So Who Actually Supports Mitt Romey? And Why?!?!

These are some of the folks who waited outside a Denver car dealership waiting for a chance to see Willard "Mitt" Romney, even though they couldn't actually hear the speech.

1)That first lady holding the sign scares the crap out of me. $100.00 says she is the meanest 4th grade teacher on earth.

2)"Because he's Mormon" and "Because we're from Michigan." Hey, at least those kids and their mom are honest. "Because he's like me," however naive, is at least true and one of the more legitimate reasons I have heard to support Willard.

3) "Because he's honest" and "Because he's a Washington outsider." First off, um no, Willard is certainly many things, honest is so very clearly not one of them. Secondly, that whole Washington outsider rhetoric is all too familiar. I think most rational people can agree that it didn't go too well the last time we elected a so called Washington outsider...

Mitt Romney Disses Decorated WWII Veteran Who Also Happens To Be Bob Dole.

From CNN:

In a FOX interview Tuesday morning, Romney had said the former Kansas senator was “probably the last person I would have wanted to have write a letter for me.”

McCain immediately put out a statement condemning the comment, and told reporters on his campaign plane that Romney should apologize to Dole, a decorated World War II veteran, for the remark: "this is no way to end up this campaign, by attacking a genuine American war hero." His campaign also released a statement in which the Arizona senator called Romney’s remark “disgraceful.”

A short time later, Romney also referred to Dole as “an American hero.” He added that he would love to have the former senator’s support for his own bid.

“I think very highly of Sen. Dole,” he said, and had merely intended to criticize “the mental set that says we should choose our nominee based on how many years they’ve served and how long they’ve waited in line.” He added that he did not think McCain will benefit from the letter.

On Monday, Dole sent Rush Limbaugh defending John McCain as a "mainstream conservative," in reaction to the talk show host’s attempts to rally grassroots conservative support against the Arizona senator.

Romney unsuccessfully attempted to reach Dole by telephone Tuesday morning to clarify his statements.

Bob Dole is the last person...um...I mean American hero...Um...I can't...Stop...Flip flopping...

The "last person," Willard? Really? Personally I would have gone with Charles Manson or Osama Bin Laden as the "last person" I would want writing a letter on my behalf. Or maybe Paris Hilton. I'm not a huge Bob Dole fan or anything, but he probably wouldn't have cracked my top 1000. Who is handling this guy? Is there actually a human being under that well quaffed visage? Is there a bigger phony currently running for office in any election?

Everyone Picks McCain For Kickball and He Rubs it in Mitt's Face

I (almost) feel bad for old Willard in this one. How bad do you have to be to not receive the support of your "hometown" conservative rag? If McCain wasn't endorsed by the Republic it would be front page news. When Willard doesn't pick up the support of the Herald, it is just another day on the job. C'mon folks! When the people who know him best don't even like him, that has got to sound off some bells and whistles for the voting public?!?!

Romney Loses Florida Primary

(Associated Press):

Sen. John McCain won a breakthrough triumph in the Florida primary Tuesday night, gaining the upper hand in the battle for the Republican presidential nomination ahead of next week's contests across 21 states.

McCain and Romney clashed early and often, in personal appearances and paid television advertising, in a bruising week of campaigning in Florida.

Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, said his career as a private businessman made him perfectly suited to sit in the Oval Office with a recession looming. Sen. McCain argued he knew his economics well enough, and that his career in the military and in Congress made him the man to steer the country in an age of terrorism.

By the campaign's final hours, the two men hurled insults at one another, each saying the other hoped to travel a liberal road to the presidential nomination in a party of conservatives.

Romney attacked McCain for his signature legislation to reduce the role of money in politics, for his position on immigration and for his support of an energy bill that he said would have driven up consumer costs.

"If you ask people, 'look at the three things Senator McCain has done as a senator,' if you want that kind of a liberal Democrat course as president, then you can vote for him," Romney told campaign workers. "But those three pieces of legislation, those aren't conservative, those aren't Republican, those are not the kind of leadership that we need as we go forward."

