Romeny These Days

This Upcoming Wednesday, Gov. Romney will be speaking was the dinner benefiting the New Hampshire Political Library. Gov. Romney attended the Utah Republican Convention (which Sen. McCain did not attend) and urged Utah to send delegates fro McCain. Friday Gov. Romney was seen hanging out with Sen. McCain on McCain's tour bus with his wife, having a good time chatting it up with McCain and his wife. Gov. Romney and Sen. McCain were hear reminiscing about their time as rivals on the presidential campaign trail. June 13th, Gov. Romney will be speaking at a Texas Republican fundraising banquet, which McCain has not confirmed if he will attend or not. Next weekend gov. Romney will be speaking at the Maine Republican Party Convention. Last Monday , gov. Romney's name was mentioned in the arguments in the Davis v.FEC Supreme Court Case, as a reference to candidate spending- thought gov. Romney's example was taken as a joke. Gov. Romney has not commented about this event.

Romney Returns?

Mitt has been out and about lately, scaring Democrats. Howard Dean noted last week that the fact that Romney is "very articulate and willing to say practically anything" made him a more formidable opponent than any of the other Republican nominees were. However, because he is not the presumptive nominee, Romney has been using his powerful oratory skills on the behalf of John McCain. He is in Pennsylvania and plans to speak in Lancaster County for John McCain at a GOP function. Many say that he has been stumping for McCain in an attempt to get himself elected as vice president. Mike Huckabee in particular has been trying to abort Romney's possible designs on the vice presidency,and as the Atlantic notes, has "launched an online and print advertising campaign to convince John McCain to choose someone other than Mitt Romney for president." Huckabee says that his petition, which anyone can sign online, was created to "reject any consideration of former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney as a Vice Presidential running mate." There have also been large newspaper ads by conservative groups discouraging McCain from choosing Romney as a VP. However, Romney did appear by McCain's side at events in Utah and Colorado, raising more questions about his level of involvement in the Republican presidential proceedings. However, when asked, Romney reported that he doesn't think he's "very likely" to be chosen as the candidate.

Romney Update 3/3-10/08

This week, Romney officially endorsed the Republican nominee John McCain. Romney had been withholding his support from any candidate until Mike Huckabee dropped out of the race last week and McCain got the party's nomination and the president's support. According the US News & World Report, Romney and his wife, Ann, will be receiving the Beckett Fund Canterbury Medal recognizing the public figure or figures who promote religious freedom. The two will likely accept their award in May, joining past recipients such as Holocaust survivor and Nobel Prize winner Elie Wiesel.

http://www.usnews.com/blogs/washington-whispers/2008/03/06/romney-medals-in-religious-freedom.html

Romney to the day

In the recent news, Josh Romney, Sen. Romney's son says that he will not be running for re-election in congress, but will instead take time with his family. Josh Romney had been kicking the idea or running around for a while now, but has decided against doing so. Thursday Romney officially gave his support to John McCain, his previous rival in the presidential race, but no word on how they are getting along. Mitt's son had said in the past that there was a chance of Romney rejoining the presidential race as Mitt Romney had only suspended has campaign. Josh has said "That it is unlikely, but possible." Romney suspended his campaign some time ago in order to "create unity within the Republican Party" (and possibly to save money on Romney's part.) There is no telling what would happen if Romney were to rejoin the race, and if the animosity between him and McCain would stir up again.

Mittens in Mourning

These past weeks have been bitter for the Romney camp. With the suspension of the campaign, the campaign members are downtrodden, working only to dismantle the operation and retire any debt that may still be in question. Financially, Romney himself is the biggest loser when it comes to campaign donations. When he was still in the race, Romney had mentioned to reporters that he and Ann had “set a limit” on how much of the family money he was willing to spend. Although he wouldn’t name the monetary limit, he had spent $42.3 million of his own money when the campaign drew to a close. Romney and his supporters have been making the best out of the last couple of weeks, trying to make a graceful exit and to throw their support to the winning nominee. On February 15th, Romney decided to put aside the long-standing animosity that existed between himself and rival John McCain and endorsed McCain in his bid for presidency. Although the pair have exchanged bitter insults over the course of the past few months, Romney was full of praise for McCain when he gave his blessing to the senator from Arizona at his former campaign headquarters, remarking “It is time for us to put aside our differences and focus on the places where we think we have common ground.” However, recent rumors of a lobbyist scandal have made Romney question his support for McCain and wonder if he could enter into the fray once again. A senior strategist at the Romney camp noted that if John McCain withdrew from the race because of rumors about an affair with a telecom lobbyist, Romney could actually come back into the race for the nomination because his campaign has been “suspended”, not “ended.” However, this reentry is highly unlikely, especially since many of Romney’s delegates have already pledged their support for McCain. The best Romney can hope for now is the vice presidential slot. However, this seems equally improbable, given the history that exists between McCain and Romney and the fact that Romney is not “conservative enough” to net the voting bloc that McCain is trying to attract.

