Candidate- Mitt Romney

[Geee]

What makes America the greatest nation in the world is the heart of the American people: hardworking, innovative, risk-taking, God- loving, family-oriented American people.

 

On the Issues:

 

Exercise fiscal responsibility to restore economic opportunity.

Washington is addicted to deficit spending. As President, Mitt Romney will cut spending to finally move our nation toward a balanced budget.

 

During the Bush years, the nation’s deficit—the gap between what Washington collects and spends each year—hovered between 2 percent and 4 percent of GDP. These levels were already problematic and a cause for concern. During the Obama administration, however, the deficit exploded to 10 percent of GDP.

 

One major problem with sky-high deficit spending is that it necessarily leads to another practice that undermines the nation’s fiscal foundation: borrowing unhealthy sums to pay for what we already cannot afford. America is on an unsustainable path that, within just a few short years, will cripple the economy and foreclose any opportunity for recovery.

 

Mitt Romney will bring fiscal restraint to Washington by placing a hard cap on federal spending to force our government to live within its means and put an end to deficit spending.

 

Mitt will also curb federal spending by repealing Obamacare, the federal takeover of health care that is scheduled to cost taxpayers one trillion dollars over the next ten years. He will also focus on eliminating wasteful government spending and right-sizing the federal government to save taxpayer dollars.

 

Mitt Romney’s goal is to put the federal government on a course toward a balanced budget and true fiscal responsibility.

 

Reform entitlement programs to keep them solvent and put America on a path to prosperity.

Federal spending on entitlement programs like Medicaid, Medicare, and Social Security has not only spiraled out of control, but has placed their very solvency in danger. Unfortunately, President Obama has failed in his fundamental responsibility to articulate a serious vision and plan for the future of these programs. At present, the total cost of U.S. entitlement programs accounts for more than half of all federal spending. Combined with interest payments on the national debt, so-called “mandatory” spending is over 60 percent of all federal spending.

 

Many of our fellow citizens have no idea that our growing entitlement spending has created a looming crisis. This is because politicians have a habit of hiding our country’s long-term liabilities. Mitt Romney believes that the federal government should publish a balance sheet each year—just as it requires public companies to do—so that Americans can understand the burden that future entitlement spending will place on our budget and economy. Over the course of his campaign, Mitt will propose the specific steps he will take as President to ensure the long-term solvency of Medicare and Social Security. While reforms are needed, Mitt also believes that these changes should not reduce benefits for current seniors or break the promises they have relied upon for their economic security in retirement.

 

Mitt knows that our economic future—along with the future of entitlement programs—depends on fundamental reform. If we wisely begin to reform entitlements and commit to live within our means, we can bestow on the next generation an America that is stronger and even more prosperous than the one we know today.

 

 

Over the course of this campaign, Mitt will lay out a detailed plan for what he will do as President to jump-start economic growth and help create jobs. His plan will be based on the following principles:

 

Right-size government by cutting spending, repealing Obamacare, and ending wasteful programs

Make American businesses competitive in the global economy

Open markets abroad, on fair terms, for American goods and services

Ensure energy security and independence for America

Train and prepare American workers for the jobs of today and tomorrow

 

 

 

Background:

 

Willard Mitt Romney (born March 12, 1947) is an American businessman and Republican political figure who was the 70th Governor of Massachusetts (2003 to 2007). He ran for President of the United States in the 2008 election, and is exploring a possible candidacy in the 2012 presidential election.

 

Romney won the election for Governor of Massachusetts in 2002, but did not seek reelection in 2006. During his term, he presided over a series of spending cuts and increases in fees while the state's finances improved. He signed into law the landmark Massachusetts health care reform legislation, which provided near-universal health insurance access via subsidies and state-level mandates. During the course of his political career, his positions or rhetorical emphasis shifted more towards American conservatism in several areas, though his stances on many other issues have been consistent; this process continued with Romney becoming a candidate for the Republican nomination in the 2008 U.S. presidential election. In that contest, he won several caucus and primary contests, but ultimately lost to John McCain. Since then he has published a book, No Apology: The Case for American Greatness, and also given speeches and raised campaign funds on behalf of fellow Republicans.

 

Romney is the son of George W. Romney (the former Governor of Michigan) and Lenore Romney. He was raised in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan and served as a Mormon missionary in France. He received his undergraduate degree from Brigham Young University, then earned joint Juris Doctor/Master of Business Administration degrees from Harvard Law School and Harvard Business School. Romney entered the management consulting business which led to a position at Bain & Company, eventually serving as its CEO to lead it out of crisis. He was also co-founder and head of the spin-off company Bain Capital, a private equity investment firm which became highly profitable and one of the largest such firms in the nation, and the nine-figure wealth Romney accumulated there would help fund all of his future political campaigns. He ran as the Republican candidate in the 1994 U.S. Senate election in Massachusetts but lost to incumbent Ted Kennedy. Romney organized and steered the 2002 Winter Olympics as President and CEO of the Salt Lake Organizing Committee, and helped turn the troubled Games into a financial success.

