Mitt Romney Seals Official Republican Party Nomination
Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, and various press agencies, can drop the word presumptive from Romney’s title as voting at the Republican National Convention Tuesday made him the official Republican nominee for the presidency.
The Kansas City Star reports that Ann and Mitt Romney watched as the nomination was won from their hotel suite. The final tally, from RT.com, was 2,061 delegates for Romney and 189 going to Texas Representative Ron Paul. Former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum received nine votes, while Minnesota Representative Michele Bachmann, former Utah Governor Jon Huntsman and former Louisiana Governor Buddy Roemer got one delegate each.
While Romney dominated with more than 90 percent of the delegates, the hall erupted with cheers each time a vote was announced for Paul, showing the insurgent candidate and his libertarian-leaning views are still popular among Republicans at the convention.
Romney secured the nomination after running for the second time. He competed for the nomination in 2008 as well, but lost to John McCain. His father, George Romney, also mounted a failed campaign to receive the nomination in 1968.
While Republicans at the convention in Tampa celebrated, the enthusiasm was somewhat dampened by a poll reported by ABC News. The poll, done by ABC News in conjunction with the Washington Post, showed that Mitt Romney has the lowest personal popularity of any major-party nominee in nearly 30 years.
The report showed that 51 percent of respondents rate Romney “unfavorably,” while only 40 percent rate him “favorably.” The good news for Republicans is that President Barack Obama didn’t fare much better. Fifty percent of respondents rate Obama “favorably” and 47 percent “unfavorable.”
The Republican Party also approved a new platform Tuesday, though it was notable that now-official nominee Mitt Romney’s position on abortion, that it should be allowed in cases of rape and incest, was in contrast to the platform that calls for an end to all abortions.
