Talent joins Romney's presidential campaign
Former Sen. Jim Talent (R-Mo.) will become an adviser for the presidential campaign of former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.
Talent was swept out of Washington in the Democratic wave in November and he will serve as oversee "all domestic policy development" for Romney, the campaign said.
"Governor Romney has shown extraordinary leadership during his many years of service," said Talent. "He has a strong conservative vision and a successful record of accomplishing that vision."
Talent is the latest addition to a team that already includes many Washington insiders.
"Today, our country faces great challenges," Romney said. "With Jim's experience and extensive knowledge, he will help us look beyond the status quo and answer these challenges with bold, new approaches."
- Klaus Marre
Ronald Wilson Reagan
America's 40th President
Saturday, February 3, 2007
AP: "Giuliani: 'Good Chance' I'll Run in '08"
Giuliani: 'Good Chance' I'll Run in '08
Feb 3, 4:23 PM (ET)
By JIM DAVENPORT
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) - He keeps an itinerary that has all the makings of a full-fledged presidential candidate: South Carolina this weekend, New Hampshire the one before.
Which is what Rudy Giuliani, the former New York City mayor, says he's leaning toward becoming.
"There's a real good chance," Giuliani told The Associated Press on Saturday, after a 30-minute speech and question-and-answer session with party leaders in South Carolina. In a year, they will put on the first-in-the-South GOP presidential primary.
On Giuliani's first visit to New Hampshire last weekend since setting up the committee, he told reporters he'd received a tremendous amount of enthusiasm and support from people.
But he said he had not yet decided whether he could make a "unique contribution" toward strengthening the nation that would justify a run for president.
He has emphasized his steady hand dealing with the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. However, his moderate stances on gun control, abortion, gay rights and other social issues could be liabilities for him in a GOP presidential primary that includes hard-core conservatives as a central voting group.
For instance, in November, South Carolina voters overwhelmingly approved a constitutional ban on same-sex unions.
"The fact is I appeal to conservative Christians the way I appeal to everyone else," Giuliani said at a news conference. "I don't think you have separate appeals to people."
Giuliani formed a presidential exploratory committee in November to prepare for a possible bid for the GOP nomination in 2008. It lets him raise money and travel the country, gauging how much support there could be for him.
In his few first weeks, Giuliani took in $1.4 million. He collected donations online, and held a major fundraising event in New York in December.
Financial documents show that by the start of this year Giuliani had about $1 million available, having spent money to set up campaign headquarters, buy equipment and hire workers.
The Republicans' top tier of candidates for 2008 includes Arizona Sen. John McCain, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and Kansas Sen. Sam Brownback.
Giuliani's visit to Columbia wrapped up a busy week in the state for White House hopefuls. Romney was in the capital on Tuesday and Brownback on Friday.
Feb 3, 4:23 PM (ET)
By JIM DAVENPORT
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) - He keeps an itinerary that has all the makings of a full-fledged presidential candidate: South Carolina this weekend, New Hampshire the one before.
Which is what Rudy Giuliani, the former New York City mayor, says he's leaning toward becoming.
"There's a real good chance," Giuliani told The Associated Press on Saturday, after a 30-minute speech and question-and-answer session with party leaders in South Carolina. In a year, they will put on the first-in-the-South GOP presidential primary.
On Giuliani's first visit to New Hampshire last weekend since setting up the committee, he told reporters he'd received a tremendous amount of enthusiasm and support from people.
But he said he had not yet decided whether he could make a "unique contribution" toward strengthening the nation that would justify a run for president.
He has emphasized his steady hand dealing with the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. However, his moderate stances on gun control, abortion, gay rights and other social issues could be liabilities for him in a GOP presidential primary that includes hard-core conservatives as a central voting group.
For instance, in November, South Carolina voters overwhelmingly approved a constitutional ban on same-sex unions.
"The fact is I appeal to conservative Christians the way I appeal to everyone else," Giuliani said at a news conference. "I don't think you have separate appeals to people."
Giuliani formed a presidential exploratory committee in November to prepare for a possible bid for the GOP nomination in 2008. It lets him raise money and travel the country, gauging how much support there could be for him.
In his few first weeks, Giuliani took in $1.4 million. He collected donations online, and held a major fundraising event in New York in December.
Financial documents show that by the start of this year Giuliani had about $1 million available, having spent money to set up campaign headquarters, buy equipment and hire workers.
The Republicans' top tier of candidates for 2008 includes Arizona Sen. John McCain, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and Kansas Sen. Sam Brownback.
Giuliani's visit to Columbia wrapped up a busy week in the state for White House hopefuls. Romney was in the capital on Tuesday and Brownback on Friday.
AP: "Romney Says Sen. Clinton 'Timid' on Iran"
Romney Says Sen. Clinton 'Timid' on Iran
Feb 2, 7:06 PM (ET)
By ALEX DOMINGUEZ
BALTIMORE (AP) - Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney on Friday accused Democratic front-runner Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of "timidity" regarding the security threat posed by Iran.
In a speech to a retreat of conservative congressional Republicans, Romney lashed out at Clinton for telling a pro-Israel dinner that a dialogue with countries hostile to Israel - including Iran and Syria - is needed to promote peace in the Middle East.
"At this point, We don't need a listening tour about Iran," Romney told the Republican Study Committee. "Someone who wants to engage Iran displays a troubling timidity toward a terrible threat of a nuclear Iran."
In a speech Thursday night at a Manhattan dinner held by the nation's largest pro-Israel lobbying group, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, Clinton called Iran a danger to the U.S. and one of Israel's greatest threats.
But the New York senator also said, "We need to use every tool at our disposal, including diplomatic and economic in addition to the threat and use of military force" when dealing with Iran.
"I have advocated engagement with our enemies and Israel's enemies," Clinton said. "I believe we can gain valuable knowledge and leverage from being part of a process again that enables us to get a better idea of how to take on and defeat our adversaries.
"U.S. policy must be clear and unequivocal: We cannot, we should not, we must not permit Iran to build or acquire nuclear weapons," Clinton told the audience. "In dealing with this threat ... no option can be taken off the table."
Responding to Romney's criticism, Clinton spokesman Mo Elleithee said Friday: "Senator Clinton believes that no option should be taken off the table when it comes to preventing Iran from developing nuclear weapons. Given his record of flip flops, the only thing that's timid are Governor Romney's convictions."
Romney, who served one term as Massachusetts governor, said that rather than engagement, economic and diplomatic isolation should be the priority.
Last year, when former Iranian President Mohammad Khatami visited Harvard University, Romney criticized the visit and ordered state agencies not to cooperate if asked for assistance.
On Thursday, some 1,700 attendees applauded as Clinton cited her efforts on behalf of the Jewish state and spoke scathingly of Iran's decision to hold a conference last month that questioned whether the Holocaust took place.
"To deny the Holocaust places Iran's leadership in company with the most despicable bigots and historical revisionists," Clinton said, criticizing what she called the Iranian administration's "pro-terrorist, anti-American, anti-Israeli rhetoric."
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has repeatedly called the Holocaust a "myth" and said Israel should be "wiped off the map" and its Jews returned to Europe.
