Candidate- Mitt Romney

[WestVirginiaRebel]

Romney to run his first TV ad of presidential race

 

MANCHESTER, N.H. (AP) — Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney is turning President Barack Obama's own words against him in the Republican hopeful's TV first ad of his 2012 White House bid.

 

Romney said Monday that his first television ad would start airing in New Hampshire when the president visits the state Tuesday. He said the commercial would compare Obama's message as a candidate with Romney's credentials as a businessman.

 

"The contrast between what he said and what he did is so stark, people will recognize we really do need to have someone new lead this country," Romney said in an interview with Fox News Channel.

 

Romney's 60-second ad features clips of an Obama campaign stop in New Hampshire four years ago and fresh footage from Romney events from recent days. The ad is slated to run through the Thanksgiving holiday weekend at a cost of $134,000.

 

In his own words: Obama has given him plenty of ammunition...

[Valin]

Hot Air: A preview of what’s to come if Mitt Romney is the GOP nominee

Tina Korbe

11/28/11

 

Remember that little quiz the Democratic National Committee released a few months ago? It came with its own URL — WhichMitt.com. If you don’t remember it, don’t worry. In the scheme of things, it didn’t particularly matter. (Although, for what it’s worth, since the launch, the site has developed substantially.)

 

But it was one of the first drips. And the DNC’s latest drop is far more troubling, a true preview of what’s to come if Mitt Romney is the GOP nominee. The Committee today launched a new website to house a four-minute video that lambasts Romney for his chameleon-like character.

 

“What does Mitt Romney believe?” the video asks, before it highlights Romney’s most notorious opinion shifts. At the end of the spot comes again the core question — and, more importantly, the ominous answer to it: “What does Mitt Romney believe? Whatever will get him elected.”

 

(Snip)

[Valin]

Power Line: Is Mitt Romney a Flip-Flopper?

John Hinderaker

12/1/11

 

Well, sure, to some degree. There is no question that, like Ronald Reagan and the first President Bush, he migrated rightward on the social issues when he sought national office. Beyond that, though, the record is not so clear. The DNC has released a four-minute ad that tries to paint Romney as a serial flip-flopper. At the Washington Post, the Fact Checker, Glenn Kessler, evaluates the DNC’s ad by assessing independently each of its ten charges.

 

Kessler’s assessments, in my view, are admirably fair-minded. His conclusion:

 

So, out of ten items, we find only three correct, one uncertain, and then six that result in a total of 15 Pinocchios.

 

Four Pinocchios is the worst rating (“Whoppers”) on Kessler’s scale. He notes further that “For this kind of ad, three correct statements out of ten is unusual.” By which I take it he means unusually bad.

 

(Snip)

[WestVirginiaRebel]

Romney To Obama: "Hands On Doesn't Mean Getting A Better Grip On The Golf Club"

 

Mitt Romney on a telephone conference call on Monday, December 5, 2011: "I have to feel that this president has been a failure. The other day I understand that Chris Christie said that he was a bystander president. That he watches affairs and has not guided affairs. And in some respects, his idea of a 'hands on' approach to the economy is getting a grip on his golf club. He’s going off for seventeen days in Hawaii. He’ll be playing a lot of golf. He told Congress that they need to stay in session and pass his tax breaks for the payroll tax and that they shouldn’t leave for vacation until they did that. And yet, he’s going off for seventeen days and for golf in the sun and I just think it’s time to have a president whose idea of being 'hands on' doesn’t mean getting a better grip on the golf club."

 

Don't Despair, George Will

Somehow, small-government conservatism survived President Bush, and I see no reason why it could not survive some of the GOP presidential contenders, some of whom have a far more conservative campaign theme than Bush ever did. For example, though Will derides Romney as a "manager" or something, Romney's proposed policies would seem to have no small potential for promoting the aims of small-government conservatism.

[Valin]

Time for Mitt Romney to take the mitts off?

Marc A. Thiessen

December 5 2011

 

(Snip)

Now the Romney campaign is applying the same strategy to the new GOP front-runner, Newt Gingrich. They are letting Michele Bachmann and other candidates attack Gingrich — highlighting his support for cap-and-trade, amnesty for illegal immigrants and an individual health-care mandate. They are focusing their attention on Obama while the press digs into Gingrich’s past — including the business empire he built in Washington after being evicted from the House speakership, and the $1.5 million he made from disgraced mortgage giant Freddie Mac.

 

The question is: Will it work again? Here is why it may not.

