N.H. Senator: Romney Can Get Things Done
Political Players is a weekly conversation with the leaders, consultants, and activists who shape American politics. This week, CBS News' Brian Goldsmith talked with Sen. Judd Gregg, R-N.H., about his state's early primary, the issues at stake and why he believes Mitt Romney can overcome doubts about his principles and experience.
CBSNews.com: Your endorsement is very coveted in this process. What made you decide to support Governor Romney?
Senator Judd Gregg: Well, basically I was very impressed with the guy. He's a person who's had a tremendous history of doing things and confronting complex problems and getting them solved. And he approaches things from a conservative philosophy. He straightened out the Olympics, and he straightened out Massachusetts. And he's built businesses and created jobs. He's a can-do type of guy.
That's what we need down here. We need somebody to come from outside of Washington, look at some of these problems which folks here in Washington haven't been able to resolve, and get us going towards some solution. And he has a very strong philosophical base, which I like, which is that he approaches things as a fiscal conservative.
CBSNews.com: He's promised change in Washington, change from the status quo, which presumably includes change from President Bush. What do you think would be the biggest change between a President Romney and President Bush?
Senator Judd Gregg: Well, I think there will be a number of changes. The most obvious is that there will be a stylistic change that's significant. And with the war in Iraq winding down, a new president's going to have more of a clean slate in the area of how we deal with other countries.
He won't be so locked into what has become, unfortunately, an atmosphere where a number of other countries no longer support our position, or have questions about our position. A new president's going to come with a clean slate.
And I think Governor Romney has the ability to continue us down the path of making sure that we follow these terrorists around the world and find them before they can find us, which has basically been the Bush position. But also, hopefully, do it in a way that will sort of reawaken international support for our effort.
CBSNews.com: Romney's fallen to parity with Governor Huckabee, or behind him, in Iowa. And obviously, New Hampshire is just five days later. Can you win New Hampshire if you lose Iowa?
Senator Judd Gregg: Well, I don't know what's happening in Iowa, because I haven't been there. And it's a caucus, remember. A caucus is entirely different than an election. In a caucus, you get a group of people who really believe in you, and you have them show up, and they have to sit there for three, four, five hours. Whereas an election is a very broad participation by a lot of people.
So I think the first primary is really the most important effort. And in New Hampshire, Governor Romney's doing very well. The polls show him in a very strong position. I think that's because his message resonates in New Hampshire. He's a can-do fiscal conservative. That's what people in New Hampshire like.
CBSNews.com: How much of a ricochet effect have you seen over the years? You've watched a lot of these primaries. Do you think that someone who does poorly in Iowa gets hurt in New Hampshire?
Senator Judd Gregg: Interestingly, that has not been the case. If you look at it from a historical perspective, almost the opposite has occurred. You run well in Iowa, and sometimes you have problems in New Hampshire. You run poorly in Iowa, and sometimes you do well in New Hampshire. That's certainly been the historical pattern.
CBSNews.com: I know there's also that two out of three rule, that on the Republican side, since 1980, whoever wins two out of three of Iowa and New Hampshire and South Carolina, always goes on to win the nomination.
Senator Judd Gregg: Up until actually 1992, nobody had ever been elected president without winning in New Hampshire. And then, Clinton, who was perceived to win, but actually lost to Paul Tsongas, was elected president. So that was the first break with that tradition, but New Hampshire's vote is pretty accurate to what ends up happening.
CBSNews.com: You've obviously seen this controversy about Governor Romney employing illegal immigrants to do lawn care at his house in Belmont, Massachusetts. Do you think that that chips away at the credibility of his hard-line immigration message?
Senator Judd Gregg: No, I think that's much ado about nothing. I mean, he told the folks who worked at his home, listen, we want to make sure you're using legal people doing this. When it turned out they weren't using legal people, he said, all right, we'll give you one more chance. We want to make sure you're using legal people. And then they failed to have people who were legal doing it again.
There's no way you can really say that he didn't try to act responsibly here. He did. And so, I don't think the people will take that too seriously. It's sort of like saying that a person wanted to be president when they were in kindergarten.
Copyright 2009 CBS. All rights reserved. CBSNews.com: Your endorsement is very coveted in this process. What made you decide to support Governor Romney?
Senator Judd Gregg: Well, basically I was very impressed with the guy. He's a person who's had a tremendous history of doing things and confronting complex problems and getting them solved. And he approaches things from a conservative philosophy. He straightened out the Olympics, and he straightened out Massachusetts. And he's built businesses and created jobs. He's a can-do type of guy.
That's what we need down here. We need somebody to come from outside of Washington, look at some of these problems which folks here in Washington haven't been able to resolve, and get us going towards some solution. And he has a very strong philosophical base, which I like, which is that he approaches things as a fiscal conservative.
CBSNews.com: He's promised change in Washington, change from the status quo, which presumably includes change from President Bush. What do you think would be the biggest change between a President Romney and President Bush?
Senator Judd Gregg: Well, I think there will be a number of changes. The most obvious is that there will be a stylistic change that's significant. And with the war in Iraq winding down, a new president's going to have more of a clean slate in the area of how we deal with other countries.
He won't be so locked into what has become, unfortunately, an atmosphere where a number of other countries no longer support our position, or have questions about our position. A new president's going to come with a clean slate.
And I think Governor Romney has the ability to continue us down the path of making sure that we follow these terrorists around the world and find them before they can find us, which has basically been the Bush position. But also, hopefully, do it in a way that will sort of reawaken international support for our effort.