 

 

 

Mitt Romney

Presidential 2012

Website

 

Links to the Candidate News Threads

 

Herman Cain:

 

Tim Pawlenty:

 

Bachmann

 

Rick Perry

 

Mitt Romney

 

Gary E Johnson:

 

Newt Gingrich

 

Rick Santorum

 

Jon Huntsman Jr:

 

Ron Paul: Candidate

Edited June 22, 2011 by Rheo
test

[Geee]

Mitt Romney is the guy to catch in GOP field

 

WASHINGTON - Mitt Romney is emerging as the man to catch in the narrowing Republican presidential field, grabbing a clear head start in fundraising, organization and experience despite vulnerabilities that still might undo him.

 

With Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels becoming the latest respected Republican to forgo a candidacy, many party insiders say the field is largely set. And Romney, the former Massachusetts governor and Olympic Games organizer, is in front.

 

"It's Romney's to lose," said Scott Reed, a GOP consultant who managed Bob Dole's presidential campaign. He said Romney's biggest advantages are his personal wealth, fundraising know-how and experience as a 2008 contender, when John McCain won the nomination.

 

 

"He has been around the track," Reed said. "He knows from a difficult experience how not to waste time and how not to try to be all things to all people."

 

If Romney's name is well known, so are his shortcomings. As Massachusetts governor he supported legalized abortion, gay rights and gun control, positions he reversed when he ran for president. He also championed a state health care law that requires residents to obtain insurance. Conservatives despise a similar feature in the Democrats' 2010 federal health law.

 

Conservatives' unease about Romney's record and consistency could give an opening to others, who have time to raise their profiles and popularity.

 

"The real battle now is who will be the conservative alternative to Romney," Reed said.

 

Campaign veterans say Romney's likeliest challengers for now are two former governors with solid resumes but little name recognition and no experience as presidential candidates: Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota and Jon Huntsman of Utah.

 

Pawlenty formally announced his candidacy Monday in Iowa, although he has campaigned for months there and in New Hampshire and South Carolina. He's casting himself as the candidate willing to tell the country hard truths, and, underscoring that point, he bluntly told corn-dependent Iowa that its prized federal subsidies for ethanol should be phased out.

 

Huntsman, who just finished a stint as ambassador to China, is spending five days campaigning in New Hampshire, which holds its primary shortly after Iowa's first-in-the-nation caucus in February.

 

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2011/05/24/20110524mitt-romney-gop-leader-analysis.html

[Geee]

Christian Backs Mitt Romney; Says Mormonism Doesn't Matter

 

A Southern Baptist media guru is reaffirming his support for Mormon presidential candidate Mitt Romney and urges evangelicals to consider the person, and not the theology, when deciding their presidential choice.

 

 

(Photo: Reuters / Rebecca Cook)

Former Massachusetts Governor and likely Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney © greets members of the audience after speaking about the healthcare plans he backed as Governor during a stop at the University of Michigan Cardiovascular Center in Ann Arbor, Michigan May 12, 2011.

Mark DeMoss, the founder of evangelical public relations firm The DeMoss Group, made his pick for the GOP nomination public when he accepted a volunteer campaign position for the former Massachusetts governor. DeMoss heralds Romney for his political experience, business acumen and his support for traditional values such as marriage between a man and a woman.

 

He asserted that these things are more significant than Romney's Mormon faith.

 

"I decided that it's more important for me that a candidate shares my values than it is [if] he or she shared my theology," said DeMoss, who also supported Romney during his 2008 run. "I don't have the tiniest bit of doubt that Gov. Romney shares my values on so many important issues."

 

DeMoss – whose PR firm represents such influential evangelicals and groups as Franklin Graham, Chuck Colson, and Campus Crusade for Christ – believes Christian voters mistakenly place theology over qualifications when they select a candidate for the presidency. Shared theology, he noted, is a benchmark that many Christians only use inside the church or church ministry.

 

http://www.christianpost.com/news/christian-backs-mitt-romney-says-mormonism-doesnt-matter-50333/

[Geee]

Mitt Romney accuses Obama of throwing Israel "under the bus"

 

Mitt Romney on Thursday accused President Obama of having "thrown Israel under the bus" during a major foreign policy speech on the Middle East.

In his remarks, Mr. Obama called for a two-state solution between Israel and Palestine and argued that Israel's 1967 borders should roughly guide the formation of a Palestinian state, though some land could be swapped. He also said that, following an agreement, Israel should begin to phase out the presence of its forces from the West Bank.