Iran insists its nuclear program is designed to produce energy, not weapons. Ahmadinejad said Thursday that his government is determined to continue with its nuclear program, despite U.N. Security Council sanctions imposed over its refusal to halt uranium enrichment, a process that can produce fuel to generate electricity or for the fissile core of an atomic bomb.
---
Associated Press Writers Samantha Gross and Beth Fouhy in New York contributed to this report.
Feb 2, 7:06 PM (ET)
By ALEX DOMINGUEZ
BALTIMORE (AP) - Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney on Friday accused Democratic front-runner Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of "timidity" regarding the security threat posed by Iran.
In a speech to a retreat of conservative congressional Republicans, Romney lashed out at Clinton for telling a pro-Israel dinner that a dialogue with countries hostile to Israel - including Iran and Syria - is needed to promote peace in the Middle East.
"At this point, We don't need a listening tour about Iran," Romney told the Republican Study Committee. "Someone who wants to engage Iran displays a troubling timidity toward a terrible threat of a nuclear Iran."
In a speech Thursday night at a Manhattan dinner held by the nation's largest pro-Israel lobbying group, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, Clinton called Iran a danger to the U.S. and one of Israel's greatest threats.
But the New York senator also said, "We need to use every tool at our disposal, including diplomatic and economic in addition to the threat and use of military force" when dealing with Iran.
"I have advocated engagement with our enemies and Israel's enemies," Clinton said. "I believe we can gain valuable knowledge and leverage from being part of a process again that enables us to get a better idea of how to take on and defeat our adversaries.
"U.S. policy must be clear and unequivocal: We cannot, we should not, we must not permit Iran to build or acquire nuclear weapons," Clinton told the audience. "In dealing with this threat ... no option can be taken off the table."
Responding to Romney's criticism, Clinton spokesman Mo Elleithee said Friday: "Senator Clinton believes that no option should be taken off the table when it comes to preventing Iran from developing nuclear weapons. Given his record of flip flops, the only thing that's timid are Governor Romney's convictions."
Romney, who served one term as Massachusetts governor, said that rather than engagement, economic and diplomatic isolation should be the priority.
Last year, when former Iranian President Mohammad Khatami visited Harvard University, Romney criticized the visit and ordered state agencies not to cooperate if asked for assistance.
On Thursday, some 1,700 attendees applauded as Clinton cited her efforts on behalf of the Jewish state and spoke scathingly of Iran's decision to hold a conference last month that questioned whether the Holocaust took place.
"To deny the Holocaust places Iran's leadership in company with the most despicable bigots and historical revisionists," Clinton said, criticizing what she called the Iranian administration's "pro-terrorist, anti-American, anti-Israeli rhetoric."
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has repeatedly called the Holocaust a "myth" and said Israel should be "wiped off the map" and its Jews returned to Europe.
Iran insists its nuclear program is designed to produce energy, not weapons. Ahmadinejad said Thursday that his government is determined to continue with its nuclear program, despite U.N. Security Council sanctions imposed over its refusal to halt uranium enrichment, a process that can produce fuel to generate electricity or for the fissile core of an atomic bomb.
---
Associated Press Writers Samantha Gross and Beth Fouhy in New York contributed to this report.
Candidates Pick Tunes at DNC Meeting
Candidates Pick Tunes at DNC Meeting
Feb 2, 5:53 PM (ET)
By NEDRA PICKLER
WASHINGTON (AP) - Everyone needs a soundtrack - even politicians.
The presidential candidates who addressed the Democratic National Committee's winter meeting Friday got to choose their tunes, and it was an eclectic mix that reflected personal favorites and not-so-subtle messages.
Some candidates requested two songs, one that blared as they approached the stage and another that played as they left the podium.
The selections:
_John Edwards: "This Is Our Country" by John Mellencamp.
_Sen. Chris Dodd of Connecticut: "Get Ready (Cause Here I Come)" by the Temptations and "Reach Out," also by the Temptations.
_Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York: "Right Here, Right Now," by Jesus Jones and "Ain't Seen Nothing Yet" by Bachman-Turner Overdrive.
_Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio: "America the Beautiful"
Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois decided against using any music in keeping with the somber tone he sought to convey.
Wesley Clark, who hasn't indicated whether he will run, entered to Johnny Cash's "I Won't Back Down."
Feb 2, 5:53 PM (ET)
By NEDRA PICKLER
WASHINGTON (AP) - Everyone needs a soundtrack - even politicians.
The presidential candidates who addressed the Democratic National Committee's winter meeting Friday got to choose their tunes, and it was an eclectic mix that reflected personal favorites and not-so-subtle messages.
Some candidates requested two songs, one that blared as they approached the stage and another that played as they left the podium.
The selections:
_John Edwards: "This Is Our Country" by John Mellencamp.
_Sen. Chris Dodd of Connecticut: "Get Ready (Cause Here I Come)" by the Temptations and "Reach Out," also by the Temptations.
_Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York: "Right Here, Right Now," by Jesus Jones and "Ain't Seen Nothing Yet" by Bachman-Turner Overdrive.
_Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio: "America the Beautiful"
Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois decided against using any music in keeping with the somber tone he sought to convey.
Wesley Clark, who hasn't indicated whether he will run, entered to Johnny Cash's "I Won't Back Down."
Friday, February 2, 2007
Noonan: "Happy Birthday, Mr. Reagan"
PEGGY NOONAN
Happy Birthday, Mr. Reagan
He was a man of determination and good cheer--one of America's greats.
Friday, February 2, 2007 12:01 a.m.
Next Tuesday would have been Ronald Reagan's 96th birthday, which is amazing when you consider he is, in a way, more with us than ever: his memory and meaning summoned in political conversation, his name evoked by candidates. I remember 10 years ago when there was controversy over the movement to name things for him--buildings and airports. I was away from home at the time, and I realized that to talk to people in Washington about it, I'd have to land at JFK, take the FDR Drive and go through the Lincoln tunnel.
This is America; we remember our greats. You tell yourself who you are by what you raise a statue to.
The other day a friend asked: What do you think made him so likable to many who disagreed with him and who look back with nostalgia on his White House?
It's funny that people like to talk about this even though they know the answers.
There was the courage to swim against the tide, to show not a burst of bravery but guts in the long haul. The good cheer and good nature that amounted to a kind of faith. The air of pleasure Reagan emanated on meeting others, and his egalitarianism. He thought everyone, from Nobel Prize winners to doormen, equal. Not that he wasn't aware of status. When he stood behind Errol Flynn for a still photo to promote "Santa Fe Trail," he knew of Flynn's towering reputation. Between shots, Reagan kept quietly pushing little piles of dirt together. When he had a mound, he stood on it so that he was, literally, of equal stature. He told the story on himself for years because it was funny, and he believed in laughter. He was a little like Art Buchwald in this; he thought laughter was a value of its own. I think he thought that people who shared a laugh had in fact just voted for something together: something funny and human just got said or done.
Lesley Stahl of "60 Minutes" was CBS's White House correspondent during the Reagan administration, and I asked her what she remembered most. She said, "We reporters would stake out 'the driveway' to see who was going in to see the president. In the first few years there was a stream of people who came to argue against his budget-cutting proposals. They would march up that driveway in a huff, smoke coming out of their nostrils as they rehearsed their angry arguments about why he was destroying the lives of poor people, or schoolkids.
