Romnerds.

I'm just going to come right out and say it: I like Mitt Romney. I think he's a good guy and I agree with most of his politics. Not that I don't like some of the other candidates (except Newt -- he's just gross.) But Mitt's my top pick.

My mom, though, is a MITT ROMNEY SUPER FAN. She reads every Web article published about Mitt every day, watches every Republican debate religiously and tunes into Fox News for Mitt updates like it's necessary for survival. In fact, I set her up with a Twitter account yesterday and among the 15 people she's following, one is, of course, @MittRomney.

She's pretty die-hard, yeah. About as crazy about him as I was about the Backstreet Boys in 7th grade. (I may or may not have raced home from school to every day to ensure the Boys had the #1 video spot on the TRL countdown. And I will neither confirm nor deny planning my eventual wedding to Nick Carter.)

Anyway, when I found out Mitt Romney was throwing a rally in Mesa Monday night, I knew Mom would not be able to resist going. And since I wanted to go but didn't think it wise to show up to a crowd of 5,000 people alone with two kids (Dill was working), I invited her to come along. As you can imagine, it was not difficult to get her to accept the invitation.

She and my little sister Emma met the kids and me at the Mesa Amphitheatre for a glimpse at our main man, Mitt. We even convinced Dill (a Ron Paul man) to meet us later.

Mittens Romney's #1 Fan with Smush!

Emma and I braved our way to the front of the crowd so we could get a good shot of Mr. Romney.

Unfortunately, we were too far to the side of the stage to have a chance to shake his hand. But we did get some decent pictures.



Sorry, but I just have to point out the irony of the tattoo and Budweiser True Music ads behind him. Cracks me up.

Mom was about three rows back but closer to the center. Since she is so hardcore, she totally jumped over everyone to shake Mitt's hand as he was greeting the crowd. What the heck. She needs to come to a Jimmy Eat World concert with me sometime.

The one downside of the rally: the music. A bunch of 40-something dudes in bowling shirts playing mediocre covers of 80's and 90's hits. The crowd cheered loudly every time a song ended, not because it stirred us to applause, but because we thought for SURE it would be Mitt's turn to take over the mic.

You know who I'd like to see playing at a Republican rally? The Aquabats. In their bat suits and all. That would be super rad.