T-minus 20 minutes and counting for polls to close in South Carolina… Will be live-blogging and tweeting the action all night. Watch this space.
Posts Tagged ‘Mitt Romney’
South Carolina GOP Primary Night
Posted: January 21, 2012 in 2012 Elections, GOP Primaries, PoliticsTags: 2012 Elections, GOP Primaries, Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich, Politics, Rick Santorum, Ron Paul, South Carolina
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The Dirt on Mitt Romney
Posted: January 17, 2012 in 2008 Elections, 2012 Elections, GOP Primaries, PoliticsTags: 2008 Elections, 2012 Elections, GOP Primaries, John McCain, Mitt Romney, Politics
The file has been circulating online recently, but Buzzfeed has posted the McCain 2008 campaign’s entire 200-page opposition research file on Mitt Romney. Enjoy the light bedside reading.
And Then There Were Six
Posted: January 4, 2012 in 2012 Elections, GOP PrimariesTags: 2012 Elections, GOP Primaries, Michele Bachmann, Mitt Romney, Rick Perry, Rick Santorum
National Journal’s Ron Fournier is reporting that Michele Bachmann will suspend her presidential campaign today, effectively dropping out of the race. He also writes that Rick Perry could drop out of the race as well after his disappointing performance in the Iowa caucuses.
If you had told me a month ago that Rick Santorum would come in second in Iowa in a photo finish with Mitt Romney and that there was a chance he would stay in the race longer than Rick Perry, I wouldn’t have believed it.
Romney’s In
Posted: April 12, 2011 in 2012 Elections, GOP PrimariesTags: 2012 Elections, GOP Primaries, Mitt Romney, Republicans
To the surprise of absolutely no one who has been keeping an eye on him since the 2008 elections. He made the announcement via Twitter:
I am announcing my Exploratory Committee for President of the United States. Join us at http://www.mittromney.com #Mitt2012
He rebooted his website, which contains the following video message:
Conservative blogger Erick Erickson pointed out on Twitter and on CNN’s “John King USA” that the R in the Romney logo looks like it was done with Aquafresh toothpaste. He may have a point. Have a look at this side-by-side comparisons of the logos from the two websites:
Romney is the second Republican to form an exploratory committee. The intent in announcing is the same reason the president announced a week ago: it allows the committee to start raising money for a presidential campaign. According to Roll Call, Romney will criss-cross the country on a fundraising blitz for the next six weeks, beginning with an event at New York’s Harbor Club today.
This Politico article is a good recap summing up Romney’s background and the challenges he will face the second time around. The key dynamic change from four years ago is the passage of Obama’s health care plan, which Obama and many Democrats have repeatedly and gleefully pointed out was based in part on the health care plan Romney signed into law as governor of Massachusetts. Romney is now stuck with the tricky political position of trying to defend his accomplishments as governor while at the same time distancing his health care plan from the Obama health care plan, which is politically radioactive in Republican circles. This could help sink his chances at winning the nomination. Obama and the Democrats know this, and that is why they complement him as much as they can.
Don’t know if Romney’s strategists and branding people did their homework before launching the website, but Ben Smith points out that Romney’s “Believe in America” slogan was previously used by Massachusetts Democrat John Kerry during his unsuccessful presidential run in 2004.
Another Kerry-Romney comparison comes from former DNC staffer Matt Ortega who recently launched the site Multiple Choice Mitt. It is essentially the Democrats using George W. Bush’s highly successful flip-flop attacks on Kerry, this time aimed squarely at Romney.
Mitt Romney: “Let Detroit Go Bankrupt”
Posted: November 21, 2008 in EconomyTags: Economy, Is It 2012 Yet?, Mitt Romney
If Mitt Romney is the Republican presidential nominee in 2012, this New York Times op ed he wrote pretty much guarantees he’ll lose Michigan.
New GOP Political Player
Posted: November 12, 2008 in UncategorizedTags: GOP Primaries, Is It 2012 Yet?, Mitt Romney, Proposition 8
I included the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints as one of my winners from the 2008 election because of their successful role in getting Proposition 8 passed in California in a year that for the most part was a political disaster for social conservatives. Marc Ambinder makes an interesting observation:
By bankrolling opposition to same-sex marriage in California, the LDS church has earned some serious cred in social conservative circles.
And the Prop 8 protesters — those who are now protesting the church — are only fueling the impression that when it comes to standing up for “traditional marriage,” the Mormon Church is where it’s at.