"I remember specifically a group of mayors from big cities, livid about cuts to their welfare programs, school-lunch programs, etc. They were there to give the president a scolding; they were going to tell him. And in they'd march. Two hours later, out they came. We were all ready with the cameras and the mikes to get their version of the telling off. But they were all little lambs, subdued. . . . He had charmed them. . . . The mayors told us Reagan agreed with them. That they had persuaded him. . . .
"Thirty minutes later Larry Speakes was in the press room telling us the numbers would not in fact change. The mayors had 'misunderstood' the president. Still, I'll bet anything if you talked to those mayors today, they would tell you Reagan was a great guy."
She mentioned "his personal touch, his gallantry." You knew he was a good man and you knew he meant it. So you understood how he could be the biggest supporter of FDR and the New Deal in 1944, and the most persuasive voice for Barry Goldwater in 1964. He'd thought it through and changed, not overnight but in time and with effort. He could change his mind on abortion in the same way, and not because he feared the base. Reagan was the base.
Last week I was at a gathering of old Reagan hands and I asked aloud if something that I'd heard might be true. It was that Mikhail Gorbachev now lives in California and has a pool. The minute I said it, a longtime Reagan friend laughed. He knew where I was going. Reagan always said what he really wanted to do with a Russian premier was get him in a helicopter, ride over Southern California, point down at the million little houses and million little pools, and say "Mr. Gorbachev, that's how the proletariat lives in America."
But it wasn't true. Mr. Gorbachev lives in Moscow, where he has a think tank, a former cabinet secretary told me. Mr. Gorbachev had given the secretary a tour, and proudly noted that he paid for the building by renting out two floors.
"Gorbachev has discovered the free market," the secretary said.
It was almost as good.
This led the Reagan intimate to remember being on a private plane with him one day. They had a steak and fine wine. "Reagan said to me, 'You know, I believe everyone in America can have these things.' I said, 'You really believe that?' Reagan said, 'Yes, I do.' " The intimate said to me, "See, I don't believe that, that anyone here can do it." Then he paused. "But it's good to have a president who does."
Lately we are hearing of President Reagan's famous 11th commandment: "Speak no ill of a fellow Republican." It's a good rule for both parties, but it's good also to remember how he approached it in practice. Ronald Reagan turned his own party upside down, enraged its establishment, and threatened its immediate future when, in 1976, he mounted a fierce challenge to an incumbent Republican president. He ran full and hard against Jerry Ford and it was bitter--the stakes were high, the issue freedom at home and abroad.
Reagan lost, his challenge doomed Ford in the general election, and four years later Reagan roared back. And when he won the nomination he turned around and seriously considered as his running mate . . . Jerry Ford.
When he ran against Ford, it wasn't personal. And when he almost picked Ford as his vice president, that wasn't personal either. It was more like this: This is America. We have been arguing about everything for 200 years. It's what we do. It's our glory.
Our politics then were grimmer yet had a lighter touch. The Soviets could nuke us tomorrow; let's have a hellacious brawl. It was a serious time, but I don't think we were in general so somber, so locked in. The 11th commandment meant the fight should never be mean, low or unnecessarily injurious to the person, or the party. But a fight could be waged--should be waged--over big, big things.
That he knew that is part of why we remember him as great. It's part of why when you next fly to Washington, you'll land at Reagan National Airport.
Ms. Noonan is a contributing editor of The Wall Street Journal and author of "John Paul the Great: Remembering a Spiritual Father" (Penguin, 2005), which you can order from the OpinionJournal bookstore. Her column appears Fridays on OpinionJournal.com.
Copyright © 2007 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Happy Birthday, Mr. Reagan
He was a man of determination and good cheer--one of America's greats.
Friday, February 2, 2007 12:01 a.m.
Next Tuesday would have been Ronald Reagan's 96th birthday, which is amazing when you consider he is, in a way, more with us than ever: his memory and meaning summoned in political conversation, his name evoked by candidates. I remember 10 years ago when there was controversy over the movement to name things for him--buildings and airports. I was away from home at the time, and I realized that to talk to people in Washington about it, I'd have to land at JFK, take the FDR Drive and go through the Lincoln tunnel.
This is America; we remember our greats. You tell yourself who you are by what you raise a statue to.
The other day a friend asked: What do you think made him so likable to many who disagreed with him and who look back with nostalgia on his White House?
It's funny that people like to talk about this even though they know the answers.
There was the courage to swim against the tide, to show not a burst of bravery but guts in the long haul. The good cheer and good nature that amounted to a kind of faith. The air of pleasure Reagan emanated on meeting others, and his egalitarianism. He thought everyone, from Nobel Prize winners to doormen, equal. Not that he wasn't aware of status. When he stood behind Errol Flynn for a still photo to promote "Santa Fe Trail," he knew of Flynn's towering reputation. Between shots, Reagan kept quietly pushing little piles of dirt together. When he had a mound, he stood on it so that he was, literally, of equal stature. He told the story on himself for years because it was funny, and he believed in laughter. He was a little like Art Buchwald in this; he thought laughter was a value of its own. I think he thought that people who shared a laugh had in fact just voted for something together: something funny and human just got said or done.
Lesley Stahl of "60 Minutes" was CBS's White House correspondent during the Reagan administration, and I asked her what she remembered most. She said, "We reporters would stake out 'the driveway' to see who was going in to see the president. In the first few years there was a stream of people who came to argue against his budget-cutting proposals. They would march up that driveway in a huff, smoke coming out of their nostrils as they rehearsed their angry arguments about why he was destroying the lives of poor people, or schoolkids.
"I remember specifically a group of mayors from big cities, livid about cuts to their welfare programs, school-lunch programs, etc. They were there to give the president a scolding; they were going to tell him. And in they'd march. Two hours later, out they came. We were all ready with the cameras and the mikes to get their version of the telling off. But they were all little lambs, subdued. . . . He had charmed them. . . . The mayors told us Reagan agreed with them. That they had persuaded him. . . .
"Thirty minutes later Larry Speakes was in the press room telling us the numbers would not in fact change. The mayors had 'misunderstood' the president. Still, I'll bet anything if you talked to those mayors today, they would tell you Reagan was a great guy."
She mentioned "his personal touch, his gallantry." You knew he was a good man and you knew he meant it. So you understood how he could be the biggest supporter of FDR and the New Deal in 1944, and the most persuasive voice for Barry Goldwater in 1964. He'd thought it through and changed, not overnight but in time and with effort. He could change his mind on abortion in the same way, and not because he feared the base. Reagan was the base.
Last week I was at a gathering of old Reagan hands and I asked aloud if something that I'd heard might be true. It was that Mikhail Gorbachev now lives in California and has a pool. The minute I said it, a longtime Reagan friend laughed. He knew where I was going. Reagan always said what he really wanted to do with a Russian premier was get him in a helicopter, ride over Southern California, point down at the million little houses and million little pools, and say "Mr. Gorbachev, that's how the proletariat lives in America."
But it wasn't true. Mr. Gorbachev lives in Moscow, where he has a think tank, a former cabinet secretary told me. Mr. Gorbachev had given the secretary a tour, and proudly noted that he paid for the building by renting out two floors.
"Gorbachev has discovered the free market," the secretary said.
It was almost as good.
