Mitt Romney Leads the Way to Winning the War on Terror

By: Mary Mostert, Analyst, (www.bannerofliberty.com)

February 7, 2008

Prior to Super Tuesdays elections, most of the media directed debates and media commentary on the presidential campaigns for 2008 have given little attention to major issues, but have concentrated on trivia, personal attacks and meaningless and largely inaccurate criticism of the religions of the candidates, especially that of Mitt Romney. However, Mitt Romney's suspension of his campaign yesterday at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) seems already to have led to a remarkable change in both the dynamics and the main topics of the 2008 presidential race.

Romney, by removing himself as a candidate, has shown courageous leadership that is rare and desperately needed if we are to maintain America's freedoms and economic leadership. His speech was less than five minutes, but he has opened a dialogue about the major issues facing us in the 21st Century that American voters need to listen to and ponder before choosing their new president and congress. Romney told CPAC:

"Soon the face of liberalism in America will have a new name - whether it is Barack or Hillary the result would be the same - if they were able to win the presidency. The opponents of American culture would push the throttle, divising new justifications for judges to depart from the Constitution, and economic neophytes would lay heavier and heavier burdens on employers and families, slowing our economy opening the way for foreign competition to further erode our lead. Even though we face an uphill fight I know many in this room are fully behind my campaign."

(sustained applause, cheers)

"You are with me all the way to the convention - fight on just like Ronald Reagan did in 1976."

(applause, cheers )

"But there is an important difference from 1976. Today we are a nation at war. And Barack and Hilary have made their intentions clear regarding Iraq and the war on terror. They would retreat, declare defeat and the consequence of that would be devastating - it would mean attacks on America, launched from safe havens that would make Afghanistan under the Taliban look like Child's play - about this I have no doubt

"Now I disagree with Sen. McCain on a number of issues, as you know but I agree with him on doing whatever it takes to be successful in Iraq and finding and executing Osama bin Laden. (cheers)

"And I agree with him on eliminating al Qaeda and terror worldwide. Now if I fight on in my campaign all the way to the convention (cheers) I want you know… I've given this a lot of thought - I'd forestall the launch of a national campaign and, frankly, I'd be making it easier for Sen. Clinton or Obama to win,"

(Shouts of "No!")

"Frankly, in this time of war, I simply cannot let my campaign be a part of aiding a surrender to terror."

(More shouts of "No!")

"This isn't an easy decision. I hate to lose, my family, my friends, you, my supporters across the country - you've given a great deal to get me to where I have a shot to becoming president. If this were only about me, I'd go on, but it's never been only about me. I entered this race because I love America, and because I love America in this time of war, I feel I have to now stand aside, for our party and for our country."

(More shouts of "No!")

"You guys are great. I'll continue to stand for conservative principles. I'll fight along side you for all the things we believe in and one of the things we believe in is that we cannot allow the next president of the united stated to retreat in the face of evil extremism." (

applause, cheers)

"It is the common task of each generation and the burden of liberty to preserve this country, expand its freedoms and renew its spirit so its noble past is prologue to its glorious future. To this task accepting this burden we are all dedicated I firmly believe by the providence of the Almighty that we will succeed beyond our fondest hopes. America must remain as it has always been, the hope of the earth.

"Thank you so very much. I love you! Thank you!"

Later in the day, John McCain, speaking to the same CPAC audience, seemed to pick up on Romney's thoughts by promising he would "unite the party" and that he was "acutely aware" that he could not succeed without "the support of dedicated conservatives whose convictions, creativity and energy have been indispensible" to the success of the Republican Party.

He defended President Bush for his "brave decision to increase troop levels in Iraq to execute a long overdue counterinsurgency that has spared us the terrible calamity of losing that war" and told the audience he would "win the war" and would "nominate judges of the character and quality of Justices Roberts and Alito."

Over 4 million Republicans voted for Romney, compared to the 4.7 million that voted for McCain. Hours after Mitt Romney suspended his race, the political pundits were trying to figure out why a candidate such as Romney, described by Newsweek as a candidate who could "bring core Republican ideals of strong defense, small government and old-style family values to the White House" had not been "believable" to many voters.

Newsweek observes, as have many other writers on the subject, that history may say that "in 2008, … America showed itself to be enthusiastically ready for a black or female president, (but) it still wasn't ready for a Mormon."

Where will the 4 million voters who voted for Romney now go? Huckabee has asked for Romney supporters to vote for him, even though he was the candidate who deliberately fanned voter emotions by making subtle anti-Mormon remarks about Romney. However, most Romney supporters will realize that Romney's personal sacrifice in this campaign was prompted by his concern over what will happen if America abandons its efforts to confront the 21st century's greatest threat - Islamic jihadism that has sworn to destroy America and its way of life, particularly its religious freedom.

The only candidate left in the race who seems to understand the point made by Mitt Romney in his speech yesterday is John McCain. Mitt has made a personal sacrifice to preserve the very liberty of those who would deny him the presidency because they are prejudiced and uninformed about his religion. Why would he do that? Because he IS a Mormon and Mormons are taught to forgive those who are ignorant of their faith and pray about major decisions in their lives. Undoubtedly Romney studied the returns and prayed about his campaign after Super Tuesday. The personal sacrifice he has made came from pondering the facts and prayer.

Abandoning Iraq to the jihadists would, as Romney said, lead to "attacks on America, launched from safe havens that would make Afghanistan under the Taliban look like Child's play." Where the jihadists succeed, there is NO religious or personal freedom for anyone - including those who would and have in the past deny Mormons their right to worship.