Mitt Romney's traveling to the Vatican today to attend Boston Archbishop Sean O'Malley's elevation to cardinal.
Also, he's declining to issue the annual gubernatorial proclamation celebrating the 1972 Supreme Court case Eisenstadt v. Baird, which legalized birth control for unmarried couples, as a precursor to Roe v. Wade. He issued the proclamation last year, though omitted the traditional references to Roe v. Wade.
This gradual turning away from Roe is a far cry from his answer to Planned Parenthood's 2002 candidate questionnaire. To the question "Do you support the substance of the Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade?" Romney answered, "yes."
The American Spectator argues that Romney is quietly emerging the most viable presidential candidate to the right of John McCain and Rudy Giuliani:
For social conservatives, he has swung pro-life on abortion and embryonic stem-cell research. To burnish his supply-side credentials, he has pressed the Democratic legislature to lower tax rates and signed into law the nation's largest sales-tax holiday. And when Sen. John Kerry argued that Iraq wasn't part of the war on terror, Romney -- who traveled to Baghdad in May -- countered by saying the 2004 Democratic nominee "shows a complete lack of understanding of the kind of enemy we're facing."
Governor Mitt Romney declared yesterday he would not allow any state resources to be used to protect a former Iranian president during his visit to the Boston area this weekend, and he sharply criticized Harvard University for inviting Mohammed Khatami to speak on the eve of the fifth anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
Romney said that he expected the State Department at a meeting scheduled for today to request a State Police escort and other traffic services, but that he had called yesterday to inform them that no such services would be provided.
Harvard's Kennedy School of Government, which invited Khatami to speak on Sunday, issued a statement yesterday saying it was ``surprised and disappointed" by Romney's stance.
As president of Iran from 1997-2005, Khatami was originally seen as a reformer who opened up ties to the West and allowed more freedom of expression in Iran. But he remained in office during a major crackdown on student protest, in which thousands were arrested, including some who are still in prison. He was replaced by hard-liner Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who has defied international demands to curb Iran's nuclear program and has called for Israel to be ``wiped off" the map.
Even before the Kennedy School formally announced the visit yesterday, newspapers including the New York Sun and the Boston Herald published editorials criticizing Harvard for inviting Khatami. They were especially critical of the timing of the speech.
At least one Democrat was critical of Romney's decision. US Representative Stephen F. Lynch of South Boston, said that while Khatami should not have been invited to speak at Harvard, the state should provide him with security, if for no other reason than to avoid the potentially grave consequences if he were hurt or killed on US soil.
Romney said that if the State Department was worried about Khatami's security in Massachusetts, ``they could consider canceling his visit."
The Associated Press reports that that the tally for Romney's kickoff fundraising call-a-thon is over $6 million:
Republican Mitt Romney and 400 of his strongest supporters raised over $6.5 million on Monday in a glitzy fundraising blitz aimed not only at financing his fledgling presidential campaign, but also scaring off potential rivals and putting existing ones on notice.
"They've come together and blown us away today, and humbled us at the same time," the beaming former Massachusetts governor said as he clutched the hand of his wife, Ann.
The figure dwarfed the $2 million estimated to have been raised by Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and the $1 million raised by former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who also have created 2008 exploratory committees.
At the same time, however, a recent Investor’s Business Daily poll is pretty consistent with most 2008 general election polls, showing McCain and Giuliani ahead of potential Democratic rivals, and Romney losing handily to Clinton, Obama and Edwards.
For Romney to win the Republican nomination, he not only has to convince primary voters that he’s adequately conservative, but that he can win in November.
Supporters of Romney would argue that the fact that he won in the solidly blue state of Massachusetts is proof positive that he would be competitive in a general election. However, it’s worth noting that the Romney who won the Massachusetts governor’s mansion in 2002 was the pro-choice, pro-gay rights, moderate Romney, not the “evolved” conservative he’s portraying himself as now.
In fact, a SurveyUSA poll taken last month showed that his approval rating in Massachusetts was 39 percent vs. a disapproval rating of 59 percent—among “independents” his approval rating was a slightly higher but still lackluster 42 percent.
The obvious caveat applies that we’re 22 months from Election Day 2008 and such horse race polls are meaningless, especially because Romney remains unknown to most Americans.
However, at some point the electability issue will be a factor in the Republican primaries, and those hypothetical matchups will have to look better for Romney or the money he's raising may not help him much.
Its being reported that former Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert is endorsing Romney.
