Tag Archives: reagan democrat

Reaganites for Romney!

Posted on by joemich4mitt

Former Ronald Reagan administration officials and leaders are coalescing around Mitt Romney’s campaign for President!  Romney’s campaign announced the first wave of endorsements from Reaganites today:

Boston, MA

United States

Romney for President today announced the first wave of Reaganites for Romney, a group of officials and leaders who served in the Reagan Administration and in various political roles during the Reagan Administration. Ambassador Jerry Carmen will serve as Chairman of Reaganites for Romney.

“These individuals were part of a movement that changed America and the rest of the world,” said Mitt Romney. “The smaller government policies of the Reagan era helped turn around a struggling economy and create millions of jobs. And the strong defense of freedom around the world led to the crumbling of empires and dictatorships. I am proud to announce this group of conservative leaders – with their help we can recreate the robust job creation of the Reagan years.”

Announcing Reaganites for Romney, Ambassador Jerry Carmen said, “Supporters of Ronald Reagan are supporting Mitt Romney because he is the best chance conservatives have to return to the prosperous Reagan years. His economic plan will unleash job-creation in the private sector, his trade policies will open markets around the world, and he will stand up to countries that have pledged to destroy our allies. Mitt Romney will restore faith in our country in much the same way Ronald Reagan did thirty years ago.”

Members of Reaganites for Romney:

Ambassador Gerald P. Carmen – Ronald Reagan 1980 Campaign; Administrator of the U.S. General Services Administration from 1981-1984; U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva 1984-1986

Attorney General William Barr – Domestic Policy Staff 1982-1983

Lee Casey – Office of Legal Policy 1986-1990

Jimmy Gurulé – Assistant United States Attorney, Deputy Chief of the Major Narcotics Section (Los Angeles) 1985-1989

William Kilberg – President of White House Fellows 1982-1983; Appointed by Reagan to Chair of White House Fellowships in 1983

Raymond Ludwiszewski – Special Counsel to Assistant Attorney General for the Environment and Natural Resources Division 1985-1987; Associate Deputy Attorney General 1986-1991

Judge Michael McConnell – Assistant to the Solicitor General; Member of the Presidential Intelligence Oversight Committee 1988-1990

John McGinnis – Office of Legal Counsel 1985-1987; Deputy Assistant Attorney General 1987-1991

David Rivkin, Jr. – Legal Advisor to the Counsel to the VP; Deputy Director, Office of Legal Policy 1987-1993; Associate General Counsel of the Department of Energy; Associate White House Counsel

Jay Stephens – Principal Assistant Deputy Attorney General (DOJ); Assistant US Attorney; Assistant Watergate Prosecutor 1973-1986; Deputy White House Counsel 1986 – 1988; US Attorney for the District of Columbia 1988-1993

Ambassador Rich Williamson – Assistant Secretary of State for International Organization Affairs 1988-1989; Special Assistant to the President and Deputy to the White House Chief of Staff 1981; Assistant to the President for Intergovernmental Affairs, the White House 1981-83; US Ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency and the UN Offices in Vienna, Austria 1983-85

Fred Cooper (GA) – Elected Chairman of the Republican Party of Georgia in 1981; Raised money during the 1980 campaign and was on the 1984 Georgia Finance Committee

Marty Connors (AL) – 1980 Communications Director for the Republican Party of Alabama; 1984 Executive Director of the Alabama Republican Party and oversaw the Alabama Reagan re-elect

Attorney General Bill Schuette (MI) – Elected in 1984, served as Member of Congress during the second Reagan administration.

Republican National Committeeman Saul Anuzis (MI) – Elected as the youngest delegate to the 1980 Republican National Convention in Detroit; and served as third vice chairman of the Michigan Republican Party, organizing youth efforts during the Reagan administrations

Ambassador Peter F. Secchia (MI) – Michigan’s Republican National Committeeman, and Vice Chairman of the Republican National Committee during the Reagan Administration, elected in 1980 and re-elected in 1984 and 1988.

Ronna Romney (MI) – Republican National Committeewoman from Michigan, serving from 1984-1992

Curt Hames (IA) – Iowa activist for Reagan

Frank Severino (IA) – Reagan volunteer in Iowa, late father-in-law served as Reagan Iowa Campaign Manager

Jim Click (AZ) – Arizona Finance Chair, 1980 and 1984

Ambassador Glen Holden (CA) – Former Ambassador to Jamaica

Ambassador Barbara Barrett (AZ) – Deputy Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration; also served as Vice Chairman of the Civil Aeronautics Board, the President’s Advisory Committee on Trade Negotiations, and the Board of the Administrative Conference of the US

Fred Balitzer (CA) – Consultant to the Secretary of the Department of Interior;  Vice Chair – Javits Fellowships, Department of Education;  Spec. Amb. – Brunei, Department of State

