comMITTed to Romney!

by Dan Nowicki
The Arizona Republic

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney’s recent endorsement of Arizona Sen. John McCain’s re-election was widely viewed as another sign of how far the relationship between the two fierce rivals from the 2008 Republican presidential primaries has evolved.

More cynical observers noted that Romney, a leading GOP 2012 White House prospect, likely wants to remain on the good side of McCain, his party’s 2008 nominee.

But to some in the camp of Senate challenger J.D. Hayworth, Romney’s embrace of McCain came as a personal blow.

Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, perhaps Hayworth’s highest-profile ally in the state, previously was Romney’s honorary Arizona campaign chairman, going so far as to stump for Romney and against McCain in the key early presidential-race states of Iowa and New Hampshire.

Arpaio said Romney’s decision to back McCain won’t diminish his respect for him.

“If he runs again, I’m sure he would like to have McCain support him,” Arpaio said. “Is that how politics operates? One day you’re on one side, and the next day you’re on the other side?”

Jason Rose, Hayworth’s campaign spokesman and political consultant, was Romney’s state director during the 2008 race.

“Governor Romney is a good man who would make a great president,” Rose said in an e-mail when asked about Romney’s choice of McCain over Hayworth.

Meanwhile, a Facebook group called “Mitt Romney Supporters for J.D. Hayworth” as of late Friday had 137 members, including Hayworth himself.

In other developments:

• Local “tea party” activists apparently aren’t totally sold on Hayworth as a conservative alternative to the more moderate McCain. Organizers of four tea-party groups in Phoenix, Tucson, Flagstaff and Mohave County issued a joint statement Monday saying they are declining to endorse in the GOP Senate primary.

“The Tea Party is a non-partisan, grass-roots movement that stands for limited government, free markets, and fiscal responsibility,” Tucson Tea Party co-founder Robert Mayer said in a written statement. “Both McCain and Hayworth’s records during their many years in Washington leave much to be desired on these issues.”

But Hayworth still can point to local tea-party support - many in attendance at his Feb. 15 campaign kickoff identified themselves with the movement - and he recently did secure the endorsement of the national group TaxDay TeaParty.com.

• Rep. Charles Rangel’s ethics troubles have prompted three House Democrats from Arizona to jettison campaign cash linked to the embattled New York Democrat.

Rep. Harry Mitchell returned $28,000 and Rep. Gabrielle Giffords donated $21,000 to veterans groups, aides confirmed. Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick relinquished $14,000, the Associated Press reported.

Rangel, under fire for multiple ethics issues, on Wednesday said he was stepping aside as chairman of the prestigious House Ways and Means Committee.

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Romney on Letterman

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CBN News
By: David Brody

Mitt Romney, who is clearly positioning himself for a 2012 run at the White House starts his book tour this week.

The book is called “No apology: The case for American greatness.”

Despite the rumor, it is not called “Mitt Romney Goes Rogue”. That’s Palin territory. And it is not called, “I’m a Mormon. Deal With It.”

Anyhow, this media blitz looks like a presidential campaign schedule. He’s going to 19 states and among them are the political hot bed states of Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, Florida, Pennsylvania and Nevada.

The Romney campaign says the former Massachusetts governor will stop by The Brody File for an interview.

I promised that we would have bagels and lox in the green room for him. Not sure if he cares but that would be a big draw for my family members.

Quick Brody File straw poll. You like salted or unsalted lox?

http://blogs.cbn.com/thebrodyfile/archive/2010/03/01/romneys-presidential-book-tour.aspx

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Palm Beach Daily News

By MICHELE DARGAN
Daily News Staff Writer

Saturday, February 27, 2010

The Palm Beach Republican Club will host former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney March 7.

The 2008 Republican presidential candidate will appear at a reception, lecture and book signing at 5 p.m. at the Marriott West Palm Beach, 1001 Okeechobee Blvd.

Romney will sign copies of his book No Apology: The Case for American Greatness.

The event is open to the public at $95 per person. The price includes the reception and photographs, one beverage ticket, lecture and one book.

The club also is organizing another gathering after the public event: dinner with Romney at a private home in Palm Beach. That ticket is $500 each, which includes all of the above plus dinner in a small setting. There is a limited number of tickets available for the dinner.