CBSNews.com: Romney's fallen to parity with Governor Huckabee, or behind him, in Iowa. And obviously, New Hampshire is just five days later. Can you win New Hampshire if you lose Iowa?
Senator Judd Gregg: Well, I don't know what's happening in Iowa, because I haven't been there. And it's a caucus, remember. A caucus is entirely different than an election. In a caucus, you get a group of people who really believe in you, and you have them show up, and they have to sit there for three, four, five hours. Whereas an election is a very broad participation by a lot of people.
So I think the first primary is really the most important effort. And in New Hampshire, Governor Romney's doing very well. The polls show him in a very strong position. I think that's because his message resonates in New Hampshire. He's a can-do fiscal conservative. That's what people in New Hampshire like.
CBSNews.com: How much of a ricochet effect have you seen over the years? You've watched a lot of these primaries. Do you think that someone who does poorly in Iowa gets hurt in New Hampshire?
Senator Judd Gregg: Interestingly, that has not been the case. If you look at it from a historical perspective, almost the opposite has occurred. You run well in Iowa, and sometimes you have problems in New Hampshire. You run poorly in Iowa, and sometimes you do well in New Hampshire. That's certainly been the historical pattern.
CBSNews.com: I know there's also that two out of three rule, that on the Republican side, since 1980, whoever wins two out of three of Iowa and New Hampshire and South Carolina, always goes on to win the nomination.
Senator Judd Gregg: Up until actually 1992, nobody had ever been elected president without winning in New Hampshire. And then, Clinton, who was perceived to win, but actually lost to Paul Tsongas, was elected president. So that was the first break with that tradition, but New Hampshire's vote is pretty accurate to what ends up happening.
CBSNews.com: You've obviously seen this controversy about Governor Romney employing illegal immigrants to do lawn care at his house in Belmont, Massachusetts. Do you think that that chips away at the credibility of his hard-line immigration message?
Senator Judd Gregg: No, I think that's much ado about nothing. I mean, he told the folks who worked at his home, listen, we want to make sure you're using legal people doing this. When it turned out they weren't using legal people, he said, all right, we'll give you one more chance. We want to make sure you're using legal people. And then they failed to have people who were legal doing it again.
There's no way you can really say that he didn't try to act responsibly here. He did. And so, I don't think the people will take that too seriously. It's sort of like saying that a person wanted to be president when they were in kindergarten.
- no previous page
- next
1/2
Popular in Politics
- Obama prom pictures surface
- Obama: America at a "crossroads" in fighting terrorism 103 Comments
- IRS official Lois Lerner placed on leave
- Protester heckles Obama during counterterrorism speech Play Video
- Rep. Jo Bonner to resign from House for university job
- Obama announces steps toward Guantanamo closure
- Boehner calls out Obama administration's "arrogance of power" 104 Comments
- Lawmakers push to punish sexual offenders in the military
Okay so you don%u2019t like Mitt Romney, I get it, but what are you talking about? I am going to give you a link that will tell you all about the Mountain Meadows Massacre. http://www.lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=2354fccf2b7db010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD&locale=0&sourceId=1c234dc029133110VgnVCM100000176f620a____
As you read this article you will realize that the church as a whole was not for the massacre and actually told the people to not do it. The incident did however involve members of the Latter Day Saint Church, not the church itself. That is like saying every crime committed by a member of a church was actually committed by the church. That is ridiculous! The claims made in the aforementioned article can be documented historically and are true.
Warren Jeffs is not a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, but an offshoot called the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. They are not the same organization but separate.
Brian David Mitchell was a member of the church, but at the time of kidnapping was not, and had started his own religion. Again it goes back to your idea that if a member of a congregation commits a crime the church committed it as a whole.
On your missionary comment, how many priests, ministers, etc. didn%u2019t serve in the war either, but you don%u2019t bring them up?
http://www.madcowprod.com/
Oh, you can''t. Probably would **** in your pants.
I don''t care for Romney - he''s a member of a cult that gave us another September 11 - 1857 when 140 or so innocent people were murdered - and his cult, which was responsible fingered the Paiute Indians for their own war crime.
A cult that for some unfathomable reason has been accepted into mainstream society despite their denial of Mountain Meadows or their grudging reluctance to go after the perverts and serial polygamists in their numbers. Witness Warren Jeffs, or the trash that were upset over something minor that they murdered an entire family, Islamonazi style, including two infants in their cribs, or the brain dead Smart family, who are only lucky that their daughter, abducted by their friends and fellow cult worshippers is still alive.
Mitt was doing "missionary" (read: cult) work in France when others of his generation served in ''Nam. No better than Pervert Bubba.
Sorry Mitt, denounce and leave the cult and you might get my vote - stay there, and its no choice between you and that ''ore from New York.
Then why do we need another $500 billion to support it? Is this guy in la la land?
"a stylistic change that''s significant. And with the war in Iraq winding down, a new president''s going to have more of a clean slate in the area of how we deal with other countries"...
The republican party won''t have a clean slate for a very long long time after their lying and scamming, including their supporter, Mitt Romney!
Posted by steeepe at 02:43 PM : Dec 07, 2007
How about the New Hampshire voters who will decide who the Republican candidate is?
On the other hand, who cares what you have to say? Luckily, I do or you would be pretty lonely.
I hope that''s true, but haven''t heard any facts to back that up.
I don''t care what faith Romney is or whether he hired illegal immigrants (it seems accidental). I just think he seems too radically religious and too eager to show how strong and war-prone he''d be if elected.
Except for his lawn of course.........