Mitt Romney at the CLC ‘07 in Reno

October 13, 2007 by Jenn Sierra
Filed under Uncategorized

I had an opportunity to listen to Mitt Romney speak on Friday afternoon at the Conservative Leadership Conference in Reno, NV. I believe there were about 500 people in the audience. When he was introduced, a handful of people stood up to applaud, and when he left, about half the crowd stood up to applaud.

Perhaps the other half was confused by his closing remarks about America being unique because it fought many wars and lost many lives for freedom, but has never “taken land.” Personally, I was thinking that I’d like to run that by some of my Cherokee relatives.

Anyway, he did have some good things to say. He acknowledged the Ron Paul supporters in the crowd (distinguishable by the “Ron Paul” signs which they held up in front of them throughout the conference…even though no other supporters of any other candidates were doing this), by emphasizing “principles” and strength several times. He said, “I believe a strong America is the best ally peace has ever known.” A strong America is why Hitler is gone, why Melosovich is gone, why Hussain is gone, and why Ahmadinejad will not have a nuclear weapon.”

On Hillary Care, and Hillary’s tax platform, he quipped, ” I don’t think she could be elected President of France, let alone this country on that platform.”

To demonstrate his ability to relate to military veterans, he told a story about someone he’d talked to who’d been through bootcamp. Apparently, this soldier had told him a story about grunts carrying the guy next to them on their shoulders in a race, and the grunt with the lightest load to carry won. He used this as an illustration of his point about supply-side economics, smaller government, and lower taxes, explaining, “That’s why you want the guy on your shoulders to be as small as possible….It’s just not fair that you’re taxed when you earn your money, taxed when you save your money, and taxed when you die.”

He added, “I know Congress doesn’t like to cut it’s spending, but if they can’t cut it…give me the line-item veto that the president used to have.”

Regarding the experience needed by the POTUS, “The presidency is not an internship…you want to have somebody who has led an enterprise.”

Romney did not address illegal immigration in his speech, but when asked about it in the Q&A afterward, he said, “I love legal immigration.” He explained that he liked H1B and H2B (and other) visas, and that he felt that bringing the education and culture of people from other lands enhanced our nation. He stated he thought that the current illegal immigrants should get in line behind those who have gone through proper channels to apply for residency and citizenship.

The plan he described for dealing with illegal immigration included legalizing current illegals by making sure they had ID’s, and leveling sanctions against employers who hire illegal workers.

Overall, the reception to Governor Romney was half-hearted. Applause to his talking points was half-hearted, and led by his campaign staff, as if on queue. He seemed out-of-place in this western town, and his comments did not seem to resonate with very many present.

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