R.S.V.P. by Wednesday. Send a check payable to The Palm Beach Republican Club, P.O. Box 2622, Palm Beach, FL 33480.

Call 655-5545 or 644-4229.

http://www.palmbeachdailynews.com/news/content/news/2010/02/27/briefromney022710.html?cxtype=rss&cxsvc=7&cxcat=7

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PUBLIC POLICY POLLING

Mitt Romney is the early preference, by a small margin, among Republican voters in both Texas and New Mexico to be their 2012 nominee for President.

In Texas he gets 32% with Mike Huckabee right behind at 29%, and Sarah Palin further back at 23%. In New Mexico he receives 33% to 32% for Palin and 18% for Huckabee.

The internals of these polls suggests a path to the nomination for Romney: stay competitive among conservative voters while holding a large lead with moderates. In Texas the three are bunched up among conservatives with Huckabee leading at 32% to 30% for Romney and 27% for Palin. But Romney’s blowing the other two out of the water with moderates, getting 40% to 22% for Huckabee and 13% for Palin.

It’s a similar story in New Mexico. Palin leads Romney 34-31 with conservatives, but Romney has the overall advantage thanks to a 37-29 advantage with moderates.

In each state Romney is particularly strong with senior citizens, who tend to comprise a large portion of the Republican primary electorate. He has an 11 point lead over Huckabee with them in Texas and 13 point lead over Palin with them in New Mexico.

One of the more interesting things about Palin’s numbers is that she performs worse with women than men in both states. In New Mexico she gets 33% from men and 31% from women, while in Texas she gets 26% from men and 21% from women. It doesn’t appear she’d be able to count on a boost from Republican women in a hypothetical White House bid.

Obviously it’s incredibly early and things will change a lot between now and 2012, but it’s a good sign for Romney to have even this small early advantage in a couple of states that are a long way from home.

http://publicpolicypolling.blogspot.com/2010/02/good-numbers-for-romney.html

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I am thrilled to share some exciting news. The Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association Political Action Committee today announced its endorsement of my campaign for Governor.

The Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association is among the most respected and effective public policy organizations fighting for hardworking Californians. The association is the state’s largest grassroots taxpayer organization with more than 200,000 members. There is no organization that better understands the relationship between low taxes and individual prosperity.

I am honored and grateful to receive the endorsement.

“High taxes and out-of-control spending have pushed state government to the brink of bankruptcy, and we need strong leadership to put California back on track,” Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association President Jon Coupal said. “Meg Whitman is the only fiscal conservative in the race, and her commitment to cutting spending and eliminating waste, fraud and abuse is the way to restore prosperity to the Golden State.”

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Boston, MA - A longtime aide of Mitt Romney is considering a challenge of Martha Coakley in the Fall for Attorney General.

Peter Flaherty is a former prosecutor and is considering a run at Coakley. Flaherty was an assistant district attorney in Suffolk County under District Attorneys Newman Flanagan and Ralph Martin.

Peter Flaherty served as deputy manager of Romney’s 2008 presidential campaign. He then served as the director of Romney’s new national political vehicle, the Free and Strong America PAC.

The Boston Globe quoted Flaherty recently:

“I’ve been approached by several people, and I’ve told them I’m flattered by their interest, and it’s something I’m going to discuss at length with my family.”

http://beforeitsnews.com/story/19439/Longtime_Mitt_Romney_Aide_to_Challenge_Martha_Coakley.html

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POLITICO

One of the first big moves of 2012 — Mitt Romney Names Matt Rhoades PAC Executive Director:

BOSTON — Mitt Romney’s Free and Strong America PAC announced today that Matt Rhoades, who has held senior positions on major presidential campaigns and at the Republican National Committee, will serve as the PAC’s executive director. … ‘He’s been a friend and an adviser for several years now and I’m pleased that he has agreed to run the day-to-day operations of my Free and Strong America PAC. He shares with me the view that 2010 is going to be a critical election year, with many races and lots of opportunities to elect Republican candidates,’ said Governor Romney.