Romney Update 2/3-10/08

According to the national news media, conservative voters across America lost their candidate when Mitt Romney announced he was dropping out of the race at the annual Conservative Political Action Committee meeting on Thursday. The wheels fell off the well-funded, seemingly indestructible campaign after disappointing Super (Duper) Tuesday returns, in which Romney lost 14 of the 21 primaries. "I feel I have to now stand aside, for our party and for our country," Romney told the booing crowd. The announcement seemed a quick turnaround for the campaign, which had played down Tuesday’s loses and still cast Romney as the conservative standard bearer for the Republican base to rally around all the way to the convention. However, it seems likely that either Romney the Businessman or his family didn’t want Romney the Candidate emptying the clan’s coffers for nothing. He has spent nearly 40 million dollars of his own money in his 90 million dollar campaign, far more than any of the other candidates. The biggest question now is where the Romney supporters will go. Romney has refrained from endorsing either Huckabee or McCain. In the past, McCain and Romney have not had the nicest things to say about each other, with Romney going so far as to accuse McCain of being a liberal. Huckabee may appeal to Romney’s evangelical supporters, however the fiscal conservatives who rallied behind Romney appear to be left without a candidate. However, it is difficult to see Romney throwing Huckabee and endorsement, as he does not want to forestall the launch of a national campaign and make it more likely that Senator Clinton or Senator Obama would win” by continuing his campaign. McCain has a huge advantage over Huckabee in terms of delegates and in the media, so Huckabee’s electability is questionable. There is wide speculation that many conservatives my simply sit this election out.


http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080207/ts_nm/usa_politics_romney_dc_7
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=18774154
http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/romney-does-the-numbers-and-makes-way-for-mccain/2008/02/08/1202234167288.html?s_cid=rss_world
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/09/opinion/09collins.html?_r=2&hp&oref=slogin&oref=slogin

Mittens gets increasingly manic as Super Tuesday looms

Mitt Romney started out the week positively enough—On Monday, he heard from numerous poll sources that he had the lead in Florida. Indeed the President of Public Policy Polling Dean Debnam noted on the 28th that “The tide in Florida” had been “breaking Mitt Romney’s way over the last week.” However, despite his projected win in the Tuesday Florida primary, Mitt lost the battle for the 57 delegates, winning 31% of the vote to McCain’s 36%. Despite this, many feel Mitt made strides in the Wednesday debate, especially when he spoke out against a timetable for leaving Iraq, which made some of McCain’s attacks on Romney fall flat. The Boston Globe notes that Romney had a three part plan-- “The Romney camp had three principals goals going into the debate; to frame this contest as a two-man race; to put some dents into McCain’s reputation as a straight talker; and to portray the senator as out of sync with conservative values.” It seems that Romney either accomplished or came near to achieving many of these goals, which will give him some momentum going into Super Tuesday. The debate provides a hopeful note for the Romney camp. Each loss that Mitt suffers hits him especially hard, given that much of the ubiquitous advertising he has done is done with his own money. Yesterday, Romney reported that he will “spend several million dollars more to broadcast television ads” to stay in the race. His entreaties to voters have been increasingly more urgent as the day nears. On January 31st, Mitt told crowds that he is the “only true conservative” left in the Republican primary race. He has certainly been busy in quest for the nomination—today he was in Illinois and Missouri, and over the next few days, he plans to travel to many states, including Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, and Tennesee.