 

Romney, who is seeking the Republican presidential nomination, said Obama had breached a "first principal of American foreign policy" by suggesting the shift.

 

"President Obama has thrown Israel under the bus," Romney said. "He has disrespected Israel and undermined its ability to negotiate peace. He has also violated a first principal

 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is headed to Washington on Friday for a meeting with Mr. Obama, also rejected the president's position, saying in a statement following Mr. Obama's speech that a return to his country's 1967 borders would spell disaster for the Jewish state. (Netanyahu will also speak at a conference for the pro-Israel lobbyist group AIPAC while he is in Washington, and Mr. Obama plans to speak to the group Sunday. AIPAC declined to comment for this story.)

 

Netanyahu said via Facebook on Thursday that he "expects to hear a reaffirmation from President Obama of U.S. commitments made to Israel in 2004" - including "Israel not having to withdraw to the 1967 lines which are both indefensible and which would leave major Israeli population centers in Judea and Samaria beyond those lines."

 

While the 1967 borders have been a frequent point of discussion in previous peace negotiations between Israel and Palestine, some say Mr. Obama's comments reflect the strongest endorsement of those borders by a U.S. president.

 

"This is the first clear statement by an American president that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict will be resolved based on the 1967 lines with mutually agreed territorial swaps," former Rep. Robert Wexler, of the S. Daniel Abraham Center for Middle East Peace, told Politico.

 

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20064466-503544.html

[Pepper]

Candidate News Threads courtesy of Geee:

 

Herman Cain: Candidate News Thread

 

Newt Gingrich: Candidate News Thread

 

Jon Huntsman Jr: Candidate News Thread

 

Gary E Johnson: Candidate News Thread

 

Ron Paul: Candidate News Thread

 

Tim Pawlenty: Candidate News Thread

 

Mitt Romney: Candidate News Thread

 

RIck Santorum: Candidate News Thread

[Geee]

Romney to announce presidential campaign in New Hampshire

 

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney ® will formally announce his presidential campaign next Thursday in New Hampshire.

 

Romney, who's formed an exploratory committee to seek the Republican presidential nomination, will formally enter the race at a barbecue in the Granite State, a centerpiece of his strategy to win the nomination.

 

 

His decision to announce in New Hampshire underscores the intense focus Romney's set to place on the state, and it contrasts with former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty's ® choice of an Iowa backdrop to announce his own official entry into the race.

 

 

 

 

 

http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/gop-presidential-primary/163631-romney-to-announce-presidential-campaign-in-new-hampshire

[Pepper]

Romney Hearts Ethanol Subsidies posted by WestVirginiaRebel

[Valin]

Christian Backs Mitt Romney; Says Mormonism Doesn't Matter

 

A Southern Baptist media guru is reaffirming his support for Mormon presidential candidate Mitt Romney and urges evangelicals to consider the person, and not the theology, when deciding their presidential choice.

 

 

Could not agree more!!!

 

Now I could be wrong, but last time I checked Chief Theologian was not one of the job descriptions of the President Of The United States.

[Geee]

Romney Hedges on Support for GOP Budget Outline

 

Likely presidential candidate Mitt Romney hedged Friday on his support for a House Republican budget outline that seeks to reduce spending by cutting federal programs such as Medicare.

 

Romney was asked by a reporter during a stop in a Des Moines suburb whether he would sign the Republican plan if he were president. But the former Massachusetts governor declined to answer.

 

"That's the kind of speculation that is getting the cart ahead of the horse," he said.

 

Romney emphasized that he supports the goals of the Republican plan, offered by House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan, but that he would offer his own proposal for reducing spending and cutting the federal deficit.

 

One of the most controversial aspects of Ryan's plan has been its call to replace Medicare's fee-for-service system with government vouchers.

 

 

Earlier, Republican presidential candidate Tim Pawlenty came under pressure after he initially declined to fully support the Ryan plan. He later said he would sign the plan into law if he were president. Fellow GOP presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich faced a backlash earlier after publicly criticizing Ryan's Medicare proposal.

 

"If we don't make any changes, then Medicare won't be there for the next generation and that's unacceptable to me. So I appreciate what Paul Ryan has done," Romney told reporters in Ankeny after visiting an agricultural software company. "I'm going to have my own plan."

 

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/05/28/romney-hedges-support-gop-budget-outline/

[Geee]

Mitt Romney's Iowa balancing act

 

 

DES MOINES — Returning to a state where he logged thousands of miles and spent dozens of days four years ago, Mitt Romney said Friday it felt like coming home.

Yet amid the hugs from well-wishers and remember-whens from the 2008 campaign, Romney also received an unmistakable reminder that the extended Iowa political family expects its prodigal sons to return for good.