“Rhoades is currently a Vice President with DCI Group … He replaces Peter Flaherty, who will become a Senior Adviser to the PAC. He previously served as Communications Director for Romney’s 2008 presidential campaign … During the 2006 election cycle, Rhoades was a Deputy Communications Director in charge of research for the Republican National Committee. He also was Research Director for the 2004 Bush/Cheney re-election campaign. Rhoades also has held the position of White House Liaison at the U.S. Office of Personnel Management in the Bush Administration. Prior to that, he was an Associate Director in the White House Presidential Personnel Office. He holds a B.A. from Syracuse University and an M.A. from George Washington University.”

Rhoades, a big J-E-T-S fan, will be moving to Red Sox Nation.

Kevin Madden: “Matt is one of those rare professionals who blends strategic thinking with a superb management style. The governor has a lot of respect for and confidence in Matt and his leadership abilities. Those sentiments are widely shared by everyone counted as part of the Romney team.”

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Watch on You Tube

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Take a listen to Mitt Romney easily parry the reporter’s loaded questions on this YouTube video from August, 2008. It reminds me why I believe that Gov. Romney is the most qualified candidate for President in 2012. Can you think of anyone else who can handle these financial and tax questions with such ease?

After four long years of political drift and massive deficits, we are going to have to unite behind the “best businessman in North America,” as CNBC’s Jim Cramer said a couple of years ago. We can’t afford the luxury of anymore bone-headed experiments in socialism in this country. We are going to have to return to the discipline of the “profit and loss” statement. If any proposal, from either party, can’t be proven to be deficit-neutral, the automatic answer is “No!”

~~John Cronin~~

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IMPACT: Far from a disappointment

To the editor:

Hudson Todd is correct in his analysis that this year’s IMPACT Symposium does not feature a Democrat. However, the lineup that the Speakers Committee developed over the last six months has depth and promises to be the most compelling IMPACT in several years. Both major parties are sympathetic to capitalism, and, as such, the committee needed to go beyond the labels of Republican and Democrat, as we have many times in the past, to find speakers who would cause us to ask the deepest question: Is capitalism right?

The goal of our committee was to focus on a domestic issue for this year’s IMPACT, as the past few years have dealt with foreign policy. We selected former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney as the keynote because he has the experience of an American businessman and politician. He was CEO of Bain & Company, a management-consulting firm, not to mention a former presidential candidate and a strong contender for the Republican nomination in 2012. Yes, he will present a more conservative economic dialogue, but we hope that his perspective will be refreshing and balanced.

As for the evening with journalist John Stossel and former presidential candidate and consumer advocate Ralph Nader, it will not be a “debate.” It will be a point-counterpoint discussion that will provide two unique outlooks on the current economic situation and what the future looks like for our capitalist system. We hope that following this event students will take both the positions and information provided to them and form their own opinions. We have chosen two speakers who are radically opposed in their viewpoints in an attempt to cover the entire spectrum during the discussion. The tradition of IMPACT is to have controversial discussions about current events, and Speakers Committee expects Stossel and Nader to disagree with each other in the spirit of this tradition.

Stossel will not be discussing global warming, and Nader will not be dwelling on his presidential campaigns. Their discussion, as well as Romney’s speech, will focus entirely on the American economy and its future. Since 1964 IMPACT Symposium has enhanced the political dialogue on campus by inviting diverse speakers. This year’s symposium follows up on last year’s (which did not feature a Republican) in returning IMPACT to its great days of the 1960s and 1970s.

In one year, IMPACT hosted Stokley Carmichael, Martin Luther King Jr. and Strom Thurmond, and the committee more recently convinced Ann Coulter and Al Sharpton to share a stage. We’ve also brought Bobby Kennedy, George H.W. Bush and Margaret Thatcher to campus. The Speakers Committee invites everyone to join us for what is expected to be another animated, enlightening symposium.

Ralph Nader and John Stossel will speak on March 30, followed by Mitt Romney on March 31. Both events are free and will take place in Langford Auditorium. All attendees of the Mitt Romney event will receive a copy of his new book “No Apology: The Case for American Greatness.”

Ethel Mickey
Speakers Committee

http://www.insidevandy.com/drupal/node/12789

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If you are a conservative or a center-right voter, take the time to watch this excellent YouTube video that exposes the smears and outright lies that were used to prevent Gov. Romney from winning the nomination of the Republican Party and thereby ushering into power someone who looks like a man on track to become the worst President in the history of the Unites States of America.

