Mitt Romney did something in Irwin, Penn., today that should not go unnoticed. The Brody File watched in person as Romney received a standing ovation.
But it wasn’t because he talked about tax cuts or the economy or kicking President Obama out of office. Those lines were all well received but no, the standing ovation came when he said this line:
“Let’s stop and think about the system of government and what it tells us in our founding document, the Declaration of Independence. It does not say that the government gave us our rights. It says that God gave us our rights. They came with us not with government.”
Folks, the economy may be Romney’s bread and butter but if he really wants to get the deeply conservative base behind him (read: conservative evangelicals and the larger Tea Party), then he needs to continue to talk about God MORE on the campaign trail.
He did it in Irwin today and it was a hit because deeply conservative voters have strong and passionate views about God and anytime His name is invoked it will endear Romney to his base. It will lead to greater enthusiasm. Translation: Greater vote total.
Look, all Romney has to do is put all of this into his metric equation applause machine. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that the lines above and the message that resonates from it gets Teavangelicals fired up. Ask Rick Santorum if this works. He based his whole GOP Primary run on this premise.
Romney’s campaign is made up of a lot of smart people so it shouldn’t be hard for Beth Myers, Kevin Madden, Eric Fehrnstrom, Matt Rhoades, et al., to figure out that weaving in this idea of God-given rights, not government-given rights, is a winning ticket. A Teavangelical message centering on God, the Declaration of Independence, and the vision of our Founding Fathers will generally get people out of their seats and will give Romney the extra oomph he needs to get to The White House.
Don’t over think it. It’s not hard to figure out. Just watch the crowds around the country react. It’s that simple.
Oh, and one more thing: Newsflash! Independent voters love God, too! You don’t turn off Independent voters this way. That’s a figment of a political consultant’s imagination! This is a no-brainer folks.
The full speech is below. Go 16:10 into the speech to watch his line.