 

In his first trip of the year to the kick-off caucus state, the former Massachusetts governor fielded questions about why he was launching his campaign in New Hampshire, whether he’d participate in the state GOP’s Ames straw poll this summer and, most bluntly, why he was only getting here now.

 

“Where have you been?” the moderator asked Romney at the outset of a question-and-answer session after a speech Friday, noting that the Republican last visited the state last fall.

 

For Romney, the day offered a preview of the delicate balance he’ll have to strike with Iowans in his all-but-declared 2012 campaign: how to make caucus-goers feel like he’s committed to competing here, but without paying so much attention to the state that he pays a significant political price if he loses it the way he did in 2008.

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0511/55866.html

[Geee]

Romney wants to avoid flip-flopper label at all costs

 

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney drew headlines on Friday on a visit to Iowa in which he fully embraced ethanol subsidies.

 

“I support the subsidy of ethanol,” he told an Iowa voter, the Wall Street Journal reported. “I believe ethanol is an important part of our energy solution for this country.”

 

The move stood in stark contrast to his rival Tim Pawlenty, who days earlier announced his candidacy in Iowa and called for the phasing out of ethanol subsidies.

 

The news would seem to challenge conventional wisdom that says Pawlenty is going to compete hard in Iowa and Romney is going to focus on winning New Hampshire -- if that were true, wouldn't it make sense for Romney to take the opposite position?

 

But there's another wrinkle. During his 2008 campaign, Romney also endorsed ethanol subsidies.

 

As we've seen with his refusal to renounce his Massachusetts health care plan, Romney is eager to avoid the "flip flopper" label that dogged him last time, and he's willing to stick with positions that will open him up to attacks. Of course, this doesn't get him off the hook from all of the shifts in his positions in his last campaign, but it does mean that he doesn't want to do anything to reinforce the perception that he's inauthentic.

 

http://washingtonexaminer.com/blogs/beltway-confidential/2011/05/romney-wants-avoid-flip-flopper-label-all-costs

[Geee]

The Problems of Mitt Romney

 

In the least surprising political news of the season, Mitt Romney is announcing his candidacy for president. This is essentially a formality since he never stopped running after 2008. He comes into the race with what has traditionally been the enormous advantage in Republican politics of having run at least once before.

 

He is set up for a classic, grind-it-out, front-running Republican campaign based on money, endorsements, and staying power. But he enters this slot in the race in the weakest condition of anyone who has ever tried to occupy it. He has nothing like the strength of a George W. Bush in the run-up to 2000, and is running for the nomination of a party whose establishment is disdained by its base as perhaps never before.

 

We all know Romney’s potential problem with his Massachusetts health-care program. Here we focus on five other questions that will be central to the Romney campaign and determine whether he is yet another next-in-line GOP nominee, or the victim of his own weaknesses and a drastically changed Republican landscape.

 

http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/268626/problems-mitt-romney-ramesh-ponnuru

[Geee]

Romney Runs Again

 

In New Hampshire today, Mitt Romney will formally launch his presidential campaign. It's hardly a surprising development. Romney's second bid for the Republican nomination began the day his first ended. He has essentially been running for president since he decided not to seek reelection as governor of Massachusetts in 2006 (arguably since he changed his position on abortion the year before).

 

This time, Romney is the closest thing the GOP field has to a frontrunner. He leads among the declared candidates in most national polls. He is heavily favored in New Hampshire and, with Mike Huckabee out of the race, he is now in first in Iowa. In addition to his own personal wealth, Romney has been a prodigious fundraiser. At a time when campaigns are often judged by the success of their Internet "money bombs," Romney hauled in $10 million in a single day.

 

Of course, Romney's national lead is less than overwhelming. It's also highly contingent on Sarah Palin and other potential top-tier candidates staying out of the race. In some polls, Romney is less than 10 points ahead of Ron Paul and Herman Cain. Finally, Romney led in the early states for much of 2007. His support proved soft once the ballots were counted. The man who spent most of that year atop the national polls had the same problem: Rudy Giuliani tanked as soon as he faced the voters.

 

In 2008, Romney was doomed by his failure to become the unquestioned conservative alternative to John McCain. Instead he shared that mantle with Huckabee, Fred Thompson, and several lower-tier candidates. This time Romney's path to the nomination resembles McCain's: he can win with the votes of moderates and a critical mass of conservatives, while his opponents carve up the rest of the conservative vote.