~~John Cronin~~

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[Here's an excerpt from an email I received from Carly Fiorina's campaign.}

Last week, America turned to Washington to tune in to the President’s State of the Union address and his budget proposal. We were promised hope for a path through these difficult economic times; we wanted change from Washington’s status quo. Unfortunately, we got neither.

As I was talking to Californians this week, I heard people say again and again how tired they are of Washington’s rhetoric and lack of real action. Barbara Boxer and her colleagues say they will fight for you and me, but they waved the white flag a long time ago when it comes to saying no to the special interests.

We don’t need another career politician in Washington. We need common-sense problem solvers who will put the needs of Californians first. As a U.S. Senator, I will stand up for California and remind Washington who is really in charge: you.

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Today, Feb.4, 2010 at 5PM Eastern, newly elected Massachusetts Republican Senator Scott Brown will take his seat in the U.S. Senate.

He originally had planned to take his seat Feb.11, but a series of votes is on the Senate calendar and Sen. Brown decided he couldn’t take the chance on missing an important vote. In my opinion, given this Congress’ shameful record of passing major legislation on weekends and slipping in toxic 300 page amendments in the dead of night, Sen. Brown has made a wise choice. If we have learned anything over the course of the last year, it is that this collection of tax and power hungry politicians can not be trusted with anything that is not welded to the floor.

We have witnessed history in the making over the course of the last several weeks and some of us have actually participated in that history. Scott Brown’s “Brigade” was a group of grassroots activists in MA. and from around the country who rose up spontaneously, much like the Tea Party movement. It has been the best civics lesson that I have ever had, to be a part of a group of free Americans, exercising our Constitutionally guaranteed rights to help steer the country back from the edge of the cliff, a cliff that Obama and his hard left enablers in Congress were trying to push us over.

Of course, none of this would have happened without the courage and vision of two men. Mitt Romney and Scott Brown.

Mitt Romney, because of his foresight and dedication. Scott Brown because of his courage and willingness to buck the MA. Democratic machine.

Gov. Romney endorsed Scott Brown in October of 2009, when Scott had the proverbial snowball’s chance in a hot place to beat Martha “Landslide” Coakley and her armies of union and out-of-state campaign workers. That move was the essence of political leadership. Romney came out for Scott Brown before he became the hottest commodity in Washington or anyplace else for that matter.

No one on the national scene had ever heard of Sen. Brown at that point, but Gov. Romney used his unique knowledge of Massachusetts politics to pluck Scott from the state Senate and encourage him to run for the “Kennedy seat,” or as Scott famously put it, the “people’s seat.”

Gov. Romney then used his vaunted fund raising ability to help provide the seed money for Scott’s campaign and a group of Romney political operatives then swung into action to advise Scott on tactics and branding. They did a masterful job of that, winning convincingly in a state that has an Independent registration of 50% of the electorate and a 3 to 1 Democrat advantage.

In the process of helping to elect Scott Brown to the U.S. Senate, Mitt Romney did more than any one person I can think of, with the possible exception of Scott Brown himself, to spare this country from the tender mercies of Obamacare. The significance of what happened in this special election may not have dawned on many people yet. We have seen the emergence of a strong, disciplined and a very effective opposition to the hard Left in this country.

I think it is highly ironic that the same people who tried in vain to label Mitt Romney a “flip-flopper” on abortion are strangely quiet these days. Where were you folks when the MA. election was coming down to the wire? You had plenty to say in 2007-2008 when Gov. Romney was running in the primaries and you were constantly informing the rest of us that Mitt was a johnny-come-lately to the pro-life camp. It’s unfortunate that you didn’t use some of that lung power to make calls from home to help Brown get elected and stop Obamacare from permanently funding abortion with your tax dollars.

So, the man who was derided as not having pro-life bona fides, who had allegedly taken the position only to court the Right Wing of the Republican Party, is the man who helped stop Obamacare dead in it’s tracks. In the process of achieving this historic win, Gov. Romney has worked to ensure that everyone in the medical profession who believes that abortion is morally wrong can continue to work in the field that they love. He has ensured that the monstrous taxes contained within this bill will not be implemented in an already weak economy.

As we move toward the 2010 elections, Gov. Romney will continue his role in rebuilding the Party and in the process, staking his richly deserved claim to the Republican Presidential nomination!

~~John Cronin~~

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