RSS Feed Menu“NO BAGGY CLOTHES. NO CONSTRUCTION BOOTS. NO SPORTS JERSEYS. NO HEAD GEAR. NO RIPPED OR BAGGY CLOTHING,” screamed a sign outside Lucky Strike Lanes in Gallery Place-Chinatown. They shuffled by in dark, black overcoats, nodding quietly to the flirty volunteers at registration, themselves in matching black button-ups. They were big-time federal donors, and they were here to bowl with Mitt Romney.
Washington, D.C. was still seized by a hangover from Snowpocalypse 2.0; the roads were jammed, the metro was still packed, freeze-dried. The main attraction was late, and journalists mulled around outside, the tip-tap of blackberries peeking over the sounds of temperate guests, who checked in silently, no doubt irritated with whatever method of transportation they had used to arrive.
Burly bouncers guarded the entranceway – no, it didn’t matter how old you looked, you needed ID. You were, after all, “Bowling With Mitt”.
His car was stuck in traffic, but for now the donors were placated by an equally attractive candidate for attention. Senator Scott Brown had arrived, and was immediately mobbed by fans waiting outside – political groupies who had heard about the event but didn’t have the means to pay the $150 entrance fee.
Brown wore a plain brown sweater and khakis – the fashion equivalent of his pickup truck. The Washington Wizards were playing next door, and it looked like he had just come from one of Verizon Center’s nosebleed sections.
The upper chamber’s newest member walked stiffly, like he had just carried a bunch of bricks on his back from the Capitol. He didn’t look casual the way politicians usually look casual – you know, the played formal shirt and jeans get-up – Brown actually looked ‘Middle America’. He walked Middle America.
“NO MC COLORS,” continued the blaring sign. “It means motorcycle colors,” explained the bouncer. “Red, blue, purple, green, you know, gang colors. Bandanas worn a certain way. Crips, bloods, so on.”
“Oh,” I muttered. Romney’s main street bona fides were clearly getting a boost from this event.
“NO WHITE SHIRTS,” finished the list outside, apparently because white shirts and black lights don’t mix. This disco-themed bowling alley would not admit bowlers with plain white shirts.
Mitt Romney finally arrived, in a glaring white shirt and jeans.
He shook the bouncer’s hand, and ambled in. We hiked in after him – “He’s here!” cried an attendee.
I bump into an old friend. It’s Ash Wednesday, and he has a mark on his forehead. “For a Massachusetts fundraiser, I’m not seeing many ashes,” he lamented. “And I thought Massachusetts was a Catholic state!”
I slip past to get a look at the Brown-Romney interaction. “I hope I look like you when I’m your age,” joked Senator Brown upon spotting the former Massachusetts Governor. The affection is palpable – Brown owes his fame and coming fortune to this man.
The governor wastes no time getting down to business. The bright camera lights cancel out the glow of his white shirt under black lights, removing any potential Jesus-glow. First item on the agenda: he had been assaulted by an airline traveler in coach after leaving the Vancouver Olympics. “Last time I practice my stump speech on an airplane,” Romney chuckled, to the pleasure of the crowd.
Then comes the actual stump speech, and what clearly emerges as Romney’s coming theme: pioneering. America is a land of pioneers, where pioneers settled and innovators thrived, he says. They came to this pioneering land for a land of opportunity, not a land of welfare. America is free: a pioneering land.
And that was that – the bowling was set to start, but not before the governor had his chance to show off some skills. Cameras flash and wiggle around him. Disorienting to any normal bowler, but impetus for this one.
On his first frame, the crowd goes deathly silent, as if in deference to the ball. STRIKE. The crowd goes wild. High fives are exchanged. He grins – he wants to quit while he’s ahead. “I’m finished!”
Romney mingles with the crowd – someone had finally found him a blue bowler shirt to keep him from glowing. For an event where American freedom was stressed, the bowling alley did have a lot of draconian rules.
The donors settle down to their chicken fingers and fried coconut shrimp, and the event slowly fizzles out as the night wears on. Brown leaves after ten minutes, Romney after a couple of frames, some hand shaking and a few pictures.
Anyone who is anxious about the coming Romney candidacy can rest assured. At the very least, Mitt Romney is an excellent bowler.
Moderate // Feb 18, 2010 at 8:52 am
Uh oh. I have bad associations with millionaires near bowling equipment who yell “I’m finished!”
GOProud // Feb 18, 2010 at 9:17 am
I know Tim that this will not make your day. But Romney will be the nominee in 2012. He’ll kick the Obami Cult out of DC.
We’ll return to a period of peaceful prosperity, real leadership not hype and spin, and strong resolve in American foreign policy. We’ll once again become the Shining City on the Hill and the World’s Last, Best Hope for Freedom rather than a 2nd world country full of self-doubting leaders who would rather kowtow wow-bow to world leaders and nations that foment islamic terrorists than grow a set and be a real leader.
