Kathryn, who I believe is first in line for a cabinet post in a Romney administration (HHS?), showed admirable restraint earlier in quoting from the Hotline’s Romney coverage today. She didn’t reproduce this analysis, a Romney rave:
Mitt Romney capped a pivotal week this morning in NH, of all places, announcing he’ll travel to the Vatican 3/23. It’s a fitting end to a week in which the MA gov made great strides in his sometimes awkward lurch to the right.
– It all started in Memphis, where Romney took 2nd (to native son Frist’s 1st) in Hotline’s SRLC straw poll. Sure, he might have packed the room with votes, but that’s what elections are all about: Organization.
– Romney returned to MA to introduce a bill 3/15 letting Catholic groups refuse to arrange gay adoptions. The bill faces Dem critics, but it’s already served its purpose. Religious conservatives know Mitt’s their man.
– In case it still isn’t clear, Romney drives it home this weekend, when he tells C-SPAN he has been “at the forefront” of cultural battles and insisted his values are “on the same page” as the Christian right. He said conservative values that “lead to our success as a nation” are “under attack.”
– Mark this down: If the right does accept Romney as a conservative alternative to McCain, this will be seen as his most critical week.