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Subscribe to RSSIn an interview with NBC's Brian Williams, the wife of Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney shared her concerns about America's economic future. When asked about the headline-grabbing speech from New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Ann Romney said he "clearly came out and supported my husband." She was pleased with her RNC debut, as well. "My intent was to speak from my heart to other people's hearts and I think that happened," she said.
TAMPA, Fla. -- Ann Romney today placed blame on the Democratic Party for creating "biases" in the Latino community that, she argued, are anti-Republican.
The wife of the soon-to-be GOP presidential nominee said she, like many Republicans, understands and sympathizes with Latinos and how many came to this country for a better life.
"So it really is a message that would resonate well if they could just get past some of their biases that have been there from the Democratic machines that have made us look like we don’t care about this community. And that is not true," she said. "We very much care about you and your families and the opportunities that are there for you and your families."
But Democrats and even some Republicans -- like former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush -- say that it has been the Republican Party's tone toward illegal immigration that has hurt the GOP with this demographic group.
Ann Romney talks about her marriage to Mitt Romney, her children and their lives together as she characterizes the GOP nominee as a trustworthy, compassionate leader.
For his part, Mitt Romney has been accused of using illegal immigration as a political weapon against his intra-party rivals.
In 2007-2008, Romney's campaign aired a TV ad with the candidate stating, "I opposed driver's licenses and in-state tuition for illegal aliens. As president, I'll oppose amnesty, cut funding for sanctuary cities and secure our borders. Legal immigration is great, but illegal immigration -- that's got to stop.”
NBC News' Andrea Mitchell joins Morning Joe to discuss Ann Romney's speech on the first night of the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Florida. Mitchell was on hand at the Tampa Bay Times Forum for the speech.
During this GOP primary season, Romney touted the endorsement of Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach (who helped co-author Arizona’s controversial immigration law), and he recommended that illegal immigrants self-deport.
Speaking to nearly 150 members of the Latino Coalition at a luncheon as part of the convention, Ann Romney tried to emphasize the magnitude of the November election that pits her husband against President Barack Obama.
"It's also very important that the Latino community recognize how important this election is for them. And they are mistaken if they think they are going to be better off with Barack Obama as their president," she said. "There really is only one way for prosperity, for small business, and that is this is the simplest way I can say this: If Mitt Romney wins, America wins."
Obama won two-thirds of the Latino vote during the 2008 election. In the recent NBC News/Wall Street Journal/Telemundo poll, Obama held a similar lead over Romney among that demographic group.
Ann Romney said reaching out to specific pockets of the electorate, like the Latino community and females -- as she did this morning and in her speech Tuesday night -- is a key role of hers during her husband's campaign for the White House.
"For me, I feel like my importance in speaking out is making sure those coalitions that would nationally be going for another party wake up and say you better really look at the issues this time. You better really look at your future and figure out who's going to be the guy that's going to make it better for you and your children. And there is only one answer," she said.
Did Ann Romney humanize her husband? Did Chris Christie talk about himself too much? The National Journal's Major Garrett and The Washington Post's Eugene Robinson share their thoughts on the big RNC speeches Tuesday night.
Craig Romney, Mitt and Ann's youngest son, who introduced his mother at the luncheon, is fluent in Spanish and has played a big part in Hispanic outreach in the Sunshine State -- a state with 29 electoral votes up for grabs.
"It's very important that we get our message out in Florida to the Latino community, in particular. And I know this boy right here has been doing a great job of representing my husband with a great voice," Ann said "I know he’s been doing a lot of advertising, radio advertising and TV interviews and everything else. We’re so proud of him."
And showing off her motherly side, Ann Romney added:
"I have no idea what he’s ever saying when he’s speaking Spanish, but I’m so proud. I just sit there and beam when I hear him speak, as a mother always would."