McCain had a ready reply. "On every one of the issues he has attacked us on, Mitt Romney was for it before he was against it," he said. "The truth is, Mitt Romney was a liberal governor of Massachusetts who raised taxes, imposed with Ted Kennedy a big government mandate health care plan that is now a quarter of a billion dollars in the red, and managed his state's economy incompetently, leaving Massachusetts with less job growth than 46 other states."

That wasn't all, either.

McCain aired radio commercials criticizing Romney, and his campaign Web site has an ad superimposing Romney's face on the image of a windsurfing Sen. John Kerry, the 2004 Democratic presidential nominee.

The Romney campaign also reported numerous negative phone calls, accusing him incorrectly of supporting taxpayer-funded abortions, opposing President Bush's tax cuts and favoring direct talks with Cuban leader Fidel Castro.

The McCain campaign said it was not responsible for the calls.

This is a pretty big loss for Team Willard. I can't say I'm all that surprised. I'm sure he has even more xenophobic fear-mongering, lies about his record, negative ads and other divisive political tricks up his sleeve in the coming weeks...

Mitt Romney: Look At My Record As Governor.

OK Willard, no problem.

NYT: The Other G.O.P. Candidates Think Romney is Kind of a Dick.

According to today's New York Times, Willard doesn't appear to be making any friends amongst his GOP competitors:

TAMPA, Fla. — At the end of the Republican presidential debate in New Hampshire this month, when the Democrats joined the candidates on stage, Mitt Romney found himself momentarily alone as his counterparts mingled, looking around a bit stiffly for a companion.

The moment was emblematic of a broader reality that has helped shape the Republican contest and could take center stage again on Thursday at a debate in Florida. Within the small circle of contenders, Mr. Romney has become the most disliked.

With so much attention recently on the sniping between Senators Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama on the Democratic side, the almost visceral scorn directed at Mr. Romney by his rivals has been overshadowed.

“Never get into a wrestling match with a pig,” Senator John McCain said in New Hampshire this month after reporters asked him about Mr. Romney. “You both get dirty, and the pig likes it.”

Mike Huckabee’s pugilistic campaign chairman, Ed Rollins, appeared to stop just short of threatening Mr. Romney with physical violence at one point.

“What I have to do is make sure that my anger with a guy like Romney, whose teeth I want to knock out, doesn’t get in the way of my thought process,” Mr. Rollins said.

Campaign insiders and outside strategists point to several factors driving the ill will, most notably, Mr. Romney’s attacks on opponents in television commercials, the perception of him as an ideological panderer and resentment about his seemingly unlimited resources as others have struggled to raise cash.

The rest of the story is continued here.

--UPDATE--

In additon, MLive has their own piece on the subject of Willard hating:

The glee the other candidates go after Romney with is really unique," said Dan Schnur, a Republican strategist who worked on McCain's presidential campaign bid in 2000 but currently is not affiliated with any campaign.

... In stark contrast to Romney, (John) McCain seems to be universally liked and respected by the other Republican contenders, even if they disagree with him.

Schnur used a schoolyard analogy to compare Romney, the ever proper Harvard Law School and Business School graduate, to McCain, the gregarious rebel who racked up
demerits and friends at the Naval Academy.

"John McCain and his friends used to beat up Mitt Romney at recess," Schnur said.

I don't know about you, but with regards to myself, the image of the Vietnam era McCain kicking the ass of a bicycle riding, missionary era Romney is something I am going to want to hold onto for a while.

Mitt Romney: Wins The Award For Most Awkward Moment Around African-Americans, 2008.

1) While in Florida on MLK day, Willard says: "Who let the dogs out" as a form of saying cheese while surrounded by African American youth.

2) He then points to a baby with a little necklace and says, "bling bling." Yup that's right folks, Mitt "F-ing" Romney just said, "bling bling."

Though I know some have and may still, I am not going to go as far as to call this racist, you can be the judge of that yourself. However, I will comfortably point to it as a hilariously poor attempt on ole' Willard's part to seem "hip" with young African-American voters, and how unbelievably out-of-touch he comes across as.

What reality does he live in? Does Willard really think he can drop some dated MTV lingo and be "down" with the youth? Any of the other candidates would have at least come across as a normal human beings in this situation, only Romney could have possibly made it this awkward.

Thanks to Youtube's soulmantim for posting this clip.