Romney praises Blunt, jabs Rudy; Giuliani to be here Thursday
(Sorry for the delay with this, folks, but we’ve had technical problems with the Stltoday blog site all day.)
Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani will headline a $1,000-a-person breakfast Thursday at the Ritz Carlton hotel in Clayton.
Giuliani’s visit will be less than 72 hours after another Repuiblican — former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney – stopped by for his own fundraising event, held Monday night at Hunter Farms in west St. Louis County.
Beforehand, Romney and Missouri Gov. Matt Blunt shared a mike — and plenty of mutual admiration — at Spirit of St. Louis airport, where the two had flown in from Springfield, Mo.
Also in the room: Blunt’s younger brother, lobbyist Andy Blunt, who sported a “Mitt Romney” for president sticker.
At the press conference, Romney praised Gov. Blunt for his fundraising help, and for their shared views on a number of issues — notably health care. Romney said that Blunt’s latest health care proposal is similar to his own.
Romney also touted his past as a successful businessman, before running for governor, which he said gave him perspective on the importance of keeping costs down and efficiency up.
When asked what he could do for Missouri, if elected, Romney cited his commitment to “winning the war against global jihad,” helping American farmers, and curbing illegal immigration.
Romney also announced a number of legislative supporters who were joining his “leadership team.”
Here’s from his release:
“The Missouri Legislative Leadership Team includes: State Senators Jason Crowell and Gary Nodler, Speaker Pro Tempore Bryan Pratt, State Representatives Shannon Cooper, David Day, Doug Funderbunk, Dwight Scharnhorst, Neal St. Onge, Bryan Stevenson.
“These nine state legislators join Missouri Governor Matt Blunt, Missouri House Speaker Rod Jetton and former Senator Jim Talent in their support for Governor Romney’s bid for the presidency.”
GO MITT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Romney is loathsome. Torture is un-Christian and un-American. I could never vote for anyone, such as this rich guy, who calls, not for closing Gitmo, but for doubling it. We were the good guys when the greatest generation fought against the fascism of its day in WWII; how did we ever descend to secret prisons, waterboarding, renditions, domestic spying, etc.? Where is our moral imperative? Those who forget the past are doomed to repeat it! Wake up, America!
As much as I respect Mitt for his past business ventures and his job as governor in blue Massachusetts, his flip-flopping on issues makes him simply unelectable. Republicans did an effective job using flip-flopping to defeat John Kerry, and Democrats will do an equally effective job doing so against Romney. Republicans need to nominate their most electable candidate, and that’s Rudy Giuliani.
Mitt Romney is the best candidate for President. He realizes we have problems in health care and with strain on the middle class. Better than that he has plans that take market based approaches that will put trust in the people of the United States to make the right decisions and make us better off as a whole. Most importantly for me, he has stated that he will not allow discretionary non-military spending to grow at the rate of inflation. He’s going to do even better, keeping spending growth at 1% below the level of inflation. Our US government needs to trim the fat. Mitt Romney is the candidate with a diet plan for America.
Nearly 1/3 of Republicans say they can’t vote for Romney because of his Mormon faith.
It’s nice to see the “Jesus Camp” Christian conservative intolerances finally catch-up with the Republican party.
Tango…How can you call Romney a “flip-flopper” while endorsing Giuliani with a straight face? Giuliani supported a ban on assault weapons and filed a lawsuit seeking to hold gun manufacturers liable for the violence inflicted with their products. He even called the NRA “extremists”. Now, of course, he is the front-runner for the Republican nomination, and gun-nuts are a crucial GOP constituency. So appearing before the gun lobby last week, Giuliani was in “all-out retreat” pledging to appoint judges who respect gun rights, expressing regret over his lawsuit, and claiming that somehow, 9/11 “highlights the necessity for Second Amendment rights.” Huh?
It’s amazing how many Republicans experience “just-in-time epiphanies” about guns, God, and even Iraq that magically align them with their parties base…Even Romney discovered he is no longer pro-choice…When was the last time you heard John McCain talk about the intolerance of the Christian right?
Republicans need to re-group and start thinking about 2016.
For those of you who are for Romney, does that mean you are for doubling Gitmo, too? If so, my next question is, not…what would Jesus do, but rather Who Would Jesus Bomb, Torture, Render, Waterboard? When are we going to get someone not connected to the super-rich, like Romney with his big houses and millions, as a serious candidate for President? Wake up, America!
Ohhhh… whiterosesociety doesn’t like Mitt…
There’s news for you. I’m shocked! Shocked I say!
6 posts 2 ‘for’ Mitt and 4 against… with those four coming with a healthy dose of GOP hatred as well. Might well as be the op/ed page of the Post.
No, that’s a totally unfair thing to say… the op/ed wouldn’t have had the two pro-Mitt comments.
I’m a pro-choice, pro-embryonic stem cell research Republican. I support Rudy beacuse he’s most in line with my views. Rudy will also take the free market approach to problems; his health care plan is a great example of this, in contrast to Mitt, as well as across-the-board cuts in government re-hiring. Rudy has realistic chance of contesting Washington, New Jersey, and other states no Republican will ever have a shot at. At the very least, he will force Dems to steer valuable resources toward traditional blue states and away from swing states.
I’ll vote for Mitt if he gets the nomination only because national security/foreign policy is the most important issue for me; I just don’t expect he can win.
tsquare: what part of torture, waterboarding, renditioning, wiretapping, etc. is Republican and what part is Democratic? Rich guy Romney sticks out more than most of the right wingers running for President because he claims to be religious, but supports policies that are un-Christian, and might I add, also un-American. FDR put Japanese-Americans in concentration camps, which was also wrong. He was a Democrat, I believe. Not all Republicans are bad: Lincoln was pretty good and Ron Paul is not so bad, either. Forget about parties and start looking at the fairly obvious connections between power and money. Congressman Todd Akin, Republican-Plaza Frontenac and his running buddies at the Chamber of Commerce/Fortune 500 CEOs/Show-Me Institute and the Guiliani front group called Take Initiative America are emblematic of the leadership structure of our society. Mostly male, mostly pale, and always stale(rich guys)run our beloved country and the rest of us, the overwhelming majority, just run around in it. Wake up, America!
No way in hell a Mormon gets the GOP nomination. Doesn’t matter if none of the other GOP candidates bring up the subject of magic underwear, the grass roots party regulars will not stand for it. I predict he wins no primaries outside of New England.