This is where the rubber meets the road and people start putting reality into the polls everyone’s been watching for well over a year.

Predictions are a dime a dozen, and For reports direct from Team Mitt, stop by Jason over at MyManMitt.com He’s on the ground with Mitt in Iowa writing as the events take place. Drop him a few bucks while you’re there – this trip is coming out of his own wallet.

A few final comments for now:

This is what campaigns do when they lack the resources , record, and ability to answer comparison ads. Here’s a very good reason to send Huck packing tonight. I for one don’t ever want to see Susan Estrich dancing to anything.

Tricia Erickson wants to warn you about Mitt – at least that’s what she wants you to think.  In all reality, however, she just wants a platform upon which she can establish herself as relevant.  She’s tried several different avenues so far – so let’s chronicle her attempts to insert herself into the limelight. 

Politico’s Mike Allen – along with many other media movers and shakers – received a long, rambling email from Ms. Erickson entitled “Can Mitt Romney Serve Two Masters? The Mormon Church vs. the United States of America” which – among other things – offered “guest appearances” featuring Ms. Ericson as an “expert” on Mormonism. 

I caught wind of Erickson’s diatribes sometime ago and had to chuckle.  Her experience with Mormons ended during her teen-age years and yet she still claims expertise on a subject and people she’s long separated herself from.  Maybe she has delusions of working as a PBS documentary subject someday. 

Erickson’s singular claim to fame – other than being an anti-Mormon bigot – is her having headed a modeling agency which represented the likes of Fawn Hall and Donna Rice.  Maybe you’ve heard of those two – maybe you haven’t.  Think really bad 1980’s hair – maybe that’ll help.  Now she bills herself as a crisis-management expert.  If your crisis happens to be caused by your secretary stuffing classified memos in her unmentionables or your presidential candidate having a Monkey Business fling, I’m sure Ms. Erickson can help you.  Should your crisis happen to involve something else, good luck and let me know how she works out for you. 

Now she’s in search of a talk show (radio/television/blog/outerspace) which will book her as a “Mormon” expert and by so doing will allow her to again enter the limelight – this time to vent all of her pent up anti-Mormon rage upon whichever listener/viewer happens to be in the vicinity.  

Personally, if I were Ms. Erickson, I wouldn’t spend too much time sitting by the phone waiting to be booked for anything other than a late night infomercial featuring the No Excuses Jeans clothing line.
 

We’ll start today with Time Magazine’s Karen Tumulty.  She writes one of the articles in Mitt’s Time Cover.  All in all, not bad, but not spectacular either.  Nancy Gibbs writes another – focusing on the Mormon question – again.  Yawn.   She makes a point of highlighting every page in the anti-Mormon playbook.  Memo to Nancy:  If you’re going to take shots, at least try to make them original.  End memo.
 
CBS 60 Minutes frontman Mike Wallace has finally gone around the bend.  He had the audacity to ask Mitt and Ann if they engaged in pre-marital sex.  No, I am not making this up.  I’d suggest that Wallace first disclose the details of his own sex life before prying into the private lives of others, but the thought of Wallace so engaged makes my stomach do triple gainers.  CBN’s David Brody says “Oi, Vey.”  Amen to that David.
 
The AP’s Glen Johnson (published by ABCNews) summarizes Mitt’s 60 Minutes interview.  Evidently the headline is used only to get readership because it has little to do with the article.
 
Howlin’ Mad Howie Dean’s Head Mitt Hit Man Damien LaVera loves to see himself quoted – so much so that he himself does the quoting.
 
The New York Times’ Michael Luo reports on Mitt’s visit to Ames, Iowa.
 
Buzzle.com’s Ewen MacAskill gives a pretty good short intro to Mitt.
 
World Magazine’s Joel Belz tries to do the same thing, but fails miserable by opening with a quote from a religious bigot who can’t even string two words together without slamming Mormons.  
 
The Phoenix’s David Bernstein combs through Mitt’s donor list and finds more housewives than working women.  So, David, where did all that cash come from?  Oh yeah, I forgot.  The Mormon Mafia and Utah farmers.  Tell me, Dave, just how many tin-foil hats do you have in your closet?
 
The National Ledger’s Jackson Simpson highlights Mitt’s comments about the Bush Administration’s mistakes in regard to Iraq.  This will no doubt become MSM fodder for the weekend news cycle.  The MSM doesn’t understand the fact nobody can plan for every possibility in a war.  Patton said that the best war plans seldom survive first contact with the enemy.  Bush understands this.  Mitt understands this.  Warriors understand this.  The MSM – so deeply afflicted by Bush Derangement Syndrome – understands little or nothing but what Moveon.org tells them.
 
