The Other McCain

"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler

Florida Fever: Naples Struck by Sudden Outbreak of Raging Mitt-Mania Epidemic

Posted on | January 29, 2012 | 67 Comments

Mitt Romney at Naples rally, Sunday, Jan. 29, 2012

NAPLES, Fla.
Attention young conservatives: Your grandma loves Mitt Romney.

The phenomenal shift in the polls here in the Sunshine State — which has provoked much commentary and analysis about “strategy” and “messaging” — may in fact be little more complicated than that. And the massive crowd that turned out in downtown Naples today to hear and see Mitt was certainly evidence of how real Romney’s Florida surge is.


This photo was shot from the camera platform, looking back toward Fifth Avenue, and the crowd overflowed in all directions. The camera platform was about 150 feet from the stage, and the area between the platform and the stage was likewise packed to overflowing. While I’m not an expert at estimating crowd sizes, I can say with confidence that this crowd was what the experts call ginormous.

OK, so what’s Mitt’s secret? Let me put it in the simplest possible terms: Sex appeal. This will elicit a groan from ideologues who have spent the past year proclaiming that Mitt is a gutless flip-flopper, the worst RINO in the history of RINO-dom. Yet if you set aside mere politics long enough to see the two Florida frontrunners as the average Republican voter sees them, it is hard to miss the contrast between Mitt — the tall, lean multimillionaire entrepreneur with dark hair and chiseled features — and Newt, the pudgy intellectual.

Maybe you don’t judge presidential candidates by such standards, but it makes a lot of difference to Republican grandmas, and there are lots of Republican grandmas in Florida. And here’s some video that helps explain a little more of Newt’s problem with the affluent residents of retirement communities in the state that has been dubbed “God’s Waiting Room”:

“There was a time back in high school that a girl I knew in elementary school became much more interesting. You see, Ann and I went to the same elementary school. She was in second grade, I was in fourth. I didn’t notice her then. But when she was just about 16, I noticed in a big way. We were at a party together at a friend’s house. She had come with someone else. I went to her date and I said, ‘Look, I live closer to Ann than you do. Can I give her a ride home for you?’ He said, ‘Sure.’ We’ve been going steady ever since. My sweetheart, Ann Romney.”

After Mitt said that, I walked over to talk to another reporter, whose comment was: “Zing! He’s killing him!”

You see? Mitt didn’t even have to name Newt in order to emphasize the contrast: Mitt’s still with his high-school sweetheart, with whom he’s been “going steady” since 1965, while Newt is on Wife No. 3, with whom he had an affair while still married to Wife No. 2.

Maybe if you’re under 40, that kind of thing doesn’t matter much — Who are we to judge? — but to your mother or grandmother, raised on old-fashioned “family values” conservatism, it matters a lot. Put yourself in Grandma’s orthopedic shoes when she reads a headline like this:

Gingrich: Romney’s Character
Is “Very Serious Problem”

Whoa! Newt wants to talk about “character”? Ever heard an old proverb about glass houses, Mister Speaker? Those grannies in Florida aren’t buying your act. And if my ideological under-40 readers don’t mind, this is perhaps an appropriate time to quote the esteemed founder of The American Spectator, R. Emmett Tyrrell Jr.:

Newt, like Bill, has a proclivity for girl hopping. It is not as egregious as Bill’s, but then Newt is not as drop-dead beautiful. His public record is already besmeared with tawdry divorces, and there are private encounters with the fair sex that doubtless will come out. If I have heard of some, you can be sure the Democrats have heard of more.

Forgive my editor for his unseemly insinuation, but rest assured that Bob Tyrrell is certainly not the only conservative who has “heard of some.” There are other conservatives — people whose names you would recognize — who have made similar intimations to me.

Michelle Malkin has never said any such thing, but have you ever wondered why she hates Newt so much? I have.

The problem, as I see it, is that so many True Conservatives have allowed themselves to be persuaded that the frontrunner fight between Mitt and Newt represents the only choice in this election. But while I was at the Romney rally, I encounted two women — including Naples city council woman Teresa Heitman — who say that Florida voters should consider another candidate:

As the lady says, “family commitment comes first” for Rick Santorum, which point Steve Ertelt of LifeNews emphasizes:

Bella Santorum was admitted to Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia Saturday night because she has pneumonia in both of her lungs, according to campaign aides. . . .
Former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, on Sunday afternoon, tweeted a message of support for the Santorum family.
“Thank you, Rick and Karen Santorum, for living the Christ-like example of sacrifice and right priorities. Nothing is more precious or important than the life of an innocent child. Our prayers are with Bella, a perfect child in an imperfect world,” she said. “God bless the beautiful Santorum family.”

