Romney Fights His Own Past Words

(The Politico)  This story was written by Jonathan Martin.

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Hoping to stymie John McCain's New Hampshire surge, Mitt Romney has turned to two issues almost certain to move GOP primary voters: tax cuts and immigration.

On both counts, Romney noted in recent Granite State campaign appearances, McCain has been crosswise with the majority of his own party.

But, in responding to the charges, McCain's campaign turned to off-the-shelf material sure to take some of the sting out of Romney's attacks - Romney's own words.

On these two hot topics and many others, past statements or positions by the former Massachusetts governor can be found that either completely contradict or at least dilute Romney's present day attacks.

That Romney has changed or at least modified his stance on a variety of issues is, of course, not new.

But as the primary campaign ramps up into its frantic final days before the first contests, and as Romney is forced to fend off a challenge from former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee in Iowa and Arizona Sen. John McCain in New Hampshire, the problem is presenting itself anew.

Lacking a pure conservative record of his own, Romney is unable to get off any clean shots at his rivals without them - or the media - pointing to a past quote or stance that calls into question his own consistency.

Take last weekend in New Hampshire, when Romney took after McCain for opposing President Bush's tax cuts in 2001 and 2003.

The Associated Press account of the day included Romney's attack, McCain's counter and then additional evidence muddying the original charge.

In 2003, the story noted, Romney told the Massachusetts congressional delegation that when it came to the Bush tax cuts, he wouldn't "be a cheerleader" for proposals he didn't support.

"But I have to keep a solid relationship with the White House," Romney noted to his state's representatives in Washington.

Similarly, when Romney raised McCain's unpopular immigration views in a campaign appearance Wednesday, the Arizonan's campaign was ready.

"Last Year, Romney Supported 'Path Toward Citizenship' for Illegal Immigrants, Said Republicans Breaking With President Bush on Immigration 'Made a Big Mistake,'" McCain's aides reminded in a press release over 2006 stories in the Lowell Sun and Associated Press.

Also included was the November 2005 story from the Boston Globe where Romney deemed McCain's immigration approach "quite different" from amnesty and "reasonable."

Romney and his campaign have at-the-ready answers to counter the counters.

But his challenge is that there are seemingly few issues where he has not been previously more moderate than he is now or where a rival can't at least find a discrepancy sufficient to blur an attack.

Abortion is the one issue that he fesses up to having flat changed his mind on, but that the list only begins there.

On gay rights, campaign finance reform, gun control and even his own political identity, Romney has tonally, if not substantively, moved to the right.

The consistency question is one that Romney and his staff are sensitive about but also one that has effectively become baked into the campaign's narrative.

"I know that there are some - particularly in opposing campaigns - who will try to look at old quotes, and perhaps take them out of context and perhaps not, and go back 14 years or 15 years and say, 'You said this here, you said that there,'" Romney said in New Hampshire Wednesday.

"But ... if you want to know what I'd do as president, you can see what I did as governor."

Asked about this, Romney spokesman Matt Rhoades pointed to his candidate's statehouse record of "balancing budgets, creating jobs, enforcing immigration laws and reforming health care."

Rhoades didn't directly respond when aked how the campaign could take on rivals without its own impurities being brought up.

"On issues like immigration, Gov. Romney agrees with the majority of grass-roots Republicans," Rhoades said.

"The enforcement of immigration laws is an important issue, and Governor Romney's pro-enforcement policies are the right way to stop illegal immigration, while Senator McCain's advocacy of blanket legal status and benefits for those who break our immigration laws are exactly the wrong policies."

Politically, though, the changed positions pose a serious threat, especially in New Hampshire.

Huckabee lacks the resources or campaign structure to effectively strike back at Romney on his past stances.

And thanks to Romney's ads, mailers and automated calls - as well as Huckabee's current role as the front-runner - the focus of the race there has become more about the Arkansan's views.

But in New Hampshire, Romney's conversions are bound to matter more.

First, it's a matter of simple geography. Granite State voters, or at least the media outlets they're served by, have been following Romney's career since at least 2002, when he ran for governor, if not since 1994.

