Margaret Thatcher gives her "A-OK" to Mitt Romney, the next President of the United States

Reprinted from NewsMax.com

Sunday, Oct. 15, 2006 10:48 p.m. EDT
Romney Gets Nod From Margaret Thatcher

Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney met Baroness Margaret Thatcher at a Washington think tank last month, a visit that the Times of London is describing as "an unmistakable sign to conservatives that he was 'one of us.'"

"Can you imagine? It was such an extraordinary honour to be able to sit down with her person-to-person," Romney said in his first interview with a British newspaper. "We talked about the condition of the world and I said, "I'm optimistic that we'll overcome these problems," and she paused and said, "We always have."

Thatcher, who was Britain's prime minister during President Reagan's time in office, developed a strong and warm relationship with Reagan and was an important ally of America. Romney is hoping the similarities he shares with Reagan as a popular governor with movie-star good looks, the ability to lead as a conservative in a liberal state, and as an appealing candidate to swing voters, will help him connect with conservatives. His meeting with Thatcher is likely to give him momentum in the right direction.

Romney, chairman of the Republican Governors Association, is generating enormous buzz as the conservative with the best chance of beating Sen. John McCain for the 2008 Republican nomination. When his term in office expires in January, Romney is expected to throw himself helter-skelter into the presidential race.

According to the Times, Romney will have to take more risks to lift his candidacy out of the ordinary. Just as the Democrats are searching for a credible alternative to Clinton, so the Republicans want a candidate who can square up to the heavyweight McCain "an "American hero," in Romney's words, who is certainly "one of the leading contenders."

Romney's ascension will be evident if England's Tories invite him to address next year's party conference McCain attended this year's gathering in Bournemouth.

"I'd love to speak to my conservative colleagues in the mother country," Romney laughed.