Recently, I accepted an invitation from Georgette Mosbacher to attend a reception for Mrs. Ann Romney at the Women’s National Republican Club in Manhattan. Little did I realize that it was indeed a women’s club. I counted three men in the entire group: Woody Johnson, the owner of the Jets, Bruce Gelb, former vice-chairman of the board of Bristol- Myers and me and never discovered why only we three. There were two sessions: The first was for a small group with the two men and about 20 ladies and Mrs. Romney; the second, a larger group for lunch, to hear her speak. I attended both. When she entered the first session, she exuded the tough to define, but easy to recognize thing called “class.” I briefly mentioned to her that I was pushing the Cure Care Initiative, which should be included in Governor Romney’s health proposal (www.fimdefelice.org). We shall see.
As a physician, I instinctively looked for signs regarding her multiple sclerosis. None was evident.
There were about 100 well-dressed ladies at the luncheon of the average age of about 65 – too young for me! Johnson and Gelb disappeared, and I stood alone amongst the ladies. Many glances were cast my way asking, “Who is this guy?” Anyway, an attractive woman invited me to join her table with her friends. I wisely decided to mainly listen and learn. They were all impressively intelligent, well-schooled in the shortcomings of the Obama administration and passionate about setting things right. I, as Devil’s Advocate, challenged them with the question, “Is there anything you like about President Obama?” The attractive woman replied, “He’s handsome.” The others couldn’t think of anything except for nice things about his children.
Mrs. Romney then entered, gracefully mounted the podium and received a standing ovation. Her message was clear emphasizing the now or never theme. She has a highly persuasive conversational me-to-you approach, which, in my opinion, if Hillary Clinton had
employed, would be our President today. She spoke about how her life is surrounded by men; no brothers, her husband and five sons. A mighty roar came from the ladies when she passionately proclaimed that her husband has more integrity in his little finger than those who attack him. (I couldn’t remember the last time I heard the word “integrity”). She then said something that cemented her message that this will be a make or break election. She had recently been at a gathering where Barbara Bush emphasized that this election was the most important one in recent history, inferentially meaning more than her husband’s and son’s, and the next election will determine the future of America.
Her speech was followed by an infectious and enthusiastic standing ovation. The ladies loved her. But what really struck me were her presence, intelligence and persuasiveness of style. She is no doubt a force to be reckoned with both in gathering advocates for her husband’s election as well as contributions, which are critical to make it happen.
There were two major themes throughout both sessions: Firstly, President Obama is leading the country on a path to socialism and weakness and secondly, he’s, because of his limited background, simply not qualified for the job.
A couple of days later, I read that Gerald Molen, the producer of Schindler’s List and Jurassic Park, among others, will soon release his new documentary, 2016: Obama’s America. He’s very concerned about our country and its future. He asks, “What kind of country do we want?” And he believes the next election may answer this question. Given all that’s going on, it certainly appears that it may be true.