There’ll be no Miranda Warnings by ACLU lawyers to terrorists intent on killing fellow Americans. The Dept of Justice will return to being the fed govt’s prosecutor, not the Obami’s Grand Apologist.
We’ll finally tackle the problems of partisan rancor and gridlock in DC, we’ll end Congressional abuse of the budget process, we’ll solve rising medical costs and fix health care, welcome immigrants back to our shores, stop mortgaging our great-grandchildren’s future just because we can’t say No to ourselves, we’ll restore the economy, stop corporate welfare and bailouts for unions and force the federal govt bureaucracy to retreat from its recent pattern of invasive, intrusive and ineffective micromanagement of our lives, our fortunes, our loves.
And we’ll do it while learning that Mitt likes to bowl and ride horses, camp in a tent, save his pennies in a jar by the front door, has a wife with MS and is an unabashed patriot.
He’ll be the best tonic for the GOP. And he’ll usher in an era of unchecked promise and opportunity for ALL Americans not seen since the glory days of Ron Reagan and Geo Bush 41.
And the farLeft trolls here will return to being ankle biting snits instead of spin-masters looking to excuse the utter failures of the farLeft and radical Democrat leadership.
Maybe Obami will become an asterisk in the history books –kind of Bill Clinton and JimmineyCricketCarter.
sinz54 // Feb 18, 2010 at 9:55 am
GOProud: But Romney will be the nominee in 2012. He’ll kick the Obami Cult out of DC.
Romney does not radiate the kind of authenticity that Reagan or Goldwater did. He comes off as pre-packaged and slick.
Romney’s flip-flopping back and forth on the Roe v. Wade issue is going to give both his primary opponents and the Dems a lot of ammo. Plus the fact that to win the governorship of MA, Romney framed himself as a moderate in the style of Bill Weld. Then as soon as he started considering a Presidential run, he tossed away that persona.
Finally, Romney might not even be able to hold the GOP base. Christian evangelicals are suspicious of both Romney’s stance on abortion and also his Mormonism, which they regard as a crackpot cult. And they’re not the only ones who feel that way.
GOProud // Feb 18, 2010 at 10:42 am
I’m sorry to report this, Goldwater didn’t radiate authenticity to anyone except those crackpots with little silver handled pistols gleaming in their fixed, dilated pupils. The 1964 GOP Convention was one of the lowest attended political conventions in the 20thC –even Herbert Hoover attended the Cow Palace Convention and he couldn’t draw a crowd unless dead.
Have you forgotten the 1964 race? The only thing Goldwater radiated was a mushroom cloud. Authenticity? Gheesh.
Romney will be the nominee in 2012. Just like Nixon got it 1960. Just like Reagan got it 1980 after relenting from his vicious attack on Jerry Ford in ‘76. Just like Bush 41 got it in 1988 after dutifully serving as a loyal RINO in a neo-con Administration. Just like Dole got it in 1996. Just like McCain got it 2008. The only modern day prez to earn the GOP nomination was W in 2000 –the last truly open, vigorous primary contest. And the 2nd place winner in 2000 became the nominee when the 1st place winner was finished serving in office in 2008.
Romney withdrew to McCain’s advantage when it was warranted; Huck-a-boom didn’t. That set him up for the nomination –Mormon or not.
Conservatives will be important in the 2012 race and that’s why Romney announced his withdrawl from the 2008 race at a C-PAC event –it was for McCain’s sake and Romney endorsed and worked for McCain. No hiding, no apologies; just hard work. And Mitt’s been smart in not drawing attention to the fact that conservatives let the GOP down in 08 by not playing loyal and stayed at home on sofa munching pringles and velvetta.
Romney’s been stumping for GOP candidates –liberal, moderate and conservative ever since. Chit, after chit, after bloody chit. He was the singular, largest force in aiding Scott Brown’s stunning campaign success to wrestle away the Kennedy Senate seat from corrupt, obscene partisanship. Not the TeaParty; Mitt.
Unless Jeb Bush gets into the race –which would then raise the question of political dynasty versus political dynasty. But that’s not likely.
FYI: Mitt’s dad finished 4-5th at the Cow Palace Convention to Goldwater. Politics loops once again.
sinz54 // Feb 18, 2010 at 10:56 am
The GOP base won’t accept a Mormon President.
GOProud // Feb 18, 2010 at 11:21 am
Spoken like a good independent voter. You’re wrong again, Sinz. Just like with the claim that Goldwater had authenticity.
Silly boi.
Tim Mak // Feb 18, 2010 at 11:22 am
For the record, I don’t dislike Romney.