Ambassador Rockwell Schnabel (CA) – Former Ambassador to Finland

David C. Fischer (VA) – Special Assistant to the President, The White House; UN Human Rights Commissioner, Department of State; US Commissioner, International Boundary Commission

Joshua A. Muss (VA) – Executive Director, Property Review Board. Office of the President

Jack R. Stevens (VA) – Executive Director (1986-1988) and Western Regional Director (1983-1986), Citizens for America

Jerry Fox (FL) – Associate Administrator, General Services Administration; Associate Archivist (Management), National Archives

The Honorable Dodie Truman Stallcup (UT) – Director of Correspondence and Volunteers at the LA Headquarters and Transition Office, ’79-’80; Special Assistant to the President and Director of Special Presidential Messages for the Executive Office of the President ’81-’84; US Commissioner for Children, Youth, and Families and Chief of the Children’s Bureau at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, ’84-’89

Lindy Fekety – Secretary to Associate Director, Office of the President-Elect:  Secretary to Special Assistant to the President, Personal Office of the President - The White House:  Administrative Assistant to Director, Presidential Personnel – The White House:  Director of Administration, Citizens for America

John Agresto (NM) – Former Acting Chair of the NEH; Former President/Chancellor of three colleges and universities; President of John Agresto & Associates

Susan Alvarado (VA) – Assistant to the Vice President for Legislative Affairs, Member, Board of Governors, U.S. Postal Service

Allen K. Bahn (MD) – Co-Coordinator, Ethic Vote – Reagan/Bush 1980, 1984

Bo Denysyk (MD) – Vice Chair, Civil Aeronautics Board; Member, Presidential Advisory Committee on Trade Negotiations; Deputy Administrator, Department of Transportation/FAA

* Michigan for Mitt blog author note – Please note that the link to the Reagan-Romney mug is not an official Romney campaign product, nor is it associated with the Michigan for Mitt blog.  It was just something I found that I thought looked cool.   Cheers!

Mitt Romney Leads Obama in Michigan Poll, Obama Campaigner Says You’ve Lost Touch

Posted on by joemich4mitt

Adding numerical polling data to the earlier post about Michigan not being sold on Obama (even among Democrats), a new EPIC-MRA poll shows that Gov. Mitt Romney leads Pres. Barack Obama in Michigan voter support, 46% to 41%.  What is even more telling is the strength that Gov. Romney shows among not just republican and conservative voters, but also among independent voters.  Some excerpts from a recent Detroit Free Press article bring new light to these two phenomenon among Michigan’s voters:

“There’s time for the president to woo voters, but without the two key suburban Detroit counties, it would be difficult for Obama to win Michigan, a state whose voters have backed Democratic candidates in the last five presidential elections.

In a head-to-head matchup statewide, Romney tops Obama 46%-41% in the poll.

In Macomb, where Obama received 53% of the vote in 2008, the president trails Romney, 68%-20%. Even controlling for a high margin of error because of a small sample size in the county, Obama trails Romney in Macomb by at least 20 percentage points…

Romney leads Obama in Oakland County, 46%-41%; three years ago, Obama won the county 47%-42%. And though the president holds a commanding 60%-28% lead over Romney in Wayne County, Obama won the county 74%-25% in 2008…

Obama’s problem lies with independent voters, who helped him win three years ago but now favor Romney in Michigan and several other swing states.

“I will not vote before I (will) vote for him [Obama], and I’ve voted in every election since I was 18,” said Karen Ranoni, 37, of Shelby Township, who backed Obama in 2008. “I just think it’s been broken promise after broken promise.”

And in another article at the same link:

“Are the so-called Reagan Democrats rising up again in Macomb County, this time to take down President Barack Obama?

Three years ago, Obama won blue-collar Macomb with 53% of the vote to Republican John McCain’s 48%. At this point, a Free Press poll conducted last week by Lansing-based EPIC-MRA shows all three of the top Republican contenders — Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich and Herman Cain — with a lead on Obama in the county.

The poll’s sample of 600 likely voters statewide includes only a sliver from Macomb County, meaning any results there come with a whopping 14-percentage-point margin of error. But even controlling for that, the Republican contenders still lead the president. Romney, who grew up in Bloomfield Hills, would still lead by at least 20 points.

“I think Romney can win,” said Bob Kolt, a Lansing-based political consultant and professor at Michigan State University. “I’m a Democrat, and I’ll vote for Obama, but I think Romney can win Michigan. And if he does, he can win the presidency.”

The poll, conducted last Sunday through Wednesday, shows Romney — a former Massachusetts governor whose father was a popular three-term Michigan governor — leading Obama in a head-to-head matchup, 46%-41%, just outside the poll’s margin of error of 4 percentage points. Twelve percent of respondents remain undecided.

