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Max Follmer

The Huffington Post

Romney Gets Second Scathing "Anti-Endorsement"

December 26, 2007 10:52 AM


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Less than two weeks before the possibly make-or-break New Hampshire primary, GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney woke up Wednesday to find another scathing anti-endorsement in a Granite State newspaper. It's the second major anti-Romney editorial slam this week.

The Union-Leader, the largest newspaper in the state, slammed Romney for lacking "conviction," and said that the more New Hampshire voters saw of him, the less there was to like.

"In this primary, the more Mitt Romney speaks, the less believable he becomes," the markedly conservative Union-Leader editorial board wrote. The Union-Leader has endorsed Arizona Sen. John McCain in the Republican primary.

The scornful jab by the media outlet with the biggest bullhorn in the Granite State comes at a delicate time for the Romney campaign, as the candidate struggles to hold his slight lead in the polls and sprint across the finish line. A win in New Hampshire would provide a jolt of momentum to a campaign that is seeing its prospects in the other pivotal early state of Iowa lagging in recent weeks. Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee has surged ahead of the Republican field and recently overtook the once-sizeable lead that Romney held in Iowa for most of the year.

New Hampshire is considered by many to be a virtual political suburb of Massachussetts where Romney sat as governor. A failure by Romney to score big in the Granite State could be a mortal blow to his national campaign.

Four days ago, another large New Hampshire newspaper, the Concord Monitor, slammed Romney as a phony and told its readers that he "must be stopped."

Under the headline "Romney should not be the next president," the Monitor said his consistent flip-flops on issues left voters wondering whether his turnarounds were sincere, or driven by personal ambition:

If you followed only his tenure as governor of Massachusetts, you might imagine Romney as a pragmatic moderate with liberal positions on numerous social issues and an ability to work well with Democrats. If you followed only his campaign for president, you'd swear he was a red-meat conservative, pandering to the religious right, whatever the cost. Pay attention to both, and you're left to wonder if there's anything at all at his core.

Despite spending more time in New Hampshire than any other GOP candidate, Romney has yet to pick up a single newspaper endorsement. He still leads in most New Hampshire polls, with the latest Real Clear Politics average showing him up by 3.5 percent over his nearest rivals.

Questions about Romney's authenticity and truthfulness were raised last week when he was forced to repeatedly parse the dictionary meaning of the verb "to see" after claiming he "saw" his father march with civil rights icon Martin Luther King, Jr. News reports later showed that the elder Romney, a former Michigan governor, did not march with King, although he was a supporter of the civil rights movement.

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Anyone stupid enough to vote for Romney deserves what they get.
Fortunately, Mitt lacks the connections with the head of Diebold voting machines to rig this election.
He's got no chance.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 10:25 AM on 12/29/2007

Come on now, people, you're being harsh: you can be somewhere you weren't, doing something you never did, if you feel empathy with it. Heck, I'm in Lahore grieving at the Bhutto compound right now. It's a magic trick I've learned from Mitt Romney. Because...

He was there when the Beatles met Muhammad Ali, too. And I hear he looked on as the Magna Carta was signed (disprove it). Folks say there was a Romney sighting at Woodstock. He pushed Abe Hoffman off the stage in fact. Mitt also recalls he took photos from the Lunar Module of Buzz Aldrin digging that core tube into the moon's surface. His father George held the tube still. Insiders know Mitt Romney wrote "The Masks" for Rod Serling, cowrote "American Pie" with Don McLean, and knocked over the leaning tower of Piza to find gold tablets hidden beneath it. The fact is Mitt Romney's like Nauvoo Waldo; he's kind of been everywhere, and you Gentiles (Jewish Jews included as Gentiles but not Native Americans, who are in fact actual Jews) are really a bunch of thick-browed racist troglodytes for daring to say otherwise.

Don't you believe in magic?

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 08:54 PM on 12/27/2007

The editorial writers are just figuring out like everyone else that you can't believe a word he says.

