Romney gives cash to struggling supporter at rally

I just read this article and I'd like to be the first to say that this was probably an orchestrated event and this woman was a plant.

Here is the article in its entirety. I've highlighted the parts that I found significant.

Romney gives cash to struggling supporter at rally

politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com...

Sumter, South Carolina (CNN) – Mitt Romney gave a handful of cash Saturday to a woman who had told him she was struggling financially after an event in Sumter, South Carolina.

An aide said the GOP candidate gave the supporter "what he had on him" - about $50 or $60.

The woman, Ruth Williams, met Romney earlier in the week and told him she was having trouble making ends meet. On Saturday, Romney recognized Williams while he was shaking hands with supporters after a rally, an aide said.

Romney spoke to the woman and handed her several bills.

Of all the people he sees, he remembered this woman and what she told him? What an amazing memory he has!

"He was kind to me," Williams said. "He held onto me and he made Gov. [Nikki] Haley and them come see about me."

Touched by an angel?

Williams told reporters that on Wednesday she had seen Romney's campaign bus on the highway and followed it to an airport. Aides then invited her to come meet the former governor at an event in Columbia.

So, when most body guards would consider this to be a stalker, they welcome her with open arms and give her a special invitation?

"I was on the highway praying and said, 'God, tell me how to get [my] lights on, and I pulled up to a stop sign and his bus was there,'" Williams said.

Wait. What? So, not only does G_d listen to Tebow, but he hears the prayers of a woman who's had her electricity cut off? No wonder people are getting killed and women and children are being raped. G_d doesn't have his priorities straight.

Williams has been out of work since October and is caring for an ill son. She said that after meeting Romney she had also met South Carolina state treasurer and Romney supporter Curtis Loftis, and said he had given her money. She said she used the money to pay her light bill.

She's obviously one of Obama's victims and it just so happens that she has an ill son.
Excuse me while I get some tissues. Be right back....

A Romney campaign aide confirmed Loftis had given Williams money.

I'd like to hear from someone who is neutral about this charity event. Why should I believe someone who is already batting for the team?

Williams has been volunteering at Romney's state headquarters in Columbia since the original meeting, she said.

Paying it forward. More tissues needed. Excuse me....

"God didn't tell me to go to nobody else," she said when asked whether she had approached other presidential candidates. "He told me to pray for Romney."

Of course he did.

The cash gift is notable from a candidate who has said he would not give away "free stuff" as president but rather would focus on cutting back on federal spending and stimulating private sector growth.

So, we shouldn't expect handouts once he's POTUS. Got it.
I bet he made sure this "hand out" will be listed as a tax deductable gift on his tax return.

"I know there are some people who run for president that will say, 'Hey, I'm going to give you more. I'll find a way to give you some more. I'll change the rules and give you more money," Romney said at a December event in Conway, New Hampshire. "I'm not that guy. If there's a competition for who will give you the most free stuff, go vote for that guy."

Well, thanks for clearing that up for everyone, Mitt.

Hmmmm so contrived. I wonder.....does he do this in normal life? I bet not.

reply to post by StealthyKat


Yeah.
I find it strange that this woman only needed $50-$60 to get her electricity back on. My bill is usually around $107 and is budgetted. Maybe G_d told Mitt how much money to have in his pocket that day?
You can be one month behind on your utilities for quite a few months until they tell you to pay up or else. It's usually upwards around $200 by then.

think I would have given the cash back to him and told him I didn't want his charity, just a job that would pay the bills and keep me alive another day!!!!

charity isn't for the poor, it's for the rich, to help them feel good and less guilty about the mass of wealth they have accumulated by depriving others of decent wages!!!

give a man a fish, you fed them for a day...
teach a man to fish, and give them rights to you fishing hole, and you've fed him for life!!!

romney sounds like the type of guy who just wants to give out a fish every now and then.....preferably with lots of people watching so we all know how kind he is. .....but then he goes backs to his business and takes the ability of many more from being able to catch their own fish....so he can profit, and then turn around and give them a fish every now and then to show the world, just what a kind fellow he is!!!

no thanks, keep your fish, I'll live, or die, on what I earn!!!!!

