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Mark Warner Drops Out

Read all about it here. I'm guess that Gov. Warner found out that Sen. Clinton was monopolizing the '08 Democrat money, decided he couldn't win, and bowed out gracefully in the hopes of getting the VP nod. I bet he wishes he had run against Sen. Allen right about now.

From our point-of-view, this is good news and mildly bad news. Good news in that Gov. Warner might have been a pretty good presidential candidate. I believe Gov. Romney could beat him, but by claiming the mantle of a "moderate" and putting Virginia into play it would have been a bit more difficult and, since elections don't happen in a vacuum, might have been the Democrats best chance at sneaking in a spoiler.

The bad news is that this solidifies the anti-Hillary candidates on the Democrat side into only Sen. Edwards (he of trial lawyers' money), increasing the odds that he takes her down and denies us Republicans of the weakest candidate. Luckily, Sen. Edwards isn't a particularly strong candidate himself.

Of course, I'm getting ahead of myself. The biggest mountain to climb for a potential Romney Admiinistration remains the Republican Primary. On which we are making great progress.

Sally Bradshaw signs with Romney

Thanks to my co-blogger Kevin for pointing me to this one:

Sally Bradshaw, Jeb Bush's longtime political adviser and one of the bigger political brains in politics anywhere, has signed on to help prospective presidential candidate Mitt Romney. For the immediate future Bradshaw will be advising Romney's Commonwealth PAC on key Republican races across the country.

So can we finally put aside the speculation about Jeb in '08?

Ann Coulter now picking Romney

O'Reilly had Ann Coulter on his show last night, and again made his belief that he's betting on Gov. Romney known. Surprisingly, Gov. Romney picked up another voice in Ann Coulter.

O'REILLY: Is there anything that could make you vote Democrat? Is there any scenario that you could envision you supporting the Democrat candidate for president?

COULTER: If Zell Miller were running against John McCain.

O'REILLY: You're not a big McCain fan, are you?

COULTER: No. Actually, I don't really like any of our front-runners.

O'REILLY: Really?

COULTER: I think it's going to be somebody else.

O'REILLY: I think it's going to be Mitt Romney.

COULTER: Actually, of the ones they talk about...

O'REILLY: I think Mitt Romney is the...

COULTER: ... he's my favorite. It's somebody out of the blue.

O'REILLY: ... is the guy on the inside track that very few people know about.

COULTER: And as he's pointed out, although his...

O'REILLY: All right. One more question real fast.

HT: Texans for Mitt

Fund seeing Romney Rising

Gov. Romney get props from yet another corner. Everyone who sees our man Mitt just can't help but walk away impressed.

And then there is the charisma and poise that Mr. Romney seems to exude naturally. "Many people say he certainly looks like a president--sort of a cross between Ronald Reagan and John F. Kennedy," says Genevieve Wood, who founded the conservative Center for a Just Society. Anyone who draws comparisons to those political genes merits further watching.

O'Reilly pronounces Romney the frontrunner!

My co-blogger at electromneyin2008.com found a VERY interesting article today over at the Michigan Republican Party Blog. Bill O'Reilly, he of the highest rated show in cable news, gives Romney the edge to be our next president.

I'm not the biggest fan of O'Reilly personally (he's too populist for my taste), but his voice on the right is unmistakably strong. We're expecting a groundswell of momentum to begin soon. If O'Reilly starts repeating these views on his television or radio shows, we might very well remember this day as a key step into realizing the Romney Administration.

O'Reilly Gives Early Edge To Romney
(TRAVERSE CITY) — Fox News commentator Bill O'REILLY told a gathering here today that Massachusetts Gov. and former Michigander Mitt ROMNEY is his early favorite to win the 2008 presidential election over U.S. Sen. Hillary CLINTON (D-N.Y.) in what he sees now as the likely head-to-head race.

Speaking at the Michigan Future Forum, sponsored by the Michigan Chamber of Commerce, O'Reilly said former frontrunner U.S. Sen. John McCAIN (R-Ariz.) will be hurt for his "soft" positions on the terrorist interrogation and border security issues.

The host of the "No Spin Zone" and the "O'Reilly Factor" added that another top-tier Republican candidate, Rudolph GUILIANI, the former New York City mayor, is being hurt by his inability to handle the press and his mushy positions on issues. Former U.S. House Speaker Newt GINGRICH and U.S. Sen. George ALLEN (R-Va.) round out the top five candidates on the GOP side.

But in the last two weeks, O'Reilly said he's seeing a lot of reasons to give Romney an edge.

"He's photogenic. He's articulate. He's got money. New Hampshire likes him. This guy . . . you watch him," O'Reilly said.

