Expand the Map

 

Friend,

We’re defying the odds and holding strong against the billion-dollar Obama juggernaut, but we need your help to win.

Today, we launch ExpandTheMap.com -- an opportunity to take our message into new states and tell voters about our plan to create 12 million new jobs.

Can you help us raise a million dollars a day for this program and finish strong?

Contribute now to help Romney-Ryan and the Republican team keep up the fight.

Thank you,

Mitt Romney
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the Foreign Policy debate

I again watched the debate at a debate watch party at the Republican Party storefront office in Green Hills.

 In my view, the debate was a tie or maybe a slight win for Romney. Romney appeared calm and collected: Obama appeared contemptuous and irritated. I think Romney made no mistakes that would detour the momentum of the campaign and Obama was not reassuring and was not able to paint Romney as reckless or adventurous in foreign policy.

I thought a high point for President Obama was when he dismissed Romney's charge that we have fewer Navy ships than we did in 1917. I or course, do not know what the correct number of ships are that we need but I thought Obama's logic was valid. In a different era when troops can be ferried by air to trouble spots around the world, we may not need as many ships as at some point in the past.

I thought a high point for Romney was when he described President Obama's Apology tour of the Mid-East.

....the reason I call it an apology tour is because you went to the Middle East and you flew to Egypt and to Saudi Arabia and to Turkey and Iraq. And by the way, you skipped Israel, our closest friend in the region, but you went to the other nations.

And by the way, they noticed that you skipped Israel. And then in those nations, and on Arabic TV, you said that America had been dismissive and derisive. You said that on occasion America had dictated to other nations.

Mr. President, America has not dictated to other nations. We have freed other nations from dictators.

That needed to be said!

I also think Romney presented a good argument is saying that Iran is four years closer to a nuclear bomb and that we have wasted the last four years and should be taking stronger actions against Iran.

On many points Romney and Obama agreed and often where there was disagreement if was minor and nuanced, not polar opposites. In many cases it just comes down to who you trust more to execute American foreign policy.

I am not sure how the debate will play with most Americans. The American people are war-weary and I am not sure they want to maintain vigilantes in the world. I, however, think we must remain strong. The world is still a dangerous place and we must stay engaged. To keep the peace we must maintain strength.

Romney did not come across as hawkish or bombastic. I think he came across as steady and serious and presidential. I think Obama came across as weak and indecisive.  I hope America sees it that way.

For a video and text of the debate, follow this link.

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The Tennessean endorses Romney!

I was pleasantly shocked this morning to open the Tennessean and see an endorsement for Romney.  It was a weak endorsement, but an endorsement none the less. I had assumed the Tennessean was so predictably knee-jerk liberal that an endorsement for Obama's reelection was a given. I'm glad I was wrong. In appreciation for the Tennessean endorsing Romney, I am going to go a whole day without saying anything bad about the Tennessean.

Below are excerpts from their endorsement.

.....few elections have been so critical to the country. In 2012, the United States faces crippling debt; seemingly endless military conflicts and terror threats; an aging population; and sweeping workforce and geopolitical changes that threaten to turn our society upside down.

 And while Mr. Obama may have reassured a lot of people about the response to the Libyan consulate attack in Tuesday’s debate, there is too much dissension in his own administration about the right approach to terrorism.

The next president must be the one with the best chance to get the crushing, $16 trillion national debt under control, coupled with the more immediate need of enabling a vibrant job market.
It is because the economy is paramount that The Tennessean endorses Gov. Mitt Romney for president.

Mr. Romney has the business experience that gives him better understanding of the needs of real job creators.

To read the full text of the endorsement follow this link.

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Debate moderator Candy Crowley: Romney was right in main Libya argument, but ...

Debate moderator Candy Crowley admitted that Romney was right to address the president’s response to the attacks on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, but he “picked the wrong world.”
 
Crowley explained that she re-read Obama’s Rose Garden speech transcript before the debate, noting that the president referred to “acts of terror.”

Romney insisted that the President refused to call the attacks an “act of terror” which Obama countered with the transcript of his Rose Garden speech.

But Crowley admitted that she also agreed with Romney during the debate, when he said that the Obama administration spent two weeks telling Americans the attacks were about “a tape and this riot outside the Benghazi consulate, which there wasn’t.”