 

Gingrich is likely to have staying power that Perry and Cain did not enjoy for one simple reason: His conservative supporters have nowhere else to go. While Romney succeeded in bringing down his surging opponents, he failed to win over virtually any of their defecting supporters. His RealClearPolitics polling average now stands at 20.4 percent, and since entering the race he has rarely exceeded 25 percent in any poll. It seems that no matter what happens with the rest of the field, three-quarters of the GOP electorate wants someone — anyone — but Romney.

(Snip)

 

 

H/T Bill Bennet

[Valin]

Kid Rock: I told Mitt Romney’s campaign they could use my song

Chris Moody

12/7/11

 

(Snip)

In a statement Wednesday, the musician said that he told Romney's team that it could use his music--and so, for that matter, can anyone else:

 

He and anyone else who wants to use my song do not need my permission. I said he could use it and I would say the same for any other candidate. I have to have a little faith that every candidate feels like he or she can help this country. Without faith, we got nothing. I make music to have it be heard. Merry Christmas folks! Rock on.

 

-Kid Rock

 

PS: Any candidate who makes "So Hott" their theme song has a good chance of getting my vote"

 

(Snip)

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tbbrtaNiQMs

 

I'm gonna go waaaay out on a limb and say I'd be surprised if any candates use So Hott as their campaign theme song....but I could be wrong.

[Casino67]

Mitt gets the coveted endorsement from Christine O'Donnell. Locked in now for the nomination.

[Valin]

Mitt gets the coveted endorsement from Christine O'Donnell. Locked in now for the nomination.

 

[Valin]

The Campaign Spot: Editors of the Washington Examiner Back Romney

Jim Geraghty

12/14/11

 

I guess Mitt Romney will enjoy reading tomorrow’s Washington Examiner:

 

Romney will bring back to the Oval Office a faith in the ability of every individual to achieve his or her greatest hopes, and an unwavering pride in America and its limitless potential for greatness. He understands the American dream because his family has lived it. His father, George Romney, rose from humble roots to run a Detroit auto company and win election as governor of Michigan before running for the presidency. Mitt Romney made his own fortune in business, turned the floundering 2002 Winter Olympics into a financial success, and later that year won the governorship of Massachusetts. He has a capacious but disciplined intellect; he drives himself relentlessly but leads without using his whip hand; in line with Mormon practice, he gives 10 percent of his money to his church; he has been married to his high school sweetheart for 42 years and has five admirable children and 16 grandchildren.

 

Romney has the misfortune of being an earnest man running in an ironic time, and the leitmotif of the Republican race so far has been the search for the “anti-Romney.” Party activists reached out to several men who declined to run, and then Republican voters lavished their affections on, successively, Michele Bachmann, Rick Perry, Herman Cain and now Newt Gingrich, all the while keeping Romney’s poll numbers hovering around 25 percent. They have been searching for a candidate who shared their conservative principles, who had strength of character, and who, above all, could beat Barack Obama. We believe this candidate has been hiding in plain sight. Mitt Romney is not “too perfect,” as some political analysts have argued, but he is perfect enough.

 

(Snip)

[Valin]

BREAKING: Mitt Romney is a Klaner!

[WestVirginiaRebel]

Chris Matthews Apologizes to Romney Campaign for ‘Appalling Lack of Judgment’ in MSNBC Story

 

Video:

[Valin]

Chris Matthews Apologizes to Romney Campaign for ‘Appalling Lack of Judgment’ in MSNBC Story

 

Video:

 

 

Even a broken clock is right twice a day.

[Valin]

Townhall/AP: SC governor Nikki Haley endorses Mitt Romney

AP

12/16/11

 

South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley is endorsing Mitt Romney for president.

 

Haley said Friday on Fox News she is throwing all of her support behind Romney in the Republican primaries. She says jobs, the economy and spending are most important and the former Massachusetts governor is the best candidate to address those issues.

(Snip)

[WestVirginiaRebel]

The Des Moines Register’s GOP caucus endorsement: Mitt Romney is best to lead

Sobriety, wisdom and judgment.

 

Those are qualities Mitt Romney said he looks for in a leader. Those are qualities Romney himself has demonstrated in his career in business, public service and government. Those qualities help the former Massachusetts governor stand out as the most qualified Republican candidate competing in the Iowa caucuses.

 

Sobriety: While other candidates have pandered to extremes with attacks on the courts and sermons on Christian values, Romney has pointedly refrained from reckless rhetoric and moralizing. He may be accused of being too cautious, but choosing words carefully is a skill essential for anyone who could be sitting in the White House and reacting to world events.

 

Wisdom: Romney obviously is very smart. He graduated as valedictorian at Brigham Young University and finished in the top 5 percent in his MBA class at Harvard, where he also earned a law degree. Romney also exhibits the wisdom of a man who listened and learned from his father and his mother, from his church and from his own trials and errors in life. He does not lack self confidence, but he is not afraid to admit when he has been wrong.

