Romney Plays Down Lobbyists' Influence

(AP)  Republican Mitt Romney said Thursday he could govern in the country's best interest because "I don't have lobbyists running my campaign," although Washington insiders are on his senior staff and registered lobbyists are top advisers.

One of them, Ron Kaufman, chairman of the Washington-based Dutko Group, regularly sits across the aisle from Romney on his campaign plane, participates in debate strategy sessions and just last week accompanied Romney to a lunch in Myrtle Beach with Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C.

Another adviser, former Rep. Vin Weber, R-Minn., is chairman of Romney's policy committee. He also is chief executive officer of Clark & Weinstock, and his corporate biography says he "provides strategic advice to institutions with matters before the legislative and executive branches of the federal government."

"I think it's time for Washington - Republican and Democrat - to have a leader who will fight to make sure we resolve the issues rather than continuously look for partisan opportunity for score-settling and for opportunities to link closer to lobbyists," Romney said during a news conference.

The former Massachusetts governor added: "I don't have lobbyists running my campaign."

Aides said later the comment was directed at rival John McCain, the Arizona senator whose campaign manager, Rick Davis, is a registered lobbyist. McCain casts himself as a political maverick, ready to incur the wrath of colleagues and lobbyists as he pushes campaign finance legislation, exposes pork-barrel spending and engages in other good-government activity.

Asked about Kaufman, Romney noted he had said, "I don't have lobbyists running my campaign," before saying of Kaufman: "He's not running my campaign."

Reminded that Kaufman had joined Romney and his wife, Ann, on the plane throughout the Iowa, New Hampshire and Michigan campaigns, Romney noted that Beth Myers, his former gubernatorial chief of staff, was his campaign manager and Kaufman was only an adviser.

"Ron is a wonderful friend, an adviser," Romney said. "He's not paid. He's an adviser like many others, but I do not have lobbyists running my campaign."

He later invited an Associated Press reporter who posed the questions to the front of his plane so Romney could outline the campaign's organizational chart.(Read more about the exchange in From The Road.)

Romney regularly declares he's not a politician, joking that four years as Massachusetts' governor were "not long enough to leave me infected."

He ran for the U.S. Senate in 1994 and his father, George, was a three-term governor of Michigan and Nixon administration Cabinet member, but points to his 25 years as a business consultant and venture capitalist to buttress his argument.

As he did Thursday, he rails against Washington lobbyists, special interests and Beltway denizens, saying he'll bring an outsider's perspective to the White House.

The multimillionaire points to the more than $17 million in personal funds he has spent on the campaign and his public fundraising as proof he can govern free of Washington's special influences.

"Somebody doesn't put the kind of financial resources that I've put into this campaign, and the personal resources I've put into this campaign, in order to do favors for lobbyists," Romney said. "I'm going to Washington to help the American people."

It is because of his lack of Washington experience, however, that he surrounds himself with some of the capital city's prominent Republican voices.

Besides Kaufman, who served as White House political director under President George H.W. Bush, Romney gets policy advice from Weber, former Sen. Jim Talent, R-Mo., and Sally Canfield, once a top aide to former House Speaker Dennis Hastert

Advice in targeting voters comes from Alex Gage and on polling from Jan van Louhoizen; both did similar tasks for President Bush. He also gets communications help from Barbara Comstock, a former Justice Department spokeswoman, and Matt Rhoades and Kevin Madden, veterans of the Republican National Committee and the office of former Rep. Tom DeLay, respectively.

Admakers Alex Castellanos, Stuart Stevens and Russ Schreifer all have worked for Bush.

Romney distinguished between that type of work and the work of paid influence-peddlers.

"I haven't been in Washington," he said. "I don't have lobbyists at my elbows that are arguing for one industry or another industry, and I do not have favors I have to repay to people who have been in Washington for years nor scores I have to settle."

[rowdytexan2]

lol, Romney doesn''t take money from the lobbyists, he just takes their political advice...

There''s forty ways to lie about what you do.

[merlgrey]

fresh from politico.com:

"On the stump in economically struggling Michigan and South Carolina recently, Mitt Romney has been making the case that %u201Cit always makes sense to fight for every single good job.%u201D

But this position seems to be at odds with the Republican contender''s one-time role as chief executive officer of Bain Capital, a large private equity firm.

In 1992, the firm acquired American Pad & Paper. By 1999, the year Romney left Bain, two American plants were closed, 385 jobs had been cut and the company was $392 million in debt. The next year, Ampad was forced into bankruptcy.

Bain Capital and Goldman Sachs bought Dade International for about $450 million in 1994.

The firm quickly fired or relocated at least 900 workers. Over the next several years, it sunk increasingly into debt and laid off 1,000 workers.

In 2002 it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

A 1997 buyout of LIVE Entertainment for $150 million resulted in 40 layoffs, one in four of the company''s 166 workers.

Job cuts affected all aspects of the company, from production and acquisition to legal and public relations.

In 1997, Bain bought a stake in DDI Corp, a maker of electronic circuit boards.

Three years later, Bain took the company public and collected a $36 million payout. By August 2003, the company filed for bankruptcy protection, laying off over 2,100 workers."

what are people thinking?? michigan??

[jumpyg1258]

I urge everyone to take a look here...
http://www.opensecrets.org/pres08/select.asp?Ind=K02
The only two candidates who do not have any funding right now from lobbyists are coincidentally the only two not getting corporate media coverage aka Ron Paul and Dennis Kucinich.

[ekucrew]

Comment on Romney - AP reporter exchange....."is so!" , "is not!", "is so!", "is not!"

Put these two kids in time out.

Official Chauffeur Mitt Romney got a little testy. The AP reporter lokks like he''s a brother to Michael Moore.

Sheesh.

[ibebarbie]

Ahh another twisted story from the liberal biased Communist Broadcast System. Romney 2008

[undermyboot]

Look into Romney''s eyes and you see... nothing. You have NO idea what this loon will do with the expanded powers of the new Presidency. He says everything out the side of his mouth and changes what he says weekly. All he wants is to be President. Romney is frightening.

[candide777]

Glen Johnson for President!!! Wow, who knew the Associated Press had a reporter that could keep the candidates honest?

As for Romney, I think he handled the questions as well as anyone could hope. He''s evil to the core, and I don''t think he showed his true colors at all during that exchange. He kept his cool, stuck with his lies as though he truly believed them. And look what the reaction was from a "standby" supporter. She ran up to tell Glen that he was "rude and ugly." No, Romney skated by, and on the whole, got away with his blatant lie.

[candide777]

Romney is a typical republican: If I tell you this lie enough times, eventually, you will believe it. The sad part is, when it comes to the middle class, he''s right. That''s why so many middle class men still vote republican, plain stupidity about who they are getting screwed by.

[quetzal666]

jejeje

such a pathetic liar...

[infidel_us]

The ONLY reason this is an issue is because the LAMEstream media never asked Hillary and Ubama about THEIR lobbyists'' influebes.

By the way, has Hillary ever given back the $850k in illegal contributions she received from Hsu? Why doesn''t the LSM look in to that? Oh, I know, it''s because she''s a DEMOCRAT! Silly me.