Mitt Romney Comes to Des Moines, Attracts Massive Media Coverage

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Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney speaks at
a fundraiser for the Polk County Republican Party.

DES MOINES, Iowa
Wow — what a crowd! I just got through covering Mitt Romney’s speech to a fundraiser for the Polk County GOP, and it was kind of eye-opening to see how much more media coverage the national front-runner gets.

So far in Iowa, I’ve been to events for Herman Cain, Michele Bachmann and Rick Santorum. If they get a couple of local TV stations and two or three newspaper reporters to an event, that’s “good coverage.” But at today’s Romney event — held at the home of a local businessman — it was a totally different level of coverage: The Philadelphia Inquirer, the San Francisco Chronicle, Gwen Ifill, Charlie Cook, Al Hunt, Carl Cameron of Fox News, etc. I counted no fewer than 12 TV or video cameras recording Romney’s speech. Here’s my brief report at The American Spectator:

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney? said Wednesday that America is “in crisis” as a result of President Obama?’s policies.
“I think you have to tell people the truth, and America is in crisis,” the former Massachusetts governor told a gathering of Republicans here. “We elected as our president a person we didn’t know very well. . . . There were people who said, ‘I wonder what will happen if we choose as president a man who has no experience?’ Now we know – and it’s not a very positive thing,” .
Romney spoke at a backyard party at the home of Des Moines businessman Nick Van Patten. The event was a fund-raiser for the Polk County GOP.
“You’ve got a lot of people in this country who are hurting, who are suffering by virtue of the president’s policies,” he said. “You may ask, ‘What did he do that was so bad?’ My answer is, well, almost everything.”
While he hasn’t made a strong effort in the upcoming Iowa Republican straw poll, Romney will participate in a debate Thursday at Iowa State University in Ames.

Mitt was accompanied by his oldest son, Tagg, and Tagg’s 15-year-old daughter Allie, who was making her first-ever campaign trip with her grandfather, whom she calls “Papa.”

My wife called me and said she saw me on Fox News, walking through the background. Given how many photographers were following Romney around during the event, I’m sure some people will pick up their newspapers tomorrow, see a picture and wonder, “Who’s that dude in the hat in the background?”

I’ve got more photos and video of the media mob scene — I even bumped into Duchess Rebecca — but right now I’m on deadline for Thursday’s American Spectator column. Please hit the tip jar.

UPDATE: By the way, I’d said this morning that I planned to hit the Romney event and then run up to Ames for a 7 p.m. Tim Pawlenty rally. That didn’t happen because, although the Romney event was scheduled for 5 p.m., the candidate didn’t arrive until about 6 p.m. and by the time he spoke, it was nearly 7 p.m. So there was no way I was going to make it up to Ames in time to hear Pawlenty, and also I saw a chance to get online quick with that brief news account of Romney’s speech, so I found the nearest McDonald’s and logged onto their WiFi. Once again (as on Monday night), I’ll be filing my Spectator column from a McDonald’s.

UPDATE II: Romney just rolled out this online campaign ad:

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Connect These Dots

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by Smitty

Maggieby’s Farm: “The breakdown of the family lies behind all other urban dysfunction.”

Althouse: “So, there’s this petition going around asking that Bert and Ernie — yes, the yellow and orange dudes from Sesame Street — get gay married.”

The Progressive is the political equivalent of the stereotypical unethical used car salesmen. You need reliable transportation, he knows your need reliable transportation, and he’s all about separating you from your money with something that superficially passes for reliable transportation, but ultimately fails.

It’s one thing, in a political context, to assume a posture of libertarian indifference to people and puppets in private. Bert and Ernie just don’t matter. I really don’t care.

Yet, as a new father, there is no way under the sun that the World’s Youngest Blogger is going to suffer regular exposure to ideas that are pure dreck. Sesame Street and the Muppets were great back in the day, but something less poisonous, say, Veggie Tales, is what the WYB will be consuming.

While not explicitely setting myself up in judgement over anyone’s choices (the Almighty, History, and Economics do that far more effectively) I will repeatedly make positive choices in favor of the obviously truthful, correct, workable path. If the diseased, Progressive mindset overtakes the WYB later on, it shan’t be for lack of better counsel on my part.

We Can See The Tell: ‘The Riots Did Not Have A Political Motivation’

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by Smitty

Daily Pundit links Taylor at Outside the Beltway on the British riots in what is yet another willful attempt at non-analysis:

As best I can tell, the riots did not have a political motivation (the spark/excuse was the police shooting a suspect) and the general tenor appears to be wanton criminality rather than political statement. Certainly the current economic situation (and the relevant politics) is feeding the behavior, but at this point I don’t think that one can make broad political claims.

