American Spectator:

  • LIKE PATS FANS late in the fourth quarter, Romney isn't letting go of the dream and neither were his supporters at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center. Never has this writer attended a more upbeat gathering for a candidate who was mostly losing (or, to use Romney's favorite metaphor, at least getting more silvers and bronzes than golds).

    With the televisions flip-flopping between CNN, Fox News, and MSNBC, the crowd first burst into applause when it was reported that Romney had won overwhelmingly among Bay State primary voters who described themselves as conservatives. They continued to cheer and applaud every time the results in Massachusetts and Utah flashed on the screen -- Romney's only victories until the contests moved West to Colorado, North Dakota, Montana, and Minnesota.

    Hours before the polls closed on the West Coast, Romney supporters settled into party. "Hey, is that Dr. John playing?" one reveler asked a bewildered older lady about the music blasting on the sound system. As McCain and Huckabee piled up wins, they cheered each other up with promising poll results in California.

    Only a few Sam Adams-sipping College Republicans went slightly off message. "I'm scared," one confessed. "I don't think I could vote for John McCain." "We bet on the wrong guy in the Huckabee-Brownback feud," another said after Huckabee was projected the winner in another Southern state. "Wait, you're not a reporter, are you?"


    YET BY AND LARGE, the crowd remained enthusiastic in the face of daunting news. They waved large red foam "Mitt mitts" and signs saying "Change." They chanted "We love Mitt" whenever they saw that the gathering was being shown on TV. And they saved the best for their candidate.

    Former Massachusetts Gov. William Weld, joined by former Lt. Gov. Kerry Healey and Romney's brother and sons, made it clear in his introduction that Romney was staying in the race. Romney made it even clearer. "We're going to keep on battling," he assured the crowd. "We're going to go all the way to the convention. We're going to win this thing, and we're going to get to the White House."

    The Romney supporters cheered his applause lines on illegal immigration and the broken system in Washington as lustily as if he had just clinched the nomination. The candidate emphasized his private-sector experience and said, "It's time for the politicians to leave Washington and for we the people to take over!" Romney's only false note was when he invoked the "values of Ronald Reagan and George Herbert Walker Bush and Teddy Roosevelt." George Herbert Walker Bush?

    At the conclusion of his speech, Romney jumped off the platform to shake hands with his supporters. People in the crowd surged forward to greet him. Others filed out, again reassuring each other that it wasn't over yet. California would give them their fourth quarter game-changing touchdown.

    Indeed, it may not be over yet. Nevertheless, as this is being written, the networks are already projecting that California won't save Team Romney. Romney and his backers have a lot of heart. But his campaign is starting to look like the Patriots' desperate final 29 seconds of the Super Bowl. Only without a Tom Brady.