Could anyone have guessed that Newt, the great architect of the GOP comeback in the '90's, would have such a dismal start to his campaign? It really is astonishing. I mean, the guy has been around politics his whole life. For the last 20 years he has done nothing but study the political process and get paid for speaking to groups who are seeking political insight to the toughest problems of the day. Afterall, he has been considering running for president for more than a decade. And now it looks like not just his campaign is over, but his reputation as a political genius will be severely tarnished.
Let's enumerate all the mis-steps of Newts campaign thus far. Not only did he flub his announcement into the presidential race, but then he says a major gaffe that Paul Ryan's plan is "right wing social engineering," and now almost his entire set of senior advisors quit his campaign en masse because they are sick of him not putting the time and effort into the campaign. Newt's campaign has been a trainwreck from day one. This is slightly reminiscent of Guiliani's joke of a campaign in 2008.
Thursday, June 9, 2011
Mitt to Skip Iowa Straw Poll
Today Gov. Romney announced that he will not participate in the Iowa Straw poll. I think this is a smart move. Last time Romney spent loads of money and time in a state just to win the straw poll and then lose the caucuses.
I am glad that Gov. Romney didn't give in to the pressure from Iowans on this one. Iowa is just not the ideal place for Mitt to spend his time and money. Romney is going to focus on states that he has a much higher chance of winning such as NH, NV, FL, MI in order to win the nomination.
Mark Halperin of Time Magazine believes this is all part of Romney's "Possum" strategy of laying low or playing dead in order to preserve his frontrunner status and reduce the likelihood of losing that status. Halperin goes on to say that Romney really has nothing to gain from winning the Ames Straw Poll. If he wins then he remains the frontrunner, but if he loses or even barely wins, then the press would have a field day painting Romney as "loosing steam."
I am glad that Gov. Romney didn't give in to the pressure from Iowans on this one. Iowa is just not the ideal place for Mitt to spend his time and money. Romney is going to focus on states that he has a much higher chance of winning such as NH, NV, FL, MI in order to win the nomination.
Mark Halperin of Time Magazine believes this is all part of Romney's "Possum" strategy of laying low or playing dead in order to preserve his frontrunner status and reduce the likelihood of losing that status. Halperin goes on to say that Romney really has nothing to gain from winning the Ames Straw Poll. If he wins then he remains the frontrunner, but if he loses or even barely wins, then the press would have a field day painting Romney as "loosing steam."
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
The New Yorker: Mitt Romney, health-care hero
An in-depth article by The New Yorker magazine of Mitt Romney and his healthcare law was released this week. I found the title of the piece very complimentary. The title was "Mitt Romney, health-care hero." I have to admit that I agree with the title whole-heartedly due to the fact that Mitt Romney has been the only person to reform healthcare in any significant way for decades.
The article itself wasn't overly complimentary but did bring up some interesting points that I would like to share.
- By far the most interesting and complimentary statement of the article was "Romney had accomplished a longstanding Democratic goal - universal health insurance - by combining three conservative policies." I like that line because it is easy to forget that Romney beat Democrats at their own goal of achieving universal health insurance. But Romney did it not with a government takeover, but with conservative principles. Romney's healthcare plan was a novel approach to fixing his state's healthcare dilemma.
- The article states, "most conservatives praised Romney's plan" when it was first passed in 2006. Another interesting point that we often forget when listening to the dialogue that goes on in the press these days.
- Robert Moffit, a policy expert at the conservative Heritage Foundation, said of Romney's plan back in 2006 "The real trick is to retain what is best in American health care while correcting its deficiencies and expanding upon its indisputable benefits. Massachusetts has done just that."
-"The Bush Administration sent a letter praising the passage of the new law." The fact that the Bush administration was also involved in the creation of Romney's healthcare law is often overlooked. In fact, the article states that "if the healthcare law worked, Mitt Romney and George W. Bush could both take credit for reforming health care by using market-based ideas and without raising taxes." Without the support of the Bush administration, Romney's healthcare law would never have become a reality.
-"Obama ran an ad in which he criticized Clinton's proposal for a health care mandate." Obama performed a major flip-flop on this issue by first being against a health care mandate during his campaign and then making the mandate the centerpiece of his health care reform.
- The article concedes that "in many ways" it is true that Romneycare resulted from the unique circumstances of his state, and was not necessarily meant as a national plan. One of the ways that Romneycare was unique to MA was in the way that it was funded. The funding of Romneycare was done in a unique way without raising taxes, but Obamacare required raising taxes in order to accomplish the same goals. The article goes on to state "It's not entirely unreasonable to praise Mass-care with bashing Obamacare." Obamacare does raise taxes, costs more, and has many additional provisions and regulations which expand government influence much more significantly into the healthcare market.
All of these points are easy to forget. I was glad to see that many of them were discussed at length in the article. Conservatives should keep these points in mind as they consider voting for Romney in the primaries.
The article itself wasn't overly complimentary but did bring up some interesting points that I would like to share.
- By far the most interesting and complimentary statement of the article was "Romney had accomplished a longstanding Democratic goal - universal health insurance - by combining three conservative policies." I like that line because it is easy to forget that Romney beat Democrats at their own goal of achieving universal health insurance. But Romney did it not with a government takeover, but with conservative principles. Romney's healthcare plan was a novel approach to fixing his state's healthcare dilemma.
- The article states, "most conservatives praised Romney's plan" when it was first passed in 2006. Another interesting point that we often forget when listening to the dialogue that goes on in the press these days.
- Robert Moffit, a policy expert at the conservative Heritage Foundation, said of Romney's plan back in 2006 "The real trick is to retain what is best in American health care while correcting its deficiencies and expanding upon its indisputable benefits. Massachusetts has done just that."
