Romney Update 12/9-16/07

The Romney campaign began the week with the launch of its newest television add in Iowa, which directly compares Romney and the new Iowa frontrunner Mike Huckabee’s records on immigration. Then on Wednesday, the campaign launched a second add in Michigan, this time attacking Senator Clinton.
Reaction to Romney’s speech addressing his Mormonism last week was being analyzed this week, though it appears the speech was not the vote getting “JFK Speech” many Romney supporters were hoping for. A Gallup Poll out on Tuesday found only about 1 in 6 Americans, Democrat or Republican, would vote for a Mormon presidential candidate, no significant change since before the speech. The former governor, however, was focused on Wednesday night’s debate. The main focus of the debate was the deficit and taxes, with less attention paid immigration than past debates. Romney discussed some novel ways for trimming the debt down to size, including cutting back several the of the 13 different programs to prevent teen pregnancy. This was a particularly important debate for Romney, as it was his first debate trailing Huckabee in the polls.
Swirling around the debate was the short sparring match between Romney and Huckabee. Huckabee made several remarks in an upcoming NY Times article that apparently attack Romney’s faith. Before the debate, Romney reacted, saying some aspects of his faith were off the table for discussion. Huckabee then apologized to Romney after the debate, and the feud seemed to end relatively amicably.
Following the debate, Romney picked up endorsements from Nebraska Governor Dave Heineman, a former president of the Florida Right to Life, The National Review Magazine, and noted conservative Judge Robert Bork.
Sunday morning, Romney committed a political faux pas: claiming an endorsement he never received. On this morning’s Meet the Press, Romney remarked that he was “pleased to have the support of the NRA when [he] ran for govenor,” an endorsement he never had. He also demanded Huckabee apologize to the president for attacking his foreign policy.

www.mittromney.com
http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/tag/mitt-romney

Mitt Romney Keeps Faith Against Obstacles

Mitt Romney has been busy last week, underscoring his views on aspects of domestic policy both in word and deed. On December 4th, in an effort to show his strong anti-immigration stance and to dispel continued criticism from the Guiliani campaign, Romney fired the gardening company he employed, 'Community Lawn Service with a Heart' . Romney fired the company on Tuesday because they continued to use illegal immigrant workers despite his protests. Romney said that this was the company's second chance, citing that he " gave the company a second chance with very specific conditions" last year. He went on to say that "Community Lawn Service's" actions were "disappointing and inexcusable."
On Thursday, Romney made headlines again, as he made what is surely a landmark speech of his career. In his reportedly self-written discourse, entitled 'Faith in America', was a chance for Romney to emphasize how his religion would not affect his governance of the of the country. His speech was likened to John Kennedy's speech made on September 12th, 1960 to a group of Southern Baptist ministers about his Roman Catholicism. Critics have said that like Kennedy, Romney's speech was directed towards members of a faith he was trying to attract-- evangelical Christians. In his speech, Romney touched on a number of examples to prove that he would keep politics separate from his own personal religion, most notably his past record as the governor of Massachusetts. He even went on to postulate that it is "inappropriate for a presidential candidate to be asked to explain the details of his religion." Romney has had the speech prepared for months, and was unsure whether he should give it or not. Recent events, such as Mike Huckabee's new leads in the polls, prompted Romney to give the speech to dispel any doubts about his faith. Romney has taken further steps to try to boost his standing in the polls. His campaign has begun to send out pamphlets in New Hampshire that include detrimental comments about other Republican candidates position's on immigration.