Speaking to a WCVB Boston reporter Romney said,
"Well, I don't recall God speaking to me. I, I don't recall God speaking to anyone since, uh, Moses and the [burning] bush, or perhaps some others, but, but I don't have that frequent of communication."

Prob is, this denies the central LDS teaching he says he won't step away from that both god and Jesus appeared to Joseph Smith and that President of the LDS regularly communicates directly with god.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 07:35 PM on 12/27/2007

What happens if Bloomberg and/or Ron Paul recrudesce as INDEPENDENTS, with a panoply of candidates with strengths not unlike those in the U.S. election of 1860?

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 06:13 PM on 12/27/2007

MITT'S MEDICAL ISSUES BLAMED

From the Journal of the American College of Neurosurgeons blog:

"We understand that Mitt's "misstatements" may all be a result of a medical operation Governor Romney had about a year and half ago. To get rid of the gnawing inside, he went into Mayo Clinc for a ethiclotomy. That's the surgical procedure, very popular with a certain class of businessman, where they make a micro incision behind the ear and into the brain then vacuum out the little organ where the conscience resides. But as is all too typical with this class of patients, the surgeons couldn't find the damn thing. I've heard through the medical grapevine that the doctors didn't want to lose their fees--they're businesspeople after all!--so they just sucked something else out. Some suspect it was his heart." Neurosurgeon in Dallas

"The theory in our Neurosurgery Department is that the damage occured while the whole family was going through their annual "Stepford" renewal treatment last spring. As most of you who work at teaching hospitals know, this is the suite of medical procedures that ensures perfect children and spouses, great teeth, a very WASPy attitude, and a nice fat wallet. We've heard that during one of the minor surgical processes, the last tiny vestige of Mitt's soul may have been removed by mistake. Mitt's soul had atrophied to the point that the technicians thought it was just a large pimple on his buttocks. When the doctors were out of the room, one of the custodians, probably an illegal immigrant, apparently popped it. So there you have it!" Cedars of Lebanon Hospital, Detroit

Since Mitt became a fervant campaigner for "Tort Reform" last week, he has decided not to sue for malpractice!

Protect Our Borders! Double Gitmo Yes! Guns for Every Family! No New Taxes! Jesus is Our Savior! Go Mitt!!!!!

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 05:06 PM on 12/27/2007
photo

The current conservatives are not evil, just facsist.
"Fascism is an authoritarian political ideology (generally tied to a mass movement) that considers individual and social interests subordinate to the interests of the state or party. Fascists seek to forge a type of national unity, usually based on (but not limited to) ethnic, cultural, racial, and religious attributes." Wikipedia
All you have to do is insert corporate for state and that is the conservative movement in America, draped in a flag a carrying a cross.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 09:05 AM on 12/27/2007

I don't have a problem with Romney. The MSM has labeled him a flip-flopper because he was respectful of the fact that he governed a blue state. He didn't force an extreme right-wing agenda down their throats.

After the Olympics, there were rumors that Romney might run for Governor of Utah. I think he would have governed Utah differently than Massachusetts. But I don't think that's a bad thing. Principles are non-negotiable, but policies aren't. And principles can be in conflict.

I am both conservative and religious. In principle, I value the freedom to choose. But I also value the life of a fetus. My principles are in conflict. I value the institution of marriage and family and find gay marriage to be a perversion of those institutions. But my heart breaks for those who would be denied the blessings of family life because of an orientation they did not choose.

My point is that there are no easy answers. In politics, we want everyone to be solidly in one camp or the other. But not all of us are. Romney's strength and focus are in the management arena - an area in which George Bush has failed miserably. Romney's management competence is unparalleled by presidential candidates of either party.

The one thing I have learned by watching Romney's national narrative play out is this - appeasing people is not politically wise. If Romney were as calculating as the left wants to believe, he should have used his position as governor to shove conservative policies down the throats of his constituents - as the rest of red states cheered. It wouldn't have been right, but it would have been more politically expedient for someone eyeing the oval office.

