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Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney speaks at his Florida primary election night rally in St. Petersburg, Florida, January 29, 2008. Behind Romney is his wife, Ann. (Steve Nesius/Reuters)
Posted on 01/29/2008 9:05:48 PM PST by NormsRevenge
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Republican Mitt Romney, his family and supporters vowed to carry his campaign into the vote-rich Super Tuesday contests next week after narrowly losing Florida's primary to rival John McCain.
In his concession speech Tuesday night, Romney issued a call to arms to conservatives to support him, vowing to cut federal spending, end illegal immigration and teach children "that before they have babies, they should get married."
But it was his wife, Ann, who took the microphone after Romney delivered nine minutes of prepared remarks, who explained the reasons for continuing.
"We feel as though the conservatives are starting to rally around Mitt," she said, as her husband stood beside her. "This is just a send-off point; this is not an end. It's another beginning. We have 22 more states to go after, and we will be able to do that."
The defeat marked the fourth time the former Massachusetts governor and the Arizona senator had gone head-to-head in a major contest, with McCain winning as he had earlier in New Hampshire and South Carolina. Romney claimed victory in his native state of Michigan.
Romney's team believes that as the field narrows, most likely next with the departure of former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, Romney's ability to raise money and spend his millions will allow him to better highlight the contrast between his business background and McCain's long tenure in a Washington.
There are 21 GOP contests on the ballot on Feb. 5, with 1,023 delegates at stake. A total of 1,191 are needed for the GOP nomination.
It was the contrast in backgrounds that Romney highlighted in a concession speech that otherwise echoed familiar themes from the trail, as if the loss presented no jeopardy to the future of his campaign.
"At a time like this, America needs a president in the White House who has actually had a job in the real economy," Romney said, adding that "at a time like this, knowing how America works is more important than knowing how Washington works."
As the audience cheered, he declared: "Washington is fundamentally broken, and we're not going to change Washington by sending the same people back, just to sit in different chairs. I think it's time for the politicians to leave Washington and for the citizens to take over."
Despite Romney's upbeat posture, the loss was a setback.
As the former venture capitalist had done in earlier contests, Romney spent the most on television advertising of any GOP candidate in Florida. His staff was stocked with aides to former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, a veteran of state politics who secured a win for his brother, George W. Bush, in the disputed 2000 election.
In addition, with McCain winning all 57 of Florida's convention delegates, Romney ceded a major talking point: He no longer has the most delegates in the field. Romney began the evening with a 59-26 lead over McCain; McCain ended it ahead 83-59.
McCain gained late momentum with endorsements from Sen. Mel Martinez, R-Fla., the state's top elected Hispanic leader, and Republican Gov. Charlie Crist.
He also made use of one of Romney's campaign tactics, running negative radio and Internet ads against his rival and fielding calls that accused Romney of favoring taxpayer-funded abortion. McCain also claimed Romney supported a timetable for withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq. Romney had not.
From Florida, Romney was headed to the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, Calif., for a debate Wednesday night. He also planned two days of politicking in the state and a series of fundraisers from Beverly Hills to Sacramento.
He was stopping in Salt Lake City on Saturday to attend the funeral of Gordon B. Hinckley, president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, who died Sunday. Romney is trying to become the first Mormon elected president.
After that, the schedule most likely will include stops in Colorado, Georgia and other states before concluding on Tuesday in Massachusetts, one of the Feb. 5 states.
.Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney speaks at his Florida primary election night rally in St. Petersburg, Florida, January 29, 2008. Behind Romney is his wife, Ann. (Steve Nesius/Reuters)
Well, I’m still hoping for a miracle.
vows to carry on?
He’s in second place and was leading the delegate race. the media really likes to rush these things.
Save your money, Flipper.
691,660
vs
596,263
Another silver for Mitt. If Florida was like the other states and not winner take all, Romney would still be the delegate leader. As it stands:
Delegate Count: McCain 97, Romney 74 (1,191 needed to win-2169 delegates left to be selected after today)
Yeah, me too. I am glad he’s not out as it was close. There may be a lot of close wins and losses coming. I don’t think it’s a given that McCain wins, and Romney should go and stick it out. He could wind up with the most delegates.
You KNEW it was coming...
Even though Florida DOES NOT COUNT for Democrats, the Media is spinning it like Obama is now BEHIND again!!
REMEMBER...
It isn’t about anything other than RATINGS for most networks...
How much cash does Mccain have left?
Great. Perhaps the rest of America is more well informed than Florida. McCain/Hillary - watch out!
“Wopell, I’m still hoping for a miracle.”
A miracle is what it will take. Let’s hope.
Look at the bright side, we’ll get to hear Rush railing in futility against one rino while supporting another.
It amazes me how quickly the media want to rush to crown a nominee. This is not over. Not by a long shot.
My hope is that GOP primary voters will remember Bob Dole. McCain is the Bob Dole of 2008; we nominate him at our peril.
This is silly. There are still over 1000 delegates to be chosen. No one is the clear winner yet. Yes, McCain is the frontrunner now, but he hasn't won it yet, not by a longshot.
“Romney vows to carry on with campaign”
As well he should.
No idea on how much he has on hand, sounds like he spent a lot less than Mitt in Florida.. but still may be in need of major dinaro.. lots of states to go.. may CFR bite him in the arse in the end.
Mitt Romney needs to get rid of that Bar Sinister tie. Bar Sinister ties are those in which the stripes run left to right as opposed to Bar Dexter ties that run right to left. Bar Sinister ties are one of the things that killed John Kerry’s candidacy. I’m hoping Mitt will come to grips with this soon because, as an Arizonan, I have had all I can stand of my Senior Senator, John McCain.
I worry that the media will pump up McCain and then people will accept him just because he’s the “front runner”, which will screw us in the end. It’s not over, but the propaganda machine is still intact.
>>vows to carry on?
He’s in second place and was leading the delegate race. the media really likes to rush these things.<<
I am not a Romney supporter but I agree this is premature.
Romney has his own money and Super Tuesday is very TV intensive and thus expensive.
There is this..
not 100% current but..
http://www.opensecrets.org/pres08/index.asp
After nine months of fundraising, the candidates for president in 2008 have already raised about $420 million. This presidential money chase seems to be on track to collect an unprecedented $1 billion total. By some predictions, the eventual nominees will need to raise $500 million apiece to compete—a record sum. To find out where all this money is coming from, explore the options to the left. Year-end reports are due to the Federal Election Commission by Jan. 31.
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