Hewitt Blog

In the three-way race to be the number one "not Romney," there are two new clues this morning on who might be winning it. And the strong online fundraising at RickSantorum.com is not one of them.

First, Politico's Jonathan Martin and James Hohmann report that the SuperPac backing Romney has launched ads attacking Rick Santorum in South Carolina.  Hard to imagine any SuperPac spending dollars on a fading campaign, so there must be polling showing a rise in Santorum's numbers, which would make sense given the ongoing melt-down surrounding Newt.

And there is a much more subtle clue as well --yesterday's New York Times piece on the Catholic high school Santorum's boys attend.  It is run by, gasp, Opus Dei, don't you know.  The Time's is generally quite complimentary, and gives a very balanced overview of what Opus Dei really is and does, but the piece will serve the key function of providing  a cue to the left on what it will have to chew on if the Santorum surge materializes and a Santorum nomination becomes a reality.

How long until The Da Vinci Code's Dan Brown is asked for his opinion on the significance of the Santorums' choice in schools and the dangers of an Opus Dei affiliated nominee? 

The "Mormon question" hasn't been much of a factor in the GOP race to date, though more and more LDS-related stories area appearing, and the issue will undoubtedly be used against Romney by the left if he is the nominee, (and probably in a way injurious to the president given the shudder that religion-baiting sends through most Americans.)

But an "Opus Dei" issue for Santorum, as a convenient way for the left to grind its anti-Catholic axe?  "Senator, you have sent your sons to a school run by Opus Dei.  Do you approve of all of Opus Dei's practices and beliefs?" 

Speaking of the Mormon issue, Article VI Blog remains the best place to review any eruptions on that front --there are many links today, for example-- and one of its co-founders, John Schroeder, has posted a long piece on how he ended up in the "Evangelicals for Mitt" camp over at MittRomneyCentral.com.  The actual "Evangelicals for Mitt" site is here, and given the uptick in MSM LDS interest recently, both should be very busy this weekend and next week.

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On today's program I had a conversation with Mark Steyn about Rick Perry's comments on the MSM from yesterday's program.  The transcript is here.

I followed that interview with a longer one with The New Yorker's Ryan Lizza on the same set of comments and on the posting by the New York Times' "Public Editor" on whether MSM should be critiquing various claims made by public figures, citing two examples --one from the Supreme Court concerning Clarence Thomas and one concerning Mitt Romney.

That transcript is posted here. 

My question:  When Mitt Romney is asked about his claim to have created 100,000 jobs net/net, is it subjected to more, the same, or less scrutiny than President Obama's oft-repeated assertion to have "saved or created" 3 million jobs?

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The former Ambassador to the U.N. was my guest today and we covered his endorsement of Mitt Romney for president as well as the situation in Iran, the proposed deep cuts to the DoD budget and the USMC video.

The transcript is here. Excerpt on Romney:

HH: All right, Mr. Ambassador, you surprised a lot of people yesterday with your endorsement of former Massachusetts Governor, Mitt Romney, to be the next president. Can you tell us why you did that?

JB: Well, I tried to follow the William F. Buckley, Jr. test in what I think is the most important presidential election in, perhaps in a century, and that is because of the importance of defeating Barack Obama and making sure he doesn’t get another four years to take our country in the wrong direction. And the Buckley test is you want to elect the most conservative candidate who can actually get elected. And that is the calculus, both in terms of the scale of conservatism and a scale of electability. And my judgment was that Mitt Romney had demonstrated on issues that are key to me, particularly national security, that he’s just as conservative as most of the other Republican candidates. I exclude Ron Paul and Jon Huntsman. And I think that he can get elected. I think he’s got the kind of approach that will succeed in November. And so when I put that together, I’m enthusiastically in support of it. Does it mean that he’s as conservative as I am on every issue? No, but then, neither is Newt Gingrich or Rick Perry or some of the other candidates. So you know, everybody’s got his own judgment. Mine is that combination of conservatism and electability that matches best for the time we need is Mitt Romney.

