Romney To GOP: Put Our Own House In Order

Other Candidates Take Shots At Democrats, Romney Spreads The Blame

(AP)  Republican Mitt Romney on Saturday bluntly challenged his party to "put our own house in order" as the GOP presidential candidates courted activists in Michigan, now an important player in the nomination march.

Rivals John McCain and Rudy Giuliani also assailed Democratic contenders during a weekend retreat attended by some 1,500 Republicans on a picturesque Lake Huron island.

"Washington is failing us," Romney said in a speech that is part of a new effort to cast him as the candidate who can lead the party back to its core principles.

"The blame doesn't all belong to the Democrats. We Republicans have to put our own house in order," the former Massachusetts governor said.

McCain, in remarks planned for Saturday night, lamented "a perilous time for our party but, far more important, a perilous time for our country." The Arizona senator attacked the national security positions of the leading Democratic candidates, although he did not name the politicians, and renewed his call for resolve on Iraq.

Former New York Mayor Giuliani drew boisterous bursts of applause, cheers and laughter Friday night for castigating the Democrats.

At one point, he asked: "Do we go in the direction of much larger government, which is where Hillary (Rodham) Clinton, Barack Obama or John Edwards will take us, or do we go in the direction of ... giving people more control over their own lives?"

The GOP gathering came three weeks after Michigan moved its primaries to Jan. 15, making it one of the earliest states to hold nominating contests in 2008.

Fred Thompson, the actor and former Tennessee senator, also was scheduled to speak Saturday night. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who is keeping the door slightly open to a possible late entry, was on hand, too.

Two underdog GOP candidates addressed the group; three others were absent.

There is no clear front-runner four months before the voting begins. Giuliani has an edge in national popularity polls. Thompson, in the race just two weeks, is giving chase. McCain is looking for momentum. Romney ranks behind them in national surveys, but leads in Iowa and New Hampshire, among the first states to vote.

Romney's speech, coupled with fresh television ads and an open letter to party leaders, marks a shift as he seeks to capitalize on discontent among Republicans about the country's direction.

With a sharp critique of the GOP, Romney is distancing himself from President Bush and Republicans who ran the House and Senate until last fall. Bush's support is at a low mark as is Congress' job approval.

Romney offered a sobering assessment of the party and argued that Republicans share the blame with Democrats for the nation's woes.

In an indictment of Republicans, he bemoaned excessive spending, insecure borders and ethical lapses. "When Republicans act like Democrats, America loses," he said. "We've got to start acting like Republicans, not earmarking Republicans, not big government Republicans, but like Reagan Republicans and Teddy Roosevelt Republicans."

He did give Bush some credit. "Let's not forget that this president has kept us safe these last six years," Romney said. He also praised the president for "restoring personal integrity and dignity to the White House." But otherwise Romney rattled off a slew of problems with the government, saying, for example, that the post-Hurricane Katrina cleanup "didn't look like Republicans were in charge."

In his speech, McCain focused on the security challenges confronting the U.S. "The world Ronald Reagan faced was a dangerous one, but more stable than the world today," McCain said.

He chastised those Democratic candidates who voted against military spending, have questioned whether there was a global fight against terrorism and have advocated "unconditional negotiations with our worst enemies."

The senator pleaded for patience on Iraq. "To concede defeat - as many leading Democrats now advocate - would strengthen al Qaeda, empower Iran and other hostile powers in the Middle East, unleash a full-scale civil war in Iraq that could quite possibly provoke genocide there, and destabilize the entire region," McCain said.

On just about every issue, Giuliani cited Clinton, Obama and Edwards and then sought to tear them down, much to the delight of his audience. He railed against their health care proposals and said they would raise taxes if elected. He also contended that "Democrats want to retreat" in the face of threats from terrorists.

To cap it off, Giuliani portrayed himself as the only Republican able to prevent a Democratic from capturing the White House. "I have the best chance of defeating Hillary Clinton," who many assume will win the Democratic nomination.

[voteronpaul3]

Ron Paul has it all.

He has never voted:
* to raise taxes
* for an unbalanced budget
* to raise congressional pay
* for a federal restriction on gun ownership
* to increase the power of the executive branch

He HAS voted:
* against the Iraq war
* against the inappropriately named USA PATRIOT act
* against regulating the internet
* against the Military Commissions Act

He will eliminate the IRS, Wasteful Government Spending & Stop The Iraq War Immediately!

Most importantly, he vote NO on anything in Congress that is not allowed by the Constitution.