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Ann please stay home, you are too lovely to be talking nonsense
These guys wonder what causes mistrust - they are all Nixonians, the ones over 60 were all tied to the Nixon administration that was thrown out of the presidency for Watergate, and guys like Karl Rove were young workers for him - they all have just come back with Nixonian corruption 40 years later after hiding it behind Reagan and the Bushes. Even Fox News was first conjured up in meetings with Ailes and Nixon, he approved the pursuit of a conservative political propaganda new media station.
The Latinos are smart and speak for themselves. What is ROMPPY the SPOKES PERSON for the LATINOS???? Where do these SACKS OF DUNG come from. WOW!!!
Did I not SAY WE ARE POSSIBLY GOING TO BEING RUN BY A DICTATOR REGIME ! MARK MY WORDS.
UNBELIEVABLE !!! THE GOP HAVE ONLY THEMSELVES AS INHUMANS TO BLAME. PERIOD !!!
When do you people (republicans) Mitt in particular, ever take responsibilty for your actions. Go ride your $3,000,000.00 tax deductibe horsey. You and husband basically live for free even though you have enough money to take care of yourselves you'll still suck the country dry for your own benefit. I can only imagine what we would be buying for you if win.
Once again it is so interesting how ANGRY liberals and democrats are - there is always anger in your tone when you comment on these websites. Republicans rarely show or vent such angry tones on these sites. We want to have adult discussions about the issues. In the end I think most liberals and dems know we are right on a host of issues - but it scares them to death to anticipate a world that might force them to live on personal responsibility and not be able to follow in lock step a leader or party that plans and supports them from cradle to grave.
On the subject of voter registration - common sense should speak to everyone that we must have a form of identification to vote - our voting process is what defines us as democratic nation - why do you see it as such an issue when state after state is willing to assist any and all that don't have appropriate identification get it in time for voting? To question the need for voter ID is a red flag to an underlying agenda...there is no getting around it....suggesting we not have voter ID is basically saying you're happy to have anyone vote who can sneak in....your thinking of course... being that if they are an immigrant or minority they will vote Democratic. Your willingness to break our laws suggests immoral individuals who will stop at nothing to have their way. It is no wonder that the majority of those who are Judeo-Christian end up associated with the Republican party.
The vitriol you express about Ann Romney is just another example of your character. She is a remarkable woman who raised five model sons, dealt with breast cancer and continues to deal with MS. They were not wealthy when they were first married - they lived in a basement apartment. Mitt did not inherit a large inheritance - the vast majority of his fathers estate was left to charity. He is a model citizen. The issue of the tax returns is clear - he should not give any more returns - why? Because the Chicago machine that has always run Obama's campaigns is a vicious one - they will take the returns and look for anyting that they might try and twist to suggest his actions are un-american. You can be sure the Internal Revenue Service reviewed Mitt and Ann Romney's tax returns and found no reason for any audits - his returns follow the letter of the law. Obama wants to try and flout Romney's incredible wealth as a negative - that he can't relate to the rest of us - that's so much hogwash. Every patriotic American should celebrate the success of a man like Mitt Romney - a self made multi-millionaire - a great example of how our society allows hard work and perseverance to be rewarded.
True capitalism is one of the key factors that has made our country great - it made us the richest nation on earth and allowed us to protect entire countries, defeat terrible foes and help the poor and underrepresented around the world throughout the 20th century. Many of your fathers and grandfathers and great grandfathers would not comprehend how some of their descendants want and seek an ever larger and more powerful federal government with a handout at every turn - it is simply un-american. The unfortunate part is that you will now teach your children to have these same wants and expectations. We must be certain that you never become a majority - because if you do - it will mean the destrtuction of what has been that shining star of a civilization that prompted so many to want to come, and continue to want to come, to live their lives here.
ROMNEY/RYAN 2012
she raised 5 silver spoon fed brats that are about as patriotic as their daddy with his 4 deferments from the draft and his daddys mormon mission to france to avoid the draft.....most people in this country call that a coward........not to mention how he pads his pockets on the backs of american workers then takes that money and hides it to avoid pulling his weight in our society .....you mean like that ?