Doing some more digging into this, here's another article.
thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com...

Ms. Williams, a Republican, said in an interview that she does not have enough money to care for her 26-year-old son, who recently suffered a brain aneurysm. She said God told her to follow the Romney campaign, which she has been doing since Wednesday.

The exchange came as Mr. Romney’s rivals try to cast him as out of touch with average people in South Carolina. Mr. Romney’s personal wealth is estimated at between $190 million and $250 million.

What a coincidence. G_d tells her to follow the Romney campaign just as he's needing some charitable publicity. G_d certainly does work in mysterious ways.

I just saw this blog, which shares my opinion.
hinterlandgazette.com...

The word is that South Carolina Treasurer Curtis Loftis paid her light bill on Thursday by giving her $150. Excuse me if I am a skeptic, but how did Mitt Romney know to give this woman money? Did she ask him for money as she waited to shake his hand? Was this a campaign stunt to show that he really cares about the little people? The woman said since she has been volunteering at Romney’s campaign office since meeting his bus last week, cleaning and doing other things, ABC News reports. So, I guess that $50 or $60 dollars he reportedly gave her was to pay for her work. Don’t be fooled people. This didn’t come from a place of compassion but a photo op.

Yep. Smells like a sham to me!

I found this from another site which explains a lot.

i947.photobucket.com...

Is their a generally accepted time before an election that a candidate should refrain from offering potential voters charity? Is one allowed to donate to individuals until the polls open?

I smell setup.

So the lady goes to the rally and says she has no money for the electrical bill and Romney gives it to her, then she pays it off???

she gets 40 or 60 dollars to pay it?? Ok when was the last time you saw a 40 to 60 dollar electrical bill?? Even if she only used it to pay part of the electrical bill, it would have barely put a dent in it. (in most places)

I also wonder just how far she drove to get to the event, and whether she bought any food or anything while she was there?

40 to 60 dollars for a man who makes tens of millions by taking peoples jobs, doesn't sound all that great when you look at the details now.

reply to post by ken10


Seeing how much Romney has given to Bank of America , he certainly won't have my vote!
I guess he can add struggling single women with ill children to his list, too.

reply to post by Afterthought


Contrived, pandering, opportunistic, and even worse............ Socialist! I just wanted to say it first, but it is kinda true.

Isn't this exactly what Obama is doing? Instead of shrinking the government and fixing the economy, he is just handing out cash. The biggest detraction on Romney so far is the fact that he is just Obama in Republican clothing, and here is PROOF! Instead of helping this lady get a job, or telling her his plan to fix the job market, instead he gives her $50 or $60!?!? That is going to help her for what... 2 days? 3? $60 doesn't do a dam thing to help this lady's situation. Even $600 wouldn't help her for more than a couple of weeks.

Handouts will not help people!

So, Romney has shown for certain, once again, that he is not a competitor for Obama. His policies are identical to Obama's even in his personal life.

Ron Paul 2012. That is the only future for the America we love. If people don't vote for Ron Paul, then clear divisive lines are going to form between the sheeple following the ever-expanding government, and the rebels fighting against it. I think we know where that leads.. . . . . . .

1865 all over again, where the Federal Government was intruding, and dictating state laws and policies, punishing those who didn't go along with it, taking money from the South to fund industry in the North. Times were very similar then to now, because now the Federal Government is intruding, dictating laws, violating our own Constitution and Liberties, taking money away from the industrious working people and giving it to the bankers and failing industries that are "too big to fail."

Maybe this time the rebels will win peacefully with a Ron Paul vote, or if that doesn't work, maybe the Rebels will fair better in the actual battles!

reply to post by getreadyalready


Very true and I'm with you 100%.
The thing I'm wondering is if she's getting paid to help with his campaign or is her time donated?