The commentator made famous for his unabashed conservative lean said Clinton is far and away the favorite on the Democratic side. She has more money than any other presidential candidate at this point in history, he said. The problem is that while 35 percent of the people love her, a strong 44 percent of people don't like her and wouldn't vote for her if she was running against Osama Bin LADEN, he quipped.

Former President Bill CLINTON had the personal charm to change people's opinion of him. His wife does not. She is not engaging with the public. She doesn't give press conferences. That's a "huge negative," O'Reilly said.

U.S. Sen. John KERRY (D-Mass.) is spending a lot of time in Iowa these days, a clear sign that he's running again after losing in 2004 to Bush. Why else would a millionaire spend time in Iowa, he pointed out. The Democrats' 2000 presidential nominee, Al GORE, insists he's not running, but insiders have their doubts. Either way, O'Reilly didn't give the global warming crier much of a chance.

In a head-to-head match-up between Clinton and Romney, O'Reilly gives the edge the Romney unless the economy collapses. If terrorists hit the United States again, this country is going to "take a dramatic turn to the right," he predicted.

"If we're attacked again, the Democratic Party can go away," O'Reilly said. "People are so angry underneath."

That would hurt McCain, who does not support President George W. BUSH's position that terrorists are exempt from having to be detained and treated under Geneva Convention rules because they do not represent a country and are not soldiers in a traditional sense.

McCain, a former prisoner of war, also doesn't agree that interrogation techniques that some would consider torture, such as "water-boarding" should be used against terrorist suspects. O'Reilly said allowing the president to OK water submersion under "extraordinary circumstances" works and has stopped 12 attacks, including a suspected terrorist plot in Los Angeles.

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Romney chats up Congress

Hotline has the story:

As Sen. John McCain struck a deal with the administration on torture policy today, MA Gov. Mitt Romney was also busy on the Beltway circuit. Romney first gave a speech this morning, discussing his much-ballyhooed initiative on health insurance to a downtown crowd at the Mayflower.

He then headed up to the Hill and joined the House GOP's "Theme Team" for their regular lunch meeting. Chaired by House Conf Vice- Chair Jack Kingston (R-GA), the Team consists of about 85 mostly conservative House GOPers who gather to hatch strategy and gin up ideas on how to get their message across. About 25 members attended today and heard Romney speak about his record in the Bay State, including the health care plan, his efforts on education and the difficulty of being Red in the heart of Blue America. One House source in attendance said that while he did not explicitly discuss '08, he made it "clear he's going to run." After making his pitch, Romney took questions about where he came down on issues ranging from Iraq to stem cell research. The word from those on the Hill is that he answered the questions effectively and made a positive impression on the members.

This is not the first time Romney has sat down with congressional GOPers, nor has he been the only '08'er to begin the courtship process, but, as we said the other day, is it still only '06?

Btw, Romney is overnighting in DC as he speaks to another group of conservatives, the Family Resarch Council, tomorrow morning. Also addressing FRC's Values Voter Summit are AR Gov. Mike Huckabee (R) and Sens Sam Brownback (R-KS) and George Allen (R-VA).

Romney/McCain snapping up the talent in Iowa

The Washington Post blog "The Fix" has makes note of Gov. Romney's organizational advances.

The only other candidate with such breadth of political experience in the Hawkeye State is Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (R), who announced a 50-person Iowa advisory committee in June. Romney's lead strategist in Iowa is Doug Gross, the party's 2002 gubernatorial nominee and a former aide to Branstad as well as former Gov. Robert Ray.

Remember that the major fight right now among aspiring presidential candidates is for staff talent -- specifically in key early states like Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina. The more talent McCain and Romney are able to scoop up before the midterm elections, the more difficult it will be for any other Republican candidate to seriously compete with the two frontrunners in Iowa and beyond.

Remember, there was good reason Sen. McCain ran away from Iowa last time out.

Chavez: Bush is "The Devil"

Gotta love the kind of people the left associates themselves with.

If we had any sense we'd take him and Ahmadinejad seriously. But we seem to be sticking our heads in the sand lately.

Gov. Romney gives Crist $1 million

Always appreciated.

Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney gave the Republican Party of Florida $1 million to help elect Charlie Crist as governor, saying Sunday that Florida is one of the most important states in national politics and Gov. Jeb Bush's policies need to continue. Romney, who is considering a run for president in 2008, said the check from the Republican Governors Association is the largest the group has donated so far in any state. "This is the highest priority state for us," said Romney, who chairs the RGA. "We have a couple of others that are in this category, but nobody's higher than Florida." Democrats and Republicans have said this year's governor's race between Attorney General Crist and Democrat Jim Davis could give their party an edge in the 2008 presidential election, saying that as goes Florida, so goes the nation.