“He was right in the main, I just think he picked the wrong word,” Crowley concluded. (Read more).

My Comment: I am glad she is sitting the record straight but after the fact it does little good. The debate moderator should not interject herself in the debate and and challenge the accuracy of a statement made by a debate participant.  See the below piece from the Wall Street Journal to see the context of what the President said in the Rose Garden.

Replay: Obama’s Rose Garden Remarks on Libya

The Wall Street Journal, Oct.17, 2012

In Tuesday’s debate, President Barack Obama for the first time accepted responsibility for the security lapses that contributed to the death of the U.S. ambassador and three other Americans on Sept. 11 in Benghazi, Libya. He sought to turn the issue against Mr. Romney, accusing him of playing politics with a national-security crisis.
 
Mr. Obama said he called the Benghazi attack “an act of terror” during a statement in the Rose Garden the day after it occurred, challenging Republican accusations that the administration had been misleading when it described the attack as a demonstration sparked by an anti-Muslim video.

“I want to make sure we get that for the record, because it took the president 14 days before he called the attack in Benghazi an act of terror,” Mr. Romney said.
“Get the transcript,” the president replied.

Mr. Obama did make reference to the fact that “No acts of terror will ever shake the resolve of this great nation,” but his comments that day also appeared to reference the video, when he said, “We reject all efforts to denigrate the religious beliefs of others.” The administration changed its description of the attack, eventually describing it as a terror attack linked to al Qaeda sympathizers. Read more and see video here.

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Last night's Presidential debate

I again enjoyed the Presidential debate at  the debate watch party at the Republican storefront office in Green Hills. Louella and I and about 50 other people  had Pizza and wine and politics before watching the debate on two big screen TVs.

Obama obviously did much better than he did in his first debate, but Romney stood his ground and challenged the President on his misrepresentations and failed policies.   I thought Romney hit Obama hard on his record, including his broken promise to pass comprehensive immigration reform,  the increase in the number of people on food stamps, the drop in household income, the increase in health insurance premiums, the number of people out of work including those no longer counted as unemployed because they have given up seeking employment and Obama's blocking of the Keystone pipeline.

From my perspective, Romney won. However, it was a close called match, not a knock-out punch, and I am sure partisan Democrats could think Obama won. I doubt the debate moved the poll numbers much. If Romney is gaining momentum, I don't think this debate slowed it.

I was very disappointed in the performance of moderator Candy Crowley.  At one point she totally abandoned any objectivity and sided with Obama when he claimed he had been been calling the murder of our ambassador in Libya a terrorist attack from the beginning. Everyone knows that initially the administration claimed the event in Libya was a demonstration over a YouTube video that got out of hand. Candy Crowley should never again moderate a debate.

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Romney is on a roll and Obama can only smirk

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Watch and read the debate

If you missed the debate, are want to study it, here are some good links:

News: 2012 presidential debate: President Obama and Mitt Romney's remarks in Denver on Oct. 3 (full transcript)

Washington Post‎ - 2 hours ago

Here is the full text of President Obama and Mitt Romney's remarks at the first presidential debate in Denver on Oct. 3, 2012.

Presidential Debate Transcript 

►►

Republican Debate - Full video ...

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What others are saying about the debate

Five Takeaways From The First Presidential Debate

October 4, 2012, by Alan Greenblatt, npr

Mitt Romney may have given his campaign something of a reset with his performance in the first debate against President Obama.

He appeared more comfortable on stage than the incumbent, and was able at least to lay the groundwork for a message of bipartisanship that could appeal to remaining undecided voters.(link)

Presidential Debate Instant Polls Show Romney Wins

The Huffington Post, WASHINGTON -- Television viewers' snap judgments of the first presidential debate favored Mitt Romney, according to two "instant reaction" polls and a focus group conducted during and immediately after the candidates met in Denver. CBS News, which as in past elections and presidential addresses used the GfK's KnowledgePanel representative Internet panel to interview 523 uncommitted voters who watched the debate (with a reported margin of error of +/- 4 percent).

Its sample included voters who were either totally undecided before the debate or who were leaning to a candidate, but said they may still change their minds. Respondents were unambiguous about who won. By a 46 percent to 22 percent margin, the poll's uncommitted voters said they thought Romney won. (link)

Presidential Debate: Obama Had No Chutzpah, and Why Didn't He Confront Romney's Blatant Dishonesty More?

by Alternet.