PracticalGirl // Feb 18, 2010 at 12:53 pm
“The GOP base won’t accept a Mormon President.”
I would tend to agree with Sinz, if only because the GOP has already rejected Romney for President in a race and amid economic conditions that should have made him the hands-down front runner. Not saying it’s right, just saying it is.
Carney // Feb 18, 2010 at 1:02 pm
sinz54, you have some good points, but Clinton got elected despite being widely known for being slick, and Obama despite being seen as detached and un-empathetic. Every successful candidate has some baggage: Reagan had to deal with age and “extremism”, Bush Sr. the “wimp factor”, Bush Jr. being spoiled and dumb; etc.
GOProud // Feb 18, 2010 at 1:42 pm
Nice try PracticalGrrrl, but Romney wasn’t in the race to win the nomination in 2008… he was there to earn his place for the nomination in 2012. McCain was the guy that most GOPers knew would win. He was the front runner. He was blessed by the GOP establishment because he exited the 2000 race when W had it locked, he campaigned hard for W in 00 and 04, and he worked for hundreds of GOP candidates throughout the W years.
Unlike Democrats, we don’t walk away from loyal soldiers. But what can we say when your side doesn’t believe loyalty is of value? To the GOP, it’s a character trait.
And it’s why Romney will be the GOP nominee in 2012 and he’ll win against either Obama-? team or the upstart team of HClinton-Bayh.
—-
Tim, I didn’t say you liked or disliked him. I said you wouldn’t care to hear it, but he’ll be the Party’s nominee in 2012. From some of the posts you’ve written, I wonder if you even like the GOP. But you’re at C-PAC; maybe we’ll get to say hello.
PracticalGirl // Feb 18, 2010 at 2:30 pm
MiGOPEr-
Why did you change your name?
And do you really discount the anti-Mormon sentiments that run so deep in the GOP? Do you really discount the Evangelical vote that helped sweep Bush to victory and yet have been so vocal about not voting for a Mormon?
The whole “Mormon” issue actually befuddles me. Romney has a proven record of governing without bringing his Mormonism to the table (I think). But, if it is true as you say that he really didn’t mean to win the nomination in 2008 and was just tilting at windmills, then I think we all need to take a second look at the fiscal conservative boba fides of a guy who would throw away $42 million and change of his own money plus all the other contributions he got just to…What, introduce himself? Great spin, it just makes me wonder what he’d do with taxpayer money to make a point.
PracticalGirl // Feb 18, 2010 at 2:31 pm
OK- post above should really say “bona fides” instead of “boba fides”, but there’s no fixin’ at the Forum.
GOProud // Feb 19, 2010 at 10:30 am
PracticalGrrrl snarls with: “And do you really discount the anti-Mormon sentiments that run so deep in the GOP?”
It’s mostly a fiction spawned of the farLeft, dear. That’s not to say that guys like Huckabee didn’t help heap on the anti-Mormon rhetoric in 08.
When Romney made his landmark and widely-received speech on Religion in America, Pew Research had already completed an exhaustive study of this very issue you would like to fan into flames once again and Huckabee failed to take note.
Pew found that 66% of ALL American voters, prior to Romney’s speech and in a period when MSM speculation on how adversely a Mormon would be treated by voters, didn’t think it mattered. 66%: doesn’t matter.
That was after weeks of swirling non-stories like Dem Chair ScreaminDean’s comment that he didn’t know if Mormons were even Christians, Dem pundit Bob Beckel opining nearly everywhere that “America doesn’t like cults” and even farLeft preacher Bill Moyers saying “It’s hard to imagine a Mormon reactionary in the Oval Office; they hate the government.”
http://pewresearch.org/pubs/648/romney-mormon
Here’s the reason why you and Sinz54 are wrong.
Inside the GOP, Mormons are seen as the touchstone of social conservatism within faith-based groups. Inside the Mormons, some 77% think of themselves as conservatives and GOPers. Mormon and GOP go together like peanut butter, jelly and bread… and they make an awesome political feast.
http://blog.beliefnet.com/news/2010/01/mormons-are-the-most-conservat.php
You and Sinz54 wouldn’t know that because that’s a world you’ve never been near.
I always wonder when bigots and homophobes inside the Democrat Party try to lecture gay conservatives about political allegiances. It’s the same kind of folly that brings forth uninformed, disconnected advisors like you and Sinz54 trying to tell the GOP that Romney is out because he’s a Mormon. I am not saying you guys are religious bigots… you just don’t have any reliable information about the dynamics inside the GOP, social conservative movement, faith-based activism, etc.
Luckily for the GOP, neither one of you have any advice that’s on-point or informed when it comes to Romney, Mormons inside the GOP or who to pick as a nominee.
And that’s good for us.