ComMITTed to Romney!

http://news.bostonherald….rticleid=100043

By Dave Wedge
Monday, August 29, 2005 - Updated: 10:02 AM EST

William F. Weld may be gearing up for a run for New York governor but it is Bay State Gov. Mitt Romney who has scored a plum speaking gig at the Big Apple’s most influential conservative think tank.

Romney, who is expected to make a 2008 presidential run, will speak next month at New York City’s posh Harvard Club to members of the elite Manhattan Institute. The think tank is home to many of the city’s political movers and shakers and is a close ally of Romney’s potential 2008 GOP opponent, former New York mayor Rudolph Giuliani.

“Our institution liked his ideas and asked him to speak and he accepted,” Manhattan Institute press officer Clarice Smith said of Romney’s Sept. 12 engagement.

Asked if former Massachusetts Gov. Weld would address the Institute in the future, Smith said: “That may be something for us down the line, but right now, no.”

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http://msnbc.msn.com/id/9086489/

http://video.msn.com/video/p.htm?f=00%2f64&t=1&p=News_Comment%20-%20Analysis&i=411dd265-da2b-4402-a62f-e1a466176499&rf=
Above is the direct link to the video feed from MSNBC.

Our Future President Mitt Romney on Hardball with Chris Matthews

[Commentary]
You have to love how Romney tells it like he feels on issues. Also, that grin when being asked if he’s running for President. Priceless!

CHRIS MATTHEWS: Do you think there’s any difference, really, between a gay marriage and something called a civil union?

GOV. MITT ROMNEY, MASSACHUSETTS: Well, I would rather have neither, to tell you the truth. I’d rather that domestic partner benefits, such as hospital - hospital visitation rights for same-sex couples. I don’t want civil unions or gay marriage.

But there is a difference, even when just the word is the difference. And the difference is that, if you indicate as a society that you’re indifferent between a same-sex couple marrying and a heterosexual couple marrying, then it means our schools and other institutions are going to have to indicate that there is no difference whatsoever, and that obviously has societal consequences that are important.

MATTHEWS: You mean if we called it marriage II or barriage or come up with some other word, and yet the law was exactly the same, that would be significant?

ROMNEY: Well, I’m not sure we are going to come up with a different word.

But if you say that the society is entirely indifferent between whether you have heterosexuals or homosexual couples marrying, then how do you justify, for instance, having birth certificates that include the names of mothers and fathers? We have same-sex couples in my state now saying, we ought to remove mother and father from our birth certificate, instead saying parent A and parent B.

We have schools that believe that it’s inappropriate to consider mother and father in textbooks. Some have said that that’s two hetero-centrist.

MATTHEWS: Yes.

ROMNEY: And so, you know, I think it’s appropriate for us to indicate that we do care as a society and that marriage is a relationship preserved for a man and a woman.

MATTHEWS: Help me understand Massachusetts politics here. Is it a battle between a very hyped-up, passionate interest group, gay people and their supporters, against a sort of a vague opposition to it … tell me, what is it? What is the politics of this issue? Why doesn’t the state of Massachusetts, through its elected officials, simply overrule the Supreme Court up there and say, there’s not going to be any gay marriage; I don’t care what some judge says about the Constitution written 200 years ago? Why don’t they just do that?

ROMNEY: Well, well, as you know, it’s not that easy. When a court overreaches its bounds and decides to legislate from the bench, it’s pretty hard to overturn that.

In our case, we have to pass a constitutional amendment. And my legislature is in, some respects, liberal. It has a conservative wing as well. But the liberal wing is fighting very hard for same-sex marriage or its legal equivalent, civil union. And so, as this has gone before the legislature in the past, they’ve said that the people ought to decide. I agree with them. Let’s let the people decide.

So, we will have a constitutional convention this year. Hopefully, the decision of our legislature will be to let the people decide. And, specifically, I hope that people will be able to decide that neither civil union, nor same-sex marriage is legal in Massachusetts.

MATTHEWS: If they end up agreeing on a civil union solution, would you continue to fight for change to go back to the original man-and-a-woman proposition?

ROMNEY: Well, yes. I’m going to want to see a marriage limited to a man and a woman. I don’t want to see civil union either.

Of course, if we find ourselves in a setting where the only choice is between civil union and marriage, I will prefer civil union. But I would prefer neither.

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http://www.patrickruffini…st_straw_po.php

It’s that time again. Go and vote for Mitt again!

http://www.boston.com/new…y%2FRegion+News

[Analysis]
I know that the poll numbers haven’t been great for Romney lately i.e. McCain is ahead in both New Hampshire and Massachusetts. But, polls are about as reliable as weather forecasts. I think that Mitt is doing a great job at laying foundations right now. He’s made several trips to key battleground states that he will need to win the nomination. If he can get the New Hampshire governorship into the red column in 2006, it will bode very well for him come 2008. Next month he heads to Michigan for a major republican get together, and I strongly believe that Michigan can go red in 2008 if the nominee is Mitt Romney. Time will tell and that we have a lot of.

