Mitt Romney

Come back Mitt! All is forgiven.

Filed under: Mitt Romney

Behold a pale horse: Mitt Romney might be coming back.

[Image from Overcompensating]

With the emerging lobbyist scandal creating issues for the McCain campaign, the Los Angeles Times reports that Mitt might re-enter the race, and that he maintains control of the 300 delegates he won previously. Being stupendously wealthy helps. Quoth the Times:

"A Ticket item here Sunday noted Romney's graceful exit from the Republican race, which was characterized by the unusual absence of a follow-up plea for donations to retire campaign debt. The Romney campaign cost $98 million, $42.3 million of it contributed by the candidate himself."

Yes, that graceful exit where he said the Democratic candidate winning would constitute a surrender to terror. After spending 42 million of your own money, taking a swipe at half the country is the only dignified way out.

Speaking as one of those so tarred: come back, Mitt! All is forgiven. We need you to hold the banner for True Conservatives (tm) against John McCain, if you've decided to be a true conservative this year. And if you haven't, we could just use you to lead us to a brokered convention.

Posted by Jeff Shaw at February 26, 2008 5:52 AM | Comments (0)

 

Mitt Romney calls it quits

Filed under: Mitt Romney

Mitt Romney has dropped out of the presidential race. Which is not all that surprising, given his anemic showing on Tuesday. But check out this parting (and hyperbolic) shot he delivered to the Dems during this morning's announcement:

"If I fight on in my campaign, all the way to the convention, I would forestall the launch of a national campaign and make it more likely that Senator Clinton or Obama would win," he said. "And in this time of war, I simply cannot let my campaign be a part of aiding a surrender to terror."

Even more noteworthy: he reportedly said this with a straight face.

Posted by Matt Snyders at February 7, 2008 1:07 PM | Comments (1)

 

CNN calls MN for Mittens

Filed under: Mitt Romney

Romney takes down the Minnesota caucuses. Now I'm regretting not sending a photographer to the (alcohol-free) Romney party.

McCain and Huckabee ran basically neck-and-neck for second, with Ron Paul an embarrassing fourth. Embarrassing because it's shameful that he got so many votes here.

Posted by Jeff Shaw at February 5, 2008 10:19 PM | Comments (0)

 

Exit Polls: Mitt, Huck hanging in?

Filed under: Mitt Romney

The Corner has been getting up what seems to be reasonably accurate exit polls in previous races, and if that form holds true, perhaps these numbers might make Super Tuesday more interesting than I previously thought.

To be sure, McCain is still the frontrunner, and he's still winning important states. But he's not winning convincingly (if this data is accurate) in any of them save the NYC metro states, and with Romney apparently leading in places like Missouri and Huckabee performing well in the south, perhaps this one isn't ready to get put to bed just yet.

Posted by Jeff Shaw at February 5, 2008 6:19 PM | Comments (0)

 

Go Mitt Go! And take this video with you!

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Politics fans hoping for a brokered convention are rooting for Romney to take the Florida primary. This would prevent the national media for tagging John McCain with the "front-runner" label, and keep the race wide open.

Plus, there's the fact that, should Romney end up the nominee, the McCain people have already prepared the perfect attack ad for Democrats to use. The video is after the jump.

This video deals a devastating blow for Romney for two reasons. First, it's neither a pro-liberal nor pro-conservative ad, and hence is useful from multiple perspectives. Second, it portrays Romney as what many have already decided he is -- a cunning politician who will say anything to be elected.

These aren't minor positions about which we see Romney speaking out of both sides of his mouth. Reproductive choice, gun control, the legacy of Ronald Reagan's policies -- these are the biggies. And however you come down on them, it has to be disconcerting to see a candidate speaking so forcefully, so confidently, on both sides.

This isn't flexible, nuanced thinking. This isn't even the mealy-mouthed flip-flopping people accused John Kerry of. This is a man who is capable of changing core positions based on political expediency. That's why it's effective for McCain, and will be if the Democrats get the chance to use it, too.

Posted by Jeff Shaw at January 29, 2008 7:25 PM | Comments (0)

 

Romney: One Word Shy of a Lie

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By now, most of us have watched the heated exchange between Mitt Romney and that seated, laptop-wielding fellow named Glen Johnson, whose job it is to follow the good candidate around and write about it for the AP.

Most pundits have either criticized Johnson for injecting his opinion/attacking the candidate at an inappropriate moment or, conversely, commended him for holding Romney's feet to the fire. I don't buy either analysis. Check out the nut of the exchange:

Romney: I don't have lobbyists running my campaign. I don't have lobbyists that are tied to my-
Johnson: That is not true Governor, that is not true.

Mitt Romney doesn't have a lobbyist running his campaign. His campaign manager, Beth Myers, may be many things, but she isn't a lobbyist.
But Romney obviously has at least one prominent lobbyist, Ron Kaufman, in the capacity of an "unpaid adviser," giving him lots of advice.