-"The Bush Administration sent a letter praising the passage of the new law." The fact that the Bush administration was also involved in the creation of Romney's healthcare law is often overlooked. In fact, the article states that "if the healthcare law worked, Mitt Romney and George W. Bush could both take credit for reforming health care by using market-based ideas and without raising taxes." Without the support of the Bush administration, Romney's healthcare law would never have become a reality.
-"Obama ran an ad in which he criticized Clinton's proposal for a health care mandate." Obama performed a major flip-flop on this issue by first being against a health care mandate during his campaign and then making the mandate the centerpiece of his health care reform.
- The article concedes that "in many ways" it is true that Romneycare resulted from the unique circumstances of his state, and was not necessarily meant as a national plan. One of the ways that Romneycare was unique to MA was in the way that it was funded. The funding of Romneycare was done in a unique way without raising taxes, but Obamacare required raising taxes in order to accomplish the same goals. The article goes on to state "It's not entirely unreasonable to praise Mass-care with bashing Obamacare." Obamacare does raise taxes, costs more, and has many additional provisions and regulations which expand government influence much more significantly into the healthcare market.
All of these points are easy to forget. I was glad to see that many of them were discussed at length in the article. Conservatives should keep these points in mind as they consider voting for Romney in the primaries.
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
Shock Poll: Romney Beats Obama
The Drudge Report posted the news that a recent poll from Washington Post-NBC showed that Romney actually beat Obama for the first time. I know I shouldn't get excited about polls at this point due to the early nature of the race, but this is good news for Romney.
The majority of Americans are leaning toward voting for Romney due to his perceived strength on the economy. Most Americans now have a negative view of the direction of this country and the economic prospects for the country in the future.
The most interesting news of all was that Romney significantly beat Obama with independents. Both of the major parties supported their nominee predictably, but it was the independent that shifted their support toward Romney to put him over Obama.
The majority of Americans are leaning toward voting for Romney due to his perceived strength on the economy. Most Americans now have a negative view of the direction of this country and the economic prospects for the country in the future.
The most interesting news of all was that Romney significantly beat Obama with independents. Both of the major parties supported their nominee predictably, but it was the independent that shifted their support toward Romney to put him over Obama.
Monday, June 6, 2011
Romney's New Website
Gov. Romney just rolled out a new updated website. If you haven't had a chance to check it out, take a look at www.mittromney.com.
All I want to know is whether or not we will see "Mini Mitt" again this year!!
All I want to know is whether or not we will see "Mini Mitt" again this year!!
Thursday, June 2, 2011
Gov. Romney Officially Enters the Race
On a New Hampshire farm, Gov. Romney officially entered the 2012 presidential race. Romney's speech focused primarily on the economy and particularly the unemployment rate. Romney said that President Obama has had his chance to prove whether or not he can handle economic challenges, but now it is clear that Obama has "failed" when it came creating jobs in this country.
Current unemployment is 9.1% and rising once again for the third straight month. Economists project that unemployment rates will not improve significantly between now and election day. Economists project that the unemployment rate on election day will be between 7.8% and 8.5%.
No president since World War II has won reelection when the unemployment rate was above 7.2%, according to the New York Times.
The slow recovery of the economy is creating a huge opening for the Republican nominee to take the White House in 2012.
Current unemployment is 9.1% and rising once again for the third straight month. Economists project that unemployment rates will not improve significantly between now and election day. Economists project that the unemployment rate on election day will be between 7.8% and 8.5%.
No president since World War II has won reelection when the unemployment rate was above 7.2%, according to the New York Times.
The slow recovery of the economy is creating a huge opening for the Republican nominee to take the White House in 2012.
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
Economy Still Hounding Obama
Politico reports that the US economy is still problematic for Obama, especially considering that the election is just one year away.
Some key points from the article:
2) Companies still remain hesitant to hire despite strong corporate profits. Job recovery has been much slower than previous recessions. "Corporate chief executives, meanwhile, appear unwilling to use their run of strong profits to go on significant hiring campaigns until economic signals point in a more positive direction and consumer spending trends suggest more robust demand."
3) Overall growth of the US economy was slower than expected in the most recent quarter and expectations were subsequently downgraded for the upcoming quarter.
4) Consumer confidence is on the decline again.
5) High prices on gas and food continue to slow the recovery.
Obama had hoped that the economy would be strongly rebounding as he entered the campaigning phase of the reelection cycle. It doesn't appear that he will have that benefit.
All these economic numbers, while bad for the American public, are good news for the GOP. Especially Gov. Romney, who brings economic experience and credibility on economic issues that no other candidate can compare to.
Some key points from the article:
1) The housing market is clearly in a double dip recession. "weak signals include a much-worse-than-expected 4.2 percent drop in home prices in the first quarter as measured by the S&P/Case-Shiller index. The housing market is now clearly in a “double-dip” decline, back to levels not seen since well before the recession. Pending homes sales dropped 11.6 percent in April, and consumer spending grew a tepid 0.4 percent, the smallest increase in three months."
2) Companies still remain hesitant to hire despite strong corporate profits. Job recovery has been much slower than previous recessions. "Corporate chief executives, meanwhile, appear unwilling to use their run of strong profits to go on significant hiring campaigns until economic signals point in a more positive direction and consumer spending trends suggest more robust demand."
3) Overall growth of the US economy was slower than expected in the most recent quarter and expectations were subsequently downgraded for the upcoming quarter.
4) Consumer confidence is on the decline again.
5) High prices on gas and food continue to slow the recovery.
Obama had hoped that the economy would be strongly rebounding as he entered the campaigning phase of the reelection cycle. It doesn't appear that he will have that benefit.
All these economic numbers, while bad for the American public, are good news for the GOP. Especially Gov. Romney, who brings economic experience and credibility on economic issues that no other candidate can compare to.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)