Win A Date With Tagg Romney**

** -- not really a date, but you can sit next to him at a Sox game.

Dear marc,

What a great week so far.

In Tuesday’s debate, my Dad, Governor Mitt Romney, showed the nation once again why he is the best presidential candidate to lead our nation and bring conservative change to Washington. Viewers and pundits alike declared Dad the winner – and I agree.

My Dad has built the best organization and communicated his message effectively, and it’s resonating with the voters. He leads in the polls in the important early states of Iowa and New Hampshire. And just yesterday, two Republican presidential candidates – Rudy Giuliani and John McCain – decided not to compete in the Ames, Iowa Straw Poll, an event long-known for its significance in choosing a presidential nominee.

There is reason to celebrate! So today I’m announcing a special opportunity to join me for a celebration at a Major League Baseball game , including box seats and all travel expenses paid. I know my Dad is so proud of his supporters across the country, and it would mean a lot to me to thank you personally.

How do you qualify? Anyone who contributes $100 to our campaign by Tuesday, June 12th will be entered to win two tickets to join me at the game. I know this is just a few days away so don’t waste any time:

www.MittRomney.com/Baseball

Comments

Romney's offer is also an illegal lottery, since it requires a monetary payment for only a chance to win something in return. There didn't appear to be any prominent notice on the email or website -- or any notice at all -- providing alternate instructions on how to be entered in the ticket drawing without making a donation.

Posted by Randy Gold | June 9, 2007 2:08 AM

http://www.opinionjournal.com/best/?id=110010197

The Romney Lottery

It turns out Barack Obama isn't the only presidential candidate to incorporate games of chance into his campaign. Blogger Marc Ambinder reports having received an email signed by Tagg Romney, son of Mitt:

Today I'm announcing a special opportunity to join me for a celebration at a Major League Baseball game, including box seats and all travel expenses paid. I know my Dad is so proud of his supporters across the country, and it would mean a lot to me to thank you personally.

How do you qualify? Anyone who contributes $100 to our campaign by Tuesday, June 12th will be entered to win two tickets to join me at the game. I know this is just a few days away so don't waste any time.

Romney's base, however, may find this foul. According to LDS.org:

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is opposed to gambling, including lotteries sponsored by governments. Church leaders have encouraged Church members to join with others in opposing the legalization and government sponsorship of any form of gambling.

Gambling is motivated by a desire to get something for nothing. This desire is spiritually destructive. It leads participants away from the Savior's teachings of love and service and toward the selfishness of the adversary. It undermines the virtues of work and thrift and the desire to give honest effort in all we do.

The Washington Post, meanwhile, raises a different concern about Romney's family: that if it "seems too perfect, the approach could backfire":

"Romney's family is a central part of his identity, and it's a very effective counterpunch to some of the other high-profile candidates who've had, and are having, familial woes," says Gil Troy, historian of first couples and author of "Mr. and Mrs. President: From the Trumans to the Clintons." "Yet you also have to think that we're not in the age of 'The Brady Bunch' anymore. We're in the age of 'The Simpsons.' "

Plainly Troy is no historian of half-hour television comedies. Whereas the Brady Bunch was a blended family in which each parent had three stepchildren, the Simpsons are a traditional nuclear family, with a stay-at-home mom, no less.

Posted by John Krogstad | June 11, 2007 3:41 PM