There is something of an art to posting on a social/political discussion forum. One of the first rules is (or should be) -- "Don't write War and Peace, it's already been done by a better author than you". And most people haven't even read that one (sorry, Leo).
Republicans rarely show or vent such angry tones on these sites. We want to have adult discussions about the issues.
I stopped reading after that. My bullsh*t meter just went Defcon 3. Can anyone give me the jist..or the punchline?
Coming from Mitt witts twitt thats pretty funny......its the Dems fault cause the GOP discriminates against minorities now.....I would tell miss know it all that most sane amercians blame people like her for her party's complete out of touch reality when it comes to the middle class.........and her mouth proves it !!!
Of course the Romney's would blame the Democrats for their unlikeability factor. They are people that have never accepted responsibility for anything that they've done and the harm that they have caused this country and they have no new ideas other than blaming Obama for everything. Friggin losers.
Ann R.,
I think you are a nice lady, but you have not been listening to the words coming out of your husbands mouth.
He sunk his own ship. My first action once in office will to remove Obamacare (so similar to your hubbies Mass. healthcare system)
If he does close down the health care, I want you for one brief moment to try to have empathy. Imagine a lovely, close knit family with six beautiful children, a hard working dad, and a mom that provides day care to help out. The family makes $30,000. (notice no extra zeros here). They are barely scraping by to pay for food, housing, some clothes for the kids, etc. The wife comes down MS AND TWO MONTHS later. They have not ever had the money to pay for healthcare, as all the money is being used for subsistence.
What do you suppose would happen......I guess she dies under your husbands ideology......
I have a big problem with a candidate for the presidency who needs his wife, kids and running mate to explain him to the electorate in terms that will make them (hopefully) like him and believe that he is one of them. Not to put too fine a point on it, it ain't working for me.
Ann Romney is one of the most pathetic individuals I have seen in recent years. She comes across like she has been held in a box completely insulated from the real world. She has not even a clue how out of touch she is!
She is a member of a class of people who have servants. In many of the families within this class, if one of these servants makes eye contact with a member of the family, they are fired.
Ann Romney talks about being in a house on a rainy day with 5 boys--yeah, a really big, big house with 5 boys and paid help. If we really want to know why minorities of color and ethnicity reject the Republican Party, we need only listen to what some of those attending the American Legion Convention had to say about our current President of the United States. NPR's Morning Edition aired this lovely, little tidbit from a retiree from Virginia: "I just don't like him. Can't stand to look at him . . . . It's about time we get a first lady in there that acts like a first lady and looks like a first lady." We've heard similar implicitly (close to explicitly) racist comments from the Tea Party-ers and the ultra-right values conservatives over the years. Gee, why wouldn't a Latino want to support a political party that simply rejects anyone who isn't pasty white?
Go easy on Ann! She's had a tough life!
When she and Mittens were going to college THEY HAD TO SELL STOCK THAT DADDY GAVE THEM IN ORDER TO AVOID TAKING A PART TIME JOB WHILE THEY WENT TO SCHOOL!
What a NIGHTMARE!!!!!!!!!!
Oh I no ..isnt it aweful that she may ruin her manicure?
Jerry in Ohio - you Democrats like to suggest every comment that is critical of the President has racism underlying its words - there is nothing racist about a man saying he "can't stand to look at Obama" or wants someone in the White House who "acts like a First Lady". It is only a racist mind that see's racism in these comments. I can't stand to look at Obama either - because I see him as a serial lier. I will force myself to watch the Democratic convention - but it will be very hard to look at Barack Hussein Obama spew his lovely rhetoric only knowing there is no sincerity behind it - he has spent four years making speeches that go from uplifting to eye opening into his soul - and it is not a pretty sight. He is a gifted speaker - but that is all that he is - he is an unpatriotic activist who wants nothing more than to turn us into a Marxist society leading to his ultimate goal of transferring wealth from America to other countries throughout the world whom he feels are victims and have been treated unfairly. If you Democrats want to know what is truly motivating us - Go see 2016 the movie - you may not believe most of it - but you will at least see what we believe and what motivates us to want his ass out of office. I could have said black ass - but you would rant back that I am a racist - you don't have a problem with saying white ass - but heaven forbid we utter black anything. Did you see Condoleeza Rice speak last night - do you believe she is a racist? No - she is a black woman who understands that this black skinned president of ours means to change this country into something unrecognizable by those who truly love it.
