and agree with. Next, show another image that’s central to the LDS church - the statue of “The Christus”, an image that most all Christians can relate to, and have Mitt explain how the original statue exists and was created in Vor Frue Kirke (Church of our Lady) in Copenhagen, Denmark, and how the LDS Church has adopted the statue as an inspired image of our “Lord and Savior” that exists in many LDS visitor centers and meeting houses. Then, UTILIZE AND PUBLICIZE the endorsement of Jay Sekulow (this is BIG - as big as a prominent evangelical pastor endorsing Mitt) by writing an “Open Letter to Conservative Christians” and having Jay sign off on it along with Mitt seeking common ground rather than divisive denominational differences over doctrine. Emphasize the commonality of faith in God the Father and his Son Jesus Christ with other Christians, and point out that there are many more areas in common than differences. Most importantly, identify the common adversary as “secular humanism” and those people who want to remove God from our society. Assure them that Mitt is committed to preserving their right to exercise the religion of their choice, and suggest that if Mitt were President he would advocate for the rights of other denominations like the Catholics and their adoption programs to be free from the entanglements and regulations of the state to attempt to coerce them into adopting to gay and unmarried people, and those other Christian groups that would like to be free to have the right to voluntary school prayer, and continue to advocate for the protection of marriage and the family. I believe this will go a long way to get more of the conservative Christians to have a more favorable image of Mitt.
THANK YOU FOR CONSIDERING MY OPINIONS!
Please feel free to send any feedback to: HeathDooley@live.com
MIAMI, FLORIDA 1/22/2012 11:00 PM - Total Driving Time 64.25 hours/3,792 miles -1/23/2012 (8 days to FL primary)
Traveling from Miami to Naples then to Ft. Myers, FL for another Mitt Rally
Drove Northwest from Miami on Highway 41 through the Everglades and saw this little place in the middle of nowhere. Unfortunately, it was closed or I would have stopped and gotten something to eat.
Mitt at the Lehigh Acres, FL Rally
Here's Mitt making a point about the tragedy of so many foreclosed homes here in Florida, and how Newt Gingrich made $1.7 milliion "influence peddling" for Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae while these folks were losing their homes to foreclosure. When Mitt was driving off from the rally, I was standing next to Wilson's truck and his window was down in the SUV, and I said, "Hey Governor!"; Mitt replied, "You hanging out with Wilson now?" I said, "You bet . . . Keep on Keeping on!" Like I told Maya, I THINK I HAVE A MAN-CRUSH ON HIM! LOL
Wilson's Truck at the Lehigh Acres Rally
This is Wilson's truck, I'm still hoping to get a picture of Wilson. I've grown rather fond of him since first encountering him at the Bedford, NH rally, when he was chasing off some Occupy Wallstreet people in the crowd trying to create a disturbance and he looked at me and said, "I'm keeping my eye on you!" He's a crusty old Army vet from the 82nd Airborne and did some fighting in Vietnam - he kind of reminds me of Clint Eastwood, and my late Uncle Paul, who I always admired.. Anyway, he's a good guy and he's at every rally and he's always the first guy I look up when I'm at a rally.
Another Satisfied Romney Supporter!
Here's a man leaving the Romney Rally at Lehigh Acres - A true patriot and "salt-of-the-earth" supporter!
A beautiful
I found this beach near Clearwater, FL . . . white sands, the sound of the gentle waves lapping onto the beach, setting sun . . . if only I had that special someone with me . . .
MITT ROMNEY TAKES FLORIDA 46% TO 32% FOR GINGRICH!
Well, it was tough coming from the defeat in South Carolina and believing that we could turn it around in Florida. First off, the campaign strategy was quite a bit different here in Florida. Not as much reliance on grassroots GOTV efforts. Romney brought down a boat load of college-aged interns to run the show down here in Florida. They didn't reach out for volunteers, and quite frankly, didn't really know what to do with us when we showed up. The approach was to use the mass media and to bombard the airwaves with ads. Fortunately, Mitt had the war chest to do it effectively. Combine the gaffs of Newt Gingrich, "Within my second term as President, we will establish a colony on the Moon!"; two great debate performances by Romney, where he showed the voters that he was willing to put up a fight and "take the mitts off"; and, a ton of endorsements by the mainstream Republican party, with commentators coming out of the woodwork with the dreary prospect of Gingrich potentially being the nominee. As I was heading down I-10 West toward his Saturday morning rally at Pensacola, who do you think sped by me on the interstate hauling A at 80 mph? Yes, my old friend Wilson in his Romney Flag Truck. I kept up with him until he finally stopped for gas, and saw him one last time - I STILL DIDN'T GET THAT PICTURE! Anyway, Wilson turned off and went to prepare for another rally later in the afternoon in Panama Beach and I went on to Pensacola. I saw Mitt at the rally in Pensacola, where the actor Jon Voight, Senator John McCain, and some other high profile people were there to introduce and further endorse him. After the rally, I made my way to New Orleans to visit a friend for a day, then headed back home to Texas. I'm hoping to get a little more money together and get back out on the road again for the campaign . . . ARIZONA VOTES ON FEBRUARY 28TH - MAYBEE I'LL MAKE IT BACK TO MY HOME STATE AND SEE WHAT i CAN DO THERE! . . . STAY TUNED!!!