Romney: "I said, ‘Billy, God bless you. I love ya.’ He died the next day.”

[jsr]

Mitt Romney's tales of his compassion and humanity toward fellow Mormons and successful business executives.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/decision2012/once-reluctant-mitt-romney-opens-up-on-the-campaign-trail/2012/10/06/93d78aba-0fde-11e2-bd1a-b868e65d57eb_story.html

Once-reluctant Mitt Romney opens up on the campaign trail
By Philip Rucker, Updated: Saturday, October 6, 2:45 PM

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Mitt Romney, his friends often say, is a private man in a public world. But with just one month left until the election, he has calculated that to win the presidency he must do what for years he has been loath to: share intimate stories about his life.

So it was that as the sun set on his rally here Friday night, the Republican nominee, buoyed by his successful turn on the debate stage, for the first time publicly related emotionally powerful anecdotes. Romney told of ministering to the needy in his Mormon church, including a 14-year-old who was dying of leukemia and summoned “Brother Romney” to his bedside. He also spoke of an old friend who ended up a quadriplegic after an accident, came to see Romney recently and died the next day.

At a waterfront park in downtown St. Petersburg, Romney’s crowd of more than 5,500 stood rapt listening to him speak, many with tears welling in their eyes. “Ohhhhh,” they gasped. And with that, the Romney campaign’s all-out effort to convince voters of the nominee’s character and compassion received a boost: a politician with an aversion to telling personal stories was, at long last, telling them.

“I’ve seen America,” Romney said. “I’ve seen the greatness of the human spirit in my fellow Americans. It’s what gives me confidence in our future, knowing we can rise to the occasion time and again. I’ve seen it throughout my life.” ...

[FirstLight]

1. the 'compassion' chip seems to be working...

Someone throw some water on that punk and short the sucker out!

[wtmusic]

18. His supporters must love the "Chicken Soup for the Soul" series

Any tragedy wrapped in nice Mormon paper and bow will have them sobbing.

[lunatica]

2. It's the Washington Post

Need I say more? This is the 'newspaper' that kept telling us Dubya was a genius who single handedly saved this country from terrorist attacks. Conveniently forgetting the worst one ever happened on his watch, no doubt it being Clinton's fault, or so they would have us believe.

[Turbineguy]

3. Such anecdotes are interesting and poignant

but are they real? After all, the Romney campaign does seem to work on the premise that a lie is not a lie even if you are caught in a lie. And then it's only a mistake if it makes you drop in the polls.

During the debate his stories about unemployed people coming to him and asking for help sounded like BS.

[nc4bo]

4. He's compassionate. He's empathetic. He's a comedian. Has something for everyone!

Fuck you Mitt.

[C_U_L8R]

5. Phony baloney

Mitt is a authentic as his suntan and silver sideburns.

[Blue Idaho]

6. Sounds more like the angel of death...

What a load of cobblers this latest makeover propaganda is.

[LiberalFighter]

14. I agree

If you are ill you need to stay away from Mitt or you will die.

[BeyondGeography]

7. And, with that, he decided to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act

[onethatcares]

8. halleluja, mitt is the anti christ.

he just has the laying of hands and healing thing a little backasswards.

[wtmusic]

20. Technically, that would be the anti-Christ of Latter Day Saints nt

[LadyHawkAZ]

9. Watching people die represents the spirit of America to him?

I wish that wasn't believable.

[HipChick]

10. How do we know this is true? Coming from a man who would do spray tan to make himself look darker

as an effort to win votes

[dimbear]

11. Doesn't seem like it would be a good idea for America to "come to see Romney."

Just saying.

[Grammy23]

12. What should be troubling about this is that Mitt has compassion for people he knows personally---

Or at least that is the impression he would like us to take away from his tales of misery and death, alleviated by his caring heart. Gag me.

But for those who are not known to him (or his little jackass side kick, Paul Ryan) they can rot and go straight to hell as far as they are concerned. They think nothing about those who are disabled in this country and rely on Medicaid for the very life giving care they receive. Nor do they think about someone's Grandmother or Great Uncle who is residing in a nursing home, suffering from Alzheimer's and while their families are helpless to do anything other than make sure they get the round the clock care they need----courtesy of Medicaid. They never give our Veterans a thought who have suffered and bleed for this country (more than Mitt could ever bring himself to do in Viet Nam) and who depend on the care they receive in our Veteran's Hospitals and clinics. And the many, many poor children across our land who get the routine care they need thanks to Medicaid and other forms of assistance, including our Local Health Departments making sure they have immunizations and well baby check ups.

How much compassion does he have for these people? The ones he will never meet. Never pray over. Never offer so much as a crumb of compassion.

Neither of these men will ever want for a thing. Nor will their over privileged families. I am happy for them to have such a blessed life. But they are called by their faith and by all that is decent to think of those who do not have the resources they do. If there is a hell (and I am still on the fence about that one) I think there will be a special place for these men who only have compassion for the few and none for the ones they would govern.

[marions ghost]

13. Right, in Republicanville you take care of your OWN

and you pull the plug on people you DON'T know.

Yeah -- good point

[Grammy23]

15. I used to work for a health related non-profit---

Our clients had a fairly common disorder, most of them had no insurance, some had Medicaid but couldn't find a doctor who would take it. So we helped them, too. We got a portion of our funds from the State of Florida. When it was time to do our yearly dog and pony show for the legislators who decided how fate each year (how much money we'd get in grants for services and educational services), we learned to take some of our clients with us. Telling these men and women sad stories about the difficulties our clients faced was only partially effective. If they had to look at them, hear them tell their stories, they were much more apt to remember us when the arguments would fly over which agencies (non-profits) got the money.

The other thing that we HAD to do (for those who still think that agencies get money and can do as they please) was demonstrate that we saved the state money. What we did was KEEP PEOPLE OUT OF THE ER. We counseled them about this, begged them not to go except in extreme cases of need. We paid for and arranged for them to go see a specialist so that trips to the ER were not as apt to happen. And it worked. We kept our clients out of the ER and the state knew it because they kept track of which disorders showed up in the ER. The numbers don't lie. Then when we went to see the Legislators we could truthfully say, we were saving the state money in the long run. By giving us a grant, we got negotiated rates with our docs and through begging and pleading got $2.50 of services for every dollar the state spent. It was a good deal and everyone won. Clients did better, improved their health and their lives and in some cases, lived longer. A few eventually were able to get stable and go to work and no longer need our services. The state had fewer people show up in the ER that had to be paid for by the rest of society or written off.

My point....the people who decided whether we got funding and how much we would receive got to see our clients and knew their names (for a little while anyhow) and knew who we were when our name came up for funding. It really helps for them to see who will benefit from the money they are in charge of divvying up.

[wtmusic]

17. Or other Mormons

Country Club mentality. "We stick together". Would bring that same smug self-righteousness to the presidency.

Ugh.

[L0oniX]

16. Rmoney's god is money.

[moondust]

19. So God doesn't work for Mitt?

And therefore Mitt can't fire him?