Lots of pulled punches and missed opportunities for the president, leaving an energetic Romney to say whatever he liked.

The pundits' quick reaction to the first presidential debate was virtually unanimous: Romney had the energy, was well prepared and pushed his arguments forcefully, while Obama held back, throwing weak jabs and abandoning the populist message that he's featured on the campaign trail.(link)

Look at the sources quoted above. They are all liberal to left and they say Romney won. This was a great night! I hope this translates into a Romney lead in the polls. I think that next week, Ryan will do real well in the debate with Biden.

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Help win OHIO, Send Postcards from home, Debate Watch Party

From:

You can HELP win the VERY important swing State of OHIO by

Sending postcards from Home. 

Simply send an email to

 postcards@nashvilleteaparty.com 

and we will send you the names of OHIO swing voters and simple instructions. Personalized postcards have proven to be a VERY successful way to influence swing voters.

 Also, Please Join us for the 

Debate Watch Party 

Wed Oct 3 at 7PM 

At the Rein Seminar Room near Opryland. 

Click on this link for a MAP
We will work on OHIO postcards together and watch the first debate. Location: Real Estate Investors of Nashville 2416 Music Valley Drive, Suite 151

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Call for Romney-Ryan from home

Here is an opportunity to help the Romney-Ryan campaign. You can make calls from home. Just click a link below and follow the instructions. 

If you prefer, you can go to the Green Hills Storefront and call using the computer phones.  Volunteers are calling Ohio, an important battleground state. The GOP storefront office is 4108 Hillsboro Rd.. next to McDonalds. Here is a link to the local GOP: www.GOPNashville.org 

Hello Team Romney-Ryan,

I hope you are as excited as we are for the final stretch of this campaign. With only 42 days left before the election, we want to thank you for your support and encourage you to help put Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan in the White House!

Last week, the campaign was proud to announce that the Republican Team has contacted over 20 million potential voters. We still have a lot of work ahead.

The race is tight, and the difference this year is going to be our volunteers who make phone calls and go door-knocking. We encourage you to take a moment and visit the Romney for President Action Center to learn more about how you can get involved.

One of the best ways to help the campaign right now is by signing up to participate in the Call from Home program. Just follow the link to register and begin making calls. Starting today, the top 10 callers between now and Tuesday, October 2nd, will get the opportunity to join a conference call with Jason McBride, our Deputy Political Director! Jason is one of Governor Romney's top advisors and implements our nationwide strategies. All you have to do to participate is sign up for the Call from Home system and start making calls for Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan.

You can be a part of the victory effort!

Thanks again for your continued support. Please contact me if you have any questions.

Lamar Echols
Regional Political Director

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I am not disappointing with Governor Romney's position on pre-existing conditions.

 Calm Down, Obamacare Foes

 By Grace-Marie Turner, September 10, 2012, National Review Online

Some conservatives are aghast that Mitt Romney told NBC’s Meet the Press that there are some health reforms he would support.

“I’m not getting rid of all of health-care reform,” Mr. Romney said in an interview broadcast Sunday, sending conservatives into a fury. “Of course there are a number of things that I like in health-care reform that I’m going to put in place.” (link)

My Comment

I know already! Anyone who is not for repealing the whole thing is a RINO, a sell-out, or worse.  Many on the right would rather get nothing rather than half a loaf. Get real! As the author says, "Romney is right. There are problems in the health sector that need to be fixed, and we can’t stick our heads in the sand and pretend otherwise. If we fail to act, the health-reform battles will return with a vengeance."

The system we have now is not a free market health care system. It is a mixed system. With Medicare, Medicaid, and mandates that hospitals serve all who come regardless of ability to pay and then take a tax deduction for the loss, and restrictions requiring that new hospitals must show a community need before they can open, what we have is not a free market in health care at all. While I want to roll back the role of government in health care, we must tweak what we have as we strive to roll back government. This much is clear: The status quo is not acceptable.  Those who advocate the status quo are on the losing end of the argument.

Anyone who has ever paid $25 for a 2 cent aspirin or tried to understand a hospital bill will not buy the argument that everything is just fine and government should just stay out of healthcare.