Shouldn''t ALL members of Congress uphold the Constitution? Aren''t they SWORN to uphold it? You can bet Paul won''t call the Constitution "just a G**D***ed piece of paper" like George Bush is reported to have.

If you want a candidate you can TRUST due to a proven track record, visit ronpaul2008.com and get busy spreading the word. The Mainstream Media is a lagging indicator!!

Ron Paul Revolution: http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=ron+paul

Get Active join a meetup.com group today!

[prinzowhales]

If you don''t vote for real change, you''ll just get more of the same old thing....If you have no conscience, you can''t vote it...If you have no ideals, one is as good as the other...If you have no courage, your forlorn hope will fail...If you have no character, you will be at home among the crowd, comforted by the stink of conformity.

Ron Paul is for a return to Constitutional government, for integrity in government and in personal life. I can understand how this makes many Americans uncomfortable...addicted as they are to the ''lesser'' of two evils...they will find, if they have not already found, that this is the electoral strategy that has taken our nation on its downward spiral to George W. Bush and the Neo-con gutter.

[sgtrds]

Sure they ignore him . . . because he''''s irrelevant. I know you love him, but he hasn''''t got a snowball''''s chance in hell of winning the Republican nomination. He''''s got some great ideas, ideas that threaten the very foundation of the GOP. He''''ll never win. You''''re wasting your time. You might as well go campaign for Hillary because she will be our next president. Sorry. :-(

Posted by socrates392 at 11:13 PM : Sep 23, 2007

100% correct. they ignore him because he has less chance of winning the republican nomination then Ralph Nader does. He''s small potatoes. No matter what his supporters think about him he is a non-starter. People can waste their vote on him if they like, but if they honestly think that their vote will mean anything by voting for him, or Kucinich or Nader or Gravel, then they are just as disillusional as the candidate they support and just like him, they''ll never be more then a footnote in history.

[socrates392]

I''''ll be voting for Ron Paul if he keeps his name on the ballot. I see no difference in the rest of them for the most part. I will not be a voting booth accessory to our nation''''s problems again just because someone is "irrelevant" in the news media. Being irrelevantly "correct" trumps being relevantly "incorrect"......Ron Paul, the unsocialist in ''''08!

Posted by cfin5 at 11:28 PM : Sep 23, 2007

Why did he run as a Republican . . . because as far as I can tell his ideas are more in line with the Democratic platform? There is no way that the majority of the GOP base is going to vote for him in the primary. No way. Good luck though. I hope he wins!

[cfin5]

I''ll be voting for Ron Paul if he keeps his name on the ballot. I see no difference in the rest of them for the most part. I will not be a voting booth accessory to our nation''s problems again just because someone is "irrelevant" in the news media. Being irrelevantly "correct" trumps being relevantly "incorrect"......Ron Paul, the unsocialist in ''08!

[socrates392]

The coverage of CBS seems to purposely avoid Ron Paul. He just had a rally in Chicago with around 1500 supporters. Where was the news coverage? The subjective reporters were busy promoting their agenda. The news industry is pathetic! Ron Paul for President 2008.

Posted by dutchfarmer at 10:17 PM : Sep 23, 2007

Sure they ignore him . . . because he''s irrelevant. I know you love him, but he hasn''t got a snowball''s chance in hell of winning the Republican nomination. He''s got some great ideas, ideas that threaten the very foundation of the GOP. He''ll never win. You''re wasting your time. You might as well go campaign for Hillary because she will be our next president. Sorry. :-(

[dutchfarmer]

The coverage of CBS seems to purposely avoid Ron Paul. He just had a rally in Chicago with around 1500 supporters. Where was the news coverage? The subjective reporters were busy promoting their agenda. The news industry is pathetic! Ron Paul for President 2008.

[prinzowhales]

JackSteen1--Have you even read my posts on "Mitt the Twitt"?--Obviously not! I just don''t like having my time wasted scrolling through the kind of endless repetition that you just offered up--regardless of whether I agree or not--I''ve read your posts and you are better than that...You don''t have to get in the spam gutter with lars008, singinrick and One_American and that Romney-bot that pastes here every now and then.

[jacksteen1]

Too bad prinzowales got his tiny organ all knotted up in his Temple Garments over my last post.

Facts remains he and his candidate Mutt Romney are NOT christians and CANNOT win support enough to be elected as Dogcatcher in Salt Lake County!

So go choke on some mormon grasshoppers, loser.

[prinzowhales]

F.U. JackSteen1 You Golf-Delta Spamming Sierra-Oscar- Bravo!