I've tried to find some information about this woman, but haven't found anything yet.
I believe she's a plant. I'd be interested to see a news crew go to her home and interview her before I'm going to believe that this was not a planned event to sway votes.

reply to post by Afterthought


I don't think she would need to be a plant, or get paid. I'm sure plenty of people are trying to talk to him about jobs, and telling him how bad things are. Probably pretty easy to find the most emotionally charged member in the audience and do something like this. A single, unemployed mother is about the pinnacle of the pandering iceberg isn't it.

At least "Joe the Plumber" was a regular guy. Even though I thought all of that pandering was ridiculous, at least they made it appear to be spontaneous, LOL!

reply to post by Afterthought


This is the worst orchestrated stunt I have ever seen by a presidential candidate besides the Obama BS from 2008 when he had people fainting in the audience to get out of answering an important campaign question or when he ran out of crap to say.

Oh yeah, If Romney gets the nomination! I think people are going to riot in the streets and I will be one of them because Ron Paul has defeated him in every contest. Everyone knows Romney is a fake and Pro Big Corporations.

reply to post by getreadyalready


Yes, but, according to the official story, G_d told her to seek out Romney to help her pay her electric bill. It would be a better story if G_d told her that Romney would provide her with a job.

Besides, her son is an adult. It is believed that he had a brain aneurism (sp?), so now she's taking care of him. I think considering her to be a "single mother" is an overstatement in this case.

Maybe she isn't a plant and this whole thing is simply a coincidence. I just have difficulty believing in coincidences.

reply to post by Patriotsrevenge

This is the worst orchestrated stunt I have ever seen by a presidential candidate besides the Obama BS from 2008 when he had people fainting in the audience

I couldn't have said it better myself!

I don't think she was a plant.
I think she took the money when offered .. hell .. why not?
I thought it was a really strange story for the news to make such a big deal out of.
A woman needed a hand ... Romney handed her some money to help.
No big deal. Certainly not worthy of all the attention in the media.
It's a non-story. IMHO

reply to post by Afterthought




I forgot! Single-mother, of a disabled adult son, following God's advice, and having her prayer answered with $60 from the benevolent Mormon wannabe President!

NOW THAT! Really is the pinnacle of the pandering ladder!

I just can't imagine anyone taking this sort of thing seriously from a political candidate? Do you think anyone will actually be enamored by Romney because of this, and actually change their vote to him?

reply to post by FlyersFan


Did you read the entire thread?
The way it's played up that G_d told her to seek Romney out? The way she followed his bus and given a personal invitation to his next speaking event? Then, he happened to remember meeting her? You don't think his handlers told him that she was going to be there and that she was "struggling"?
OK. Sure. It was all G_d's plan and Romney had nothing to do with it.

reply to post by getreadyalready


I know! Maybe Tebow will change his mind about not endorsing a candidate and become Romney's spokesperson.

Originally posted by FlyersFan
I don't think she was a plant.
I think she took the money when offered .. hell .. why not?
I thought it was a really strange story for the news to make such a big deal out of.
A woman needed a hand ... Romney handed her some money to help.
No big deal. Certainly not worthy of all the attention in the media.
It's a non-story. IMHO

Oh come on, you know it was so much more than that!!

Can everyone who asks Romney now expect $60 for their light bill? Of course it was a stunt, and of course it is getting the attention his campaign wanted it to get.

If he was really just trying to give the lady a hand, he could have sent the cash with a staffer to give her in private, or better yet, he could have given her a job on his campaign and let her sit at home, with her son, and make phone calls for him in the upcoming states.

If this was anything beyond political pandering for the camera, then we should be even more upset that he actually thinks giving some cash to somebody is any kind of help! If it wasn't political pandering, then his intelligence and decision-making should be called into question and he really is not presidential material! It's bad enough to be a sell-out, but its even worse to be a naive sucker!