Oh horsepucky, Taylor: if these riots lack a political basis, then so did the American Revolution. The differences are (a) that these rioters are much closer to Parliament, and (b) there is no leadership core to kick the useless Parliament to the curb.

These types of events are complicated and one suspects that understanding this particular event will take some time to accomplish. I certainly am not going to claim to have answers at this point and am skeptical about those who claim to understand the event, especially if they think it fits some simplistic ideological worldview.

Taylor, obfuscation is as great a sin as oversimplification. What’s at work here is the unwillingness of the Progressive, Ruling Class Overlords to take an honest look at the situation. Honesty implies some notion of truth, some objective standard against which measurement occurs. Thanks for self-identifying as one of the spineless sophists more part of the problem than the solution, Taylor. Intellectually curious people should avoid your classes like ObamaCare.

Iowa Notebook: Romney Coming to Town; Pawlenty and the ‘Plausible Chance’ Trick

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DES MOINES, Iowa
Mitt Romney will be the featured guest at a “Road to the White House Republican House Party” in Des Moines this evening. That starts at 5 p.m. and then at 7 p.m. Tim Pawlenty has a rally in Ames. It’s a 45-minute drive from Des Moines to Ames, so as long as I leave the Romney event by 6, I’ll have plenty of time to get to the Pawlenty event. So those are my campaign events for today. ABC News notes Romney’s long absence from Iowa:

Romney has not spent the summer attending an endless series of campaign events like many of his fellow contenders (he’s been concentrating on fundraising) and he’s taken heat for staying a little too above-the-fray on important national issues. (He didn’t take a position on the debt ceiling deal, for example, until the last-minute.)
He’s also largely avoided the highways and dusty country roads of Iowa that candidates like Tim Pawlenty, Michele Bachmann, Rick Santorum and Herman Cain have been crisscrossing for weeks. Romney’s last visit to Iowa was in May.

If you want know why Americans hate journalists, look no further than this story by Alexander Burns and Maggie Haberman in Politico:

He’s spent a seven-figure sum and the bulk of his time on the campaign trail courting the Iowa grassroots. Operatives call his expansive Iowa organization the best in the state.
As the only mainstream Republican candidate actively competing in the Ames straw poll — thanks to Mitt Romney’s decision to skip the event and Rick Perry’s presidential race slow-walk—Tim Pawlenty may never have a better opportunity to break through in the 2012 campaign than this Saturday.
With so much firepower behind Pawlenty and so few candidates who have a plausible chance at coming out ahead, Hawkeye State politicos say Ames will be a potentially campaign-changing test of the Minnesotan’s strength.
But if Pawlenty fails to deliver, it will be a grim — and possibly fatal — omen for his underfunded presidential bid.

Who anointed Burns and Haberman with the authority to declare which Republicans are “mainstream” and “have a plausible chance”? Is it their place to decide that, e.g., Michele Bachmann is not a “mainstream Republican” and therefore doesn’t “have plausible chance”? There will be many thousands of Iowa Republicans at the Ames Straw Poll who will cast their ballots for candidates who evidently don’t merit the “mainstream” sobriquet which Burns and Haberman consider themselves uniquely fit to bestow.

And this “plausible chance” trick would not be nearly so insulting if we didn’t know in our hearts — and we do know it, don’t we? — that both Burns and Haberman (like practically everyone else at Politico) voted for Obama in 2008 and intend to vote for Obama again in 2012, so that we have partisan Democrats telling us which Republicans are “mainstream” and “plausible.” Meanwhile, here’s the lead of my latest column:

DES MOINES — Tim Albrecht likes to tell a joke about an Iowa Republican being asked whether he’s going to support a certain presidential candidate in the Ames Straw Poll. “I don’t know,” the Iowan replies. “I’ve only met him twice.”
The joke by Albrecht, spokesman for the state’s popular Republican Gov. Terry Branstad, refers to how accustomed Iowans are to being personally solicited for their support in this state whose first-in-the-nation caucuses have long been a crucial proving ground for presidential candidates. While most Americans go their entire lives without ever meeting a serious candidate for the nation’s highest office, campaigning here is a face-to-face business where voters expect to shake hands and talk directly with those who seek their votes.
That tradition of old-fashioned politicking is what the Ames Straw Poll is all about, which explains why some Iowa Republicans seem a bit miffed by Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s long-rumored entry into the 2012 presidential field. Last week I began calling him the “Phantom Menace” of Iowa because, like the sinister Sith of the “Star Wars” series, he seems omnipresent even though he is far away.  Ads promoting Perry’s candidacy have been running in fairly heavy rotation on Iowa TV recently, and his shadow campaign has been soliciting write-in votes for Saturday’s straw poll. However, the governor himself hasn’t yet stumped here, while the other GOP candidates have been frenetically crisscrossing the state imploring Iowans to “join me here in Ames,” as Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann says in  her own TV ads. . . .