Johnson, by interrupting Romney a moment too early, didn't give the good candidate time to finish telling his lie.

Posted by Jonathan Kaminsky at January 18, 2008 12:26 PM | Comments (8)

 

And Romney makes three

Filed under: Mitt Romney

CNN is calling Michigan for Mitt Romney, setting up a three-way race with John McCain and Mike Huckabee:

With 10 percent of precincts reporting, Romney had 37 percent of the vote compared to Arizona Sen. John McCain's 31 percent. Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee had 16 percent of the vote, followed by Texas Rep. Ron Paul with 7 percent. Former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson had 4 percent, and former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani trailed with 3 percent.

Both Thompson and Giuliani badly trailing Ron Paul? Ouch.

Posted by Kevin Hoffman at January 15, 2008 8:06 PM | Comments (1)

 

Michigan Dems: Vote for Romney!

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The Democratic candidates are boycotting the Michigan primary because of the Mitten's nefarious attempt to jump the line. But that doesn't mean liberal voters should stay home. A YouTube ad is urging them to vote for Mitt Romney, master of self-financed campaign sleeze! Check out the ad after the jump.

"There is no greater voice against the Republican candidates that this Republican candidate!" the ad argues. But if Mitt loses the Mitten, he might be out of the race, which is why Dems should hold their nose and vote for him. And if this current incarnation of Mitt violates your precious "principles," feel free to select from the vast selection of contradictory positions he's held in the past. Hilarious.

Hat Tip: DailyKos

Posted by Kevin Hoffman at January 14, 2008 10:46 AM | Comments (1)

 

Romney in the lead for Michigan

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Looks like a three-horse race for the state Sufjan Stevens says yes to. Three new polls show Mitt Romney with a strong lead over John McCain and Mike Huckabee further behind.

The main link shows two polls; add the McClatchy poll to that number, which shows Romney with an eight-point lead. This comes shortly after polls showing the race nearly a dead heat between McCain and Romney.

Given what happened with the Dems and New Hampshire, I'm absolutely rooting for a) pundits to being jawing about the consequences for the Huckabee and McCain campaigns when they lose, and b) for Michigan to be a nail-bitingly close race that is ultimately won by, I don't know, Trini Lopez or someone.

If anyone knows a Republican gathering for tomorrow's primary -- preferably a bar where the WiFi works -- shoot me an email, and mayhap I'll show up.

Posted by Jeff Shaw at January 14, 2008 9:09 AM

 

Mitt's Mercenary Ties

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As we report in this week’s feature, likely New Hampshire primary runner-up Mitt Romney has cuddly ties to mercenary army Blackwater Worldwide (formerly Blackwater USA).

The portentously (and aptly) named Cofer Black—vice chair of the controversial private military force—has served as chair of Romney’s counter-terrorism advisory group since September.

The inclusion of Black in the Romney campaign has received scant attention from the national press, even amidst FBI-led investigations into Blackwater regarding the massacre of 14 Iraqi civilians.

While organizations such as Politico and MWC have covered Black’s role in the Romney campaign, the mainstream media has remained eerily silent. (If you google “Mitt Romney Blackwater,” the first two hits that appear are Media Matters essays decrying the msm for keeping mum on the issue.)

Posted by Matt Snyders at January 8, 2008 3:29 PM | Comments (0)

 

Mitts full of money

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Just how rich is Mitt Romney? Allowing the passing physical resemblance to Gordon Gecko, "very rich indeed," we'd assume. Here's a helpful mathematical equation by which I tend to assess these things:

Rich < Super Rich < Scrooge McDuck < Holy Fucking Shit Rich < Bill Gates Rich

Mitt Romney is Holy Fucking Shit Rich, as this visual representation of the candidates makes painfully clear. None of these people are hurting, and they'd all be able to play Kristal Pong with me at the City Pages Mansion Off Washington Ave. But Romney's wealth leaves me wondering whether the Machiavellian Mormon might be better off just straight up attempting buy votes, and then bribing the underpaid public servants charged with arresting him for same.

The image makes my stomach churn a little bit, but it gets funnier when I imagine Romney rebuffing Mike Huckabee by saying this in Chappelle's Show fashion.

Also, Dennis Kucinich's image in that graphic is actual size.

Posted by Jeff Shaw at January 8, 2008 1:30 PM | Comments (0)

 

The Mitt Romney anti-endorsement

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New Hampshire's Concord Monitor has issued one of my favorite political statements of all time. Before their authentic endorsement of a Republican candidate, they came out with an anti-endorsement: Whatever you do, the Monitor implored, do not elect Mitt Romney.

The logic is centered around Romney's, ahem, "pragmatism," which has allowed him to fundamentally change core positions on choice, stem cell research, taxation and more.

Rumors that Romney read the Monitor piece, agreed with it, and then changed his mind five minutes later are unsubstantiated.

Posted by Jeff Shaw at January 8, 2008 11:59 AM | Comments (0)