Wow...IF Hastert were still speaker, and if he hadn't become associated with Mark Foley, and completely fumbling the response and public statements in the aftermath, this endorsement would really mean something.
It should be noted that FBI head J. Edgar Hoover prefered to hire Mormons: they're anti-drug, clean-living lifestyle made them hard to influence. That fat cross-dresser certainly had no problem with their religion.
Knutreturns said: Spoken like the true Greatest RDCW Champ!
Old men, fear me! You will shatter under my ruthless apathetic assault!
Uschi - 2 Old Men - 0
"I am convinced that this world is of no importance, and that the only people who care about dates are imbeciles and Spanish teachers." -- Jean Arp, 1921
"If Jesus came back and saw what people are doing in his name, he would never never stop throwing up." - Max von Sydow, "Hannah and Her Sisters"
Quote: Uschi said: No, I only wanted the ones people gave a shit about. Just over a year and a half to elections, no better time to make it easier to look at the issues.
Romney, Thompson and Gore are all popular and, in some cases, more popular in national polls than the candidates you "pinned", even though the latter two haven't even announced.
Furthermore, at this early stage of proceedings, it is impossible to know who will inevitably win either party's nomination. For example, in 1992, Bill Clinton came out of nowhere, beating a crowded field.
So if your goal is to allow the readers easy access to the positions, or other information, about potential nominees, you have probably failed.
But, its okay. I realize that you're not very well read about U.S. politics, since that would tend to undermine your attempt at creating a "bad girl anarchist" image for yourself.
y'know, if I was YOU, I'd be deleting these posts for being off-topic and for spamming the forum. Perspective.
Old men, fear me! You will shatter under my ruthless apathetic assault!
Uschi - 2 Old Men - 0
"I am convinced that this world is of no importance, and that the only people who care about dates are imbeciles and Spanish teachers." -- Jean Arp, 1921
"If Jesus came back and saw what people are doing in his name, he would never never stop throwing up." - Max von Sydow, "Hannah and Her Sisters"
Hey, I'm just trying to help by showing you that there are plenty of candidates out there and that you've actually missed a number of the major contenders.
Old men, fear me! You will shatter under my ruthless apathetic assault!
Uschi - 2 Old Men - 0
"I am convinced that this world is of no importance, and that the only people who care about dates are imbeciles and Spanish teachers." -- Jean Arp, 1921
"If Jesus came back and saw what people are doing in his name, he would never never stop throwing up." - Max von Sydow, "Hannah and Her Sisters"
Well at least he (Romney) has magic underpants. The Commander in Chief should have magic underpants.
"Batman is only meaningful as an answer to a world which in its basics is chaotic and in the hands of the wrong people, where no justice can be found. I think it's very suitable to our perception of the world's condition today... Batman embodies the will to resist evil" -Frank Miller
"Conan, what's the meaning of life?" "To crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and hear the lamentations of their women!" -Conan the Barbarian
"Well, yeah." -Jason E. Perkins
"If I had a dime for every time Pariah was right about something I'd owe twenty cents." -Ultimate Jaburg53
"Fair enough. I defer to your expertise." -Prometheus
As evidence that his campaign is gaining strength, Mr. Romney and his aides cited a recent New Hampshire poll that showed him leading in the state, although rival campaigns have challenged the accuracy of the survey. They also pointed to a new poll in Michigan, another early state, where Mr. Romney grew up, which shows him leading there as well.
He made his first appearance last week on “The Tonight Show” with Jay Leno. Mr. Romney is also on the cover of the new Time magazine, scheduled to hit newsstands on Friday, and will be the subject of a feature on “60 Minutes” on Sunday.
He tweaked his stump speech this week in what appeared to be a fresh attempt to distinguish himself from Mr. McCain and Mr. Giuliani on social issues. In Iowa, Mr. Romney introduced to audiences the metaphor of a three-legged stool, reflecting what he described as core conservative Republican principles: “strong military, strong economy, strong families.”
Beyond trying to gain an advantage on social issues, he is emphasizing that he would have a muscular approach to national security. He highlights his successful business career to make a case that he knows how to manage the economy. And he is taking a conservative stance on immigration, opposing a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants, an issue that could prove troublesome for Mr. McCain, who worked for such a route in the Senate last year.
Mr. Romney mounted a new advertisement recently in Iowa, New Hampshire and on national cable networks that plays up his call to increase the size of the military. Another commercial that features him wielding his veto pen in Massachusetts continues to run nationally.
