Barring a major surprise, Mitt Romney will take the Michigan Primary…

Congrats to Team Romney. It was gut check time, and you did what you had to do.

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UPDATE: 9:00P EST, FNC calls it for Romney.

Fifteen minutes after the Fox News Channel projected the winner of the Michigan Primary, John McCain stepped to the microphone to offer a brief concession—on to South Carolina speech on national television.

Fifteen minutes and thirty seconds after the FNC projection, Mitt Romney stepped up to the mike.

Fox cuts from McCain to Mitt.

Bigfoot!

Heh™

Primary politics. I love this stuff.

Update2: Carl Cameron is reporting that this was an intentional slight.

Big surprise there.

Update3: CNN is reporting the late-breakers went for Romney.

Update4: Fred Barnes says he was “surprised” to see Romney sweating during his victory speech. Guess Fred needs to read his briefing papers a little more closely.

“In tense meetings, he perspired so heavily it became an office joke.” Source

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And here’s something else coming out of Michigan.

Detroit Steel (composite just doesn’t have the right ring to it)

The 2007 Shelby Cobra GT500 Mustang (this is not the 2006 Shelby GT500 Cobra Mustang) is the most powerful factory-built Mustang in history, more powerful than the 1969 Mach 1 428 Super Cobra Jet or even the legendary 1969 Boss 429. 450+ HP, making this making it the most powerful Mustang ever.

At least for one year anyway, when Ford rolled out the 2008 version. It uses the same supercharged 5.4-liter V8 that powers the 2007 Shelby GT500 Cobra Coupe, but squeezes out roughly another 40 horses thanks to a Ford Racing Power Upgrade Pack. The Shelby GT500KR is equipped with a custom carbon composite hood with scoops, air-extractor vents and stainless steel twist-down hood pins, a lower front air dam with chrome-trimmed functional brake ducts, and 14-inch Brembo front brakes. The suspension has been modified to improve handling. The polished 20-inch wheels seen here are for show only. The production vehicle will come with 18-inch wheels of a similar design. source

The Shelby Cobra is without a doubt, the best argument against increasing the cafe mileage standards, don’t you think?

- This is Romney’s health care plan of which he claims authorship and credit.
- The plan guarantees Planned Parenthood a seat at the decision-making table.
- The plan provides taxpayer-funded abortions for a copay of $50.
- The plan penalizes individuals not buying health insurance coverage and small businesses not offering health insurance to their employees.

This quick look at Mitt Romney’s “conservative record” comes to us courtesy of Team Fred

Romney Is Quick To Take Credit For Massachusetts’ Health Care Plan

- “I love it. It’s a fabulous program.” (GOP Primary Debate, Reagan Library, Simi Valley, CA, MSNBC, 5/3/2007)
- “But I helped write it and I knew it well…” (GOP Primary Debate, Reagan Library, Simi Valley, CA, MSNBC, 5/3/2007)

KEY ASPECTS OF ROMNEY’S MASSACHUSETTS HEALTH CARE PLAN…

(1) Guarantees Planned Parenthood A Seat At The Table. Romney’s legislation created an advisory board and guarantees, by law, that Planned Parenthood has a seat at the table. Romney’s plan established a MassHealth payment policy advisory board, and one member of the Board must be from Planned Parenthood. No pro-life organization is represented. (Chapter 58 Section 3 (q) Section 16M (a), http://www.mass.gov/legis/laws/seslaw06/sl060058.htm )

(2) Provides Taxpayer-Funded Abortions . Abortions are covered in the Commonwealth Care program that Romney created as Governor. Under the program, abortions are available for a copay of $50. (Menu of Health Care Services: http://www.mass.gov/Qhic/docs/cc_benefits1220_pt234.pdf )

- Romney used his line-item veto authority to strike eight sections of the bill that he found objectionable, including the expansion of dental benefits to Medicaid recipients. Yet, he did not strike Planned Parenthood’s guaranteed Board representation and he did nothing to prohibit taxpayer-funded abortions as part of his plan. (”Romney’s Health Care Vetoes,” Associated Press, 4/12/06)

(3) Punitive Toward Small Businesses. Small Businesses are fined $295-per-employee if they do not provide health insurance coverage to employees. (Steve LeBlanc, “Mass Lawmakers Ok Mandatory Health Bill,” Associated Press, 4/5/06)

(4) Punitive Toward Individuals. Individuals not obtaining health insurance coverage lose their personal state tax exemption in 2007, which will cost them an estimated $219 in higher taxes. In 2008, uncovered individuals are assessed a fine equal to 50-percent of the cost of a standard insurance policy, which could be as much as $2,000. (Michael Tanner, “No Miracle In Massachusetts,” Cato Institute, 6/6/06; Steve LeBlanc, “Timing Of Health Care Law’s Penalties Could Pose Risk For Romney, MA,” Associated Press, 11/9/07; William C. Symonds, “In Massachusetts, Health Care for All?” Business Week, 4/4/06 )

Mitt takes a courageous stand: Calling all lawyers! Heh.

Talk about burying the lead, in their campaign roundup yesterday, AP includes this small snippet…

Huckabee also suggested a two-way debate in the final two days that would allow Romney and him to share a stage.

Absolutely. Bring it on.

We all remember Huck challenging Fred Thompson to a debate, and Fred refusing. I’m sure ol’ Fred would love a do-over.

No doubt, Romney will refuse as well.

AP is reporting that Romney “had no immediate response.”

What a flip-flopping coward.

It wouldn’t be the first time Romney has chickened out of a debate.

The Union Leader presents an excellent closing argument heading into decision week.

Any candidate for office is allowed to change his mind. People learn new facts or have personal experiences that bring them to new understandings. Not every switch is an opportunistic flip-flop.

The reason Mitt Romney has drawn our scrutiny on this issue, and we are not alone, is not because he is the only candidate who has changed positions. He is not. It is because the totality of his record gives the distinct impression that most of his positions are subject to change when politically expedient.

Whenever Mitt Romney has run for office, his public positions on the issues of the day have been in general agreement with the voter base whose approval he was seeking.

In Massachusetts he was pro-choice, then pro-life, then pro-choice, then pro-life again. He was even more pro-gay rights than Ted Kennedy, for strict gun-control laws, for affirmative action, against the Boy Scouts’ policy on homosexual scoutmasters, for what he now calls “amnesty” for illegal immigrants, and against the Bush tax cuts.

How can he have changed his mind on all of those issues and others so soon after deciding to run for the Republican presidential nomination?

In addition to his rightward shift, Gov. Romney’s record includes some personal statements that make him appear less than completely candid about who he is and what he believes.

He claimed to have been a lifelong hunter. He wasn’t. He claimed to have had the NRA’s endorsement. He didn’t. He claimed to have marched with Martin Luther King Jr. He didn’t. These cannot be explained away as conversions.

We have found Romney’s enthusiasm for conservative princples to be situational at best. And we are not alone. We have listened carefully to Republicans who knew Gov. Romney during his political rise in Massachusetts. They do not believe he is a far-left liberal. But they don’t believe he’s as conservative as he now claims, either.

Against the Boy Scouts. Good grief.

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