Mommy met Mitt

Today was Tisha B'av, a Jewish and national Israeli day of commemoration/mourning; Raphaela did not have Gan, and I did not work, and overall fasted rather well.

This afternoon, when returning from a family visit (family with air conditioning :-) an entire parade of motorcycles, limousines, vans and sirens stormed by, prompting Raphaela to rush over to me and grab my leg and cry out, "What is that terrible noise?"

"That was Governor Mitt Romney returning to his hotel," I answered.

This evening, I had the privilege of hiring our favorite baby sitter so that I could attend the Mitt Romney speech, which took place in Jerusalem next to the newly refurbished Montiffore Windmill, across from the walls of the Old City.  I am by nature intensely fascinated by the human political animal, and though I long ago ceased to use my background in political science and politics on a regular basis, I felt jazzed to be at this event.

Half of the space sat the big money people, and the other half were "regular" people like me, Americans who moved to the Middle East, but still care about our native land and have registered to vote absentee in the upcoming elections.  There was much political talk, voters from all backgrounds and all parts of the United States.  As one would expect, we were coached as to when to stand and applaud, so as not to block "the perfect picture" for the swarming international press.  Security was high with many checkpoints, and several people marched off, saying that Romney had lost their vote because they had to wait too long on line.  "If this is any indication of the way he plans on running his administration..."

For the record, the lines and security procedures are typical of a function like this, anywhere in the world, and especially in the Middle East, where everything starts later than scheduled.

I met Mitt, as well as a brief encounter with the Mayor of Jerusalem Nir Barakat; and Sheldon Adelson, a good ole' Boston boy who has thus far contributed over $20 million to the Romney campaign.

My impressions of Romney?  He looks "presidential," reminding me in appearance of Ronald Reagan;  Romney is more attractive in profile than as a frontal view.  The speech itself added no innovation nor hint of his potential policy toward Israel and the Middle East, everything that was said tonight has been said or written before.  The words "territories" and "Palestinian" never appeared, not once. 

He speaks well, radiates a certain charisma and inner confidence, and does better in connecting to people when makes a joke or talks about his family, when he veers slightly off script.

Will he be the next President of the United States?  I don't know, Romney and Obama have four months until elections, and a lot can happen in that time.  (I leave my person political views for more private forums.)