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Romney Takes Lead in GOP Field and the Knives Come Out

With frontrunner status comes increased scrutiny. Is that bad news for Mitt Romney?

According to new polls, the former one-term governor of Massachusetts is leading the Republican field in Iowa and New Hampshire. And leading in a big way: the Des Moines Register puts Romney at 30 percent in Iowa, compared to 18 for McCain and 17 for Giuliani. A Zogby poll in New Hampshire shows Romney at 35 percent, with both McCain and Giuliani stuck at 19. Those are leads big enough to withstand the vagaries of public opinion.

A quick aside: Giuliani lost his lofty lead as Republican voters began to hear more and more about his positions on social issues, the conventional wisdom goes. Then how to explain Romney's rise? He previously held all of the same positions as Giuliani -- he's just trying to lie about them while Giuliani is standing for what he believes in. Says a political scientist at Northeastern University in Boston, "After studying presidential nominations for 30 years, I've never seen somebody who has so completely renounced his past record when he decided to run for president." That's what the GOP wants? That's the best they can get?

Anyway. McCain, for one, isn't taking the Romney Rise quite so well. Quotes from the McCain camp include:

"The question for voters is, does a one-term governor from Massachusetts have the foreign policy experience necessary to deal with the challenges of today's world?"

And:

"Mitt Romney has been consistent in one regard: that nearly every position he holds now is opposite of what it was when he was governor of Massachusetts."

So now all the pot shots are directed at Romney, and they will continue to be until someone else takes the lead. I'm sure Romney, Giuliani, and McCain are all loading up attacks on Fred Thompson, should he step into the ring jump out to a strong start. The media scrutiny gets tougher too. AlterNet is slamming Romney for having a poor record on diversity and minorities, and Time recently published "Tongue Tied - Mitt Romney's Top Ten Gaffes." The question for presidential contenders is not who can earn the spotlight, but who can survive it.






Comments

Fred Thompson eats hippies like you for breakfast.

www.fredthompsonnews.com

Hahaha. I truly, truly enjoyed that.

Posted by: Jonathan Stein on 05/23/07 at 10:46 AM  Respond

The MSM and others have been successful at painting Romney as a flip-flopper. Too bad it's simply not true. He governed in Mass. as a complete conservative and the only position he has changed is on abortion, and even then, he was always pro-choice personally. Just goes to show that lies repeated often enough eventually are believed. Romney has to start fighting back a lot harder.

McCain is the true flip-flopper and always has self-interest as his top priority, no matter what it does to the GOP. Fred Thompson has his own changes in positions to explain. If and when he gets in, he is going to get the vitriol now aimed at Romney because they are the only true conservatives in the race who can actually get the nomination.

Posted by: pam on 05/23/07 at 10:50 AM  Respond

Wrong, Romney was a supporter of glbtq rights! Do your research, pam!

Posted by: Austin on 05/23/07 at 11:30 AM  Respond

Dishonest people have been misrepresenting Romney’s stances since before he announced his run for the presidency. This article would have been more aptly named “Business as usual…lies, lies and more lies.”

Posted by: bjalder26 on 05/23/07 at 12:22 PM  Respond

Any politician will say whatever is necessary to get elected. Romney is like all the others, except he is better looking than his close rivals, and hence he will be the GOP candidate. The Democrats are the biggest flip-floppers as evidenced by the Iraq war situation. Senator Clinton comes to mind. The Democrats fooled the American people in the 2006 election and now they are giving Bush everything he wanted. We have been fooled. Vote Green.

Posted by: Latoya on 05/23/07 at 12:38 PM  Respond

Quite frankly, if there ever was a flip-flopper in American politics, its all the candidates both existing and prospective on all sides. Besides, can anyone tell me the difference between a flip-flopper and an open minded person? There isn't any except that the flip-flopper brand sounds worse. Don't fool yourselves. I wonder how many of you people will flip-flop on issues during the course of your lives. If you don't, you have stopped learning, stopped progressing, stopped living...

I love the categories people place politicians in, don't you. This one is a flip-flopper, this one is a baby killer, etc. If issues are so important in a world that is changing so quickly that it is increasingly becoming more difficult for any normal person to keep up, why are there not more candidates signing up to run our nation? Or is everyone so tired of the degrading crap that exists in a political campaign that it makes one puke? Could it be that only those errogant enough to withstand the scrutiny of politics be electable?