NRO’s Kathryn Jean Lopez wonders what the big deal is about Mormons.  Turns out she is one.  Stand by for references to the vast Mormon conspiracy.
 
GoUpstate.com’s Jason Spencer unearths some thinly veiled anti-Mitt hate mail masquerading as anti-Mormon literature.  Yes, dear reader, its gotten ugly and will get uglier.  This is what cowards do.  They are unable to compete against Mitt on the campaign trail so they send out hate mail.  Some digging needs to be done in Providence.
 
For those of you unfamiliar with Mitt’s fortune, he’s rich.  Now that we’ve cleared up that important information…
 
KMBC-TV had a conversation with Mitt.
 
The AP’s Mike Glover reports on the Reverend Al’s progress in digging holes.

The New York Times’ Michael Luo says Al thinks anyone who was an LDS Church member prior to 1978 is a racist.  Nice try, Al.  How’s that steam shovel working for you?
 
Blogfather Hugh interviewed Academy Award winning Actor Jon Voight.  Voight is a good actor, and he spells his name right.  I’m not sure I agree with his take on September Dawn, but I respect his candor – a rare thing in today’s Hollywood.
 
William F. Buckley’s piece on Mitt’s abortion stance is well worth the read.  Buckley reminds us there is such a thing as a “moral” thought process.
 
The New Republic’s Michelle Cottle thinks Mitt should attempt to coddle liberals with bait like attempts to “cut greenhouse gases, woo immigrants, and get us the hell out of Iraq.”  Sure, Michelle.  If we want entertainment like that, we’ll watch Katie Couric. 
 
Finally today, go check out Article VI guest blogger John Mark Reynolds.  Very good stuff. 
 
 
 

Blogfather Hugh has a fantastic take down of Kenneth Woodward.  Woodward has been a contributing religion writer to Newsweek for nigh unto three decades.  He claims to have the inside scoop on the “truth” about Mormons.  Frankly stated, Woodward may have studied Mormons for a long time, but he has learned next to nothing.  He’s able to write about less.

Hugh asked Woodward if he has any friends who also happen to be Mormon.  Woodward was happy to divulge he has Mormon friends – mostly those found in journalistic and academic circles.  He then referred to Sunstone magazine as a “Mormon” magazine.  Here’s where Woodward’s problem lies.  Sunstone is in no way officially associated with the LDS Church.  At best it can be described as a pseudo-intellectual dissident publication which does its best to criticize LDS doctrines and policies.  Memo to Kenneth Woodward – try LDS.org, the Ensign, or another official publication.  You’re a bigot, plain and simple.   Hugh made short work of Woodward, and did it in fine fashion.  Well done, Blogfather.

If you want a line by line dissection of Woodward’s article combined with Blogfather Hugh’s interview, please visit Lowell (who finally returned from Zion - see what happens when you take time off Lowell) at Article VI.  I don’t think you’ll find a better running commentary anywhere in the Blogosphere. 

The St. George Spectrum’s Mark Boggs wonders if Mitt is “Christian” enough for the GOP.

The Republican’s Dan Ring forecasts Mitt’s speech to Pioneer Valley Region of Massachusetts Citizens for Life at Chez Josef in Agawam.

The USAToday reports Mitt will push for more defense spending.

The Boston Globe’s Joan Vennochi (syndicated through the Salt Lake Trib – big surprise there) jumps on the Hunt-gate bandwagon.  She tries, and spectacularly fails, to split fine hairs and paint Mitt as a flip-flopper.  Hey, Joan, if this is the best you can do I’d suggest you take an eighteen month leave of absence.  Mitt took some shots at small vermin.  He’s not a big game hunter.  Maybe he’s got better things to do with his time.  That’s all the there in this story.  Your exceptionally lame attempt to correlate Clinton’s “is” with Mitt’s “hunt” would be funny if it wasn’t so pathetic.

The Washington Post’s Dan Balz chronicles a March 5^th exchange among campaign staffers for Mitt, Rudy, and McCain regarding the role which religion will play in the campaign.  The fact remains that – as illustrated by Woodward’s bigoted cheap shot masquerading as journalism – it seems to be acceptable to attack Mormons and Mormonism on religious grounds where any similar attack on another group would be out of bounds.