Did You Know...

**Written by Doug Powers

Call me old fashioned, but it warms my heart to hear about a politician who felt compelled to help somebody and then used his own money to do so:

Amid shaking hands and signing campaign posters, Mitt Romney did something he has never done before on the ropeline: He took out his wallet and handed a wad of cash to a woman waiting to shake his hand.

The woman, 55-year-old Ruth Williams, says she has been following the Romney campaign since he arrived in the state on Jan. 11, when she said she received a message from God to track him down.

“I was on the highway praying and said, ‘God just show me how to get [my] lights on,’ and I pulled up to a stop sign and his bus was there,” said Williams, who has been unemployed since last October. “And then God said, ‘Follow the bus,’ and I followed the bus to the airport.”

According to Williams, she followed the campaign bus to the Columbia airport on Wednesday, the same day Romney was arriving from New Hampshire. When Romney wasn’t on the bus, aides told her to go to the rally scheduled in Columbia later that day. When she showed up, Romney found her to say hello and pulled over South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley to say “hello” too.
[...]
While Williams would not specify how much money Romney gave her, a campaign spokesman said that he believes Romney gave the woman between $50 and $60.

It’s possible we’ll see some headlines next week about how Romney is now literally buying votes or that this might be in violation of some election law (I have no idea). I hope that isn’t the case because Mitt’s not the only candidate in the 2012 mix who has been reported to have done this kind of thing.

If I find out that Romney is continuing to hand out cash, however, I’ll try and remember to ask him about his motives for doing so when I’m eagerly awaiting to meet him in his next ropeline.

Video via ABC News:

**Written by Doug Powers

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