& They'rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrre OOOOOOOFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

While there were a few preliminary visits last year by some potential Republican presidential candidates, as far as I am concerned the 2008 Iowa Republican Caucus horserace got its DBQ kickoff tonite (26 Jan 2007) with a visit by Gov. Mitt Romney.

There was a meet & greet with complimentary hors d'oeuvres for Governor Romney at 5:30 pm at the Best Western Midway Hotel. There were about 200 people there for the event plus several representatives of the national media including Time Magazine & ABC News. & of course the DBQ Telegraph-Herald was there also.

After working the room for a while he got up to the podium & gave a short speech. He talked about his background starting in Michigan. He went on to talk about some of his experiences in taking over the running of the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, UT. (IOC 2002 Olympics site) Then he shared some of his experiences as governor of Massechusetts including getting his health care plan passed. He went on to share a little of why he is running for governor.

Here is my take about what he said.

1st of all he is an excellent speaker. & that is a big plus. He comes across as very sincere. he is a strong family man, another plus.

As a big fan of the Olympics movement I was very impressed with how he took over & saved the 2002 Olympics from disaster. His telling of Derek Parra's experience as 1 of those carrying in the flag from 9-11 was esp moving.

Talking about his experiences as governor he was right in saying that when writing the Massechusetts constitution John Adams never intended it to give marriage rights to gay couples. But he wasn't as strong in doing all he could while still governor to get it changed. He glossed over that fact. I was impressed by his references to President John & Abigail Adams because President Adams is 1 of my heroes. He also made it sound like he has been strongly pro-life. Unfortunately his record belies this. I know that people can change on this & that he could be serious about being pro-lie. But, as a friend said afterwards, is he serious, or has he changed his position simply to get elected? & that is a question I still have.

Of what is considered the top tier of Republicans, he is the 1 that is closest to where I am at. As I said, his handling of the Olympics is a big plus for me, as was being a Republican getting elected as governor of Massachusetts. & unlike a certain other Democratic Massachusetts governor who ran for president, he is familiar with the greatest son of Massachusetts & a hero of mine, President John Adams. I don't ever remember Dukakis quoting him for anything. At this point he will have to do more to convince me he is strongly Pro-Life. For that reason, Sam Brownback is still my frontrunner at this time.

As an aside, if Romney does get it, someone had a great suggestion that would help ease the Pro-Life concerns immensely, Brownback for VP.

(I plan on reporting & commenting on as many of the events for all the Republican candidates that I can make leading up to the 14 Jan 2008 Iowa Caucuses.)