This led the Reagan intimate to remember being on a private plane with him one day. They had a steak and fine wine. "Reagan said to me, 'You know, I believe everyone in America can have these things.' I said, 'You really believe that?' Reagan said, 'Yes, I do.' " The intimate said to me, "See, I don't believe that, that anyone here can do it." Then he paused. "But it's good to have a president who does."
Lately we are hearing of President Reagan's famous 11th commandment: "Speak no ill of a fellow Republican." It's a good rule for both parties, but it's good also to remember how he approached it in practice. Ronald Reagan turned his own party upside down, enraged its establishment, and threatened its immediate future when, in 1976, he mounted a fierce challenge to an incumbent Republican president. He ran full and hard against Jerry Ford and it was bitter--the stakes were high, the issue freedom at home and abroad.
Reagan lost, his challenge doomed Ford in the general election, and four years later Reagan roared back. And when he won the nomination he turned around and seriously considered as his running mate . . . Jerry Ford.
When he ran against Ford, it wasn't personal. And when he almost picked Ford as his vice president, that wasn't personal either. It was more like this: This is America. We have been arguing about everything for 200 years. It's what we do. It's our glory.
Our politics then were grimmer yet had a lighter touch. The Soviets could nuke us tomorrow; let's have a hellacious brawl. It was a serious time, but I don't think we were in general so somber, so locked in. The 11th commandment meant the fight should never be mean, low or unnecessarily injurious to the person, or the party. But a fight could be waged--should be waged--over big, big things.
That he knew that is part of why we remember him as great. It's part of why when you next fly to Washington, you'll land at Reagan National Airport.
Ms. Noonan is a contributing editor of The Wall Street Journal and author of "John Paul the Great: Remembering a Spiritual Father" (Penguin, 2005), which you can order from the OpinionJournal bookstore. Her column appears Fridays on OpinionJournal.com.
Copyright © 2007 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Thursday, February 1, 2007
"Giuliani: Can hero of 9/11 win over his own party?"
Giuliani: Can hero of 9/11 win over his own party?
Posted 1/31/2007 11:19 PM ET
By Susan Page, USA TODAY
BRETTON WOODS, N.H. — Rudy Giuliani would seem to have all the credentials a candidate for president could want: A hero of 9/11, a crime-busting federal prosecutor, a two-term Republican mayor in an overwhelmingly Democratic city and one of the most admired politicians in the country.
He's got a big problem, though. First, he has to be nominated by Republicans who don't yet know his views on social issues.
"People remember how he provided leadership at a time the city needed it and the country needed it," says coin-company executive Jeff Marsh, 41, as he waits to greet Giuliani at the annual dinner of the Littleton (N.H.) Chamber of Commerce. While Marsh's admiration of
Giuliani the man is evident, however, his support for Giuliani the presidential candidate is no sure thing. Giuliani's advocacy of abortion rights gives him "some pause," Marsh says ruefully.
The question is this: Can the thrice-married New Yorker — a supporter of abortion rights, gay rights and gun control — win the nomination of a Republican Party that has become increasingly dependent on and influenced by conservative Christians?
Maybe not, says Tony Fabrizio, a GOP pollster who advised Bob Dole's 1996 presidential campaign.
"As a presidential candidate, Rudy Giuliani should absolutely be taken seriously," Fabrizio says. "As a contender for the Republican nomination, he should be taken significantly less seriously. He has the stature to be president, but how does he get the Republican nomination? That is the fundamental disconnect."
Republicans tend to stick with front-runners. In each of the last nine presidential elections, the GOP contender who led the field the year before the election has won the nomination. Despite Giuliani's edge at the starting line, however, there is widespread skepticism among insiders such as Fabrizio whether he'll be there at the finish.
With the war in Iraq raging and terrorism a global threat, Giuliani's campaign could measure just how powerful social issues continue to be in the GOP. "He may be the candidate to test that proposition," says former Republican national chairman Ed Gillespie, now the party's state chairman in Virginia.
Ahead of the 'front-runner'
At least at the moment, Giuliani leads the Republican field, a USA TODAY/Gallup Poll finds. He holds a narrow advantage over Arizona Sen. John McCain, who is often identified as the party's front-runner. In January, 31% of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents said Giuliani was their likely preference for president; 27% chose McCain. Former House speaker Newt Gingrich was third at 10%.
In a head-to-head contest, Giuliani beat McCain 50%-42%.
Giuliani, who declined to be interviewed for this story, also shows appeal beyond the GOP.
Dubbed "America's mayor" after he led New York City's response to the Sept. 11 attacks, Giuliani had a nearly 4-1 favorable rating among all those polled. McCain had a 2-1 favorable rating, and the rating for Democratic hopeful Hillary Rodham Clinton was only a bit more positive than negative.
"I have great admiration for how he handled everything in New York," says Jan Mercieri, an independent married to Littleton's fire chief. She's brought a book profiling first responders who died during 9/11 for Giuliani to autograph before he speaks to the dinner. It's being held at the Mount Washington Hotel here, where the Bretton Woods monetary conference convened after World War II. ("God bless you for your service to our people and God bless America," he writes.)
"I think it touched everybody," she says of his take-charge actions on that day, tears welling in her eyes even now.
As fondly remembered as Giuliani is for responding to Sept. 11, however, most Americans don't know much else about him. Barely one in five Republicans knew that he supports abortion rights and civil unions for same-sex couples, the USA TODAY poll found. Nearly as many thought he was "pro-life" as said he was "pro-choice."
When they were told about his stance on those issues, his star dimmed. One in five Republicans said his views would "rule him out as a candidate" they could support. That included one-third of those who attend church every week, an important base of the GOP that makes up a third of party loyalists.
Another 25% of Republicans said his views made them less likely to support him, nearly double the proportion who said they made them more likely to support him.
Even some Republicans who see Giuliani as a stronger general-election candidate question if he can be nominated. A Gallup Poll taken Friday through Sunday showed Republicans split evenly over whether Giuliani or McCain had a better chance of winning the nomination, though by 17 percentage points they thought Giuliani had a better shot at defeating the Democratic candidate in November.
"He's a fine guy, and he certainly has a sterling record as mayor of New York," George Lovejoy, 75 and courtly, says the next morning. The former New Hampshire state senator, a real estate agent in Barrington, applauds politely as Giuliani addresses the annual state GOP meeting in Manchester. Could he be the presidential nominee?
"I don't think it's likely," Lovejoy says. He is backing former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, who now opposes abortion rights after supporting them earlier in his career. "Our strong focus as Republicans has been on social issues as well as tax-and-spend issues. That's what's made us strong."
Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, calls Giuliani "unacceptable" as a nominee. Conservative Christian leaders haven't targeted him because they assume "he's not going to go anywhere" once the campaign begins in earnest — but Perkins says they're ready to mobilize against him if he seems to gain traction.
Losing his luster?
Giuliani's strategists recognize his vulnerabilities. A campaign memo leaked to the New York Daily News last month and acknowledged as authentic by spokeswoman Sunny Mindel listed some of them: questions about his private-sector businesses, which have made him a millionaire and entangled him with clients from thoroughbred racing to the energy industry. Controversies around his current and former wives, a soap-opera saga played out in public. His stance on social issues, to the left of any major GOP contender since the party adopted an unyielding anti-abortion line in its 1980 platform.
