Day Two in Florida...

Another busy day in the Sunshine State. We began the day by making posters for the upcoming election rally on Monday night. It’s going to be at the Jacksonville International Airport. We'll be joining the Governor there tomorrow to help set up and to operate a phone bank from the rally. Our objective is to get as many volunteers as possible to assist with the final push through the Florida Primary on Tuesday.

We continued to aggressively work the phones today, and the response as always has been generally positive. The callers I spoke to who happened to back Romney are very vocal in their support, and many have asked how they can help. Campaign materials such as bumper stickers, lapel decals and yard signs are leaving the office in droves. The polling data is also trending our way, even in the face of some pretty heavy endorsements for McCain. Most notable among these are Gen. Norman Schwartzkopf, Mel Martinez and the current Gov. of Florida, Charlie Crist. Latest data on RealClearPolitics shows an aggregate lead of .1% for Romney. That's hardly a reason to call it in Mitt's favor, but the numbers have been trending consistenly better ever since the most recent debate. Today’s Rasmussen poll shows Romney with a 6 point advantage, and Intrade shows Romney trading at 56 with McCain trailing at 43. Personally, I prefer accuracy of the Intrade numbers- since people are literally "putting their money where their mouths are", I think it is as good an indicator as any. In any case, the mood around our little neck of the campaign is one of cautious optimism.

Another noteworthy thing happened this evening. I'm reporting this second hand from two members of my group who were in attendance. It is no secret that the Christian Right is has largely considered Mitt Romney to be a jagged pill to swallow. He shares many of their values, but there's that dreaded "M-Word" to contend with- you know, the one that rhymes with Norman? Anyway, I need to introduce Jay Sekulow, Famed director of the American Center for Law and Justice (click here for the site), a conservative religious organization founded by evangelist Pat Robertson as a counterweight to the American Civil Liberties Union. Sekulow also serves as a member of the Board of Trustees for The Supreme Court Historical Society in Washington, DC. He is also a convert from Judaism to Christianity- a self-proclaimed “Messianic Jew.”

Mr. Sekulow spoke this evening at a local Baptist church. What is significant about him is that he is widely regarded for taking on issues that are near and dear to the hearts of Christian Conservatives, ie. prayer in schools, free speech rights for religion and various other causes that he took to the Supreme Court. He has also endorsed (wait for it… wait for it…) Governor Mitt Romney for President. He told the crowd from the Pulpit that he was tired from a ride on the "Mittmobile" and that the would answer questions about it after the service.

After the preachin’ had concluded, a large group gathered around Sekulow as he took questions from an adoring throng. One gentleman was heard to say, “I can’t support Mitt Romney because he doesn’t know the Lord.” Sekulow replied, “I have known Mitt Romney for five years, and I can tell you that he does.” Another said, “Last time I voted for a guy with my religion, I ended up with Jimmy Carter and an 18% mortgage rate.” Sekulow went on to explain why Governor Romney was his choice in the tight Republican Primary. I am told that many who heard him were left with a much higher opinion of Governor Romney and that fears of the dreaded M-word were at least partially allayed. Hopefully this can translate into votes, and for this proud Mormon boy, maybe a few minds were opened to a religion that I hold dear.

Staying in the “Changing of Hearts” theme that has taken over that latter half of this post, I had a great experience with one voter on the phone this afternoon. He was a registered Democrat, married to a registered Republican. As I talked to him, I kept seeing visions of Mary Matlin and James Carville. What a pair! As I spoke to his wife, she put me on speaker phone so that we could all speak together. She told me with a laugh, “I’m already going to vote for Romney. Go get my husband!” Well, after a short discourse on the merits of conservatism and an explanation of Mitt’s platform, one more Democrat is leaving the Dark Side and coming into the fold. I just hope he has time to change his party affiliation before Tuesday!

More to come tomorrow from Jacksonville International Airport. I’m planning on shooting a little video for the blog. Until then, sleep well and have sweet conservative dreams…