In his continued courtship of evangelical voters, Mr. Romney’s campaign is dispatching Mark DeMoss, an evangelical publicist whose clients include the Rev. Franklin Graham, the son of the Rev. Billy Graham, and Jay Sekulow, a prominent evangelical activist and lawyer, to meet with conservative Christian leaders in South Carolina, Iowa and elsewhere.
Mr. Romney’s basic strategy is to try to use strong showings in the early voting primary states, many of which have large numbers of conservative voters, to slingshot him to the front of the Republican field.
"Today" show co-host Matt Lauer and presidential hopeful Mitt Romney apologized yesterday for conducting an interview in a moving car without wearing their seat belts.
Romney Struggles to Define Abortion Stance By Michael D. Shear Washington Post Staff Writer Thursday, August 23, 2007; Page A01
Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney said this week that as president he would allow individual states to keep abortion legal, two weeks after telling a national television audience that he supports a constitutional amendment to ban the procedure nationwide.
In an interview with a Nevada television station on Tuesday, Romney said Roe. v. Wade should be abolished and vowed to "let states make their own decision in this regard." On Aug. 6, he told ABC's George Stephanopoulos that he supports a human life amendment to the Constitution that would protect the unborn.
"I do support the Republican platform, and I do support that being part of the Republican platform, and I'm pro-life," Romney said in the ABC interview, broadcast days before his victory among conservative Iowa voters in the Ames straw poll.
The two very different statements reflect the challenge for Romney, who has reinvented himself as a champion of the antiabortion movement in recent years and is seeking to become the conservative alternative to former New York mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani in the battle for the Republican presidential nomination.
Critics, including his GOP rivals, have questioned his commitment to the antiabortion cause, contrasting his statements as a pro-abortion-rights governor earlier this decade with his antiabortion rhetoric as a presidential candidate. ...
It should be noted that FBI head J. Edgar Hoover prefered to hire Mormons: they're anti-drug, clean-living lifestyle made them hard to influence. That fat cross-dresser certainly had no problem with their religion.
Republican Mitt Romney yesterday bluntly challenged his party to "put our own house in order" as the GOP presidential candidates courted activists in Michigan, now an important player in the nomination march.
"Washington is failing us," Romney said in a speech that's part of a new effort to cast him as the candidate who can lead the party back to its core principles.
Romney offered a sobering assessment of the party and argued that Republicans share the blame with Democrats for the nation's woes. In an indictment of the GOP, he bemoaned excessive spending, insecure borders and ethical lapses.
Romney offered a sobering assessment of the party and argued that Republicans share the blame with Democrats for the nation's woes....
how is the blame shared when the Republicans had unchallenged control when everything went to shit. this is obviously just a reaction to bush's sagging ratings. The same shit Bush pulled in 2000 with his "uniter not a divider" bs.
Originally Posted By: Friendly Neighborhood Ray-man
Originally Posted By: the G-man
Romney offered a sobering assessment of the party and argued that Republicans share the blame with Democrats for the nation's woes....
how is the blame shared when the Republicans had unchallenged control when everything went to shit. this is obviously just a reaction to bush's sagging ratings. The same shit Bush pulled in 2000 with his "uniter not a divider" bs.
This has been brewing for months amongst the GOP. They have a big problem with the 08 election & the way the polls have been shaping up. They know they have to find some way of sepperating themselves from Bush & present themselves as agents of change. I don't see it as beeing realistic though.
You tried the "Planting a New Bush" tag on Rudy. Now you're throwing it on Romney too?
Eventually, will you retitle every thread about a republican to read "Planting a New Bush"? If so, won't that make it hard to tell who you're smearing at any given moment?
Most of the top GOP candidates are very similar to Bush policy wise. Heck, they even share the new talking points! Bush now has decided that he's fiscally conservative. New York Times
Originally Posted By: Friendly Neighborhood Ray-man
Originally Posted By: Matter-eater Man
Bush now has decided that he's fiscally conservative.
you kind of have to be fiscally conservative after you blow through the bank accounts and max out all the cards.
It's fair to say that Bush has not used his veto power to reign in fiscal spending (i.e., Congressional pork add-ons.) And it's fair to say that Bush has increased the debt by reducing taxes in a time of war in Afghanistan and Iraq, and of increased homeland security spending, that either reducing or eliminating the tax breaks would have offset.
But it's not fair to absolve the Democrats who pushed for this pork spending, and blame the debt completely on W. Bush and/or the Republicans.
As I've said before, 7 of the top 10 donors to the Republicans are also among the top 10 donors to the Democrats. The same influences that push for these measures, offshoring, free trade, open borders, etc., leverage these things from members of both parties.