I am  not disappointing with Governor Romney's position on  pre-existing conditions. I am no so happy with the position on "young people." At twenty-five, you have been able to drive for nine years, get married without your parents permission for nine years in many states, vote for seven years and drink for four years and have an abortion without your parent permission and enter into contracts. It is time to kick those "young people"  out of the nest. Nevertheless, if this can peal off a few Democratic voters, I am not going to nitpick it. 

While Romney makes these concession to Obmacare and public opinion, I wish he would hammer home a message that included the ability to purchase health care across state lines, informational technology improvements, tort reform and a health savings accounts.  Those issue are winners for our side. We need to articulate Republican reform while at the same time we accept those popular provisions of Democratic reform. 

A bold proposal that I think could be a winner, is to advocate transferring from the employer to the individual the tax advantage of the cost of an insurance premiums. How many people are chained to a job they hate because that is the only way then can get insurance?  Your employer should no more provide you with health insurance than they should provide you with homeowner's insurance or auto insurance or food or lodging. We should advocate ending the ability of the employer to exempt from his income the cost of insurance premiums and advocate transferring this deductability to the individual. While I know this position is not without risk and could distorted be by the other side,  I think on balance it would resonate with many and is a winning argument.

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"The Best of America"

 Published on Jul 4, 2012 by mittromney
 

It wasn't too long ago that the quiet heroes of this land walked tall with the pride of knowing that they lived in a country unlike no other. On this Independence Day, we celebrate that sense of American optimism and recommit ourselves to bringing that feeling back to us once again.

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Fact Check: First Lady's False Fairy Tale of Struggle

Fact Check: First Lady's False Fairy Tale of Struggle

www.breitbart.com

First Lady Michelle Obama’s pitch to voters last night relied on the premise that she and her husband understand what it is to struggle to make ends meet. She spoke movingly about their early years--about how a young Barack Obama drove a car that was “rusted out" and found his furniture “in a dumpster,” how they both came from families that had to “scrape by.” Her fairy tale--however well-delivered--was one great, big, colorful lie. (link)

My Comment: Please read the above. The Obamas went to elite schools. Their first home was a $277K, two-bedroom condo purchased in 1993. With cushy law school jobs they could well afford their student loans.  I am not buying the rusted out car and furniture from a dumpster story. Quit frankly, I was skeptical when Ann Romney said she and Mitt lived in a basement and their desk was a door on saw horses and their dining room table was an ironing board. I accept that the Romneys were probably more privileged than the Obamas but I don't think the Obamas nor the Romneys have ever experienced poverty. Neither of them have had to decide which bill to pay and which to not pay or worried about having their utilities disconnected.  I hate it when rich privileged people play the "I-was-poor" card.

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Electoral College Prediction Model Points To A Mitt Romney Win In 2012

Two University of Colorado professors, one from Boulder and one from Denver, have put together an Electoral College forecast model to predict who will win the 2012 presidential election and the result is bad news for Barack Obama. The model points to a Mitt Romney victory in 2012.

Ken Bickers from CU-Boulder and Michael Berry from CU-Denver, the two political science professors who devised the prediction model, say that it has correctly forecast every winner of the electoral race since 1980.(link)

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It's Ryan! Ryan's Address: 'Our Rights Come from Nature and God, Not Government

Ryan's Address: 'Our Rights Come from Nature and God, Not Government
Weekly Standard
Here's the prepared text of Paul Ryan's address in Norfolk, Virginia:

Thank you Governor Romney, Ann.  I am deeply honored and excited to join you as your running mate....

 "If you have a small business - you did build that!" 

"But America is more than just a place...it's an idea.  

It's the only country founded on an idea.  

Our rights come from nature and God, not government.  

We promise equal opportunity, not equal outcomes.

This idea is founded on the principles of liberty, freedom, free enterprise, self-determination and government by consent of the governed.  

This idea is under assault.  So, we have a critical decision to make as a nation.

We are on an unsustainable path that is robbing America of our freedom and security. It doesn't have to be this way."

Romney campaign announces Paul Ryan as running mate

CNN‎ - by Peter Hamby‎

Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney announced Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin as his running mate on Saturday.