 

http://spectator.org/archives/2011/06/02/romney-runs-again

[Geee]

Incurable

 

If President Obama had failed to get his massive health-care overhaul through Congress, Mitt Romney would today be a strong frontrunner for the Republican presidential nomination. Some conservatives and libertarians would continue to object to the health-care plan he shepherded through the legislature in 2006, when he was governor of Massachusetts. But so long as conservatives were satisfied with his proposals for federal legislation on health care, he would be able to shrug off the criticism — as he did in 2008, when he ran for president and his rivals Rudy Giuliani and Fred Thompson used the issue against him. In a parallel universe without Obamacare, Romney would still have strong support among both conservatives and the party establishment.

 

In reality, of course, Obama succeeded and the Republican party committed itself to repeal of the new health-care law. Health care thus remains a huge issue. It will probably be the most politically important domestic-policy difference between the parties in 2012. The issue will therefore be much more important in the Republican primaries this time than it was in 2008. Already, it has conservatives looking at Romney with much more hostility. The party establishment is hedging its bets because it thinks that hostility might cost him the nomination. So Romney is a weak frontrunner, if he is a frontrunner at all.

 

http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/268694/incurable-ramesh-ponnuru

[Geee]

During Detroit visit, Romney lashes out at powerful autoworkers' union

 

 

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney ® lashed out at former Gov. Jennifer Granholm (D) and the United Auto Workers (UAW) union on Thursday as he took his presidential campaign to his native Michigan.

 

Romney called Granholm, a key Democratic surrogate against his White House bid, a "failed governor," and accused the UAW of having "bought and paid for" President Obama's last campaign.

 

"I'm afraid Jennifer Granholm is a failed governor trying to defend a failed president. So I'm not terribly surprised at the direction she's trying to take," Romney said on WJR radio in Detroit. "But clearly the people of Michigan are smarter than to just listen to the pitch that is coming from the Obama folks and the UAW."

 

Romney's in the Detroit area Thursday, where he made an appearance at a Coney Island shop for breakfast. Labor and state Democratic activists met Romney with a protest, taking aim at his opposition to the way the Obama administration carried out bailouts for General Motors and Chrysler in 2009.

 

Granholm's been a key voice for Democrats in advancing that attack against Romney; she's been omnipresent on cable television speaking against the former Massachusetts governor, focusing in particular on the auto bailouts.

 

 

http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/165575-romney-in-detroit-lashes-out-at-granholm-autoworkers-union

[Geee]

Romney to skip Iowa GOP, Florida straw polls

 

Presidential candidate Mitt Romney does not plan to compete in the Iowa Republican straw poll in August, an event he spent more than $1 million to win four years ago but that would divert time and money from a 2012 campaign designed to present him as a national candidate, aides confirmed to The Associated Press on Thursday.

 

The decision is a measure of how different a Romney 2012 campaign would be from 2008. It is also further evidence that the non-binding contests, of which Iowa's is the best-known and highest profile, are seen as optional for better-known candidates.

 

"It's a gamble that you put a lot of resources behind and it's not a predictor of who wins the caucuses. Sometimes it is. Sometimes it's not," said Charlie Black, a 30-year Republican presidential campaign strategist who advised John McCain's 2008 effort. "It's an opportunity for underdogs. It's a trap for front-runners."

 

Romney, the former governor of Massachusetts, also is not planning to compete in any other of the many nonbinding straw polls in early nominating states, including Michigan or Florida. The deadline to register delegates for the Florida straw poll in September is Friday.

 

"We respect the straw poll process. In the last presidential campaign we were both strengthened as an organization and learned some important lessons by participating in them," Romney campaign spokesman Matt Rhoades said in a written statement provided to the AP. "This time we will focus our energies and resources on winning primaries and caucuses.

 

http://washingtonexaminer.com/news/nation/2011/06/romney-skip-iowa-gop-florida-straw-polls

[righteousmomma]

I was disappointed in Mitt's answer to the global warming question.

 

Rush was too and said so.

 

The next day a caller tells Rush that Rush is wrong and that Romney was right and following "scientific" research. Here is the opinion on Romney and the caller by Rush -in the spirit of fairness:

Romney Vaults Ahead of Obama; Declares Climate Change Manmade

 

BEGIN TRANSCRIPT

RUSH: Washington Post today: "Obama Loses Bin Laden Bounce; Romney on the Move Among GOP Contenders -- The public opinion boost President Obama received after the killing of Osama Bin Laden has dissipated, and Americans’ disapproval of how he is handling the nation’s economy and the deficit has reached new highs, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll. The survey portrays a broadly pessimistic mood in the country this spring as higher gasoline prices, sliding home values and a disappointing employment picture have raised fresh concerns about the pace of the economic recovery." By the way, in something that was somewhat uplifting, there was another poll out there.