Romney's fight

It was announced that this Thursday Romney will give a speech (in Texas) on him being a member of the Mormon faith, about how his faith will in no way impede his ability to lead the country in the right direction. A move similar to JFK address in 1960. Mitt's early leads in Iowa polls has dropped behind that of Mike Huckabee. In a speech at Loras college, Romney has promised to strengthen the military and cut taxes. The Romney campaign has announce that Brandon Phillips will direct the Georgia campaign, Phillips is a veteran of several local campaigns and will aid greatly in the campaign. Attacks ad have aired accusing Romney of "flip-flopping" on issues of taxes- saying that his history is one of raising taxes, behavior the opposite of his presidential promises on the campaign trail. The group is a know Gay rights group who may be going after Romney for his support for the amendment defining marriage as between an man and a women. An abortion rights group has said that they will start running ad campaigns in Iowa and New Hampshire portraying Romney as a "flip-flopper" citing his change in beliefs about abortion from 1994 to now. David Keene, head of the American Conservative Union has announced his support for Mitt Romney. In the Republican Debate, Mitt Romney squared off with Rudy Giuliani- things heated up when Giuliani accused Romney of employing illegal immigrants in his mansion; after Romney had said that New York had retained its status as a sanctuary city under Giuliani. In the debate, on several controversial questions Romney gave somewhat equivocal answer on controversial questions.

Romney Update 11/19-25/07

Romney continues to ride high this week on his high poll numbers in Iowa, hovering around 30%. Until recently, Guiliani had seemed like his toughest competition in Iowa, but the former mayor has now dropped to third. The two traded barbs earlier in the week, Romney criticizing Guiliani’s support for drivers licenses for illegal immigrants and spending practices. But Romney did reserve his punches for the Republican’s last week, he also attacked Obama and Edwards for their positions on Iraq and healthcare, respectively. For his part, on Tuesday Romney called for placing a cap on medical malpractice suits to a receptive audience at an Iowa medial school. That same day he picked up an important endorsement from volatile New Hampshire’s Senator Judd Gregg.

On Thanksgiving, Romney celebrated not only the Pilgrims' befriending of the Indians but also the birth of his 11th grandchild, Nathan. He jumped right back into the political fray, however, trying to ward off a surging Huckabee in the Iowa polls. On Saturday, he called for a judge he appointed as Governor of Massachusetts to resign after she released a convicted murderer without bail, who then fled to Washington and allegedly killed a young couple.

sources:
http://www.nbc11.com/politics/14660019/detail.html
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2007/11/22/romney_celebrates_thanksgiving_11th_grandchild/
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2007/11/24/romney_calls_on_judge_he_appointed_to_resign_after_wash_murders/

Mitt Romney Fields Attacks and Flies West

In the last week, presidential hopeful Mitt Romney has been travelling around the West Coast, make notable campaigning efforts in states such as Nevada and California. He has also faced criticisms from numerous sources in the recent days, and has been asking efforts to dispel any negative light that these statements might cast onto his image. In Iowa, On November 15th, the state Republican Party had planned a GOP debate for December 4th but then announced that "candidate scheduling conflicts" had caused the debate to be cancelled. Romney was the candidate who declined to participate and made the debate virtually useless.Because of this,he has aroused the ire of many Iowa Republicans and sparked verbal volleys from the Democratic National Committee leader, Damien LaVera.
In Southern California, where Romney arrived on November 14th, he has been cultivating votes by emphasizing his policies on tax-cuts and illegal immigration. Romney denigrated rival Guiliani's policies on immigration, and Guiliani assailed Romney with his own remarks, noting that Romney "probably has the worst record on illegal immigration." Also currently in California is John McCain, who was accused of being connected with telephone calls made by a company called Western Wats that have been occuring in the past weeks. These calls, ostensibly "polling calls",criticize Romney and favor John McCain. The calls mostly criticize Romney on the basis of his religion, and in response,Romney has stated "I have seen over the last several weeks more and more reports of e-mails, of literature being passed out and now push polls which attack me on the basis of religion, and I think that's very disappointing and un-American." On a related note, Romney was featured on the front page of the New York Times on Thursday, November 15th, in an article about the impact of his Mormon missionary work on his life entitled 'Romney, Searching and Earnest, Set His Path in the 60s'