Let's be honest, and admit that there was a huge national debt way before W. Bush ever took office.
Clinton gets credit for balancing the budget for a few years in the latter part of his term. But that was because the Republicans took over the Senate in 1994, and their "Contract With America" that got them elected included balancing the budget. If Clinton hadn't changed gears mid-presidency and adopted a priority of balancing the budget, he would have been voted out in 1996.
Likewise, Republicans elected Bush expecting a fiscally responsible Republican, and instead got a president who doesn't utilize his veto power over congressional spending. On this and many issues, W. Bush departs from true conservatism.
He speaks like a Reagan conservative, particularly on the issue of enforcing existing immigration laws and securing our borders.
I'm not blind to the fact that his positions have changed on a number of issues (largely because he had to take a more liberal stance to be elected and govern a liberal state like Massachusetts.) But if he can be trusted to follow through on his rhetoric, I think he'd be a good president.
I also like Tancredo, Thompson, Giuliani, and McCain, despite questionable aspects of each.
Mitt Romney cried foul yesterday over dirty-tricks phone calls to voters in Iowa and New Hampshire that raised questions about his Mormon faith.
The 20-minute calls started last Sunday in the two early-voting states, where the Republican presidential hopeful is leading - and some have accused rivals Rudy Giuliani or John McCain of being behind the so-called push polls. Both campaigns deny the allegations.
Those who received the calls said they were asked whether they knew that the former Massachusetts governor was a Mormon, that he had received military deferments when he served as a Mormon missionary in France and that his five sons did not serve in the military.
The callers also said Mormons did not accept blacks as bishops into the 1970s and that they believe the Book of Mormon is superior to the Bible, according to those called.
The New Hampshire Attorney General's Office has launched an investigation.
Romney: …And I’m not going to distance myself in any way from my faith. But you can see what I believed and what my family believed by looking at, at our lives. My dad marched with Martin Luther King.
Mitt Romney has defended his position on civil rights, in multiple high-profile settings, by insisting that his father marched with Martin Luther King during his tenure as governor of Michigan in the 1960s. Pressed for specifics, the Romney campaign pointed to an event that occurred in Grosse Point, Mich.
Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney has said he watched his father, the late Michigan Gov. George Romney, in a 1960s civil rights march in Michigan with Martin Luther King Jr.
On Wednesday, Romney’s campaign said his recollections of watching his father, an ardent civil rights supporter, march with King were meant to be figurative.
“He was speaking figuratively, not literally,” Eric Fehrnstrom, spokesman for the Romney campaign, said of the candidate.
C’mon, Romney campaign, you can do better than this. Romney told two national television audiences, “I saw my father march with Martin Luther King.” That was a “figurative” claim?
I wonder what might have happened to Al Gore seven years ago if, confronted with the manufactured controversy about “inventing the Internet,” he said, “I meant that figuratively.”
And Republicans still wonder why blacks don't vote for them. Not only is he part of a racist religion, he tries to lie to people about his family's civil rights cred.
Romney... Not only is he part of a racist religion...
No, Obama's the Muslim. Rommney's just a Mormon.
But, seriously, even if you accept that Mormanism is a "racist religion," it doesn't necessarily follow that Rommney is a racist. Presidents (like the general public) often eschew negative or outmoded aspects of their religion. For example, you will recall that John Kerry was both Catholic and pro-choice.
Quote:
...he tries to lie to people about his family's civil rights cred.
Rommney's exaggerations here are troubling, especially in their resemblance to Al "I Invented the Internet" Gore. However, it should be noted that his father (Detroit Governor George Romney) did, in fact, have a very good record on civil rights:
Martin Luther King Jr. didn't fault Romney for his absence [at the march], which the governor ascribed to his policy against public appearances on the Sabbath.
"Issuing the proclamation [supporting the march], and sending his personal representatives, was probably more than 49 other governors would have been willing to do at that time," says Clayborne Carson, director of the Martin Luther King Jr. Papers Project at Stanford University. "It took considerable courage."
Romney would go much further, participating in a small demonstration in Grosse Pointe later that week; refusing to endorse Barry Goldwater in 1964, largely because of Goldwater's vote against the Civil Rights Act; and, in 1965, marching in Detroit to protest the police actions in Selma, Alabama.
These acts placed him at odds with his political party and with his church leadership.
Al Gore never said he "invented the internet." he made an accurate statement based on his career. look it up. but i guess you can't do that since it wouldruin your old standby.