 

Sixty percent of the American people don't believe there is a recovery. It ought to be 100%, but I'll take 60, the way things are going. There isn't a recovery, and there hasn't been one. "By 2 to 1, Americans say the country is pretty seriously on the wrong track, and nine in 10 continue to rate the economy in negative terms." Ah, it's this poll. "Nearly six in 10 say the economy has not started to recover, regardless of what official statistics may say, and most of those who say it has improved rate the recovery as weak. New Post-ABC numbers show Obama leading five of six potential Republican presidential rivals tested in the poll.

 

"But he is in a dead heat with former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, who formally announced his 2012 candidacy last week, making jobs and the economy the central issues in his campaign." Mike, stand by. I'm gonna change up the audio sound bite order as soon as I find the sound bite that I want you to use, and I just found it. Grab audio sound bite number 19. Last Friday in Manchester, New Hampshire, at the University of New Hampshire, Romney held a town hall meeting, and during the Q&A somebody stood up and said, "Nearly all the other candidates suggest that there is no scientific consensus on climate change. Some insist that it's not even occurring! We can't have a meaningful discussion about solutions until there's agreement about the problem. Will you, sir, state now that under a Romney administration, global warming will be accepted as reality, and this reality will form the foundation for all climate and energy policy?" And here's what Romney said...

 

ROMNEY: I believe the world is getting warmer. I can't prove that, but I believe based on what I read that the world is getting warmer -- and -- and number two, I believe that humans contribute to that. I don't know how much our contribution is to that 'cause I know there's been -- there have been periods of -- of greater heat and -- and warmth in the past, but I believe that we contribute to that, and so I think it's important for us to reduce our emissions of pollutants and greenhouse gases that may well be significant contributors to the climate change and the global warming that you're seeing.

 

RUSH: Bye-bye, nomination.

 

Bye-bye nomination.

 

Another one down.

 

We're in the midst here of discovering that this is all a hoax. The last year has established that the whole premise of manmade global warming is a hoax, and we still have presidential candidates who want to buy into it! Why? 'Cause in New Hampshire they obviously care about it. So you go to Iowa say and you say, "Hey, by the way, I'm all for ethanol subsidies." Then you go to the Florida and say, "Hey, you seasoned citizens, I'm all for never-ending Social Security!" Wherever you go, whatever they care about there is what you're for. I saw this... I couldn't believe this when I saw it. People in New Hampshire for some cockamamie reason want to believe in global warming. There was snow on the summit of Hawaii's biggest mountain, Mauna Kea, after a thunderstorm dropped inches of ice this morning.

 

In Hawaii!

 

(sigh) Believe climate change is manmade? This is like a throwaway. Then we see in this poll that all of a sudden Romney's on the top? So I guess Washington Post liked that answer and put Romney at the top. "This is what we want to hear of a Republican nominee!" This is what we want to hear.

END TRANSCRIPT

Read the Background Material...

• Washington PostObama Loses Bin Laden Bounce; Romney on the Move Among GOP Contenders

• CBS: Mitt Romney: Humans Contribute to Global Warming

 

CALLER: I was actually quoted by you yesterday. I was the person who asked Mr. Romney at the town hall meeting about his position on global warming. And you, unlike almost everybody else, actually did me the courtesy of quoting some of my questions before you gave the answer. Anyway, I read the transcript that you provided, I read the transcript of your show yesterday --

 

RUSH: Yes.

 

CALLER: -- and just had a few comments on it.

 

RUSH: Go ahead. Fire away.

 

CALLER: Well, sir, first of all --

 

RUSH: Let me first, by the way, here's his question. This is the guy who asked Mitt Romney at his announcement meeting, the question was, "Nearly all other candidates suggest that there's no scientific consensus on climate change. Some insist it's not even occurring. We can't have a meaningful discussion about solutions until there's agreement about the problem. Will you, sir, state now that under a Romney administration, global warming will be accepted as reality, and this reality will form the foundation for all climate energy policies?" That's the question and you're the guy that asked it.

 

CALLER: Right. Right.

 

RUSH: Okay.

 

CALLER: Prior to that question, however, I provided a bit of context. If you don't mind I'd like to read that piece, too. First of all, I wanted to specify the difference between policy and science. I said that how to deal with climate change is a policy issue; science of climate change is not. Anyway, my question was not about policy, that is, how do we mitigate global warming, do we do cap and trade or carbon credits or whatever, but it was about the recognitions of science. And I specifically quoted from a 2010 National Academy of Sciences report, and two quotes here. The first is, they concluded -- and, by the way, the National Academy of Sciences, as you know, is considered the Supreme Court of science in this country. It was founded in 1863 by Abraham Lincoln, and it's charged with giving the Congress unbiased scientific information. Now, their conclusion was, quote, "A strong, credible body of scientific evidence shows that climate change is occurring, is caused largely by human activities, and poses significant risks for a broad range of human and natural systems."

 

RUSH: Then they've lost all credibility. It's a bogus claim.