Read the rest at The American Spectator. And while I make no claim to rate as a “mainstream Republican” on the Burns-Haberman Scale, I think there is a “plausible chance” you’ll hit the tip jar.





Just as a final note: I’m meeting today with Will Upton of Americans for Tax Reform, who flew into Des Moines today to attend a Wednesday morning meeting of Iowa conservative leaders. Will called me after he landed at the Des Moines Airport and reports that Mitt Romney was on his American Eagle commuter flight into town: “He was in coach with the rest of us!”

Oh — and Ladd Ehlinger Jr. is coming to town to meet with a potential client.


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GOP Wins Recall Battle in Wisconsin

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Outspent 2-to-1 by Democrats and unions, Republicans held onto control of the Wisconsin state senate, winning four of six challenged seats in Tuesday’s recall elections. And next week, two Democrat senators will face their own recall challenges. Allahpundit live-blogged the whole thing and concludes: “After months of agitation over the collective bargaining law, the supreme court election, and now the recalls, [the Democrats] haven’t regained control of anything.”

Democrats are claiming the GOP cheated. Given the abject corruption of the Democrats and their union-goon allies, that’s rather an ironic charge. It’s like being accused of incivility by Al Sharpton. Speaking of whom . . .

LIVE AT FIVE – 08.10.11

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— compiled by Wombat-socho


TOP NEWS
London Police Flood Streets As Rioting Continues

Londoners look on as firefighters examine charred remains of store

Riots spread to other cities; EDL announces mobilization to deter rioters
“We Can’t Cope” Police Admit

Stocks Rebound After Fed Pledge On Rates
Bernanke commits to maintaining low rates

Fundamentalist LDS Leader Gets Life In Prison
Eligible for parole in 45 years; opinions differ on whether Jeffs will continue to lead polygamist sect



POLITICS
GOP Holds Four Of Six Contested Wisconsin Senate Seats

Voters line up to cast ballots in yesterday's recall elections

GOP retains control of state Senate, may reverse losses in later recall elections against Democrats

Reid Names Baucus, Kerry And Murray To Debt Committee



Tea Party Faithful Wonder About Rick Perry

Grand Jury Indicts Muslim Wannabee Fort Hood Bomber

Gallup: As Usual, Public Hates Congress, Loves Own Congressman

Facebook To Work With Law Enforcement To Remove Prisoner Profiles



THE ECONOMY, STUPID
Apple Flirts With Ranking Of Biggest Company As Market Cap Briefly Passes Exxon Mobil
Swiss National Bank To Boost Supply Of Francs To Counter High Demand
Tokyo Shares End Lower, But Bargain Hunting Tempers Panic Selling
Power Plant Repairs Leave Texas Grid Vulnerable
Gold Firm Near Historic High
Truck Makers Face Fuel Efficiency Standards
Nokia Commits To WinPhone 7; Symbian And Feature Phones To Be Discontinued In US
Samsung Moves Ahead With Tablet Launch Plans For India, Australia After EU Court Bans Sales
PRC Blames US, India For Alleged 500,000 Cyberattacks Last Year
Blackberry Messenger Playing Key Role In UK Rioting?



SPORTS
LA Bid For New NFL Team And Stadium Now Has City Support

Tim Leiweke of the Anschutz Entertainment Group

$275 million in tax-exempt bonds committed, but without team, no deal.

Uggla Extends Streak To 30, Braves Win In 11

Abreu Homers Twice, Leads Angels Past Yankees 6-4


Lee K’s 9 In Eight Shutout Innings, Phillies Tip Dodgers 2-1

Red Sox Send Twins To Sixth Straight Loss; Increase Lead In AL East To 2 1/2

Another Night, Another Rally, Another Win For Mets Over Padres

NCAA Looks At More Benefits For Athletes

Ochocinco To Stay With A Patriots Fan

Starter’s Sinker Bites Well, Cubs Get Wanged 3-1 By Nationals



FAMOUS FOR BEING FAMOUS
Reality Queen: Nicole Scherzinger

Nicole Scherzinger

This will be her year

Who Earns What: TV’s Biggest Salaries

Gavin DeGraw Beating Mystery Deepens

Katherine Schwarzenegger Speaks Out

Lindsay Lohan Wants To Party In Europe, Skip Community Service

Mila Kunis: “People Who Say They Can’t Lose Weight Are Lying”

