Romney criticizes Perry after raising money in his state
Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney gestures during a business roundtable at a local car dealership, Wednesday, Sept. 14, 2011, in Tucson, Ariz.
/ Ross D. FranklinUpdated 10:05 p.m. ET
TUCSON, Ariz. -- One day after staging a fundraising raid on Texas Gov. Rick Perry's home state, Mitt Romney courted business audience here on Wednesday, making his first visit of the 2012 campaign to a state where Gov. Jan Brewer just moved up next year's presidential primary date.
In a meeting where he fielded questions from a group of about 40 business leaders, Romney emphasized his business credentials and let slip that he had spent the previous day in Perry territory - raising money in Dallas and Houston.
As he has through most of his campaign, Romney continued to train his sharpest criticism on President Obama, calling Tuesday's GOP victories in two special congressional elections votes of no-confidence in the administration's economic policies.
"He said let me borrow $800 billion to stimulate the economy and then I'll hold unemployment below eight percent, and it has not been below eight percent since," said Romney. "By his own definition, he's failed. So give someone else a chance. And obviously I hope to be that person. Because what I do is what the country needs. . . I do turnarounds." The reference was to Romney's experience at Bain Capital, an investment firm he co-founded.
Romney also criticized Obama's Middle East policy, a factor in the New York City congressional race that Democrats lost Tuesday in a district with a heavy concentration of Jewish voters. Obama's efforts to push Israel to a peace agreement that would include a retreat to the Jewish state's pre-1967 borders have backfired, Romney argued. "When you are not committed to your allies and those who share your values, you encourage adventurism," he said. "I think Jewish American citizens have been disturbed by the president's policies with regard to Israel."
Among his GOP presidential opponents, Romney mentioned only one by name - his chief rival, Rick Perry, alluding to their differences on immigration. Romney repeated his call to "secure the border," a subject on which he has clashed with Perry during the last two Republican debates. Romney favors a border fence. Perry, who oversees 1,200 miles of border with Mexico, contends that's impractical. The two also have disagreed over Perry's decision to provide tuition breaks to children of illegal immigrants.
"I'd like people to come here legally," Romney told the crowd. "Those who come here legally tend to start more businesses."
It was a strategic message in a state that enacted one of the most stringent crackdowns on illegal immigrants last year (later largely rolled back by a federal court) and Brewer just announced plans to move the presidential primary to Feb. 28, potentially making her state a key player in the presidential eliminations process.
Romney appeared to have been a hit with at least one member of the audience. "We were actually liking Rick Perry. But after the last two debates, we said, we're switching, that's it," one man told Romney after the event. "He couldn't have done what you did today, inviting people to put him on the spot."
Correction: An earlier version of this post misstated how much Romney said Obama borrowed.
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Unlike Perry, who had a GPA of 2.55 at Texas A&M, Romney graduated in the top 5% of his class with both a JD & MBA at Harvard. So allegations that he's not smart or has bad judgement say more about the writer than Romney.
He went from getting his first paycheck to a net worth upwards of $300 million in 25 years. How many people do you know who can do that? Not Obama, not you or me, or we wouldn't be blogging.
You must not have heard him speak. He's articulate. He's knowledgeable. He believes in American. And he is a "turn-around" artist. Don't allow your prejudice to blind your judgement.
Romney is exactly what America needs right now, and if he's not elected, I feel very sorry for the future of our country, because no other candidate has the skills he has, or the skills we need.
Massachusetts folks love their healthcare, so why on earth should anyone else care? Read the polls, they like it. Move on.
Utah is only 60% Mormon. And why would that matter anyway?
And the third comment, you're really comparing Romney to Bush with Perry right there in the mix? You really think that's the comparison most people would think of?
If Romney doesn't know the difference between a billion and a million, I don't think he is really that smart?
And since he doesn't know the difference between Christine Romer (who made the 8% comment and IMMEDIATELY changed course when she had more reliable data) and Barack Obama, I doubt he is a very good judge of ... anything.
Using the 8% unemployment prediction from before the president was sworn in (with 7.8% UI on that day one!) ... will come back and bite the GOP.
They seem to forget that the ARRA had to be rewritten to please the GOP ... even one of them! This kind of obtuse attack, all spin and no substance... will be the undoing of the GOP presidential campaign. Wait and see.