 

CALLER: Let me go on. They then went on to say, "Some scientific conclusions or theories have been so thoroughly examined and tested and supported by so many independent observations and results, that their likelihood of subsequently being found wrong is vanishingly small. This is the case for the conclusions that the Earth system is warming and that much of this warming is very likely due to human activities. And then I asked my question, so that's the context of the question. Your response was that there was evidence even in the last year that established this whole premise of manmade global warming is a hoax.

 

RUSH: Right.

 

CALLER: I don't know where you're getting the hoax from, sir. I mean I'm looking at --

 

RUSH: It's called the University of East Anglia in England and the Hadley Centre for Climate Change Research where they basically made it all up, pure and simple. It's a hoax. There's nothing true about it.

END TRANSCRIPT

[Geee]

And again thank you!

[WestVirginiaRebel]

Romney’s strategic faux pas

 

Most conservative-establishment pundits formulate Mitt Romney’s campaign strategy as Charles Krauthammer does: Romney aspires to be the last man standing when the major primaries have rendered their verdict next spring. He’s not interested in head-to-head competition with other candidates in the early going. He wants to let them duke it out for the next 8 or 9 months, pumping rounds into their own feet, landing punches on each other’s jawbones, and slicing their own jugulars.

 

But I’m increasingly convinced that this is a flawed strategy. Romney’s choice to forego the Iowa straw poll is the clearest indication yet that he does intend to wait out as much of the early politicking as possible. And the signal that sends in June 2011 is exactly the wrong one.

....

 

In the circumstances of 2011 and 2012, Republican leadership will consist not in waiting around, watching numbers and deciding when to pounce in the primaries, but in engaging the people and giving shape and substance to their concerns. There is not a consensus for a “coronation candidate” to tap into. The divisions, and more importantly, the uncertainties, of some voters about the philosophical future of the GOP – and the USA – are too great this time around. A candidate who wants to win all the marbles is going to have to build his own consensus – and in the process, write the philosophical narrative with which the GOP will approach November 2012.

 

Romney can’t do that by ignoring the early debates and waiting for New Hampshire. What concerns me about him is that he doesn’t seem to have the political sense to recognize that. There is a disengaged, even high-handed politics-by-rules sclerosis in his approach – and it just doesn’t resonate. He won’t be able to get away with toting all his “issue” baggage – RomneyCare, anthropogenic global warming, flip-flops and ambiguity on abortion and gay marriage – while also declining to submit himself to the hard work of face-to-face politicking and actual votes.

 

Clever campaign design isn’t what Republican voters are looking for now. 2012 won’t be about that. Fewer GOP voters than ever before are content to project the narratives in their own minds onto the candidates vying for their approval. They want to hear candidates acknowledge their very basic concerns about the future of American liberty and republican government. They want to know that candidates “roger” those concerns and have concrete philosophical ideas – not necessarily or always programmatic ideas or policy soundbites – about what needs to change, in order to foster the future Republicans want. Romney isn’t giving them that, and apparently has no plans to. At this point, I’m not sure he can.

[Geee]

Is Mitt Romney the New Nelson Rockefeller?

 

"Despite my affiliation with the Republican Party, I don't think of myself as highly partisan."

-- Mitt Romney in his book No Apology

 

And there it was again.

 

Front and center in last night's CNN New Hampshire debate with Republican presidential candidates, former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney twice -- not once but twice -- illustrated his problem as a presidential candidate and potential Republican president in the post-Reagan era.

 

Midway into the debate Romney answered a question on how to deal with the issue of raising the debt limit by saying that as president he would concentrate on "reining in the excesses of government." And when asked about picking a vice president Romney came back to the point; he would "restrain the growth of government."

 

It's not as if no one is noticing The Problem with Mitt Romney.

 

Even if everyone is polite enough not to just spit it out.

 

The Wall Street Journal editorial page was plain.

 

National Review, which had a different opinion four years ago, is now onto it.

 

The Club for Growth named it without putting a name to it.

 

Mark Levin is heartsick about finding himself onto it.

But onto what?

 

OK, it's time to lay the cards down.

Who, exactly, is the Lord Voldemort of the Republican Party?

 

http://spectator.org/archives/2011/06/14/is-mitt-romney-the-new-nelson

[Valin]

[Geee]

Mitt Romney on defensive over Afghan remarks

 

 

 

Mitt Romney’s hint in Monday night’s Republican debate that he’s eager to pull the plug on the war in Afghanistan left some of his GOP allies puzzled, Democrats sensing an opportunity, and his staff working to explain what he meant.

 

“It’s time for us to bring our troops home as soon as we possibly can — as soon as our generals think it’s okay,” Romney said. “One lesson we‘ve learned in Afghanistan is that Americans cannot fight another nation’s war of independence.”

