Mitt Romney Tries to Show CPAC That He Has Soul

Mitt Romney returned to the annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) 2012 to reaffirm his conservative bonafides. Many attendees are not excited about his seemingly inevitable nomination (see this video). But the Romney machine was careful to portray Romney in such a way to make every effort to change that.

The speech was boilerplate conservative red meat. As parody imposter @WillardMittRomney tweeted upon Romney's arrival at the convention, "[I, Mitt Romney,] Just arrived at #CPAC to tell people whatever it is they want to hear."

After the speech, the crowds thinned out a little, and Romney's surrogates went on the attack against opponents Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich. More on that later. Read on.

The heart of Romney's speech was arranged around the popular buzz phrase in conservative circles, "adherence with Constitution." Against that backdrop, Romney launched into defining himself and his candidacy in contrast to President Barack Obama.

"The key to American to the success of the American experiment is this: America doesn't just exist 'for the people'; it has been made exceptional 'by the people,'" Romney said.  

Romney brushed broad strokes of his upbringing in a conservative home, where, Romney said, his conservative worldview was firmly planted within him. Using that as a backdrop, he then launched into specific issues that he hopes will solidify his conservative image.

Romney promised that as president that he will fight for a constitutional amendment that defines marriage as a relationship between a man and a woman. He reminded CPAC audiences  that as Governor of Massachusetts he vetoed a bill “that would have opened the door to cloning and embryo farming.”

The hallways of the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel where CPAC is hosted, were lined with Romney supporters from the back entrance to the stage. The Marriott Ballroom was standing room only, and the flat screen televisions throughout the hotel were faced by large standing gatherings.

Perhaps the Romney speech was a mere curiosity for CPAC attendees, or, as some opposing activists allege, the Romney campaign inserted a rent-a-crowd. In the hall where the speech was delivered, anecdotally I saw a bunch of new faces--different faces. It wasn't until a few hours prior to Romney's speech time that I began to see people wearing Romney stickers and buttons. Prior and yesterday, there were many more Santorum swag-wearers than any other candidate.

Today, on many Internet websites, a pro-Romney PAC has begun running extremely negative banner ads against Gingrich and Santorum.

This ad, an anti-Gingrich ad is targeted towards "CPAC" keywords is linked to NewtFacts.com:

Meanwhile, this anti-Santorum ad is linked to RickFacts.com. There, the Romney PAC claims that Santorum isn't electable:

The Romney PAC and campaign's nuclear war advertising strategy is in all-out battle, demolishing the reputations of two who would otherwise be considered leaders of the conservative movement.

Of course when you run for president, the candidate expects their record and person to be attacked. The Romney machine is doing it with the precision that only a $100 million corporate campaign will, and it's probably effective in nominating Romney.

There's a dark side to Romney's strategy, though.

My opinion is that the damage Romney and his surrogates are inflicting upon the movement's leadership, and in an indirect way, the people in the movement from whom he so disparately desires support, is going to make the fall 2012 campaign incredibly difficult for Romney to win (assuming he wins the nomination).

He has spent $50 million tarring and feathering known stalwarts of the movement! Who will be left standing in the nuclear summer and winter seasons to support Romney after he wins this nomination?

"What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?" --Mark 8:36

As I was rendering this video in the lobby, I was greeted by Phil Larsen, co-proprietor of the pro-Romney website, WhyRomney.com. Ryan said he launched his website to counter what he perceived was the misinformation about his candidate. Maybe he'll respond to this.