"We're Picking the Country's Chief Executive, Not its Senior Pastor."

Deseret News:

The Reverend Myke Crowder, pastor of Christian Life Center in Layton, one of the largest evangelical congregations in Utah, took issue with Dr. Robert Jeffress, senior pastor of the 10,000-member First Baptist Church of Dallas, for his remarks last week during the Values Voter Summit in Washington, D.C., in which he said that the LDS Church is a non-Christian cult.

Republican presidential candidate former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney addresses an audience during a campaign stop at Robies Country Store, in Hooksett, N.H., Monday, Oct. 10, 2011. Rev. Crowder, a member of the executive council of the National Clergy Council, doesn't see it that way.

"As an evangelical, born again, Bible believing Christian, and a pastor with more than 25 years' experience living with and ministering among a majority Mormon population, I find the comments by Pastor Jeffress unhelpful, impolite, and out of place," Rev. Crowder indicated in a statement issued over the weekend. "I've been around long enough to remember when independent Baptists wouldn't pray with Southern Baptists, when fundamentalists called Southern Baptists compromisers and liberals, when Southern Baptists wouldn't keep company with Pentecostals, and when Pentecostals wouldn't keep company with Catholics. That wasn't helpful to anyone. Insulting Mitt Romney adds nothing to the conversation about who should be president. We're picking the country's chief executive, not its senior pastor."

Evangelical Leader says LDS Church is not a Cult

Deseret News:

Writing on CNN's Belief Blog, Richard J. Mouw, president of the Fuller Theological Seminary, an evangelical school in Pasadena, Calif., says he "begs to differ" with those who say that "to cast a vote for (Romney) is to promote the cause of a cult."

...

"We evangelicals and our Mormon counterparts disagree about some important theological questions," Mouw continued. "But we have also found that on some matters we are not as far apart as we thought we were.

...

There are other evangelicals who support Mitt Romney, such as those behind the website EvangelicalsForMitt.org.

Mitt Romney-Sarah Palin in 2012? - I'm Drooling

Oh please let this happen. Not just because they would be the most attractive duo to run for the White House, but because of what they could both bring to the table.

I know people have problems with him, I do as well. But until I see another serious contender that could do a better job than Romeny, I am willing to overlook his shortcomings.

Conservative superstar Sarah Palin opened the door yesterday to joining forces with Mitt Romney for a 2012 White House run - a hot ticket that has some Republicans licking their chops at the prospect of unseating President Obama.

“Sounds pretty good,” Palin declared at yesterday’s Tea Party Express rally on the Common when asked about pairing up with the former Bay State governor - giving the idea a big thumbs-up as she left the stage after her headline speech.

Last night, as Palin stopped for cannoli at Mike’s Pastry in the North End, she said she was “serious” about the idea.

“I have a lot of respect for Mitt,” she told the Herald.

(...)

Romney, a presumptive 2012 Republican presidential contender who recently embarked on a nationwide book tour, has not ruled out an alliance with Palin, the GOP’s 2008 vice presidential candidate.

“Mitt Romney respects Sarah Palin and he appreciates the contributions she makes to the party,” said Romney spokesman Eric Fehrnstrom. “But his immediate focus is on helping Republicans win back the Congress in 2010.”

Photo by Arthur Pollock, AP file

Mitt Romney Wins SRLC Straw Poll

Mitt Romney wasn't very successful in the south in the last primaries, but surprisingly, he won the straw poll at the Southern Republican leadership conference, beating out Ron Paul and Sarah Palin. Does this translate to the primaries? I don't know, but it certainly is interesting. If you ask me, there are few more qualified and competent that Romney when it comes to fixing the economy.

New Orleans -- Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney (R) won the Southern Republican Leadership Conference straw poll with 24% of the vote. It was an impressive display of organizational ability for the 2008 presidential candidate, especially considering he didn't even attend the event.

Romney is widely considered to be preparing for a 2012 run and was still highly visible at the conference; a group called 'Evangelicals for Mitt' put up placards in the hallway outside the ballroom, gave out piggy banks that read, "Elect a president who won't break the bank - Romney 2012" and took out a full page ad in the conference brochure.

Texas congressman and 2008 presidential campaign phenom Ron Paul (R) came in second place, losing out by one vote.