Paul Ryan VP pick shakes up Mitt Romney battle plan

Politico - by John F. Harris and Mike Allen

In making Paul Ryan his running mate, Mitt Romney is discarding one of the most basic assumptions that has driven his campaign until now: Make the race about President Barack Obama, and Republicans will win back the White House.
 

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Mitt Romney will restore welfare reform

In 1996, President Clinton signed bipartisan legislation to reform welfare by requiring work. Sixteen years later, President Obama quietly gutted this landmark law. Mitt Romney will restore the bipartisan reforms to welfare and move our country in the right direction.

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Dear Governor Romney, Stop with the mailings already!

Dear Governor Romney,

Stop with the mailings already! For about the last six weeks I have been getting about three pieces of mail form you a week. I am going to vote for you, OK?  You are wasting  your time. I really hate junk mail. I wish we would abolish the post office. It seems junk mail is all I ever get.

I don't think I have read a single one of our letters. Most of them go in the trash unopened. I did open one that said, "Bumper sticker inside."  I took out the bumper sticker and threw the rest away unread. I will probably put the bumper sticker on my car, but I don't really like bumper stickers on my car, so I will probably not put it on until about six weeks before the election.

Governor Romney, I have glanced at a couple of your mailing and saw the appeal for money with the check off  boxes.  I really don't think you need my campaign money. What, you have already raised a gazillion dollars? Those mailing I have been getting must have cost your campaign about a dollar each. If I was to send you fifty dollars, what would that fund?  Fifty more solicitation of me for money?  How about this? Don't send me anymore solicitation and take the $50 you would have spend sending me campaign solicitations and consider it my campaign contribution?

I do support causes I believe in and candidates, however I am not a wealthy man and can only give modest campaign contributions. I feel like my modest contributions have more impact supporting local conservative candidates rather than a well-funded campaign like yours. I really don't think you need my modest contribution.  The money you spend soliciting me for money shows you don't know what to do with the money you have.

Also, if you get a chance to talk to the Republican National Committee could you ask them to stop calling. I have been getting about three calls a day from the RNC. I always look to see who is calling before I answer, and I have not been answering their  calls. However, I have to get up and look at my phone to see who is calling. I did answer one about a week ago and they were asking me to fulfill an earlier pledge for $25 dollars. I did. I thought the calls would stop but they did not slow down. I am just not going to answer the phone from the RNC anymore. Please tell them to stop calling me.

Sincerely,
Rod Williams

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Nashville Mitt Romney rally Sunday March 4th

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Tweet 0

Forward this Message View as Webpage Engage on Facebook, LinkedIn, & Twitter You’re Invited to a Rally with Mitt Romney & Governor Bill Haslam Sunday, March 4th, 2012 | 5:30 PM EST West Hills Elementary 409 Vanosdale Road Knoxville, Tennessee RSVP/Questions: TeamTN@mittromney.com | (615) 745-9816 For Important Campaign Updates: TN to GOMITT (466488)

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update: Newt Gingrich wins South Carolina Republican Primay!

Update: Newt wins very big! 

90% reporting

1:29

VOTES

PERCENT

DELEGATES

Newt Gingrich

214,702

40.4%

19

Mitt Romney

143,508

27%

0

Rick Santorum

92,610

17.4%

0

Ron Paul

71,691

13.5%

0

Herman Cain

5,500

1%

0

Rick Perry

2,237

0.4%

0

Jon Huntsman

898

0.2%

0

Michele Bachmann

427

0.1%

0

Newt Gingrich wins South Carolina Republican primary | The Ticket - Yahoo! News

Wow! Great news as far as I am concerned. I await the details. Now it is a two man race, I assume.

I am closing my poll posted on this blog. Here are the result of the poll of visitors to A disgruntled Republican who voted. Thanks to all who voted.

Michele Bachmann	3 (2%)
Herman Cain	4 (3%)
Newt Gingrich	42 (37%)
Jon Huntsman	7 (6%)
Gary Johnson	1 (0%)
Ron Paul	22 (19%)
Rick Perry	2 (1%)
Mitt Romney	20 (17%)
Rick Santorum	11 (9%)

 Votes so far: 112

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Beth Harwell and Debra Maggart jump on Romney Bandwagon

In Session | Tennessee Politics

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