Dan Collins knows what the cynics will say:

Santorum Daughter, 3, Stages Illness
to Help Father’s Campaign Chances

It is not too late, I would argue, for those True Conservatives who have convinced themselves that Newt is The Only Alternative to Mitt to change their minds and reconsider the possibility of supporting a Republican candidate who lives his conservative principles.

RICK SANTORUM for PRESIDENT
Join the Fight!

Update (Smitty): Welcome, Instapundit readers!

Category: Election 2012, Fear and Loathing in the Sunshine State, Florida, Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich, Rick Santorum

Comments

67 Responses to “Florida Fever: Naples Struck by Sudden Outbreak of Raging Mitt-Mania Epidemic”

  1. Meredilki Konjanay
    January 30th, 2012 @ 7:54 am

    The way you write this post is nice. Keep em coming

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  2. ThePaganTemple
    January 30th, 2012 @ 8:22 am

    No it makes me the guy who’s determined to get the RINOs out of power.

  3. ThePaganTemple
    January 30th, 2012 @ 8:34 am

    Let’s see now, where is all this dried crusted blood coming from? Let me count the ways.

    He sat on a love seat with Nancy Pelosi, with the intention of encouraging free market solutions to a problem most people at the time believed was legitimate.

    He supported Dede Scozzafava and criticized conservatives for being unrealistic in their expectations, the exact same thing I’ve done numerous times when people talk about “primarying” Scott Brown.

    Oh, and in the meantime, aren’t you one of the guys always bitching about Christine O’Donnell and Sharon Angle? Maybe I’m wrong about that, but there are plenty of other “conservatives” that have bitched about them, which means they need to keep their damn mouths shut about the Scozzafava affair.

  4. ThePaganTemple
    January 30th, 2012 @ 8:36 am

    Mitt is a good looking guy. If his inner core principles matched his looks, there would be no beating him. But alas, there is that little problem of, just what the fuck does this guy really believe in besides doing whatever it takes to be elected?

  5. Anonymous
    January 30th, 2012 @ 9:54 am

    He didn’t write them. He just allowed them to go out under his name. Either with knowledge or not. Neither case is good.

    This makes him completely and uterly unelectable in any state.

  6. ThomasD
    January 30th, 2012 @ 10:06 am

    That’s my plan too.

  7. ThomasD
    January 30th, 2012 @ 10:11 am

    You do understand that politics is more about association and less about logic?  (you might want to review the root of the word.)

    Also note, the net result of politics is the conferral of authority.

    So fallacies, much less fallacies about authority do not particularly apply.

    But thanks for playing.

  8. Finrod Felagund
    January 30th, 2012 @ 11:14 am

     It used to be you couldn’t run for office while being a Lying Suckweasel like Mitt Romney, too.

    As far as Ann Romney goes, she’s the only subject on which Mitt Romney hasn’t flip-flopped.

  9. Finrod Felagund
    January 30th, 2012 @ 11:15 am

    No matter how you defend him, Mitt Romney is still a Lying Suckweasel.
     

  10. Finrod Felagund
    January 30th, 2012 @ 11:19 am

    You’re fucking insane.  Show me ONE thing that Mitt Romney has ever stood for, other than getting his own ass elected and being married to one woman.

  11. Tennwriter
    January 30th, 2012 @ 12:08 pm

    I didn’t mean to insult libertarians, but I’m glad to do so.  They’re a buncha dorks.

  12. Tennwriter
    January 30th, 2012 @ 12:14 pm

    Well thanks Steve.  I didn’t know I was an idiot until you told me.  I guess thats because I’m an idiot. 
    But I’m so much of an idiot that your very reasonable, calm, and persuasive arguements has failed to convince.

    I condemn myself as Adjoran says.

  13. Tennwriter
    January 30th, 2012 @ 12:15 pm

    Indeed. Good news. 🙂

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