By Scott S. Greenberger, Globe Staff | August 17, 2005

Dispirited by their loss of the governor’s mansion last year, New Hampshire Republicans have finally found a champion they hope will help them retake the top job in the Granite State in 2006: Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney.

In June, Romney worked the crowd at a Republican women’s dinner in Manchester, and last weekend he discussed the upcoming New Hampshire governor’s race with GOP leaders at his summer home on Lake Winnipesaukee. At the end of this month, he will attend a fund-raising picnic in Nashua, and next month he’ll raise more campaign cash by hosting 300 GOP activists at his house in Wolfeboro.

Romney’s aides say he is fulfilling his role as vice chairman of the Republican Governors Association, which is to help elect and reelect GOP governors. But as Romney helps his fellow Republicans up north, he is sowing good will that could yield political fruit if he runs for president in 2008.

”The fact that we’ve got someone who seems to resonate with a broad spectrum of Republicans, and to have him next door? Gee whiz, we’d be happy if he was up here quite a bit,” said Warren Henderson, who chairs the New Hampshire party. ”He’s among those who is in a particularly good position to do us some good, and we’re grateful for the time he can give to us.”

At least one prospective presidential candidate, US Senate majority leader Bill Frist, has appeared at more New Hampshire GOP events than Romney; in the spring, Frist made five appearances on three separate trips. But Tom Rath, the state’s national committeeman, said that Romney and his staff have been especially receptive to requests for help. Rath noted that Romney’s spokeswoman, Julie Teer, has extensive campaign experience in New Hampshire and knows all the key players in the state.

”He’s a good draw. People like him, they’re interested in him. And there’s a familiarity with him because of his frequent appearances on television in the southern part of the state,” Rath said yesterday. ”The word of mouth that follows an event he does is uniformly positive.”

Rath said most New Hampshire Republicans are focused not on the 2008 presidential race but rather on denying Democratic Governor John Lynch another two-year term in 2006. But he said Romney is wise to burnish his reputation in the state, since it may prevent some activists from committing to other candidates.

”I think very few people, despite some of the things you hear, have really made up their minds” on whether to run for president in 2008, Rath said.

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http://hnn.us/blogs/entries/14259.html

Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney is one of the more interesting presidential candidates to follow in the coming months. While there are numerous challenges that Romney needs to confront (such as whether Americans would vote for a Mormon president; the possibility that his opponents will destroy him on flip-flops regarding abortion; and the fragile state economy), Romney offers something extremely attractive to the GOP: a charismatic Blue State Republican.

http://news.yahoo.com/new…lo_WCVB/2889328

Gov. Mitt Romney said Thursday it will be fall before he announces whether or not he’ll run for re-election or run for the White House. NewsCenter 5’s Janet Wu sat down with Romney to give him a chance to respond to critics who say he’s been an absentee leader.

http://wire.jacksonville….5/3225094.shtml

[Commentary]
Just thinking about this story gave me goosebumps. I am going to work tirelessly to make this become a reality.

A marine patrol boat passes Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney’s summer house on Lake Winnipesaukee in Wolfeboro, N.H., Tuesday Aug. 2, 2005. Speculation of Romney’s run for president, and winning, has residents of the small resort town wondering if Wolfeboro will turn like Kennebunkport, Maine, when George H.W. Bush became president. (AP Photo/Jim Cole)

BEVERLEY WANG
Associated Press Writer

WOLFEBORO, N.H. � Like a lot of Massachusetts residents, Gov. Mitt Romney prefers New Hampshire in the summertime. He spends as many summer weekends as he can at his 11-acre Lake Winnipesaukee estate, which boasts more than 700 feet of waterfront, a six-bedroom mansion, stable, guest quarters and a boathouse, which at 2,700 square feet is bigger than most people’s homes.

By all accounts, the Romneys are good neighbors � amiable and low key. And Wolfeboro, an old resort town where locals take pride in not fussing over wealthy and celebrity residents, seems to suit Romney, a Republican who made a fortune as a venture capitalist before becoming governor in 2003. Except for the Massachusetts state trooper discreetly shadowing him, he’s just another millionaire browsing the hardware store or eating soft-serve ice cream.

That won’t be the case if Romney, whose term expires next year, follows through on signs he will run for president in 2008 � and wins.

“Just wait. It will be a massive change,” says Donald Fiske, head selectman in Kennebunkport, Maine, which was President George H.W. Bush’s summer White House from 1989-92. “I would say to Wolfeboro, you don’t really know what the possibilities are of how your town will be affected.”

Wolfeboro, population 6,500, has hosted its share of the rich and famous: Monaco’s Prince Rainier and Princess Grace, Drew Barrymore, Madame Chiang Kai-shek, and members of the Black & Decker and Marriott hotel clans all have (or had) connections to the area. Former Republican Sen. Bob Dole vacationed in Wolfeboro in 1993. Three years later he lost the New Hampshire primary to Pat Buchanan, though he went on to win the GOP nomination.

But veterans of “Kennebushport,” 76 miles to the northeast, say no amount of Hollywood exposure can prepare a town for the crush of security around a summer White House.

George Herbert Walker Bush, known as ‘41′ around Kennebunkport, has spent nearly every summer of his life at his family’s oceanfront property there. But the easy familiarity with the boy who played in the summer baseball league was a distant memory by the time he became president, said Fiske, 64.