Paul also dropped some money for his votes. The tickets to the conference cost $150, but the Ron Paul website was selling them for $30. So, in theory, Paul paid $120 a piece for a good portion of his votes.

Mitt Romney on Health Care Solutions

Yesterday, HUMAN EVENTS Editors Tom Winter, Jed Babbin and Allan Ryskind interviewed former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney about health care reforms now being considered by Congress and his experience in creating the state plan for which he is well known.

The following is an edited transcript of the interview.

Jed Babbin: Governor Romney, thank you for joining us.We wanted to talk to you today about health care. One of the things we’re seeing right now is this rush to judgment. [House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman] Henry Waxman is marking up the “Obamacare” bill as we speak. It seems that there’s going to be an imposed cost both in patient care and on the taxpayer from this approach. What are the biggest defects you see in the Obamacare approach?

Gov. Mitt Romney: Well, it’s filled with so many defects it’s hard to know where exactly to begin. I’d say from a process standpoint the idea of rushing through a piece of legislation which will define the health care system for this country is a very bad idea. The right approach is one which includes extensive analysis, evaluation of systems that have been implemented in other countries and in other states, a bipartisan effort which includes different perspectives and views, the inputs of physicians, patients, advocacy groups, hospitals, business, and labor. This should be a very inclusive and extensive process, and President Obama, out of an apparent desire to score a victory, is not willing to give health care the deliberative process it deserves.

That which we have learned about his plan has a number of obvious flaws. The first is insistence on establishing a government insurance program. There is simply no reason for doing that other than to open the door to a single-payer system. Which, of course, is what liberals have long pined for and what Barack Obama campaigned for.

The nation already has over a thousand private insurance companies, many of the largest of which are not for profit, so his excuse for forming the public government option --that it’s necessary to give people choices -- is obviously fallacious.

The ongoing problems which a government plan would encompass would be massive subsidies down the road, crowding out of private not-for-profit enterprises and ultimately the imposition of a government-controlled system, or what would be at that point about one-fifth of our economy. It’s a bad idea and should be rejected.

JB: Governor, we have a bunch of alternatives to the Obamacare plan emanating from Republicans who, I think, are getting a bad rap for having no alternative ideas. Have you seen any that attract you? What are the general things that you like about the Republican alternatives?

Romney: Well, I’ve seen Paul Ryan’s plan. I’ve seen the Wyden-Bennett plan that is a bipartisan plan. Sen. McCain proposed a plan during his presidential bid. Congressman Tom Price led with a plan today, and, of course, I had a plan during my presidential bid.

When it comes to suggesting that Republicans are the party of “no,” I hope people remember that there is only one state that has coverage for all of its citizens, and it’s Massachusetts and it’s something that a Republican governor was able to accomplish. So Republicans have views and plans and our plans have a number of positive features.

First, every one I’ve seen gets our citizens insured, and does so without establishing a government insurance program. And also does so without creating a trillion dollar obligation of the taxpayers of the nation. And that’s what I think is critical. We have proven in Massachusetts that you can get everyone insured without having to break the bank. You can get everyone insured without having government institute an insurance plan. And whether you like our Massachusetts plan or not, it proves those two things, and there are some others that have other features that are perhaps just as good or better than those that we devised in Massachusetts. They ought to be evaluated, scored by the CBO and given the kind of thorough analysis that a topic as big as healthcare deserves.

JB: I’m a 17-year cancer survivor. I think America has the best care on the planet right now, and I am very concerned about the Obamacare elements that appear to place bureaucrats in between the patient and the doctor. How key is the doctor-patient relationship in your mind? How did you handle that in Massachusetts?

Romney: Well, in Massachusetts, the relationship between the doctor and the patient was not affected in any way whatsoever, and the reason I say that is because people were allowed to choose, in their own free manner, the insurance company and insurance plan of their choice.

There is no government option in Massachusetts: there is simply the availability of the various insurance programs that are offered by the private market-based insurance companies doing business in the state. So if people were happy with the system they had, and the insurance they had, rather, then they are certainly welcome to keep that, and if people who are coming into the system want to choose a plan, they are given access to all of those available in the state.

