Romney at Long Beach

Former Massachusetts Governor and Republican Presidential Candidate Mitt Romney came to Long Beach today, and I was very lucky to be able to see him and meet him. The event was one of the campaign’s “Ask Mitt Anything” meetings where Governor Romney gives a short speech and then answers the crowd’s questions. The location of the event, an airplane hangar at Long Beach Airport, was very interesting as planes could constantly be heard taking off during his speech. Behind where Governor Romney was speaking stood a small plane and a huge American flag.
Governor Romney gave a very good speech to start. Interestingly, the first part of his speech was dedicated to the importance of bipartisanship. He spoke about how Republicans and Democrats may frequently have differences but need to come together in order to help the country (although he did actually take a jab at Hillary Clinton during this part of the speech, causing the crowd to laugh). He then spoke about some of what he was able to accomplish in Massachusetts by working in a bipartisan manner with Democrats. Governor Romney then went on to describe some of the problems he hopes to fix if elected. He acknowledged that under the Bush Administration government accountability has broken down. He said that if he became President he would use his previous management experience in the private sector to bring back accountability and help the government to function better. Next he discussed how the current government was not helping veterans enough (he received a warm applause). He also said that he hoped to increase the size of the military if elected. Governor Romney described what he calls a war against jihadists that America must win. He then shifted topics to discuss immigration and that America’s borders are broken. He promised to close the border (this actually caused the warmest applause of the entire speech). He discussed the importance of helping the economy grow. Towards the end of his speech he discussed social issues. He said that he likes “strong families” with a man and a woman raising children because he thought it was the best environment for kids. However, he also said that he thought there were many untraditional families that he respected and were also doing a good job raising children. I thought the end of his speech was the most interesting part. Unlike Hillary Clinton who has claimed she is running because she is worried about America, Governor Romney said that he is completely confident in America. He roughly said that “all of these problems may cause you to worry about our future, but I do not worry” because he thinks that America is very strong. This positive outlook for America was very much like Ronald Reagan’s outlook. I really liked that Governor Romney was able to have such a positive attitude compared to many other negative candidates.
Romney’s speaking style is also very impressive. He has looked charismatic in the debates on TV; however, in person he is much more charismatic. He smiles almost always and knows how to make jokes (at one point he complained about his name saying that he would rather his dad had named him George instead because Mitt is too random). He also commanded the entire room and made eye contact with everybody in the audience (even if it was a fairly small audience).
The questioning part of the event was fairly disappointing because people asked weak questions. One person asked Governor Romney about ten questions in her one question, none of which really made any sense. Another person held up a picture of his son who apparently is in Sweden and the Swedish government will not let him come to America. He asked Governor Romney what he would do to help his son (if you are confused by this description, I am sorry; I was confused by the question). Governor Romney answered this strange question well by saying he could not really comment because he did not know the specifics of the case. However, Governor Romney told the man to talk to one of the campaign staff members and said the campaign would try to help him. The best question was about reforming the American tax system. Governor Romney stated that while he did not have an official campaign platform for the tax code yet, he hoped to lower taxes in order to help middle class Americans.
Even though I was disappointed by the questions asked, I was very impressed by the event. Governor Romney has a clear and well thought out plan for America, and he is a very charismatic speaker. Governor Romney has shown he can work with Democrats to pass important legislation (like Massachusetts Healthcare). He has strong positions that are not extreme. He would be a strong leader who could improve America after the very unpopular current administration.