Mitt, be nimble

By: Jeff Jacoby

The Boston Globe

Sunday, Jan 14, 2007

"But in less than two weeks since his red-carpet walk out of the governor's office and into the 2008 presidential marathon, Romney has made it clear that when it comes to nimble and inventive maneuvering, he'll be the candidate to beat.

"Last Monday, the Romney campaign held its first major fund-raising event, a high-powered call-a-thon that pulled in $6.5 million. It demolished not only the modern record for political donations raised in a single day, but the paradigm of what a campaign fund-raiser can be. Instead of inviting several hundred supporters to a $1,000-a-head dinner, Romney invited several hundred political and financial all-stars – eminentoes like Governor Matt Blunt of Missouri and eBay chief executive Meg Whitman – to spend a day working their Rolodexes and dialing for dollars. Unlike a typical boiler-room operation run out of a hole-in-the-wall, Romney's 'National Call Day' was staged in a giant convention center, with old and new media on hand to record all the action.

"All in all, it was a remarkable display of smarts and organization. It suggested, as Boston blogger Dean Barnett put it, 'that the Romney campaign, like his business career, will be marked by innovation. . . . As he has done throughout his career, Mitt Romney will build a better mousetrap.'

"An even better test of Romney's nimbleness came just two days later, in the form of a video anonymously posted on youtube.com . It showed clips of Romney debating Ted Kennedy during their 1994 Senate race – clips that showed how avidly Romney had portrayed himself as a social liberal when he first ran for office in Massachusetts.

...

"The campaign's response was immediate, decisive – and very 21st century. Within hours, Romney did an interview with blogosphere eminence Glenn Reynolds and his wife, Helen, who asked him point-blank to explain 'this YouTube video from 1994 showing you as a flip-flopper.' They posted Romney's answer on Instapundit, their popular blog. In addition, a video of Romney crisply responding to the Reynoldses was soon up on the campaign's website – and on YouTube as well. Whatever one thinks of Romney's political views, his campaign is setting new standards for responsiveness, savvy, and speed."

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