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My new Townhall.com column, "Rick Perry's Long March" looks at the Texas governor on the comeback trail in South Carolina.

The Texas governor was my guest on Wednesday's radio show --transcript here-- and his measured, easy answers demonstrates that while the first few months of the campaign were marred by many mistakes, he does seem to have regained his political bearings and anchored his message. 

As Perry noted to me, he's back doing the retail politics at which he excels in the Palmetto State.  His comment on the debates suggests he knows he will have to push back hard against not just Romney but also the MSM meme that he is finished in the next two debates.  But he's not backing off his critique of Romney's time at the head of Bain even as he promised to support him if he is the nominee.  I have to think that he's much better served talking defense and energy than the different types of venture capital, but don't dismiss a comeback from the four-term Texas governor.

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I didn't expect John Bolton to endorse any of the GOP candidates, but that the former U.N. Ambassador did so yesterday for Mitt Romney ought least to serve to dispel the by now tiresome chant that the "establishment" is forcing Romney on the party faithful.

Bolton may be the least establishment figure the GOP has who has actually served in high office in D.C., and if you need a Bolton refresher course, here's the transcript of my lengthy interview with him on the occasion of the publication of his memoir.

When Mitt Romney mentioned that memoir, Surrender Is Not An Option, in an interview with me on December 30 --transcript and audio here-- some folks noted the exchange with interest, especially after Newt Gingrich had promised to bring Bolton on board his team as Secretary of State should he win through to the presidency.

The serious and thoughtful Bolton is a favorite with the "national security" wing of the GOP and if he joins Romney, Chris Christie, John McCain, Tim Pawlenty, John Thune and Nikki Haley on the campaign trail in South Carolina, that will be a message that conveys a growing unity, not an "establishment" putsch.

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When the photos from Abu Ghraib surfaced in 2004, the left and the MSM seized upon them as a hammer with which to strike the Bush Administration and the war generally.  There is no question that the criminal actions of a handful of out-of-control soldiers deeply injured the war effort and probably the chance for peace, and they certainly became fodder for jihadist propaganda.

Now a new video has appeared, this time purporting to show three Marines conducting themselves in a way that will certainly lead to their severe punishment if the allegations are true. 

Does anyone doubt that this is not the way the Marines teach their men to act, or that if it happened it is the only such incident they can recall in ten plus years of war in Afghanistan?  With that in mind, I hope the American MSM at least --there is little chance of this occurring abroad-- shows restraint and judgment in pursuing this story.  So much is at stake and the price for a media circus would be American lives. 

So, Manhattan-Beltway media elites, please indulge your desire to protect the president and all his policies and his political standing.  Most conservatives will gladly swallow their anger at yet another display of your deep bias if you will only show some restraint that serves to protect American servicemen and women.

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From the email, an assessment of the Romney campaign from a lifelong MA GOPer:

MR's campaign is much better this time and shows evidence of forward planning 
and thinking ahead. So, he has the capacity to execute to a victory. But: 

1. White House is anxious for a Republican nominee to emerge so they can frame 
his image, a la 1996 with the infamous 'Dole-Gingrich' ticket.
 
2. White House and hard leftist allies will be deployed ruthlessly but mostly 
in key battleground states where they can get away with it for as long as 
possible with seemingly indigenous activists (Wisconsin, New Mexico). To your 
earlier title, they will cheat where they think they have to in order to win. 
Somebody should track Vann Jones. 
 
Yes, MR can run and win but with less control on the factors affecting or levers 
of victory: 
 

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I will have a lawyer from the Alliance Defense Fund and hopefully both John Eastman and Erwin Chemerinsky on today to discuss this landmark decision.

The opinion in Hosanna-Tabor is here, and the unanimous decision is another enormous rebuke to the Obama Department of Justice which had argued for a radical narrowing of religious freedom.

UPDATE: The ADF has released this statement from senior counsel Kevin Theriot:

“The Supreme Court was right to conclude that the government cannot contradict a church’s determination of who can act as its ministers. This clearly goes to the heart of the original intent of the religion clauses of the First Amendment. ADF has been pleased to represent this church and school in the trial court since the 6th Circuit handed down its opinion, and we commend The Becket Fund for its excellent work representing them before the Supreme Court.”