 

The remark came at a time when American voters are telling pollsters they’re tiring of U.S. interventions in the Muslim world, and as President Barack Obama’s unexpectedly broad military engagement has drawn sharp criticism from some GOP leaders. Other would-be GOP candidates – notably Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour— have flirted with staking out an anti-war, isolationist counterpoint to Obama’s internationalism, but the doubts from Romney surprised some of his allies.

 

Danielle Pletka, vice president for foreign and defense policy studies at the conservative American Enterprise Institute, said her inbox was flooded Tuesday morning with emails calling Romney’s comments a “disaster.”

 

“I’d thought of Romney as a mainstream Republican – supporting American strength and American leadership, but this doesn’t reflect that,” she said. “Romney has proven himself a little bit of a weathervane and I guess he senses that positioning himself in this place is good for his campaign — attempting to appease Ron Paul’s constituents without actually being Ron Paul.”

 

“You can’t really triangulate on these issues. Either you think we’re fighting a war we need to win or you think we ought to bring all the troops home, but he said it all there,” Pletka said.

 

Other Republicans did not want to be quoted out of party loyalty and fear of the front runner.

 

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0611/56988.html

[Geee]

Improving His Odds

 

Experts agree! Monday's Republican presidential debate yielded two clear winners: Mitt Romney, the current front-runner who won by not losing, thanks to kid glove treatment from his fellow GOP participants. And Michele Bachmann who, while not surprising those of us who have met her and heard her speak, came across as energetic, intelligent, and aggressive (all of which she is.) She made a solid first impression on those who knew little of her prior to the event.

 

Tim Pawlenty's performance was workmanlike but disappointing in energy and charisma. As Jim Antle correctly noted, Pawlenty's refusal to back up his memorable "Obamneycare" talking point means he should not have made it in the first place. The other participants did as anticipated, with Newt Gingrich perhaps exceeding expectations and Herman Cain a slight disappointment. Ron Paul was Ron Paul, and Rick Santorum was Rick Santorum. Nary a surprise from either.

 

Betting odds seem to agree with the talking heads' take: Romney's odds of getting the nomination as determined by betting on intrade.com have jumped from 29.5% to 31.5% overnight, his highest odds of the year. Meanwhile, Tim Pawlenty has been drifting lower following a brief boost after Mitch Daniels' exit from contention, with a major drop from about 18% to about 15% following the debate. Bachmann's chance of being the nominee moved from 5% to just over 6%, not a huge move but a new high for her. Betting odds among the other participants were little changed. In other words, Pawlenty lost 3 points, of which two went to Romney and one to Bachmann, much in line with how judges would have scored the debate itself.

 

In the social media realm, Yahoo! reports that "Romney gained the most number of new 'likes' on his Facebook page and has the most 'likes' overall at nearly one million. Michele Bachmann finished with the second most 'likes' and totaled nearly 300,000 overall." The report also mentions that Newt Gingrich and Tim Pawlenty's web search and Facebook statistics "remained flat."

 

http://spectator.org/archives/2011/06/15/improving-his-odds

[Geee]

Al Gore praises Mitt Romney on climate

 

Mitt Romney on Wednesday got a big thumbs up for his stance on global warming from a source that likely won’t help him at all in the GOP primary: Al Gore.

 

The former vice president and Nobel Prize winner praised Romney for not heeding right-wing calls to reject the science behind climate change.

 

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“Good for Mitt Romney — though we've long passed the point where weak lip-service is enough on the Climate Crisis,” Gore wrote on his blog. “While other Republicans are running from the truth, he is sticking to his guns in the face of the anti-science wing of the Republican Party.”

 

Earlier this month, Romney told a New Hampshire town hall meeting that he believes climate change is happening and that man-made emissions are a cause.

 

"I don't speak for the scientific community, of course, but I believe the world is getting warmer, and I believe that humans have contributed to that," Romney said. "I can't prove that, but I believe based on what I read that the world is getting warmer.

 

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0611/57054.html

[Geee]

The GOP's unfavorite son primary

 

 

 

Mitt Romney had a ready answer Tuesday when asked about his Massachusetts health care law.

 

“I am not running for governor of Massachusetts,” he said. “I am running for president of the United States.”

 

It’s a good thing — if he were running in his home state again, he’d probably lose.

 

Romney’s not the only presidential hopeful whose home state popularity is lagging. Just about all of the GOP presidential candidates would have a hard time winning their own states if they ended up as the party nominee, which may factor into the thinking among many Republicans that the 2012 field is lackluster.

 

The phenomenon marks a departure from the campaign days of old when “favorite son” candidates could point to their home-state popularity as a crucial part of their sales pitch.

 

The 2012 field, by contrast, is largely made up of unfavorite sons.

 

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0611/57100.html