Today’s Reading List - August 2, 2006
The RCP Blog points out that Romney appears to have a backer in place on the biggest paper in Iowa. Lowell: That would be David Yepsen, who said this about Romney’s most recent visit to Iowa:
He has made more than a half-dozen trips to the state and lined up some of the best political talent in the Iowa GOP to work for him. While some experts say Romney’s Mormon faith will hurt him with some voters, it seemed to be helping him here Saturday. Romney organizers said several church members showed up and are deciding on their own to volunteer. “We don’t have to work it,” said a key operative. “It works itself.”
The piece is unusually glowing about Romney:
Romney wins good reviews for his can-do style and upbeat message. Charisse Schwarm, a longtime GOP activist from Lake Mills, sought me out to note how he reminded her of Ronald Reagan and the effect he had on crowds.That Reagan standard is a tough one for any Republican to meet. If Romney’s meeting it with people like Schwarm, he’s well on his way toward winning the 2008 Iowa Republican caucuses.
Wow. I like Romney, but I’m surprised at Yepsen’s warmth toward him at this early stage.
Meanwhile, the tar baby comment still hasn’t gone away. One writer thinks Romney should not have apologized. I think that writer’s crazy. To apologize when one unintentionally offends others seems . . . Christian to me. And here’s an African-American pastor’s take. The comments here are interesting as well. And the NAACP also has a predictable (and understandable) response.
I wonder if some of this is not due to Romney not being a long-time politician, with a more finely-tuned sense of acceptable public language? When he ran for governor in 2002, he referred to his female Democrat opponent’s behavior as “unbecoming.” Hillary Clinton and others tried to make that into a sexist remark, but that attack (which was nonsense) did not stick. Still, I don’t think a politician with more campaign mileage on him would have used such a term, which is capable of misinterpretation.
Tod Lindberg:Â “[T]he question on everyone’s mind is [Romney’s] Mormon faith. Is this a problem with voters or, more likely in my view, is this something voters worry that others will think is a problem? Or is it, in the end, not an issue, but something that needs to be worked through, like the idea of a Catholic president?”
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