 

Judgment: Romney disagrees with Democrats on most issues, but he offers smart and well-reasoned alternatives rather than simply proposing to swing a wrecking ball in Washington. He is a serious student of public policy who examines the data before making a decision. His detailed policy paper on the economy contains 87 pages of carefully crafted positions on taxes, energy, trade and regulatory policy, complete with 127 footnotes.

[Valin]

The Des Moines Register’s GOP caucus endorsement: Mitt Romney is best to lead

Sobriety, wisdom and judgment.

 

Iowa's version of the NY Times endorses Romney.

[Valin]

Townhall/Reuters: Romney still making millions from Bain

12/19/11

 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican White House hopeful Mitt Romney receives millions of dollars a year in a retirement agreement with Bain Capital, nearly 13 years after he left the private equity firm he helped start, the New York Times said on Monday.

 

In the final deal of his private equity career, Romney negotiated an agreement with his former partners that has paid him a share of Bain's profits ever since, bringing his family millions in income each year and bolstering the fortune that has helped finance his political aspirations, the paper said.

 

After Romney left Bain, the company grew into a global investing behemoth, buying and restructuring companies. His retirement agreement, the Times noted, may expose him to criticism that while pursing a career in public life, he has grown wealthier partly from Bain laying off workers at companies it has bought - a charge that routinely resurfaces on the campaign trail.

 

(Snip)

 

 

Obviously this means that Mitt is a bad terrible evil wicked person, the kind of person your mother warned you about.

[Valin]

H/T The Corner: Katrina Trinko

[Valin]

Breitbart TV:Romney To Newt: ‘Obama’s Hell’s Kitchen’ Will Be Tougher Than Me

 

Mitt is correct, the general election is going to make this campaign look like a Sunday School Picnic

[Valin]

Romney turns down Gingrich debate challenge out of ‘respect’ for rest of field

Joshua Altman - 12/22/11

 

 

Mitt Romney rejected an offer for a two-man debate with Republican presidential rival Newt Gingrich out of "respect" to other candidates in the race.

 

“I’m not gonna narrow this down to a two-person race while there’s still a number of other candidates that are viable, important candidates in the race, and I want to show respect to them,” Romney said.

 

 

TAS Has an interesting take

[Valin]

[Valin]

Republican official: McCain to endorse Romney

 

 

Oh be still my beating heart.

[Chickadee]

Republican official: McCain to endorse Romney

 

Oh be still my beating heart.

Yep, big whoop.

[Valin]

Republican official: McCain to endorse Romney

 

Oh be still my beating heart.

Yep, big whoop.

 

 

I do wonder if these endorsements really mean that much any more, particularly in a national race? I mean do people say...well so and so endorses this candidate, so I'm voting for them?

I can see it in local races, but national races...not so much.

 

OTOH this feeds into the meme that Romney is the establishment candidate, given the love and respect the Tea Party has for establishment/inside the beltway types.........

[Geee]

Romney's Watchwords In Iowa: Divide and Conquer

 

Elections are contests held during a moment in time between candidates who have records stretching back, often far back, into the past. So there is always a tension between the man (or woman) who is running and the moment.

 

That tension is greater than usual when the contest is for the nomination of a political party dominated by a large number of newcomers to politics motivated by strong opposition to current policies.

 

That was the case 40 years ago, when members of the peace movement, opposed to the Vietnam War, became the largest and most highly motivated part of the Democratic Party.

 

And it is the case this year because the political newcomers referred to as the tea party have become the most highly motivated part of the Republican Party. They are opposed to the Obama Democrats' vast expansion of the size and scope of government and to any policy that abets it.

 

The Republican candidates, who had their first real test in this week's Iowa caucuses, have long political records, going back to the 1970s in the case of Newt Gingrich and Ron Paul, and all of them (or all but one) have taken stands in tension with the principles of this cycle's Republican voters.

 

Some have backed a mandate to buy health insurance — a conservative proposal in the 1990s. At least one championed spending earmarks. Some are vulnerable to charges of crony capitalism. Some have disparaged or declined to support the Medicare reforms in House Budget Chairman Paul Ryan's budget package.

 

Ron Paul, a libertarian on economics, is far out of line with most Republicans on foreign policy. The one candidate most in line with the tea party, Michele Bachmann, is the one with the thinnest resume, with five years as a backbencher in the House of Representatives.

 

http://news.investors.com/Article/596709/201201042000/Romneys-Watchwords-In-Iowa-Divide-and-Conquer.htm

[Valin]