Mitt Romney: "Ask Me Anything"

On Sat, 16 June 2007 Gov. Mitt Romney had a Town Hall meeting at the Best Western, Midway in DBQ. There were about 200-250 people present. The meeting started out with a little bit of unexpected excitement as a part of the stage with Ann Romney on it collapsed. Fortunately the stage was only a few inches high & she wasn't hurt. She was even able to joke about it saying: "I ride horses, that was nothing."

After giving a short speech reitterating his main themes he went on to answer a few questions from the audience. 1 of the stories he told was that of being given a 1961 Nash Rambler (made the last year his father George Romney was head of American Motors.) He said he pointed out to his sons how the car worked, the huge steering wheel (before power steering) the poor quality window defroster, the lack of seat belts & arm rests. His point was how things needed to improve to remain competative. If they don't people will take their business elsewhere. (This seems to me something that American car companies like GM need to relearn. Why buy Chevy when a Toyota is better made, gets better mileage, keeps its value better & IS actually made in America?)

In talking about the military he called for an increase of at least 1000,000 troops as well as in the budget. He laid much of the blame (rightly so) at the feet of Bill Clinton for the cuts he did that put the military in such a poor condition in the early part of this decade.

He talked about the importance of America learning from Teddy Roosevelt. "Speak softly & carry a big stick." A strong military is a sign of strength & our willingness to use it if need be. (This was a strong statement, not of saber rattling, but of the idea of negotiating from strength, so you DON'T have to use force.)

In talking about what terrorism is trying to accomplish he was very blunt. "There is a worldwide effort of different people all intent on bringing down modernity and, replacing it, in some respects, with barbarism." (True. & many here on the left are doing all they can to help.)

He talked a bit about the need for reform in health care. He pointed out the problems with having the government take over & called for the other states to follow Massachusetts lead in developing ways to pay for health care. He pointed out that the problem isn't that of not getting health care. People who have heart attacks, for example, get an ambulance & health care in a hospital even if they can't pay. & there is the real problem, who pays? He explained what they did while he was governor. He said that 1 size doesn't fit all & each state needs o come up with its own solutions for its uniqie problems. AS time goes on maybe some things that work can be applied nation wide. (This is 1 point i really liked. He is opposed to the Federal Government imposing a 1 size fits all solution. Those rarely work. His view shows an understanding of how federalism as enshrined in our Constitution, esp the 9th & 10th Amendments, is supposed to work.)

He talked about the need for Roe v Wade to be overturned so that the debate can be returned to the states. (There is good & bad in this. R v W was wrong in so many ways, 1 of which was that it ussurped states' rights in an unconstitutional way. But in another way, it ignored what is already there in the Constitution & more specifically stated in America's foundational document, The Declaration of Independence. In particular the RIGHT TO LIFE. & merely pushing it back to the states will result in life being protected some places, not elsewhere. This is 1 issue where I am concerned about how seriously commited to it he is.)

Overall, I feel Gov. Romney did an excellent job in handling things, despite some technical problems with the microphone & the stage collapse. & unlike the other so-called 1st tier candidates, he is commited to the process here in Iowa. & that doesn't mean just the big towns like Waterloo, Cedar Rapids or DBQ. It includes the smaller towns like my hometown of Oelwein. He spoke there Fri afternoon & drew about 75 people. (See AP picture of event at the right.) According to an article in the Cedar Rapids Gazette (Romney wins over crowd during stop in Oelwein) he hit on a lot of the same themes that he touched on in DBQ.