“Everything ground to a halt if he was going to play golf or if he was on the move to the airport,” Fiske said. He remembers the scene: helicopters overhead, Coast Guard cutters offshore, Secret Service snipers watching the town square, media vans everywhere. Locals got used to checklists and traffic stops. Lobstermen, tired of having their boats searched, stopped throwing traps in a cove near Bush’s home.

Tourism and businesses benefited, but Kennebunkport also was targeted by activist groups, and it took more than a year for the federal government to reimburse the town for police overtime costs, Fiske said.

He said Kennebunkport gets a reminder of those days whenever ‘43,’ President George W. Bush, pays a visit.

“The town goes into a lockdown form of protectiveness when 43’s around,” Fiske said. “That is where Wolfeboro will see the major difference. It’s going to be the protective walls that are necessary to be around the president of the United States.”

The next president won’t be sworn in until January 2009, so Wolfeboro officials aren’t losing any sleep yet.

“I push it aside, thinking, well, ‘I’ll wait ’til it happens,’” said Selectwoman Shirley Ganem. “It would be exciting but it would also be a strain � bittersweet.”

Police Chief Brian Black said he’ll be in touch with Kennebunkport police if Romney becomes a serious candidate.

If he decides to run for president, Romney’s Wolfeboro compound would give him a second home in the state with the first-in-the nation presidential primary.

Wolfeboro also is a GOP town: registered Republicans outnumber registered Democrats by a ratio of more than 2-to-1. Democrat John Kerry won New Hampshire in last year’s general election, but President Bush won Wolfeboro, 2,343-1,798.

“He’s a very nice, amiable fellow,” said Gordon Hunt, owner of the hardware store where Romney occasionally shops.

Romney earned some gratitude two years ago when he and two of his sons raced to the rescue of six people whose boat sank in the lake. That same summer Massachusetts State Police marked a 250-foot security border in the water around Romney’s property. The markers were removed after people complained to New Hampshire authorities.

“The goodwill was a little bit strained,” Ganem said

http://groups.yahoo.com/g…neyIn2008/polls

[Commentary]
Please go to http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ElectRomneyIn2008/polls, and vote for who would be Mitt Romney’s best running mate. If you have not registered for the group, what better time than now to do so. After registration you’ll then be able to vote. Also, feel free to comment on this thread here.

http://www.dailynewstrans…&format=&page=1

[Analysis]
Most people cringe when they hear about immigration. But, normally it’s because of the illegal kind. Romney in the following article is speaking about the legal kind. The kind of immigration that makes this country great. He made several good points that I will highlight.

By Cyndi Roy / State House News Service
Wednesday, August 10, 2005

BOSTON — While border states like California and Arizona struggle to combat illegal immigration, Massachusetts should encourage more legal foreigners to settle here by providing them with the tools to live successfully, Gov. Mitt Romney said yesterday.

At a press conference to introduce Pierre Imbert as the new director of the state Office of Refugees and Immigrants, Romney said Massachusetts does not have the same problems with illegal immigration that other states face. The challenge for Massachusetts is educating and training legal newcomers so they can contribute to the well being of the state, he said.

“I’d like to see more legal immigrants come to Massachusetts, not less,” Romney said. “In terms of illegal immigration, I think it’s relative to some other states. It’s not a major problem of the same scale in our state. Our focus is instead on encouraging, in every way possible, legal immigration, refugees coming here, and supporting those people to become integrated in our society so that we can learn from them and they can become a vibrant part of our economy and of our society.”

Massachusetts was the only state to lose population last year, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Had it not been for the influx of foreign-born residents, the state also would have lost residents in the previous four years, according to the MassINC report. The Census Bureau recently projected Massachusetts will remain totally dependent on immigrants for all of its population growth over the remainder of this decade.

Some areas of immigration policy have become a controversial issue for state leaders as of late. Lawmakers have criticized Romney for opposing legislation that would allow children of illegal immigrants to attend a state college at lower in-state tuition rates. Romney opposes the bill because he says it rewards immigrants for coming here illegally.

Imbert said a top goal is to make Massachusetts a welcoming place for future immigrants.

“When you look at all the various troubled spots in the world, you can rest assured that Massachusetts is going to be called up on to open its arms to refugees,” he said.

� Copyright 2005 State House News Service

[Analysis]
I believe this to be the key that will get Mr. Romney elected. If he can pick up Michigan in the red column, which he definitely could do he would stand a great chance of being elected President. I also believe it will have a “spill over” affect in that other midwestern states that didn’t go red last time, ie. Wisconsin could also go red.

By Scott S. Greenberger, Globe Staff | August 12, 2005

Governor Mitt Romney will speak at a major gathering of Michigan Republicans next month, in his third trip since March to an early primary state that would be crucial for him if he runs for president in 2008.

Michigan could prove to be friendly territory for Romney if he seeks the presidency. He grew up in Bloomfield Hills, a tony Detroit suburb, and his father, George, a moderate Republican who served as governor of Michigan from 1963 to 1969, is fondly remembered there.