One last tribute to Governor Romney

Well, it's over....but before I'm forced to move "FORWARD", I want to take a minute and pay one last tribute to my very favorite presidential candidate of all time, Mitt Romney. I'm not exaggerating. The first time I heard the name Mitt Romney I was a freshman at BYU (which was a while ago....). The winter Olympics were in crisis and I saw him come in and be a hero. I was impressed, so it was easy for me to recognize that name when I heard that he was running for Governor of Massachusetts. Then in 2008 I heard that Governor Romney was running for President and I paid attention to that primary. It's still a mystery to me how John McCain came out of that the nominee...but Obama was elected and I decided to hope for the best. Well, a year later I graduated with my master's in mass communications, ready for my career in PR.....only it was the worst of the recession and jobs were hard to come by. The two year cycle of temp work, freelance writing and PR internships began. Not awesome. If you knew me at that time, you probably heard me say a time or two, "Man....I really wish Romney was President right now." Then I heard that Mitt Romney was running for President in 2012 and I was stoked. I met this guy who came to Chicago on assignment for the Romney campaign last November to get Mitt Romney on the ballot for the primaries. I volunteered immediately....and with so much in common, how could we help but start dating? I don't even know how many times I went out in the freezing cold to knock doors and gather signatures for the Governor...but I lost my pinky toe to frostbite (okay that part is not true....but it was freezing!) After Christmas my boyfriend began working on the advance team for Governor Romney and I began to travel on the campaign trail as well. First stop, Iowa and on to Florida, Nevada, Wisconsin and here in Illinois of course. I was there the day the staff pulled their April Fools joke on Governor Romney and my cheeks hurt I was laughing so hard as the Gov retold us about that moment. I was able to get my picture with him and shake his hand a couple of times. He was always so gracious and charming. While I was trying to stay out of the way in hotels in between rallies and debates I saw first hand that Governor Romney was a very attentive and thoughtful husband to his wife Ann. I heard him speak in person at least a dozen times and over and over again, I felt reassured that Romney was exactly the man we needed for the job of President. Everyone I met on his team was sharp, driven and detail oriented. The campaign took its toll on my relationship...and sadly that ended, but I continued to be devoted to the campaign. I donated monthly and made phone calls for Get out the Vote. I watched the debates and the Frontline presidential profiles. In the past I have had preferences for a candidate, but never before have I felt so strongly that a candidate was the absolute ideal for President, but I felt that way about Governor Romney. For those who have looked at the Chicago Tribune

, you saw my face and how distraught I was by the results of the election last night. It has been a long road and I almost wish that it was longer just so that I could still have the hope that I would be able to refer to Romney as President Romney. So, before the dust settles let me give my praises to this man. He is a good man, an excellent example of charity and thoughtfulness, he is a brilliant man and would have been a wonderful President. The theme song for the post is I Cry by Flo Rida because "I cry just a little, when I think of letting go". It is hard to invest so much and have things turn out this way. I will say though, that I believe the world is a better place because Mitt Romney ran for President. It was nice to finally address and clarify some misconceptions about the religion that we share. Also, I think he has raised the bar for President Obama, and I sincerely hope that he will step up. I will continue to pray for him everyday he is in office. So goodbye to the Romney/Ryan 2012 campaign, thank you for giving us your best.