It is amazing to me that all I here are that this person is this and that person is that because they believe in something. I am not surprised that Americans for the most part are losing interest in our political process. The answer many Americans are choosing are to not vote for anyone. I can't say as I fault them.

Posted by: American on 05/23/07 at 1:24 PM  Respond

Well Jonathan,

If Romney is "lying" about his "new" positions, then he must really be pro-choice and pro-gay marriage -- and if that's the case, you shouldn't be as upset about it as you evidently are... You should be sending in your contributions and telling all your friends to join the Romney campaign.

It appears that underneath your accusation of lying, you really believe that he is telling the truth, but since you called him a liar for speaking what you yourself believe to be the truth, that actually makes you the liar. Tsk, tsk.

Posted by: Carol N May on 05/23/07 at 1:36 PM  Respond

"He previously held all of the same positions as Giuliani -- he's just trying to LIE about them while Giuliani is standing for what he believes in." It appears that the blogger is being an advocate for Giuliani. I've always assumed that these people(bloggers) can separate their personal feelings and professional responsibilities. But if this is how journalism works inside the beltway, good heavens, count me out. The use of the word "lie" is being morally judgmental. Has the blogger looked into the heart of Romney to make this moral determination? Is this unbiased reporting? It is one thing to blog and another to post.

Posted by: The Society on 05/23/07 at 2:15 PM  Respond

Ask Romney when he was head of the Olympic Commitee in Salt lake City: how many non-mormans were hired to work in any manangement capacity under his venue. Remember that Salt Lake City is 50% non-Morman.

Posted by: Charles D Robbins on 05/23/07 at 2:39 PM  Respond

Why is almost every post pro-Romney??? Liberals know that Romney is the real deal and will reinforce the mighty Reagan Revolution.

Posted by: Mark Thatcher on 05/23/07 at 2:58 PM  Respond

One can see the members at work in this blog

Posted by: JMA on 05/23/07 at 5:03 PM  Respond

Morman? What's a Morman Charles? Acutally, there were scores of individuals working at all levels in the olympics from backgrounds as varied as the people themselves. I should know - I was there. Personally get a little bit of throw-up in the back of my mouth when I read conspericy theorists. I seriously think people just LOVE to hate politicans in general, and I guess it is human nature. But in the case of Romney, the country would be blind deaf and dumb to NOT elect this guy. Ive seen him on a handful of occasions in action and is an absolute larger than life leader. He is a serious threat to all those who makes America weaker (AKA: He is no Nancy-boy Harry Reed, and no Harry-woman Nancy Palosi). ROMNEY FOR PRESIDENT!!!!

Posted by: Bryan Monson on 05/23/07 at 10:37 PM  Respond

I love Austin's shallow comment about Romney supporting LBGT rights. At the time, Gay marriage was not on the list - it was simply not expected to be an issue. Romney simply said that LBGT should not be discriminated against. He didn't think that denial of marriage privleges was discrimination though - just look at his record.

For that matter, look at what he is saying about abortion. He says that the states should have control. Anyone who has read all of the "abortion cases" (Roe, PP, etc.) knows that there was no constitutional right to abortion. This does not mean that it should not be legal (it should), but means that the states should decide. That's Romney's position - that the states should decide. Any lawyer will tell you that this interpretation makes total sense. Anyway, before, he said it should be safe and legal. Well, if Roe v. Wade is overturned, I'm sure the states will figure it out and it will be safe and legal. Romney is really just against things like embryo cloning and harvesting for stem cells - a sick practice if you ask me.

At any rate, we should all ask one question when we think about voting: What will this President actually _DO_?

Romney will at least fix the financial problems of this country. My guess is that this is his only true agenda. If he can pull that off and not screw anything else up, he's got my vote.

Everyone else seems to be a bunch of lip service and empty promises. Seriously, what are they actually going to DO?

Posted by: S. L. on 05/23/07 at 10:55 PM  Respond

I quit reading a post when the writer of it states emphatically that someone is lying (Mitt Romney) without actual proof. Impugning motive takes special genius, of which has not been displayed in this blog entry.

Actually Ronald Reagan used to be a pro-abortion Democrat and George Bush Sr. was pro-abortion also.

John McCain and Giuliani have both changed their positions on several things.

