Spinners and Winners
Sen. Orrin Hatch had to fight for his political life this year, when he was nearly beaten in the Republican primary
in his home state of Utah. Spinners and Winners caught up with Hatch on
the convention floor in Tampa, where the long-time senator credited his
background for his primary victory. Like many of the personal stories being told at the convention
this week, Hatch said he comes from humble roots -- an experience that
prepared him for tough political battles like the one he fought.
"I'm a tough old bird and
everybody knows it. I'm a nice person but I'm tough," said Hatch. "And
I've come up the hard way. I remember when we didn't have enough to eat
except for the little half-acre garden that we planted."
But Romney doesn't share that story, and his background has made it difficult for some voters to relate to him. Hatch says Romney needs to embrace his success.
"Just say, 'Yes I've been very
fortunate but I've earned every dime I've ever made and I'm successful
because of a lot of breaks in life but on the other hand, a lot of hard
work I've had in life too.' "
The senator, a fellow Mormon, also said Romney's time abroad as a missionary was, in its own way, a hardship.
"He served a mission for his
church over in France, a very difficult mission by the way where people
come up to you and say, 'I'm an atheist and I'm a Catholic.' But he
learned to love people, he learned to work with people, he learned to
serve, and that's what you get from those kind of experiences."
Romney's faith
could be a potentially difficult issue for voters unfamiliar with
Mormonism, but Hatch seems to want to lay those concerns to rest.
"If you look at his church
background, he voluntarily gave a good deal of his life to help others
without any kind of compensation, without any kind of fanfare, behind
the scenes in most cases and frankly, he has always lived a real
Christian life," says Hatch.
http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/power-players-abc-news/sen-hatch-mitt-romney-advice-one-mormon-republican-130407579.html
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