Bravo, Ann Romney! ("Stop it. This is hard. You want to try it? Get in the ring.")

Richochet ^ | September 22, 2012 | Dave Carter

I don't know Ann Romney. I don't know Lee Cary, from the American Thinker, either, but I should like to buy them both dinner to thank them for making an important point yesterday, and it needs to be emphasized.

Asked about some of the more counterproductive criticisms made by Republicans, Mrs. Romney replied, "Stop it. This is hard. You want to try it? Get in the ring." My thoughts exactly.

Constructive criticism is one thing, but handing ammunition to the opposition is uncalled for. Part of the problem is that I really like some of the people making these remarks, but I wonder if they understand the stratospheric stakes in this election. To observe that Governor's Romney's remarks about the 47 percent of people who pay no income taxes were inexact or haphazardly framed is one thing. But to say, as The Weekly Standard's Bill Kristol (whom I admire tremendously) did, that the Governor's comments were "stupid and arrogant," helps the cause not one bit. Instead, Twitter lit up with one liberal after another using the quote against the Republican nominee. Peggy Noonan, whose work I positively adore, picked up a rhetorical tire iron and went to work on Romney: "It's time to admit the Romney campaign is an incompetent one. It's not big, it's not brave, it's not thoughtfully tackling great issues. It's always been too small for the moment." Well, isn't that just ducky. If General Custer had been afflicted with support like this from his own side, the Indians could have taken the day off. With pay.

In his latest "G-File," the always brilliant, funny and trenchant Jonah Goldberg reminds us that it was the Tea Party and activist base of the Republican party that were most resistant to Governor Romney during the primaries, while the Republican party establishment admonished us repeatedly to please shut up and get behind the man. Now that he's the party nominee, we've rallied to him not because he's morphed into the second coming of Ronald Reagan, but because we understand that this election is for the whole enchilada. Put very simply, if Obamacare isn't repealed, if the debt isn't addressed, if America keeps sitting on her thumbs while her embassies burn, if Iran gets the bomb,…. that's all she wrote. And so the base is working its heart out to send Obama and his comrades packing,….and now the establishment types who told us to get behind Romney, are taking a tire iron to his kneecaps. "Unlike activists," writes Jonah, "it really is my job to say what I think." He immediately adds, however, that, "Still, I think the base might have the wiser take on all this. Win now, argue later." I couldn't agree more, Jonah.
Here's the thing. No candidate is perfect. Romney has areas that he could shore up, certainly. And it is not our place to sacrifice principle in support of any candidate. Encouraging him to take it to Obama in a certain fashion, or offering information that could prove useful to the campaign makes perfect sense to this observer. And if stronger admonishments are in order, perhaps utilizing private channels would be an option. But for heaven's sake, do we have to send gift-wrapped ammunition to Obama and his acolytes in the media?
Jonah is right in another respect. These people get paid to give their opinions. I get paid to move freight and operate outside the climate controlled comfort of media suites. However, I have been blessed beyond measure to offer my thoughts on Ricochet. So in the event that my opinions might coincide on some level with those of the professional punditry, here they are:
* It is my opinion that Barack Obama must be summarily thrown out of office, and that he should take every one of his little czars and minions with him.
* It is my opinion that Democrats in the House and Senate must be shown the door as well.
* It is my opinion that in all likelihood, this is our last chance to preserve America as it was intended by the Founders.
* It is my opinion that if Obamacare is not pulled up by the roots, it will sprout encroachments into the most personal aspects of our lives that will destroy every last vestige of meaningful individual liberty.
* It is my opinion that Mitt Romney is the only realistic alternative we have to the wholesale destruction of our country by an elite who disdains us, disdains our Constitution, and holds in utter contempt the moral and philosophical foundation of our country.
* It is my opinion that if we fail to defeat Obama, our grandchildren and their grandchildren will curse us and utter our names in contempt, and rightly so, because we let their liberty slip through our fingers while we nitpicked and sniped at each other.
* It is my opinion that we're better than that. It is my opinion that we are as equal to the challenge now as our parents and grandparents were in another time. Our heritage is freedom, our gift to those who follow is more of it, not less.
* It is my opinion that it is time to focus our fire on those who seek to shred the Constitution and enslave a great nation to the whims and predilections of a ruling elite.
There, does that help give the pros something to write about? Happy to help, folks. Now, if you'll kindly excuse me, I have to get back behind the wheel.