I think it’s critical that we maintain the best part of America’s health care system, and that relates to patient choice, the access to the best technology in the world, the incentive that creates innovation and technology advances in health care, the attractiveness of health care for the best and brightest in our society. All of these features help make ours the best health care system in the world. At the same time, we have to recognize that there are two major challenges which our health care system faces. The first is that we have a number of people who don’t have insurance -- some choose not to, they’re free-riders on other people and that we should end, and, secondly, our health care costs are going through the roof, and that also can be dealt with and improved, and I’m convinced that’s a topic that should be part of this overall health care reform.

Keep reading ….

Via

Letter from Mitt Romney - Nancy Pelosi is Wrong

As anyone who follows history and politics knows, there has always been a very healthy debate on the issues in our country.

Yet, now that conservatives are expressing their disapproval of President Obama's proposed health care plan, liberals are suddenly very critical of dissent and debate. Earlier this week, Speaker Pelosi accused honest citizens expressing their views on health care of being "un-American." And why? Because they disagree with her on the need for a new government insurance program.

Our Founding Fathers would be very surprised by Speaker Pelosi's attempt to clamp down on dissent. This nation was founded by patriots who staged the ultimate protest in declaring their independence from a distant and out-of-touch government. The rights to peacefully assemble and petition our elected officials are guaranteed by the Constitution. What Nancy Pelosi doesn't understand is that our differences and disagreements don't make us weaker; they make us stronger.

This is a critical time for our nation, and a lot of the issues we're debating now will affect generations to come. All of us have a duty to press on ... a duty to state our case without fear of government reprisal.

That is why I'm writing to you to take two important steps today.

First, I encourage you to make your feelings on the health care bill known by calling the White House at (202) 456-1111 and your congressional representatives at (202) 224-3121. Let them know that dissenting is the most "American" thing one can do and that you have very real concerns about the cost and scope of this legislation.

Second, I hope you will consider making a contribution to my Free and Strong America PAC today. Your generous contribution of $25, $50, $100, $250, $500, $1,000, or even the maximum $5,000 will go a long way toward making sure that we push back when big government liberals like Nancy Pelosi try to stifle debate because they don't like it when ordinary Americans disagree with their far-left agenda.

Thank you again for your support and all that you do to ensure that our country remains free and strong.

Best,

Mitt Romney

Dems Attack Mitt Romney

The mere possibility of McCain choosing Mitt Romney as his running mate has prompted the DNC to create a section of their website to bash Mitt Romney. In a conference call for reporters, meant to promote the new website section, Lefties from Massachusetts and Michigan took turns using Romney as a punching bag.

In an ironic twist, the lefties attacked Romney on policy shifts, and moral stances. Are they really in any position to lecture us on these subjects?

Barney Frank, D-Mass., was one of the main attackers. As you may or may not know, "Frank has long been a vocal critic of Romney and has been a controversial figure himself. He is an openly gay member of Congress who was formally reprimanded by Congress in 1990 for his relationship with a male prostitute who claimed to run an escort service out of Frank's apartment when he was not home."

"Eric Fehrnstrom, spokesman for Romney, said in response to the attacks, 'It shouldn't surprise anyone that bitterly divisive Democrats don't have anything good to say about Republicans.'

He added, 'Fair-minded people look at Mitt Romney as a strong leader, a man of character and integrity, who was elected as governor at a time of job loss and recession, and who managed to balance the budget all four years without raising taxes, and get the Massachusetts economy moving again.'" (source Deseret News)

John McCain VP Running Mate

So there is rumor that John McCain will be selecting a VP running mate this week. Who do you think it will/should be? Leave a comment and let me know. Personally I think Mitt Romney would be a great choice. He was my pick for the Republican nomination, so of course I would like to see him serving in some capacity. Sure, being McCain's VP could tarnish him a bit, but I think it will be more beneficial than anything. Obviously as VP Romney would gain a ton of name recognition, and experience, which could pave the way for a future nomination. But beyond that, it would bring a strong conservative voice to McCain's ticket, as well as economic experience, and a ton of fundraising power. McCain & Romney '08... It just sounds nice. Oh, and did I mention that Romney just plain looks like a president? Let's face it, the man is handsome.


"McCain may be zeroing in on a running mate"

Who do you think it will/should be? Leave a comment and let me know.