Skip to footer

Mitt Romney breaks into song, serenading Florida voters

Mitt Romney usually recites lyrics to 'America the Beautiful' during his stump speech. But on Monday, the eve of Florida's GOP primary, he broke into song – and the crowd joined him.

|
Charles Dharapak/AP
Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, sings 'America the Beautiful' as he campaigns at Lake Sumter Landing, The Villages, Fla., Monday.
  • By Linda Feldmann Staff writer

| Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.

First Herman Cain, then Barack Obama. On the eve of the Florida primary, it was Mitt Romney’s turn to break out in song before a crowd of voters.

Usually, Mr. Romney recites the words to “America the Beautiful” in his stump speech. But on Monday night, at a rally in The Villages, a big central Florida retirement community, Romney added the tune – and the crowd joined in. Perhaps he was feeling extra chuffed, what with the polls predicting a big victory here on Tuesday.

But if this were "American Idol," Romney might have something to worry about. And he should be grateful Mr. Cain is out of the race. Cain, the former pizza mogul, wowed his audience back in October with a rousing rendition of “Imagine There’s no Pizza” to the tune of John Lennon’s “Imagine.” And who can forget President Obama giving us a few enticing lines of Al Green’s “Let’s Stay Together” a couple of weeks ago?

Romney, at least, gave it the old college try. See for yourself.

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.
editor@csmonitor.com
Subscribe
Mark Sappenfield
Editor

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

Subscribe to insightful journalism

QR Code to Mitt Romney breaks into song, serenading Florida voters
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/The-Vote/2012/0131/Mitt-Romney-breaks-into-song-serenading-Florida-voters
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe