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Mitt Romney Tag

Posted by William A. Jacobson on March 03, 2016 139 Comments
Mitt Romney already has gone after Donald Trump, suggesting there might be a "bombshell" in the tax returns Trump now refuses to make public. Romney is stepping it up a notch, giving a speech today starting at 11:30 a.m. Eastern, in which he lashes out at Donald Trump:
Mitt Romney will call Donald J. Trump “a phony” and “a fraud” in a speech on Thursday in which he will urge Republicans to rally around one of Mr. Trump’s presidential rivals, according to excerpts from his remarks. The hastily organized speech, to be delivered in Utah, represents a last-ditch effort among leaders in the Republican Party to blunt Mr. Trump’s momentum before he runs away with the presidential nomination. Mr. Romney has been criticizing Mr. Trump on social media in recent weeks, calling on him to release his tax returns and arguing that slowness to denounce the Ku Klux Klan was disqualifying for a presidential candidate.

Posted by New Neo on February 27, 2016 61 Comments
On Wednesday Mitt Romney said some interesting things about Donald Trump and his tax returns, and they got picked up by a lot of news outlets and pundits, including Legal Insurrection. This is the way his remarks were generally reported:
He also called on the entire GOP field to release their tax returns. “I think there’s something there,” Romney said of Trump’s returns, “Either he’s not anywhere near as wealthy as he says he is, or he hasn’t been paying the kind of taxes we would expect him to pay,” Romney, a former Massachusetts governor, told Fox News’ Neil Cavuto on “Your World.”
Trump supporters felt that this was a low blow, and unsubstantiated as well. Also, coming from Romney---the guy many judge as having been insufficiently hard on Obama in 2012---it seemed uncharacteristic. As usual, though, it's always instructive to look at the transcript, and then to do a little digging into the background. In the full transcript Romney went into more detail than that. He went on to say:

Posted by William A. Jacobson on February 24, 2016 111 Comments
In an interview with Fox News today, Mitt Romney suggested there was reason to believe there is a bombshell in the tax returns Donald Trump has not yet released:
There might be a “bombshell” revelation to be discovered in Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump’s tax returns, 2012 party nominee Mitt Romney said Wednesday. He also called on the entire GOP field to release their tax returns. “I think there’s something there," Romney said of Trump's returns, "Either he’s not anywhere near as wealthy as he says he is, or he hasn’t been paying the kind of taxes we would expect him to pay,” Romney, a former Massachusetts governor, told Fox News’ Neil Cavuto on “Your World.”

Posted by William A. Jacobson on January 22, 2016 122 Comments
National Review has a special issue Against Donald Trump, with columns by 22 people, most of whom are familiar conservative writers and media personalities. I skimmed a few of the columns and they make the case persuasively that Trump is not a conservative. You know the arguments already. He's for activist big government, a populist with no conservative ideological compass, and is not what he purports to be even on his core issue of immigration (where he may be to the left of Marco Rubio in reality). National Review Conservatives Against Trump Cover

Posted by Amy Miller on September 22, 2015 6 Comments
Back in 2012, Mitt Romney got raked over the coals for saying during a presidential debate that he had "binders full of women" from which he picked some of his top advisors. It was a memeworthy moment for the Romney campaign, and gave birth to a truckload of "binder" memes. Feminists immediately protested---why wasn't Romney able to immediately name smart, qualified women to his staff? Why did he need to curate names in order to diversify his male-only senior staff at Bain? It's a meme that should have died with the 2012 cycle, but alas---I must resurrect it in the name of making fun of Hillary Clinton. Clinton has made a name for herself as someone who has climbed the ladder, crashed through the glass ceiling, and created for herself a very comfortable perch. She has played the gender card more times than seems reasonable (or possible,) and frequently stumps on women's issues as a way of distinguishing herself from her opponents. So why is she having trouble answering a fluff question about women? All 5,472 Republican presidential candidates were asked in this month's CNN debate which woman they would choose to put on the ten dollar bill. Their answers ranged from prominent historical figures to their own wives, but each candidate managed to burp up a response to a question with no right answer. Clinton? Not so much. Watch, courtesy of TMZ:

Posted by Mike LaChance on July 10, 2015 8 Comments
General Joseph Dunford has been nominated to be chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. While testifying before congress yesterday, he made one claim that might come as news to President Obama. Phil Stewart and David Alexander of Reuters reported:
Russia is top U.S. national security threat: Gen. Dunford Russia presents the greatest threat to U.S. national security and its behavior is "nothing short of alarming," Marine General Joseph Dunford told lawmakers on Thursday as they weighed his nomination to become chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Dunford also added his voice to those Pentagon officials who have supported providing lethal arms to Ukraine to help it defend itself from Russia-backed separatists, a step that President Barack Obama has so far resisted. "My assessment today, Senator, is that Russia presents the greatest threat to our national security," said Dunford, the Marine Corps commandant, who is expected to swiftly win Senate confirmation to become the top U.S. military officer.

Posted by Fuzzy Slippers on June 14, 2015 18 Comments
Love him, hate him, or feel ambivalent toward him, Mitt Romney was "right about everything," and that is standing him in good stead with the GOP.  Indeed, Politico is reporting that Romney is "working to rid the GOP presidential primary of the mayhem that marked his own race":
Mitt Romney is working with an unlikely collaborator — Sheldon Adelson, the billionaire casino mogul who bankrolled Newt Gingrich’s 2012 campaign — in the hopes of ensuring that the GOP primary produces a mainstream conservative without any of the mayhem that marked his own race. The two, who speak monthly, aim to convince the wealthy contributors bankrolling various candidates to work together to avoid the kind of primary election chaos that Romney believes laid the seeds for his defeat in 2012. The former Massachusetts governor is also considering endorsing a candidate to achieve his goal. They’re unmistakable signs of Romney’s newly assertive role in the Republican Party but also of his determination to guarantee the GOP an unbloodied nominee with broad-based appeal.

Posted by Mike LaChance on April 01, 2015 32 Comments
Each day brings a new reason to be happy about Harry Reid's impending retirement. The newest one is his outright admission that he used his position as senate leader to dishonestly smear Mitt Romney in the run-up to the 2012 election. Even the reliably liberal Chris Cillizza of the Washington Post is disgusted:
Harry Reid’s appalling defense of his attack on Mitt Romney’s tax record One of the more outlandish moments of the 2012 campaign came when Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid went to the floor of the world's greatest deliberative body and accused GOP nominee Mitt Romney of not paying any taxes at all for the past 10 years. Reid's evidence? Someone had told him. (That "someone" is alleged to be Jon Huntsman, father of the former Utah governor. Huntsman denies involvement.)... And yet, the clip above shows Reid, in an interview with CNN's Dana Bash, not only refusing to apologize for the claim but defending it — in a very weird way.

Posted by New Neo on January 30, 2015 30 Comments
Now that Romney has released a statement to his supporters announcing that he won't be running in 2016, the next question is, to whom will he throw his support and his proven ability to raise money? Many conservatives have long excoriated Romney for not being conservative enough---or not being conservative at all. But I've long thought that his instincts were actually more conservative than he allowed himself to be while the governor of the deep blue state of Massachusetts (although I agree that he's certainly not as conservative as someone like Ted Cruz.) But those wondering about Romney's present intentions might want to pay particular attention to this part of his message:
I believe that one of our next generation of Republican leaders, one who may not be as well known as I am today, one who has not yet taken their message across the country, one who is just getting started, may well emerge as being better able to defeat the Democrat nominee. In fact, I expect and hope that to be the case. I feel that it is critical that America elect a conservative leader to become our next president. You know that I have wanted to be that president. But I do not want to make it more difficult for someone else to emerge who may have a better chance of becoming that president. You can’t imagine how hard it is for Ann and me to step aside, especially knowing of your support and the support of so many people across the country. But we believe it is for the best of the Party and the nation... I believe a Republican winning back the White House is essential for our country, and I will do whatever I can to make that happen...