Reading the opinion a second time it becomes even more obvious that the Chief Justice's opinion will become one of the great fortresses of religious liberty in the future.  Thanks to ADF and the Beckett Fund for coming to the defense of a small congregation, the vindication of which provided the occasion for a lighthouse opinion that will guide lower courts for decades to come towards protecting religious freedom in America.

The Roberts Court is reworking First Amendment law in a thorough and careful fashion, and all to the good, especially with regards to our first freedoms --to worship the Almighty as we see fit.

To support the important work of the ADF,  go here.  Today would be a wonderful day to join in the work.

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In my 2007 book on Mitt Romney, I wrote about his success in the private sector, but also about the problems his time as leader of Bain might pose.  Here's that excerpt, pp. 201-204:

Nearly 200 Captured Castles

I asked a former associate of Romney’s from the Bain Capital days how many companies Bain Capital had purchased in the years of Romney’s leadership there.  Off the top of his head came the answer of between 160 and 200.

That’s a lot of companies, a lot of stories, a lot of potential disgruntled ax-grinders waiting to be asked for their view of the Bain way.

This happened to Romney in the course of the 1994 Senate run against Ted Kennedy.  “US Senator Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts hired detectives to scrutinize Romney’s past during the 1994 Senate race, in which Romney, a former venture capitalist, gave Kennedy his most vigorous challenge in his long career in Washington,” the Boston Globe reported on December 30, 2005.  “The effort unearthed information that badly damaged Romney during the campaign: namely, that his venture capital firm had acquired an Indiana paper goods factory called Ampad Corp., fired more then 250 workers, and then rehired them at lower wages, leading to charges from the Kennedy camp that Romney was anti-labor.”

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My take on the New Hampshire vote is part of a symposium on the subject over at NationalReview.com.

Politico's Mike Allen provides the key excerpts from Romney's victory speech last night:

FROM ROMNEY'S ACCEPTANCE SPEECH: "Tonight, we celebrate. Tomorrow, we go back to work. ... The last three years have held a lot of change, but they haven't offered much hope. The middle class has been crushed. ... Americans know that our future is brighter and better than these troubled times. We still believe in the hope, the promise, and the dream of America. We still believe in that shining city on a hill. We know that the future of this country is better than 8 or 9% unemployment. ... The President has run out of ideas. Now, he's running out of excuses. And tonight, we are asking the good people of South Carolina to join the citizens of New Hampshire and make 2012 the year he runs out of time.

"President Obama wants to put free enterprise on trial. In the last few days, we have seen some desperate Republicans join forces with him. This is such a mistake for our party and for our nation. This country already has a leader who divides us with the bitter politics of envy. ... I stand ready to lead us down a different path, where we are lifted up by our desire to succeed, not dragged down by a resentment of success. ... Make no mistake, in this campaign, I will offer the American ideals of economic freedom a clear and unapologetic defense. Our campaign is about more than replacing a President; it is about saving the soul of America. ...

"President Obama ... wants to turn America into a European-style entitlement society. ... This President takes his inspiration from the capitals of Europe; we look to the cities and small towns of America. ... He lost our AAA credit rating; I'll restore it. He passed Obamacare; I'll repeal it. When it comes to the economy, my highest priority as President will be worrying about your job, not saving my own.

"Internationally, President Obama has adopted an appeasement strategy. ... He chastises friends like Israel; I'll stand with our friends. He apologizes for America; I will never apologize for the greatest nation in the history of the earth. ... If this election is a bidding war for who can promise more benefits, then I'm not your President. ... But if you want to make this election about restoring American greatness, then I hope you will join us. If you believe the disappointments of the last few years are a detour, not our destiny, then I am asking for your vote. ... This election, let's fight for the America we love. We believe in America. Thank you. God bless you. And God bless the United States of America." Full text http://bit.ly

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