"Probs (problems) that are insurm (insurmountable)?" asks the memo. "Does any of it cause RWG (Giuliani) to lose his lustre?"
In New Hampshire, Giuliani tries a response, portraying himself as a strong leader who can be trusted despite differences he may have with a voter on a particular issue.
"The single most important part of leadership … is to figure out what you believe, figure out what's important, have convictions, stand for something," he says in his speech here, stepping to the side of the podium to get closer to the audience and punching his hand in the air for emphasis. "I would prefer to support for president or head of a corporation, mayor, head of an anything — somebody who stands for something, even if I don't agree with them completely."
He cites a bipartisan trio — Abraham Lincoln, Franklin Roosevelt and Ronald Reagan — as great presidents who earned support even from those who might have disagreed with them on this or that. "I don't even agree with myself on everything," he jokes.
Famously combative as mayor, he tries to convey a warmer side on the stump. He repeatedly refers to his wife, Judith, a petite woman in a black turtleneck and oversized pearls who smiles from the audience; they walk out of the ballroom hand-in-hand. They were married in 2003 after his messy divorce from Donna Hanover, who says she learned they were separating when he announced it at a news conference. Giuliani's first marriage was annulled after 14 years.
Giuliani has honed his skills as a motivational speaker in considerable demand since 9/11; Forbes magazine estimates he charges $100,000 a speech, though he declines to accept even travel expenses from the New Hampshire group. He wears a tailored pinstriped suit, crisp shirt and glossy blue tie. His manner is conversational and occasionally self-deprecating — mentioning, for instance, that he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth but then adding that he doesn't bring that up in Brooklyn.
"Did you know I was from New York?" he asks to laughter.
Actually, his hometown may turn out to be yet another vulnerability. Not since DeWitt Clinton won the governorship in 1817 has a New York mayor been elected to a higher office. Not even Clinton, the Federalist presidential candidate in 1812, managed to make it to the White House.
Survive and prevail
Giuliani backed away from a tough contest before. In 2000, he had formed an exploratory committee and begun raising money for a Senate campaign against Hillary Clinton but then abandoned it after he was diagnosed with prostate cancer. He is now recovered.
This time, he's formed an exploratory committee and started fundraising with a goal of $25 million by March 31, when Federal Election Commission reports will provide a comparison among presidential contenders. He's begun hiring campaign staffers in Iowa and New Hampshire, which hold the opening caucuses and first primary. He heads this weekend to South Carolina, site of the second primary.
Republicans in the Palmetto State will judge the contenders based on "the entire package, not a single issue," Katon Dawson, South Carolina's Republican chairman, says when asked about Giuliani's views on abortion and gay rights. Still, he adds: "Those are issues important to the core of our party."
A Giuliani game plan might go like this: Finish in the top tier of candidates in Iowa, then win or at least finish second in New Hampshire, a Northeast state with a libertarian streak. (That would mean besting McCain, who won the primary over George W. Bush in 2000, and/or Romney, the former governor of neighboring Massachusetts.) Then Giuliani would need to survive in South Carolina, a Deep South state with a solidly conservative electorate.
If all that happens, he could be well positioned for the unprecedented crush of primaries on Feb. 5 that may include California, Florida, Illinois and New Jersey.
"We feel very good about the consolidation of primaries on an early date," says Michael DuHaime, a former political director of the Republican National Committee who is poised to run Giuliani's campaign. Contests in those big states would favor candidates with high name identification and deep pockets — that is, candidates like him.
Some Republicans believe Giuliani would be better able than McCain to deal with anti-Washington sentiment and the anti-GOP tide that cost the party control of Congress in November's elections.
"I'll tell you who's going to win the nomination," declares Bill Williams, 72, of Franconia, head of the New Hampshire Rural Development Corp. and a former congressional aide who was attending the Littleton dinner. "It's going to be a non-federally employed individual — a governor or a mayor."
The next day, before heading to Providence for a fundraiser, Giuliani and his wife drop by Blake's Diner in Manchester to shake hands with local residents and share lunch. He orders a pita stuffed with chicken fajita ingredients after a fellow patron recommends it. She gets a bacon cheeseburger.
The reception in New Hampshire has been "encouraging," he tells a few reporters as he leaves.
The retail campaigning demanded in New Hampshire feels "familiar," like a mayor's race. He says Republicans, downbeat after congressional setbacks in November, need the sort of encouragement and optimism that he's ready to provide.
"So why wouldn't you run?" Anita Siegfriedt of Fox News asks.
"That's a good question," he says, and laughs.
Posted 1/31/2007 11:19 PM ET
By Susan Page, USA TODAY
BRETTON WOODS, N.H. — Rudy Giuliani would seem to have all the credentials a candidate for president could want: A hero of 9/11, a crime-busting federal prosecutor, a two-term Republican mayor in an overwhelmingly Democratic city and one of the most admired politicians in the country.
He's got a big problem, though. First, he has to be nominated by Republicans who don't yet know his views on social issues.
"People remember how he provided leadership at a time the city needed it and the country needed it," says coin-company executive Jeff Marsh, 41, as he waits to greet Giuliani at the annual dinner of the Littleton (N.H.) Chamber of Commerce. While Marsh's admiration of
Giuliani the man is evident, however, his support for Giuliani the presidential candidate is no sure thing. Giuliani's advocacy of abortion rights gives him "some pause," Marsh says ruefully.
The question is this: Can the thrice-married New Yorker — a supporter of abortion rights, gay rights and gun control — win the nomination of a Republican Party that has become increasingly dependent on and influenced by conservative Christians?
Maybe not, says Tony Fabrizio, a GOP pollster who advised Bob Dole's 1996 presidential campaign.
"As a presidential candidate, Rudy Giuliani should absolutely be taken seriously," Fabrizio says. "As a contender for the Republican nomination, he should be taken significantly less seriously. He has the stature to be president, but how does he get the Republican nomination? That is the fundamental disconnect."
Republicans tend to stick with front-runners. In each of the last nine presidential elections, the GOP contender who led the field the year before the election has won the nomination. Despite Giuliani's edge at the starting line, however, there is widespread skepticism among insiders such as Fabrizio whether he'll be there at the finish.
With the war in Iraq raging and terrorism a global threat, Giuliani's campaign could measure just how powerful social issues continue to be in the GOP. "He may be the candidate to test that proposition," says former Republican national chairman Ed Gillespie, now the party's state chairman in Virginia.
Ahead of the 'front-runner'
At least at the moment, Giuliani leads the Republican field, a USA TODAY/Gallup Poll finds. He holds a narrow advantage over Arizona Sen. John McCain, who is often identified as the party's front-runner. In January, 31% of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents said Giuliani was their likely preference for president; 27% chose McCain. Former House speaker Newt Gingrich was third at 10%.
In a head-to-head contest, Giuliani beat McCain 50%-42%.
Giuliani, who declined to be interviewed for this story, also shows appeal beyond the GOP.
Dubbed "America's mayor" after he led New York City's response to the Sept. 11 attacks, Giuliani had a nearly 4-1 favorable rating among all those polled. McCain had a 2-1 favorable rating, and the rating for Democratic hopeful Hillary Rodham Clinton was only a bit more positive than negative.