The news is better for the president should Republicans nominate another contender: In Michigan, he leads former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, 45%-40%, and former Godfather’s Pizza CEO Herman Cain, 50%-36%.”

So on that note, fellow Michiganders, if you really aren’t happy with what you’re seeing by way of policies from the White House over the past few years, that previous paragraph should tell you right away that we should nominate Gov. Romney and not another candidate.  Continuing:

“Independents jump ship

Without question, Obama has his supporters. Patty Leitzel, 58, of Romeo has been talking strategy with other early volunteers for the Obama campaign, working on plans for how to best educate voters about the president’s key issues and accomplishments.

“The thing I’m concerned about are the people who voted for Obama before who feel disenfranchised,” she said. “I feel they’ve lost touch with what he’s accomplished. … Their situation is not a whole lot better.”

Read that again!  Yes, that *just* happened.  An Obama campaigner not only admitted that people who voted for Obama feel disenfranchised, but also admitted that “their situation is not a whole lot better.”  And yet the Obama campaigners still want people to vote for Obama again regardless.  I’ve occasionally heard an Obama supporter allege that Mitt Romney is out of touch with every day Americans and workers (please note I, the blog author, am one of those Americans, by the way), but it seems this statement from the Obama campaigner gives a whole new meaning to being out of touch with normal Americans.  The campaigner is essentially saying, “I know you feel disenfranchised and that Obama hasn’t improved your situation, but vote for him anyway because you are the one that is out of touch, not the President.”  Wow.

Fellow Michiganders, is this really the kind of leadership we want in the White House?  A President who blames you?  A President who would rather shift the burden of our nation’s troubles on your having “lost touch” with what he has accomplished?  And are we really out of touch?  Are we as misinformed (at best) or dumb (at worst) as his campaign suggests?  I’m pretty sure we’re all smarter than this.  Speaking of smart, here is one smart Michigander that probably won’t buy in to the President shifting blame on all of us:

“We’ve already seen Obama’s hand. Let’s see what Romney brings to the table,” said Kevin Stultz, 38, an electrical contractor in St. Clair Shores. “He can’t make it much worse.”

That is quite key to this election.  We gave President Obama a chance.  I personally gave him a chance.  Being a Michigander I tend to be open-minded to leaders of any political persuasion.  Having been on military active duty I also tend to follow the lead of whoever America elects as our President despite some of my differences.  In January 2009 I shed my differences with our new President and enthusiastically supported him after inauguration day.  I believed he could do something great with the country as our new leader even though I didn’t vote for him.  Years have passed, and now we have nothing substantial by way of progress to show for his Presidency when it comes to jobs, the economy and federal deficits.  I, like Kevin, have already seen Pres. Obama’s hand, and I do agree it is time to see what Romney brings to the table.  Well said, Kevin.  Continuing:

“Obama is struggling with independent voters in several states.

A Nov. 10 poll released by Quinnipiac University Polling Institute in Connecticut showed Obama and Romney effectively tied in Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania, three critical swing states. Romney led among independents in all three.

Romney also leads among independents in Michigan, 41%-34%, with 24% undecided. Although Romney is tied with Obama among independent women, he leads 45%-32% among independent men.

The same can’t be said for Romney’s chief opponents: Obama leads Cain among independents, 50%-23%, with 27% undecided. The president is ahead of Gingrich, 39%-28%, with 33% undecided.”

Again, if you are serious about hiring a new President, Gov. Romney is the choice.

“According to a WXYZ-TV (Channel 7) poll done by EPIC-MRA last week, Romney is the clear front-runner in Michigan’s Feb. 28 Republican primary, garnering 34% of the support, compared with 20% for Gingrich and 13% for Cain. The rest of the field was at 8% or less.

That’s what’s got newspapers (the Los Angeles Times, for one, published a story last week from Sterling Heights) writing about the potential resurgence of the Reagan Democrats. The phenomenon was used by pollster Stan Greenberg to describe disaffected blue-collar Democrats in Macomb who bolted the party to support Republican Ronald Reagan in 1980 and 1984.

This time, however, it may be independent voters — key to Obama’s success three years ago — who may abandon him.”

I suggest that this is the time to hire a President, based upon his proven credentials and experience, to bring fiscal, economic and strategic competency to the White House.  Most people don’t like the direction our country is heading and the policies of the last few years have failed to right our course.  So yes, of course independents, among others, will likely abandon President Obama, just as I have.  We are very much in touch with what has been going on over the past few years, we’ve seen his hand, we don’t like it, and as Kevin said, we want to see what Gov. Romney brings to the table instead.  I’m convinced Gov. Romney’s hand is an impressive one given his previous successes in rescuing numerous companies, the Olympics and a state government from their perils.

Or am I just so out of touch with what Pres. Obama has accomplished that I just can’t see that he’s been even more successful than Gov. Romney?   Hmmmm…