This development has fascinating implications for 2012.
Utah (where LDS is based) is one of the most solidly Republican states in the country. It may not replace the religious right which is largely based in southern states, but it could tip the scales in favor of one candidate or another. Who benefits most from the LDS’s new political muscle? Mitt Romney.
Palin Looking Ahead to 2012
Posted: October 30, 2008 in 2008 Elections, John McCain, Sarah PalinTags: 2008 Elections, Is It 2012 Yet?, John McCain, Mitt Romney, Republicans, Sarah Palin
Down in the polls but certainly not out, Gov. Sarah Palin remains in the fight as the campaign enters its final week.
In an interview with ABC News’ Elizabeth Vargas, the Republican vice-presidential nominee was asked about 2012, whether she was discouraged by the daily attacks on the campaign trail, and would instead pack it in and return to her home state of Alaska.
“I think that, if I were to give up and wave a white flag of surrender against some of the political shots that we’ve taken, that would bring this whole & I’m not doing this for naught,” Palin said.
Palin said she believed in the current GOP ticket and that she was “thinking that it’s going to go our way on Tuesday, Nov. 4. I truly believe that the wisdom of the people will be revealed on that day,” she said.
Also see this live report from CNN’s Dana Bash:
This may be the ultimate jumping the shark moment for a campaign that has had more than its fair share already. Sarah Palin has essentially told the world that she’s looking out for Number 1. Expect to see another series of damaging internal campaign strife stories from former Romney aides who want to kneecap her to give their man frontrunner status for the next election.
Update: ABC News screwed up hard with the initial writeup of the article to the point where it was blatantly misleading and rapidly picked up by other news organizations. Someone seriously needs to be fired over this. Here’s the complete transcript of the exchange:
ELIZABETH VARGAS: If it doesn’t go your way on Tuesday … 2012?
GOV SARAH PALIN: I’m just … thinkin’ that it’s gonna go our way on Tuesday, November 4. I truly believe that the wisdom of … of the people will be revealed on that day. As they enter that voting booth, they will understand the stark contrast between the two tickets. …
VARGAS: But the point being that you haven’t been so bruised by some of the double standard, the sexism on the campaign trail, to say, “I’ve had it. I’m going back to Alaska.”
PALIN: Absolutely not. I think that, if I were to give up and wave a white flag of surrender against some of the political shots that we’ve taken, that … that would … bring this whole … I’m not doin’ this for naught.
Circular Firing Squad
Posted: October 27, 2008 in 2008 Elections, John McCain, Sarah PalinTags: 2008 Elections, Is It 2012 Yet?, John McCain, Mitt Romney, Sarah Palin
According to the conservative American Spectator, former aides to Mitt Romney now working for the McCain campaign are the ones who are twisting the knife in Sarah Palin during the recent reports published by CNN, Politico, and other news organizations.
Former Mitt Romney presidential campaign staffers, some of whom are currently working for Sen. John McCain and Gov. Sarah Palin‘s bid for the White House, have been involved in spreading anti-Palin spin to reporters, seeking to diminish her standing after the election. “Sarah Palin is a lightweight, she won’t be the first, not even the third, person people will think of when it comes to 2012,” says one former Romney aide, now working for McCain-Palin. “The only serious candidate ready to challenge to lead the Republican Party is Mitt Romney. He’s in charge on November 5th.”
Romney has kept a low profile nationally since being denied the vice presidential nomination. He is currently traveling for the National Republican Congressional Committee in support of some House members, and has attended events for a handful of other House members who have sought his support, but he has traveled little for the McCain-Palin ticket. “He said the only time he’d travel for us is if we assured him that national cameras would be there,” says a McCain campaign communications aide. “He’s traveled to Nevada and a couple other states for us. That’s about it.”
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Some former Romney aides were behind the recent leaks to media, including CNN, that Governor Sarah Palin was a “diva” and was going off message intentionally. The former and current Romney supporters further are pushing Romney supporters for key Republican jobs, including head of the Republican National Committee.
This certainly makes sense, as Romney’s people would have the means and the motive to be dumping on McCain and Palin. McCain passed on Romney as his VP nominee, and the two men did not like each other very much during the Republican primary. Romney was merciless in tying McCain to Republican boogeymen Russ Feingold and Ted Kennedy for his legislative work with them during the primary season. Now Romney’s people have an opportunity for payback and then some – they weaken Palin before she can have the opportunity to become the party frontrunner for 2012 and put their guy in front.
Icepicks and Nukes 