"I have great admiration for how he handled everything in New York," says Jan Mercieri, an independent married to Littleton's fire chief. She's brought a book profiling first responders who died during 9/11 for Giuliani to autograph before he speaks to the dinner. It's being held at the Mount Washington Hotel here, where the Bretton Woods monetary conference convened after World War II. ("God bless you for your service to our people and God bless America," he writes.)
"I think it touched everybody," she says of his take-charge actions on that day, tears welling in her eyes even now.
As fondly remembered as Giuliani is for responding to Sept. 11, however, most Americans don't know much else about him. Barely one in five Republicans knew that he supports abortion rights and civil unions for same-sex couples, the USA TODAY poll found. Nearly as many thought he was "pro-life" as said he was "pro-choice."
When they were told about his stance on those issues, his star dimmed. One in five Republicans said his views would "rule him out as a candidate" they could support. That included one-third of those who attend church every week, an important base of the GOP that makes up a third of party loyalists.
Another 25% of Republicans said his views made them less likely to support him, nearly double the proportion who said they made them more likely to support him.
Even some Republicans who see Giuliani as a stronger general-election candidate question if he can be nominated. A Gallup Poll taken Friday through Sunday showed Republicans split evenly over whether Giuliani or McCain had a better chance of winning the nomination, though by 17 percentage points they thought Giuliani had a better shot at defeating the Democratic candidate in November.
"He's a fine guy, and he certainly has a sterling record as mayor of New York," George Lovejoy, 75 and courtly, says the next morning. The former New Hampshire state senator, a real estate agent in Barrington, applauds politely as Giuliani addresses the annual state GOP meeting in Manchester. Could he be the presidential nominee?
"I don't think it's likely," Lovejoy says. He is backing former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, who now opposes abortion rights after supporting them earlier in his career. "Our strong focus as Republicans has been on social issues as well as tax-and-spend issues. That's what's made us strong."
Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, calls Giuliani "unacceptable" as a nominee. Conservative Christian leaders haven't targeted him because they assume "he's not going to go anywhere" once the campaign begins in earnest — but Perkins says they're ready to mobilize against him if he seems to gain traction.
Losing his luster?
Giuliani's strategists recognize his vulnerabilities. A campaign memo leaked to the New York Daily News last month and acknowledged as authentic by spokeswoman Sunny Mindel listed some of them: questions about his private-sector businesses, which have made him a millionaire and entangled him with clients from thoroughbred racing to the energy industry. Controversies around his current and former wives, a soap-opera saga played out in public. His stance on social issues, to the left of any major GOP contender since the party adopted an unyielding anti-abortion line in its 1980 platform.
"Probs (problems) that are insurm (insurmountable)?" asks the memo. "Does any of it cause RWG (Giuliani) to lose his lustre?"
In New Hampshire, Giuliani tries a response, portraying himself as a strong leader who can be trusted despite differences he may have with a voter on a particular issue.
"The single most important part of leadership … is to figure out what you believe, figure out what's important, have convictions, stand for something," he says in his speech here, stepping to the side of the podium to get closer to the audience and punching his hand in the air for emphasis. "I would prefer to support for president or head of a corporation, mayor, head of an anything — somebody who stands for something, even if I don't agree with them completely."
He cites a bipartisan trio — Abraham Lincoln, Franklin Roosevelt and Ronald Reagan — as great presidents who earned support even from those who might have disagreed with them on this or that. "I don't even agree with myself on everything," he jokes.
Famously combative as mayor, he tries to convey a warmer side on the stump. He repeatedly refers to his wife, Judith, a petite woman in a black turtleneck and oversized pearls who smiles from the audience; they walk out of the ballroom hand-in-hand. They were married in 2003 after his messy divorce from Donna Hanover, who says she learned they were separating when he announced it at a news conference. Giuliani's first marriage was annulled after 14 years.
Giuliani has honed his skills as a motivational speaker in considerable demand since 9/11; Forbes magazine estimates he charges $100,000 a speech, though he declines to accept even travel expenses from the New Hampshire group. He wears a tailored pinstriped suit, crisp shirt and glossy blue tie. His manner is conversational and occasionally self-deprecating — mentioning, for instance, that he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth but then adding that he doesn't bring that up in Brooklyn.
"Did you know I was from New York?" he asks to laughter.
Actually, his hometown may turn out to be yet another vulnerability. Not since DeWitt Clinton won the governorship in 1817 has a New York mayor been elected to a higher office. Not even Clinton, the Federalist presidential candidate in 1812, managed to make it to the White House.
Survive and prevail
Giuliani backed away from a tough contest before. In 2000, he had formed an exploratory committee and begun raising money for a Senate campaign against Hillary Clinton but then abandoned it after he was diagnosed with prostate cancer. He is now recovered.
This time, he's formed an exploratory committee and started fundraising with a goal of $25 million by March 31, when Federal Election Commission reports will provide a comparison among presidential contenders. He's begun hiring campaign staffers in Iowa and New Hampshire, which hold the opening caucuses and first primary. He heads this weekend to South Carolina, site of the second primary.
Republicans in the Palmetto State will judge the contenders based on "the entire package, not a single issue," Katon Dawson, South Carolina's Republican chairman, says when asked about Giuliani's views on abortion and gay rights. Still, he adds: "Those are issues important to the core of our party."
A Giuliani game plan might go like this: Finish in the top tier of candidates in Iowa, then win or at least finish second in New Hampshire, a Northeast state with a libertarian streak. (That would mean besting McCain, who won the primary over George W. Bush in 2000, and/or Romney, the former governor of neighboring Massachusetts.) Then Giuliani would need to survive in South Carolina, a Deep South state with a solidly conservative electorate.
If all that happens, he could be well positioned for the unprecedented crush of primaries on Feb. 5 that may include California, Florida, Illinois and New Jersey.
"We feel very good about the consolidation of primaries on an early date," says Michael DuHaime, a former political director of the Republican National Committee who is poised to run Giuliani's campaign. Contests in those big states would favor candidates with high name identification and deep pockets — that is, candidates like him.
Some Republicans believe Giuliani would be better able than McCain to deal with anti-Washington sentiment and the anti-GOP tide that cost the party control of Congress in November's elections.
"I'll tell you who's going to win the nomination," declares Bill Williams, 72, of Franconia, head of the New Hampshire Rural Development Corp. and a former congressional aide who was attending the Littleton dinner. "It's going to be a non-federally employed individual — a governor or a mayor."
The next day, before heading to Providence for a fundraiser, Giuliani and his wife drop by Blake's Diner in Manchester to shake hands with local residents and share lunch. He orders a pita stuffed with chicken fajita ingredients after a fellow patron recommends it. She gets a bacon cheeseburger.
The reception in New Hampshire has been "encouraging," he tells a few reporters as he leaves.
The retail campaigning demanded in New Hampshire feels "familiar," like a mayor's race. He says Republicans, downbeat after congressional setbacks in November, need the sort of encouragement and optimism that he's ready to provide.
"So why wouldn't you run?" Anita Siegfriedt of Fox News asks.
"That's a good question," he says, and laughs.