CBS Twitches Nose, Orders “Bewitched” Script

Anne Hathaway Responds To Catwoman Costume Backlash

Audrina Patridge Says “The Hills” Cast Ready For A Movie

How Angelina Jolie And The Kids Are Handling The London Riots



FOREIGNERS
Norks Planning To Assassinate ROK Defense Minister?
Israel’s Foreign Minister Calls For End Of Relations With PA Over Statehood Bid
London Mayor Calls For Scrapping Of Proposed Police Cuts
Drone Strike Kills 25 Haqqani Terrorists In Pakistan
Mubarak Trial: Justice Or Revenge?
Rioting In Santiago Against Chilean President Pinera



BLOGS & STUFF
AmSpecBlog: Swing And A Miss For Wisconsin Democrats
Weasel Zippers: Congressman Mike Burgess (R-TX) Says Obama Impeachment “Needs To Happen”
Spiked: London’s Burning – A Mob Made By The Welfare State
Stanley Kurtz: LA Riots A Blast From Obama’s Past
Israel Matzav: Norwegian Government May Be Sorry They Messed With Caroline Glick
Allahpundit: Al Gore Screams About Global Warming Skeptics
John Derbyshire: Let Britain Burn!
NRO Media Blog: Eric Boehlert Can’t Read
Houston Press: Whole Foods – “We Should Not Highlight Ramadan”
Jane Hamsher: Obama’s 2008 Hope Morphs Into 2012 Slash And Burn
Sister Toldjah: Racist Philly Mayor Goes Off On Black Flash Mobsters


SOTD: Control Issues

Meanwhile, on the Cain Campaign …

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DES MOINES, Iowa
Because of my late return from Monday’s event in Council Bluffs — I didn’t get back here until nearly 3 a.m. Tuesday morning — I decided to skip the road trip today, and only made one brief outing to the state capitol where I saw the Rick Perry supporters. So I missed the Herman Cain campaign’s Tuesday travels, but my former Washington Times colleague Susan Ferrechio, now with the Washington Examiner, caught up with the “Common Sense Solutions” bus tour:

Cain attracted a large crowd in Cedar Falls, with more than 100 people crowding into a hotel conference room to hear the former Godfather Pizza CEO talk about his plans to turn the economy around and create jobs by cutting taxes and reversing some of the policies put in place by the Democrats, including the health care reform law. . . .
These days, Cain is doubling his efforts here, campaigning non-stop across the Hawkeye State this week with three and four stops each day. . . .
“Some of the other folks may outspend me,” Cain pledged, “but they are not going to outwork me.”

Ferrechio’s story is mainly a harsh bummer, full of doom-and-gloom poll numbers purporting to show Cain’s Iowa support in the single digits. Meanwhile in Davenport, Ed Tibbetts of the Quad City Times reports:

Saying his rivals are trying to “stack the count,” Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain urged supporters in Davenport to “crank it up a notch” before the straw poll Saturday.
“Some of the other candidates, they’re going to be busing folk in, having them parachute in, anything they can do to try to stack the count,” Cain said in a speech outside the Masonic Temple in Davenport. “We’re more concerned about the intensity of our supporters. We want you to be there because you want to be there.”
The straw poll, a fundraiser for the state GOP, has long been seen as an organizational effort for presidential candidates, with campaigns, particularly those that are well-funded, paying for the tickets of supporters and busing them to Ames for the event.
Cain later told reporters he wasn’t suggesting the other candidates were doing anything illegitimate but that his approach is different.
“If they want to do it that way, that’s fine,” he said. “I prefer for my supporters to be there because they want to be there. And I happen to believe they’re going to turn out in big numbers.”

And in Cedar Rapids (not to be confused with Cedar Falls) there was a reunion of sorts:

Cain was introduced to a crowd of about 80 people by Keith Lacie and his son, Gunnar. Lacie began working for Godfather’s Pizza, the company Cain once owned, more than two decades ago. Lacie started sweeping the restaurant floors, and now, owns two Godfather’s Pizza stores in Cedar Rapids.
“I used to work for Herman Cain. Now, I want him to work for me,” Lacie said, endorsing Cain’s candidacy for president.

Wednesday the “Common Sense Solutions” tour continues across the north side of the state, with stops in Clear Lake, Rock Rapids and Okoboji. I’m still trying to catch up with Tim Pawlenty’s campaign, and he’ll have a rally in Ames at 7 p.m. Wednesday, so I’ll figure to go to that. During the day, I’ll probably drop by Iowa GOP headquarters and do some research leading up to Thursday’s Fox News debate.

Today’s most eye-catching Iowa headline is from Craig Robinson of TheIowaRepublican.com: “Perry’s South Carolina Announcement Is A Slap In the Face to Iowa Republicans.” Some readers have been upset by my use of “The Phantom Menace” to describe Perry’s campaign strategy, but as Robinson explains, many Iowans feel that the Texas governor has dissed them.