Obviously if people cannot be persuaded to modify, or even completely change one's mind due because of new information presented or new significance needed to already known data or understandings, then it would be called zealous, blind, DOGMATIC orthodoxy such as what the PC left crown in America follows

Posted by: Denny on 05/24/07 at 1:23 AM  Respond

so much blah, blah, blah with this post and yet it's pure nonsense and void of substance. i'm tired of hearing romney's flip-flopping and yet, his supporters are increasing and his poll numbers are growing. can you imagine that?

what a loser and desperate!

Posted by: mikednc on 05/24/07 at 5:38 AM  Respond

Why is it politically correct to have hate speech about Mormans, but not Jewish Zionists? I think that we should apply one standard to all.

Posted by: Sarah F. on 05/24/07 at 8:43 AM  Respond

Mitt Romney is on a roll according to the Chicago Tribune. Here are the highlights: Romney led the GOP 1st quarter fundraising with a staggering $21 million dollars, he received great reviews from the GOP Debates, and now has a double-digit lead in both New Hampshire and Iowa. Also, the article mentions a recent interview with Romney in which he elaborates on the Iraq war:

I think we made a number of miscalculations in the Iraq war," he said, sitting forward in a brown leather club chair. "I think we were under-prepared for what actually existed in Iraq. We were under-planned for what we would do when Saddam Hussein was replaced. We under-managed the troops, so we have created many of the difficulties and extended the conflict longer than may have been necessary.

Personally, I find it refreshing that Romney has taken this approach. Although he has remained loyal to his party and our President, he is not following blindly. He readily admits that errors have been made and also recognizes the challenges that lie ahead. Going hand-in-hand with the war, what I liked most about the interview was the glimpse it provided into one of his most distinguished traits: His keen ability to solve large scale problems.

My approach is a highly deliberative, data-driven approach, drawing on the expertise of people who vehemently disagree with each other, who state their case, who argue their position with data and sound analysis and then following that deliberative process we can make a decision, or if necessary, I can make it alone," he said."That process could have helped us understand better the risks of going into Iraq so that we could have prevented some of the downsides from occurring . . . "At this stage, I spend less time trying to analyze the past and more time trying to assess where we go from here.

Wow! Can you imagine if every President followed this type of problem solving process. George Tenet would have been out of the job a lot earlier and our Country would be in a very different position today.

After speaking of Romney's accomplishments and accolades the author poses this question: "The question for voters is, does a one-term governor from Massachusetts have the foreign policy experience necessary to deal with the challenges of today's world?"

The answer to this question has to be a resounding, YES. Let's face it, no candidate or individual for that matter, can have a complete understanding of all the aspects of America's foreign policy, as it is becoming increasingly more complex in the post 9-11 world. For example, America is trying to develop and maintain international relationships, remain the world's economic power, find alternative energy sources, and fight the war on terror in a region chock full of languages, customs, and histories. For one man to have a monopoly on all the solutions to these ever changing problems is unrealistic.

That being said, I find it interesting when candidates claim or try to pass themselves off as the foremost expert on America's foreign policy and or National Security. Admittedly, some individuals may have some experience in these areas. For instance, Romney confronted these issues head on during the Salt Lake City Olympics. Yet, rather than a few experiences under a belt, I want someone who is willing to and capable of gathering expert opinions that both support and differ from his own. I want a President who is humble and intelligent enough to admit when he is wrong, while at the same time being competent and courageous enough to make a clear unwavering decision when faced with an imperative issue.

If one studies the candidates they will realize that no individual running for President has more experience at problem solving than Governor Mitt Romney. He did it in the private sector as a venture capitalist, voluntarily as a CEO of the SLC Olympics, and as a Governor in Massachusetts. What this Country needs right now is a President who can turnaround America at both the domestic and foreign level; and Mitt Romney has the track record to do just that.

(marylandersformitt.blogspot.com)

Posted by: Aaron on 05/24/07 at 10:33 AM  Respond

One thing that seems clear about Romney to me (I'm British) is that he's just like Tony Blair. (If you were British you'd realise that this isn't good) Romney will clearly say anything and sell out anybody (Larry Craig anyone?) in order to be president. I don't think he has lied about his positions and principles, in order to do that you have to have them in the first place.

Posted by: Ejaz Farooqui on 10/20/07 at 7:41 AM  Respond

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