Weekly Standard: "Mitt Romney's Conversion"
Mitt Romney's Conversion
His pro-life turn is more recent than you think.
by Jennifer Rubin
02/05/2007, Volume 012, Issue 20
Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney is under fire as he pursues the 2008 Republican presidential nomination. A recent Internet video highlighted comments made during a 1994 debate against Sen. Edward Kennedy in which Romney declared that he supported a "woman's right to choose." Romney quickly distanced himself from those comments, winning praise from conservative pundits. But a look at Romney's second campaign, the 2002 race for Massachusetts governor, reveals that his pro-choice stance and support for embryonic stem cell research were clear and ardent less than five years ago.
In the spring of 2002 Romney completed a Planned Parenthood questionnaire. Signed by Romney and dated April 9, 2002, it contained these responses:
Do you support the substance of the Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade? YES
Do you support state funding of abortion services through Medicaid for low-income women? YES
In 1998 the FDA approved the first packaging of emergency contraception, also known as the "morning after pill." Emergency contraception is a high dose combination of oral contraceptives that if taken within 72 hours of unprotected sex, can safely prevent a pregnancy from occurring. Do you support efforts to increase access to emergency contraception? YES
Romney also completed the questionnaire of the National Abortion Rights Action League, or NARAL (now called NARAL Pro-Choice America), with this statement:
I respect and will protect a woman's right to choose. This choice is a deeply personal one. Women should be free to choose based on their own beliefs, not mine and not the government's. The truth is no candidate in the governor's race in either party would deny women abortion rights. So let's end an argument that does not exist and stop these cynical and divisive attacks that are made only for political gain.
As he had with Planned Parenthood, Romney answered "Yes" to questions asking whether he supported Roe v. Wade and opposed attempts to restrict abortion. After completing the questionnaire, Romney met with three NARAL executives. In this meeting, NARAL executives recount, Romney evidenced no hesitation about his pro-choice views. He also tried to pique the executives' interest in endorsing him by bluntly acknowledging that he had higher political aspirations, saying, "You need someone like me in Washington." Moreover, those present recall that Romney argued that his election would make him credible in the Republican party nationally and thus help "sensible" Republicans like him overshadow more conservative elements in the GOP.
That spring, Romney also personally telephoned the group Republican Majority for Choice and asked for its endorsement. Completing a questionnaire similar to those of other pro-choice groups, Romney got what he wanted from the pro-choice Republicans. His campaign trumpeted the endorsement with a press release.
At the Massachusetts GOP convention in April 2002, Romney articulated views entirely consistent with the pledges he had been giving the pro-choice groups. "Believing in people is protecting their freedom to make their own life choices, even if their choice is different from yours," Romney said. "Accordingly, I respect and will fully protect a woman's right to choose. That right is a deeply personal one, and the women of our state should make it based on their beliefs, not mine and not the government's." In much the same manner as he had done in the 1994 Senate debates, Romney repeated his pro-choice views later that year in the October 2002 gubernatorial debates, even invoking his mother, Lenore Romney, who favored abortion rights when she ran for the U.S. Senate in Michigan in 1970.
Romney would later say that his views were evolving at this time and that when pressed he would say he was "personally" pro-life. However, he evidenced no such hesitation when he sought the endorsement of pro-choice groups. To the contrary, he repeatedly tried to reassure pro-choice advocates by stating that he would not alter the "status quo" with regard to abortion laws. He frequently dismissed claims that his pro-choice credentials were inferior to his opponent's. Attempting to dispel doubts about his pro-choice credentials at the 2002 GOP state convention, Romney repeated that any argument that said he was less supportive of a woman's right to choose than others was "cynical and divisive."
In their debate in October 2002, Romney's Democratic opponent Shannon O'Brien said, "It comes down to a matter of trust. I think Ted Kennedy said it best when he was running against Mitt Romney in 1994. His opponent wasn't pro-choice or anti-choice, he was multiple choice."
Whereupon Romney said: "Let me make this very clear: I will preserve and protect a woman's right to choose." O'Brien noted Romney's 1994 endorsement by the pro-life Massachusetts Citizens for Life and mentioned that Romney had written a letter to a Salt Lake City newspaper in 2001 asking that he not be referred to as "pro-choice."
Romney responded that his opponent was "shamelessly trying to play on voter fears about abortion rights." He added that he "do[es] not take the position of a pro-life candidate."
Romney's running mate, Kerry Healey, was quoted at the time of the debates as saying: "There isn't a dime of difference between Mitt Romney's position on choice and Shannon O'Brien['s]."
In addition to abortion rights, in 2002 Romney sang the praises of embryonic stem cell research, showing no concern that such research resulted in the destruction of embryos. On June 13, 2002, Romney spoke at a bioethics forum at Brandeis University. In a Boston Globe story filed the next day, he was quoted as saying that he endorsed embryonic stem cell research, hoping it would one day cure his wife's multiple sclerosis. And he went on to say: "I am in favor of stem cell research. I will work and fight for stem cell research," before adding, "I'd be happy to talk to [President Bush] about this, though I don't know if I could budge him an inch." When pressed, however, Romney and his aides declined to offer an opinion on "therapeutic" or embryonic cloning.
Romney won the 2002 Massachusetts gubernatorial election by more than 100,000 votes, many from pro-choice supporters. Jennifer Blei Stockman, national co-chair of Republican Majority for Choice, recalls Romney personally calling to thank her group after the election, saying, "We made a difference."
Two years into his governorship, in February 2005, Romney announced his opposition to stem cell research. Then, to the dismay of his pro-choice supporters, he vetoed a July 2005 bill making available Plan B or "morning after" contraception. Also that year, in an op-ed for the Boston Globe, he declared himself pro-life.
Romney says he changed his mind in November 2004, when he met with a scientist from the Harvard Stem Cell Institute. Romney claimed in a June 2006 interview that the researcher had told him: "'Look, you don't have to think about this stem cell research as a moral issue, because we kill the embryos after 14 days.'" Romney went on to say that both he and his chief of staff had an epiphany, recognizing that embryonic stem cell research cheapened respect for human life. However, the scientist with whom Romney had met, Dr. Douglas Melton, disputed Romney's story. A spokesman for the institute confirmed Dr. Melton's account, saying, "The words 'kill' and 'killing' are not in Dr. Melton's professional vocabulary, a vocabulary used to discuss finding cures for diseases in order to save lives."
Was Romney an unseasoned politician who changed his views upon deep reflection? Stockman, of Republican Majority for Choice, thinks not. "He was a grown man in 2002 and very thoughtful and introspective," Stockman says, "so the fact that he says he hadn't thought through these issues seems very odd." Melissa Kogut, NARAL Pro-Choice Massachusetts's executive director, says, "It is conventional wisdom that candidates in Massachusetts need to be pro-choice to win. He ran as pro-choice. As he began exploring the run for president, he changed. No matter where you stand on this issue, you should question where he stands." Angus McQuilken of Planned Parenthood says, "When a candidate or elected official can move so easily from one position to the opposite overnight, it leaves voters wondering whether he has any core values."
Asked recently about Healey's not "a dime of difference" remark during the 2002 campaign, Romney's opponent Shannon O'Brien told me: "Apparently there was a lot more than a dime's worth. Probably enough to put my daughter through college."
Jennifer Rubin is a writer in Virginia.
© Copyright 2007, News Corporation, Weekly Standard, All Rights Reserved.