Familiarity may or may not breed contempt, but in Romney's case it has ensured tough coverage and deep skepticism.

First, there are the New Hampshire-penetrating Boston Globe and Boston Herald - from where much of the oppo springs.

Additionally, the local Boston TV affiliates - which also reach into the Granite State - include some aggressive, politics-focused reporters.

And perhaps most threatening of all for Romney, he has emerged as public enemy No. 1 of both the liberal-leaning Concord Monitor editorial page and the stalwart conservative Union Leader.

The Monitor printed a withering editorial Sunday explaining just why Romney should not be president, and, since getting behind McCain earlier this month, the Manchester-based Union Leader has kept up a steady drumbeat of editorials praising their pick and damning his top rival in the state.

The latter paper has become especially helpful to McCain in providing conservative validation and serving as an effective, independent tool with which to beat Romney over the head.

Which is exactly what the McCain campaign did when Romney launched his immigration shot Wednesday.

In addition to sending along a trove of their own research, McCain aides topped their release with a quote and link to a Union Leader editorial from just last week.

"If Republicans are voting for Mitt Romney because they think he would be tougher on illegal immigration than John McCain would be, they need to explain how Romney suddenly switched from supporting McCain's position just two years ago to attacking it (with distortions) this year," read the Dec. 19 broadside.

In addition to its allies in the press, McCain's camp retains firepower of its own.

Though considerably smaller than what he had before his summer implosion, McCain's staff still knows all of Romney's vulnerabilities and still has at easy reach a trove of oppo on him.

Still, McCain's task is not an easy one. Huckabee needs to hang on to an Iowa lead that seems increasingly precarious with each new news cycle dominated by his own vulnerabilities.

Though New Hampshire hasn't traditionally followed the course set by Iowa, a Romney victory there would instantly dispel the notion that he's slipping and provide an immense boost just four days before Granite Staters vote.

And then there is the Romney advantage that hangs over, not just New Hampshire, but the entire GOP contest: his personal wealth.

McCain and his staff can press the flip-flop narrative and have it underscored by the Union Leader and Monitor every other day.

But, thanks to his self-funding, Romney can attempt to drown out the naysaers by airing negative ads, dropping more tough mail and sending out robo-calls attacking McCain.

And, through these mediums, Romney's own past views don't get a mention.

[ixoye_02]

I have no problem with Romney being a Mormon. It''s Romney''s flip-flopping on political issues....period. I can''t trust a politician whose viewpoints shifts with the political winds. I can understand that political positions might evolve over time, but within a couple of years? Sorry, "I was wrong" just doesn''t cut it with me especially when trying to appeal to voters. This smacks of deceit and lies, which we already have experienced with out current president. I don''t want another politician like GW Bush!!!
And for those still saying the the Mormon church believes in separation of church and state, non-Mormons in Utah would have alot to say about the idea of church and state. It simply does not exist in Utah.

[keriama]

vbnvbnvbn:
What has personal, sacred clothing got to do with electing a president? Don''t know how to discuss politics without being an asinine, insulting drongo? Isn''t there is supposed be a separation of Church and State here? Why bring up something that offends millions of LDS? They are good people.

Everyone is FREE to think and believe whatever they CHOOSE to think and believe in, and should be able to do so without fear of condemnation or derogatory remarks from those who think differently. This is not Iraq or Saudi Arabia. Just remember that and quit with the mental persecution. Stick to the politics will you. Thank you.

[bud28dy]

Flip flopper Mitt intends to have a news conference this week where he reveals in his heart he has always been a lifelong Presbyterian.

[lone-star5]

I think Huckabee''s honesty and ability to deal with international affairs needs to be questioned.

Posted today in USA Today:
Stem cell, gun control groups paid Huckabee

Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee last year accepted $52,000 in speaking fees from a biotech giant that wants to research human embryonic stem cells, a non-profit working to expand access to the morning-after pill and a group pushing to study whether tightening gun control laws will reduce violence.
Huckabee opposes embryonic stem cell research, emergency contraception and stricter gun laws %u2014 all of which rank high on the list of deal-breakers for many of the religious conservatives whose support he''s ridden to the top of the Republican presidential field.