Posted by Mike LaChance on January 11, 2015 165 Comments
Alright Team Insurrection, it's time for another reader poll. Philip Rucker and Robert Costa of the Washington Post are speculating about a political collision between Jeb Bush and Mitt Romney if they both run in 2016:
For Jeb Bush and Mitt Romney, a history of ambition fuels a possible 2016 collision Jeb Bush and Mitt Romney have much in common. Both were pragmatic as governors, mild-mannered as candidates and more comfortable balancing budgets at their desks than clinking glasses at a political dinner. The two Republican leaders’ personal rapport is cordial. But they are hardly chummy — and at moments their relationship has been strained, with each man’s intertwined political network carrying some grievances with the other’s. As Bush, 61, and Romney, 67, explore presidential campaigns in 2016, they are like boxers warming up for what could become a brutal bout, sizing each other up and mulling whether or when to step into the ring. Their early maneuvering reveals a level of competitiveness and snippiness that stems from a long history following similar career paths in business and politics prescribed by their dynastic families. “We’re seeing the first shots of the war between clan Romney and clan Bush,” said Alex Castellanos, a Republican strategist who has worked for both men. “Both bring to the battle incredibly powerful fan clubs as well as wounds they have to heal. How ugly could it get? You’re only competing to lead the free world.”
This is a fight for money as much as politics and the hunt for big donors is already on.

Posted by Amy Miller on January 09, 2015 24 Comments
During a meeting in New York this week, Mitt Romney told a group of key donors that he is "seriously considering" a third run at the Presidency. According to a source at the meeting, Romney confirmed, "I’ve run twice. Yeah, I want to be president,” and indicated that if he were to jump into the race, he'd do it sooner rather than later. From the Washington Post:
“I believe Mitt Romney is too much of a patriot to sit on the sidelines and concede the presidency to Hillary Clinton or Elizabeth Warren when he knows that he can fix the country,” [Romney’s former national finance co-chairman Spencer] Zwick said. “He traveled the country in 2014, met with voters, met with citizens, and I think at the end of the day he believes he could actually make a difference.” Zwick added, “He won’t make a decision to run for president based on who else is in the race. He will make a decision based on his own desire and his own abilities. He has to decide on his own.” Romney’s move, first reported by the Wall Street Journal, comes as former Florida governor Jeb Bush is swiftly snatching up major party donors and operatives as he prepares for an all-but-certain presidential campaign.
Reactions are...mixed? We'll go with mixed:

Posted by William A. Jacobson on January 08, 2015 21 Comments
Barbara Boxer will be best remembered for dressing down a General during a hearing when he called her "Ma'am": Boxer just announced, via an almost unwatchable video interview with her grandson, that she is retiring at the end of her term in 2016:

Posted by Mike LaChance on October 17, 2014 40 Comments
At a recent appearance in Detroit, a city which is falling apart at the seams after decades of Democratic Party rule, Ms. Clinton stuck up for the Obama administration's auto industry bailouts while making an underhanded jab at Mitt Romney. Dan Merica of CNN reported:
Hillary Clinton subtly swipes at Mitt Romney over auto bailout Hillary Clinton cribbed a page from President Barack Obama's playbook on Thursday by taking a swipe at Mitt Romney's 2008 oped, "Let Detroit Go Bankrupt." At an event outside Detroit, where the former secretary of state endorsed Democrats Mark Schauer and Gary Peters, Clinton spoke glowingly of their support for the 2008 auto bailout that invested billions into the United States struggling auto industry. "Now, they could take the safe way, they could line up with those saying 'Let Detroit go bankrupt,' let manufacturing just wither away," Clinton said to a chorus of boos. "They could be on the side of those who were criticizing what they called government motors." Though Clinton never mentioned Romney by name, the comment appeared to be directed at him, as well as Schauer's and Peters' Republican opponents.