His pro-life turn is more recent than you think.
by Jennifer Rubin
02/05/2007, Volume 012, Issue 20
Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney is under fire as he pursues the 2008 Republican presidential nomination. A recent Internet video highlighted comments made during a 1994 debate against Sen. Edward Kennedy in which Romney declared that he supported a "woman's right to choose." Romney quickly distanced himself from those comments, winning praise from conservative pundits. But a look at Romney's second campaign, the 2002 race for Massachusetts governor, reveals that his pro-choice stance and support for embryonic stem cell research were clear and ardent less than five years ago.
In the spring of 2002 Romney completed a Planned Parenthood questionnaire. Signed by Romney and dated April 9, 2002, it contained these responses:
Do you support the substance of the Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade? YES
Do you support state funding of abortion services through Medicaid for low-income women? YES
In 1998 the FDA approved the first packaging of emergency contraception, also known as the "morning after pill." Emergency contraception is a high dose combination of oral contraceptives that if taken within 72 hours of unprotected sex, can safely prevent a pregnancy from occurring. Do you support efforts to increase access to emergency contraception? YES
Romney also completed the questionnaire of the National Abortion Rights Action League, or NARAL (now called NARAL Pro-Choice America), with this statement:
I respect and will protect a woman's right to choose. This choice is a deeply personal one. Women should be free to choose based on their own beliefs, not mine and not the government's. The truth is no candidate in the governor's race in either party would deny women abortion rights. So let's end an argument that does not exist and stop these cynical and divisive attacks that are made only for political gain.
As he had with Planned Parenthood, Romney answered "Yes" to questions asking whether he supported Roe v. Wade and opposed attempts to restrict abortion. After completing the questionnaire, Romney met with three NARAL executives. In this meeting, NARAL executives recount, Romney evidenced no hesitation about his pro-choice views. He also tried to pique the executives' interest in endorsing him by bluntly acknowledging that he had higher political aspirations, saying, "You need someone like me in Washington." Moreover, those present recall that Romney argued that his election would make him credible in the Republican party nationally and thus help "sensible" Republicans like him overshadow more conservative elements in the GOP.
That spring, Romney also personally telephoned the group Republican Majority for Choice and asked for its endorsement. Completing a questionnaire similar to those of other pro-choice groups, Romney got what he wanted from the pro-choice Republicans. His campaign trumpeted the endorsement with a press release.
At the Massachusetts GOP convention in April 2002, Romney articulated views entirely consistent with the pledges he had been giving the pro-choice groups. "Believing in people is protecting their freedom to make their own life choices, even if their choice is different from yours," Romney said. "Accordingly, I respect and will fully protect a woman's right to choose. That right is a deeply personal one, and the women of our state should make it based on their beliefs, not mine and not the government's." In much the same manner as he had done in the 1994 Senate debates, Romney repeated his pro-choice views later that year in the October 2002 gubernatorial debates, even invoking his mother, Lenore Romney, who favored abortion rights when she ran for the U.S. Senate in Michigan in 1970.
Romney would later say that his views were evolving at this time and that when pressed he would say he was "personally" pro-life. However, he evidenced no such hesitation when he sought the endorsement of pro-choice groups. To the contrary, he repeatedly tried to reassure pro-choice advocates by stating that he would not alter the "status quo" with regard to abortion laws. He frequently dismissed claims that his pro-choice credentials were inferior to his opponent's. Attempting to dispel doubts about his pro-choice credentials at the 2002 GOP state convention, Romney repeated that any argument that said he was less supportive of a woman's right to choose than others was "cynical and divisive."
In their debate in October 2002, Romney's Democratic opponent Shannon O'Brien said, "It comes down to a matter of trust. I think Ted Kennedy said it best when he was running against Mitt Romney in 1994. His opponent wasn't pro-choice or anti-choice, he was multiple choice."
Whereupon Romney said: "Let me make this very clear: I will preserve and protect a woman's right to choose." O'Brien noted Romney's 1994 endorsement by the pro-life Massachusetts Citizens for Life and mentioned that Romney had written a letter to a Salt Lake City newspaper in 2001 asking that he not be referred to as "pro-choice."
Romney responded that his opponent was "shamelessly trying to play on voter fears about abortion rights." He added that he "do[es] not take the position of a pro-life candidate."
Romney's running mate, Kerry Healey, was quoted at the time of the debates as saying: "There isn't a dime of difference between Mitt Romney's position on choice and Shannon O'Brien['s]."
In addition to abortion rights, in 2002 Romney sang the praises of embryonic stem cell research, showing no concern that such research resulted in the destruction of embryos. On June 13, 2002, Romney spoke at a bioethics forum at Brandeis University. In a Boston Globe story filed the next day, he was quoted as saying that he endorsed embryonic stem cell research, hoping it would one day cure his wife's multiple sclerosis. And he went on to say: "I am in favor of stem cell research. I will work and fight for stem cell research," before adding, "I'd be happy to talk to [President Bush] about this, though I don't know if I could budge him an inch." When pressed, however, Romney and his aides declined to offer an opinion on "therapeutic" or embryonic cloning.
Romney won the 2002 Massachusetts gubernatorial election by more than 100,000 votes, many from pro-choice supporters. Jennifer Blei Stockman, national co-chair of Republican Majority for Choice, recalls Romney personally calling to thank her group after the election, saying, "We made a difference."
Two years into his governorship, in February 2005, Romney announced his opposition to stem cell research. Then, to the dismay of his pro-choice supporters, he vetoed a July 2005 bill making available Plan B or "morning after" contraception. Also that year, in an op-ed for the Boston Globe, he declared himself pro-life.
Romney says he changed his mind in November 2004, when he met with a scientist from the Harvard Stem Cell Institute. Romney claimed in a June 2006 interview that the researcher had told him: "'Look, you don't have to think about this stem cell research as a moral issue, because we kill the embryos after 14 days.'" Romney went on to say that both he and his chief of staff had an epiphany, recognizing that embryonic stem cell research cheapened respect for human life. However, the scientist with whom Romney had met, Dr. Douglas Melton, disputed Romney's story. A spokesman for the institute confirmed Dr. Melton's account, saying, "The words 'kill' and 'killing' are not in Dr. Melton's professional vocabulary, a vocabulary used to discuss finding cures for diseases in order to save lives."
Was Romney an unseasoned politician who changed his views upon deep reflection? Stockman, of Republican Majority for Choice, thinks not. "He was a grown man in 2002 and very thoughtful and introspective," Stockman says, "so the fact that he says he hadn't thought through these issues seems very odd." Melissa Kogut, NARAL Pro-Choice Massachusetts's executive director, says, "It is conventional wisdom that candidates in Massachusetts need to be pro-choice to win. He ran as pro-choice. As he began exploring the run for president, he changed. No matter where you stand on this issue, you should question where he stands." Angus McQuilken of Planned Parenthood says, "When a candidate or elected official can move so easily from one position to the opposite overnight, it leaves voters wondering whether he has any core values."
Asked recently about Healey's not "a dime of difference" remark during the 2002 campaign, Romney's opponent Shannon O'Brien told me: "Apparently there was a lot more than a dime's worth. Probably enough to put my daughter through college."
Jennifer Rubin is a writer in Virginia.
© Copyright 2007, News Corporation, Weekly Standard, All Rights Reserved.
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