Payments came from drug-maker Novo Nordisk, which engages in stem cell research; the Public Health Institute, which works to expand access to "morning after" contraception; and Grant Makers in Health, which is seeking to steer funding to studies of gun violence. The fees highlight the delicate line Huckabee has walked on the profitable speaking circuit.

"It raises questions as to his philosophical positions if he is accepting very lucrative speaking fees from special interest groups who have a markedly different perspective on certain social issues from what he is projecting as a candidate," Lauderback said.

[im4honesty]

For those of you not really familiar with the LDS faith, let me explain one thing, he will do the churches bidding if elected president. His LDS faith will come first and the American people second. I%u2019ve lived in Utah and seen the LDS control state politics and their endorsement of Mitt isn%u2019t a good omen. His statement that he%u2019ll represent ALL American%u2019s is very unlikely. He%u2019s a Mormon first and would be American president second. Posted by david_45 at 06:11 PM : Dec 28, 2007

Correct!! I was brought into the LDS chruch at the age of 21 and escaped at the age of 25. If Romney gets elected the leader of the free world will be Gordon Hinkley, their ''prophet''.

[forthepeopl1]

this is what you will get with missery hillary as PRESIDENT. she were the same traiter coat as bush/cheney

at all has to do with saudi''''s and the king with the help of bush/cheneny.9-11 was all bush/cheney/and the oil countrys


The U.S. military has returned 10 Saudi detainees from the Guantanamo Bay prison to their home country, a Pentagon spokesman said Friday.

The transfer cuts the number of men now held at the isolated U.S. Naval station in southeast Cuba to about 275, a decline of nearly a third in the last year.

About 136 of the 759 people detained at Guantanamo since 2002 have been Saudi, the second-largest group after Afghans. The vast majority have been repatriated - despite the fact that more than 90 percent are still considered a terrorist threat.

The U.S. agreed to return the men with the understanding that Saudi Arabia will mitigate that risk, partly through a state program to reintegrate former detainees into civilian life, said Navy Cmdr. Jeffrey Gordon, a Defense Department spokesman.

Their detention has been a source of strain with Riyadh, a close U.S. ally.

[kansas1946]

Mitt...
Flip..flop..flip..flop..flip.......

[merlgrey]

here is a guy who claims to have pulled his car off the road to openly weep when he heard the news that the mormon church had a revalation and could now allow blacks as priests (way back in the dark ages of 1978). now, of course it is a feel good story... i had to stop and weep... this is not to imply he is a rascist by any means. however, if somebody is so moved to pull off the road and weep over news about progressive social change in thier own church, if it affected them that much personally, wouldnt they have been at least petitioning and questioning the church for change before that point? wouldnt we expect someone who considers themselves presidential, to have the kind of nature where they have fought for equality and rights amongst americans long before needing to do so for political reasons?

[david_45]

Hosers22, are you saying that Mitt Romney will go after himself for employing illegal aliens? You%u2019re bashing McCain and other candidates while ole Mitt%u2019s been caught twice now with illegal aliens working for him.

Ole Mitt flip flops constantly concerning the issues. I don%u2019t know that we have a good choice for president but it sure isn%u2019t Mitt Romney. He%u2019s a liar and hypocrite and he%u2019ll say anything as long as he thinks it will get him elected.

[david_45]

Mitt Romney is a proven liar. Or when he gets caught it becomes an embellishment. He%u2019s had to restate two statements now.

For those of you not really familiar with the LDS faith, let me explain one thing, he will do the churches bidding if elected president. His LDS faith will come first and the American people second. I%u2019ve lived in Utah and seen the LDS control state politics and their endorsement of Mitt isn%u2019t a good omen. His statement that he%u2019ll represent ALL American%u2019s is very unlikely. He%u2019s a Mormon first and would be American president second.