ROMNEY/RYAN 2012
Yes. Yes. You love the Black Community. You are the face of understanding. The Black Community just told me that they count you on the list of their Facebook friends
There is just the problem of your grub-brethren. The Black Community wonders why you guys don't do a better job of clamping down on your trash. You know, the Birthers, the back to Africa crowd, Confederates R Us..etc.
The Black Community would love to award your garden "Garden of the Year" but you have sh*t all of your lawn. So while the Black Community loves the vests that you put on the lawn jockeys, they don't like lawn jockeys so better luck next time...
Also I stopped reading after
he is an unpatriotic activist who wants nothing more than to turn us into a Marxist society
My bullsh*t meter is realllly sensitive...
Funny..alot of his advisers are republicans. Just because you claim not to be a racist doesnt mean you arent one. You seem pretty worked up to me. ..and as far as seeing that movie?? they can make movies be anyway they want them to be by cutting and pasting..like Farenheit 911. Alot of people got freaked over it too. It didnt make it true! now did it?
I bet that Witch Jan Brewer don't agree with you Ann..!
Interesting how none of you activist Democrats commented on my post before last - me thinks you don't know how to respond to sensible arguments and the raw truth.
ROMNEY/RYAN 2012
What Ann Romney says and one dollar will buy you a cup of coffee. The GOP has not in recent history shown any emphathy for anyone other than the well-heeled. The word dis-enfranchized does not enter into their vocabulary.
I feel sorry for the Bible-belt Christians they suck into their cause basically because they have very little in common with the GOP leadership which only gives them lip serve in return for their votes. What has the GOP ever done for them except proposing bills they know will never pass.
Most of them are millionaires who really don't care about the average joe except for when it's time to get voted back into office. "Joe the plumber" was a brain-washed dupe for the GOP. I wonder he'd be doing any better if McCain got elected and Sarah "loose cannon" Pahlin was his VP.
Jerry in Ohio - you Democrats like to suggest every comment that is critical of the President has racism underlying its words - there is nothing racist about a man saying he "can't stand to look at Obama" or wants someone in the White House who "acts like a First Lady". It is only a racist mind that see's racism in these comments. I can't stand to look at Obama either - because I see him as a serial lier. I will force myself to watch the Democratic convention - but it will be very hard to look at Barack Hussein Obama spew his lovely rhetoric only knowing there is no sincerity behind it - he has spent four years making speeches that go from uplifting to eye opening into his soul - and it is not a pretty sight. He is a gifted speaker - but that is all that he is - he is an unpatriotic activist who wants nothing more than to turn us into a Marxist society leading to his ultimate goal of transferring wealth from America to other countries throughout the world whom he feels are victims and have been treated unfairly. If you Democrats want to know what is truly motivating us - Go see 2016 the movie - you may not believe most of it - but you will at least see what we believe and what motivates us to want his ass out of office. I could have said black ass - but you would rant back that I am a racist - you don't have a problem with saying white ass - but heaven forbid we utter black anything. Did you see Condoleeza Rice speak last night - do you believe she is a racist? No - she is a black woman who understands that this black skinned president of ours means to change this country into something unrecognizable by those who truly love it.
ROMNEY/RYAN 2012
What is bias my friend, is when one looks a a black person like Obama and his beautiful wife, our First Lady and doesn't see them for who they really are. You say Mrs. Obama doesn't "act like a First Lady". What must she do to please you? Because she comes from a bit of a different culture there is a major part of the Right wing who can't stand her. Just as they can't stand President Obama for those same reasons. They aren't "one of us" they are "them". They are "you people" to the Romneys. And because she is different than what they consider the "norm" for a First Lady.