"Two Silvers and a Gold", yet Romney presses on

In the primary conducted in New Hampshire on Tuesday the 8th, Mitt Romney greeted the news that he had come in 2nd place with 31% of primary voter's support with a characteristic sense of resiliency, noting in his concession speech that "John McCain ran a first-class race" but he still is poised to win first Michigan, and then the nomination. On Wednesday, his campaign remarked that they plan to keep with the themes that they clung to after defeat in Iowa on the 3rd, namely the slogan of "competence and change." On the same day in New Hampshire, Romney took strategic jabs at the winner of the New Hampshire primary, rival John McCain by drawing attention to Barack Obama's win in Iowa, noting that in a face off between Obama and McCain, Republican voters would "recognize that a long-serving U.S. senator is not the best matchup" and would be better served by Romney as a Republican nominee. Even though Romney spent over 10 million in Iowa alone with little results and then blew similar sums in New Hampshire to gain his silver medal, he still has the funds to move to Michigan and beyond, continuing his plan for a 50 state campaign. On Friday, he was forging ahead in Michigan, speaking to crowds in cities like Warren, where he took care to emphasize his deep personal connection with the state in an effort to draw voters. Mitt's platform has also been focusing on the current hot button issue for voters-- the economy. In speeches to voters over the weekend, he has continously cited his success reviving Bain Capital and the Olympics, saying that he can use this experience to boost the sagging American economy and to create more jobs.

Pre Caucus

In Iowa polls, Mike Huckabee surpassed Romney after Romney had outspent Huckabee, while in New Hampshire polls, John McCain tied with Romney. Romney made a statement saying that if he was elected president his family "would not embarrass America like in the Clinton Years." Romney also thanked Iowans for their support of his campaign, the day before the caucus, but Romney did not predict that he would win the Iowa caucus,. Romney was optimistic, hoping for 2ND place, but overall, he predicted he would be the GOP's nominated candidate. In recent speeches, Romney has also been optimistic, speaking about the bright future that lays ahead for America. In a recent speech Romney defended President Bush against Huckabee's criticism, noting that Bush has in fact, United America where it counts, behind the troops, but Romney has also criticized the Bush Administration for mis-handling the Iraq war, saying that "things could have been handled better after the fall of Sadam Hussen" Mitt Romney had received criticism from New Hampshire largest paper, the Union leader (which back John McCain;) Romney is accused of distorting the facts and lying about John McCain in advertisements. A coalition of leaders of "family values" issues leaders has put out a letter criticizing Romney "distortion of truth." People who have signed the letter include William Greene of RightMarch.com, Ted Baehr of the Christian Film and Television Commission, Linda Harvey of Mission America, Gary Glenn of American Family Association of Michigan, Michael Heath of Christian Civic League of Maine, Ray Neary of Pro-Life Massachusetts, Nedd Kareiva of Stop the ACLU Coalition, Phillip Magnan of Biblical Family Advocates. They accuse Romney of supporting Homosexuals and "falsely converting" to the Pro-life platform. Romney has been airing ads stating that McCain's immigration plan was akin to amnesty. Romney has also been airing negative ads about Huckabee as well. Huckabee then held a conference stating that he would take out his own attack ads about Romney and then preceded to show those ads to the press.

Romney Post Caucus debate

Although he may be speaking to the contrary, the Mitt Romney suffered a disappointment in Iowa. Despite throwing everything and the kitchen sink at the Iowa caucus, including thousands of attack ads and outspending Huckabee 20-1, he finished second behind the former Arkansas governor when push came to shove on January 3rd. After reassuring supporters that he was satisfied with his second place finish, citing how far he's come as an "unknown governor from the bluest state in America". Now, he is setting his sights on New Hampshire. Though he hasn't spent as much time or money in the state, Romney seems to be banking on New Hampshires more erudite, successful citizens to identify with him as a well educated, business savvy kindred spirit and pull the rug out from under Huckabee.
In Saturday's debate, Romney forded the first question by focusing on encouraging the moderation of Islam to fight extremist terrorist. With regards to the military, Romney said he wants to increase the size of military by 100,000 troops and defended his support of troop surge against a belligerent Huckabee. He touted Massachusetts healthcare plan and called for universal healthcare without resorting to socialized medicine. Instead, he advocated what he called “free market care”. Romney also spared with McCain over McCain’s plan to combat illegal immigration, specifically the meaning of the word amnesty. When asked hypothetically how he would approach a debate with Obama, Romney talked about ability to bring change, citing his work as governor, as chairman of the SLOOC, and his success in the private sector.