Posted by Amy Miller on September 26, 2014 45 Comments
Will the third time be a charm for Mitt Romney? In a CNN poll run earlier this summer, 53% of Americans said that if the 2012 election were held today, they would vote for Mitt Romney over Barack Obama. (Obama managed to pull in 44% of respondents.) This poll, coupled with a few teasers from interviews with Romney himself, have refueled rumors that Romney is quietly preparing himself for another run at the Presidency. Via Byron York of the Washington Examiner:
That belief is wrong. Romney is talking with advisers, consulting with his family, keeping a close eye on the emerging '16 Republican field, and carefully weighing the pluses and minuses of another run. That doesn't mean he will decide to do it, but it does mean that Mitt 2016 is a real possibility. ... A significant number of Romney's top financial supporters from 2012 have decided not to commit to any other 2016 candidate until they hear a definitive word from Romney. They believe they are doing it with the tacit approval of Romney himself. "Spencer Zwick has never said specifically to everyone to keep your powder dry," says the plugged-in supporter, referring to Romney's former finance chairman who remains very close to Romney. "But the body language, the intonation, and the nuance are absolutely there." So far, Romney's most dedicated supporters do not believe that his disavowals have been anywhere near definitive. They were particularly encouraged in late August, when Romney, in the middle of explaining to radio host Hugh Hewitt why he decided not to run in 2016, seemed -- at Hewitt's prodding -- to open the door just a bit by adding that "circumstances can change."

Posted by Bruce Carroll on August 03, 2014 26 Comments
It's happening again. Just when you think he's gone into the sunset -- the 'Romney in 2016' wave of hysteria sweeps across pundit land. So here we are again this weekend asking ourselves -- Will Mitt be the GOP nominee in 2016? From the FRONT PAGE of The Washington Post today:
“Democrats don’t want to be associated with Barack Obama right now, but Republicans are dying to be associated with Mitt Romney,” said Spencer Zwick, a longtime Romney confidant who chaired his national finance council. He added: “Candidates, campaigns and donors in competitive races are calling saying, ‘Can we get Mitt here?’ They say, ‘We’ve looked at the polling, and Mitt Romney moves the needle for us.’ That’s somewhat unexpected for someone who lost the election.” For a party without a consensus leader — nor a popular elder statesman like Democratic former president Bill Clinton — Romney is stepping forward in both red and blue states to fill that role for the GOP. “There’s a pretty big void in the party right now for national leaders, and Romney’s in a unique position, having been around the track, to help fill that void,” said Scott Reed, a veteran GOP strategist who oversees the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s political operation.
There is nothing wrong -- factually -- with any of the comments made about Romney's current positive profile. But should that (and would it) translate into a successful 2016 run for the two-time loser for President? (McCain beat him in 2008, Obama in 2012) I've been arguing for many months that the total Democratic fixation on Hillary Clinton bodes ill for the bench strength of that party. Yet this constant reanimation of Mitt seems to be set in an opposite environment -- the GOP bench is very strong, especially for 2016 prospects. U.S. Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) fueled this current round of Mitt in 2016 talk in July.

Posted by Bruce Carroll on July 28, 2014 34 Comments
CNN released a poll over the weekend that showed if the 2012 election were held today, Mitt Romney would beat Barack Obama... easily.
According to the poll, if the 2012 election were somehow held again, Romney would capture 53% of the popular vote, with the President at 44%. Obama beat Romney 51%-47% in the popular vote in the 2012 contest. And he won the all-important Electoral College by a wider margin, 332 electoral votes to Romney's 206. Last November, an ABC News/Washington Post survey indicated that if the 2012 election were held again, Romney would have had a 49%-45% edge over Obama in the popular vote.
The usual suspects on the left -- like Oliver Willis at Media Matters -- were out in full force blaming Obama's current unpopularity on CNN itself or a space-time continuum breach of some sort. But as Jay Caruso points out, the answer is pretty simple -- buyer's remorse. Obama just isn't popular anymore. Most Americans still believe the economy stinks and think it is getting worse...
Currently, one in five Americans (20%) say the economy is excellent or good, while 33% say it is poor, resulting in a current conditions index of -13. As for the economy's future, 38% say the economy is getting better, while 56% say it is getting worse, for an economic outlook score of -18 -- the same as the previous week's score.
...and the world seems to be in turmoil not seen in a generation. NBC News' Chuck Todd seems to sum up Obama's dilemma quite well: America is fatigued.
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