When I look at Mrs. Obama, I see a black woman just like you do. I see a charming woman full of grace. I see a smart and intelligent professional, a good and loving mother and wife, a caring woman who believes in what she is doing to try to change the lives and health of children. We understand that people who come from poor black neighborhoods are really scary to you. After all, they come with all the stereotypes. The drug addicts. The street walkers. The "Welfare Queens".
Condi Rice. Now there is YOUR kind of black woman. She grew up in segregated Alabama. She and her parents accepted "their place" as "Negroes" in the south. She attended segregated schools. Her parents worked for white people and didn't complain. Yes, they "knew their place". And the white establishment rewarded Condi well for that. And best of all she has embraced the Republican platform of holding down the "low class" and using them as pawns in wars for profit.
But now the Obamas are scaring you all. "They want to change the country". Ooohh. So scary. Change. Change for the better is welcome always by normal people. And the Obamas and Democrats want black people to be accepted without having to pay a price for the color of their skin. So that is what makes it so hard for you all to look at them. It's the reflection of your own black hearts and bias.
Don't tell us you are not biased. You see what you want to see based on stereotypes and misconceptions which are totally based on prejudice. THAT IS THE DEFINITION OF BIAS!
Memo to Mrs. Romney: Democrats have nothing to do with the lack of Latino support for Republicans. Ignorance and your party's limited scope are the culprits. You still don't know that the ancestors of millions of Latinos were here before any other European colonized this terriory. You still don't know that we are not all Mexicans. You still don't know that we are not all foreigners. You still don't know that we can be educated. You still think that it is cool for Romney to speak French but it's a stigma for us to speak Spanish. The Republican penchant for steretypes is to blame, not the Democrats.
Since Queen Ann has at least one mansion in California, she should google proposition 187, beginning of the GOP war on Latinos in that state.
Most Republicans are not racist, but most racists are republican. The smart ones hide it cause they know how distateful that is to non-repubs, but it shows in their policies.
The Romneys remind me of an old saying, "It pays to be honest, but it's slow pay." The Romneys love a "fast buck and quick reward," so in their case, it's better for them to lie.
This woman is a real piece of work. She has just shown us all how elitist she thinks she is. And she wants us all to believe she is one of the common folk because she send her maid to costco and buy some shirts to make him look more approachable ...lolol.....what a pantload. She blames the dems. for latinos not liking them?? The dems are to blame for her husband and the republicans for being a pack of worthless, piece of crap, paidoff, sellout, lying morons??. Hey... They dont need the dems to do that..they did it without any outside help.
So idiot Romney longed to be in Viet Nam. If that is true he is either a liar or stupid. I served in Nam but I sure didn't long to be there. No one in their right mind would long to be there. His problem for not going was a physical one. "NO GUTS". Of course he would have no problem sending other peoples kids to war,just not his. Sounds like Bush sending other kids of to fight and die when he himself hasn't got a clue what war is all about. His precious war based on a lie killed my grandson,and I hold him personally responsible. Where are the WMD's George.
This bimbo is HILARIOUS!!!! Does she really think that any one takes her seriously?! She's a useless breeder "Stepford Wife" and that's about all the "substance" she has. Why do Republican's continue to alienate voters by parading out these patronizing FAKES thinking that we'll buy it?! Keep it up Ann... If nothing else, it's good comedy...
It looks like the blame game goes both ways. I think it's the Republican platform that drives away the Latino vote. I doubt if Ann Romney has ever been anything but a stay at home mom that has lived her life under the protection of her family and husband and has never wanted for anything. She can't possibly relate to the average American woman who doesn't have help raising her children or puts them in day care so she can work. Wealthy people have no idea how the rest of us live, nor do they want to know.