Instead, he respected Massachusetts. He governed from the center. Yet the left castigates him for it. I think the venom of the left says more about them than about Romney.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 02:01 AM on 12/27/2007

Not very often that I agree with so many posters on one candidate. Man this guy must be getting some horrendously bad vibes. It must be the Karma thing reacting to lies¦

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 01:25 AM on 12/27/2007

So far the /only/ good thing about the up coming Presidential election cycle is that Bush can't run again. Everything else ("front runner" Republican AND Democratic candidates) have been pathetic.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 01:18 AM on 12/27/2007

December 14, 2007
BIDEN-BROWNBACK Measure Calling for U.S. to Support a Federal Iraq Heads to President for his Signature and BIDEN Plan for Iraq Emerges as Consensus, Bipartisan Path toward Ending War

Biden Efforts to Bar Permanent Bases in Iraq and Protect Troops with Mine Resistant Vehicles Also Included in Report

Washington, DC " Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Joseph R. Biden, Jr. (D-DE) and Senator Sam Brownback"s (R-KS) legislation calling for the U.S. to support a decentralized Iraq passed today as part of the final Department of Defense Authorization report. The measure " which has garnered overwhelming bipartisan support in both Houses of Congress " calls on the President to make a major strategic shift in the Administration"s pursuit of a political settlement in Iraq.

"It"s time for this President to listen," said Senator Joe Biden. "We now have both sides of the aisle, both sides of the U.S. Capitol, saying to the President: abandon this flawed strategy of yours and change course. Everyone agrees that there is no pure military solution in Iraq. There has to be a political solution and that begs the question: what is it? Today, the Congress answered that question with one voice."...

Senator Biden has also been a long-time advocate of barring the construction of any permanent U.S. military bases in Iraq. Last year, he successfully passed two amendments as part of the Defense Authorization bill and Defense Appropriations bill, which prohibited using any funds to build permanent U.S. military bases in Iraq or to exercise American control over Iraqi oil. Both bills were signed into law, marking the first clear sign from Congress that the American military presence in Iraq would not be open-ended.

Senator Biden's effort to protect our troops by ensuring that the Pentagon builds and deploys more mine resistant vehicles " which are proven to decrease deaths and injuries from roadside bombs by 67 to 80 percent " also was successful.
http://biden.senate.gov/newsroom/details.cfm?id=289110&&&search_field=Iraq

www.planforiraq.com

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 12:48 AM on 12/27/2007

Mitt looks to be all Yang and no Yin. It seems unbalanced, "half-hidden," and has a Dorian Gray feel to it. No thanks.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 12:01 AM on 12/27/2007

Mittler is the Orkin man, he'll keep the White House free of VARMITS. Much like Socks the cat did. Socks coincidently also marched with Martin Luther King....figuratively speaking.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 11:05 PM on 12/26/2007

MITT A GREAT AMERICAN HERO

When Mitt and I were serving together in Nam, I will never forget the day he led our team in an attack on flanking pill boxes. He dragged five wounded out all by himself for almost three miles, in spite of multiple wounds to his leg and stomach, that is, after he took out the pillboxes and "took care of" the prisoners--they were gooks so who cares. He deserved the Medal of Honor, but being a humble man, he would only accept a purple heart and a bronze star. I am so proud to see his sons serving the nation in uniform, like Mitt, at this time of war, two in Iraq, two in Afganistan, and one on "Special Assignment". He must be so proud to see them in their crisp uniforms saluting the Flag of this great Christian nation!

Back to that day in Nam. The Sunday after we took out the pill boxes, we were gathered around Mitt's field hospital bed--he wouldn't allow himself to be helicoptered to the main base--so that he could lead our Sunday prayer service, as he always did. Mitt still had his Bible inside his ragged and bloody shirt, snuggled over his heart, where he had carried it into battle. As he pulled it out to find the week's reading, out tumbled a slug. It had gone partly through the Bible, stopping it from killing him. Out from the Bible he pulled a picture of Ann, his future wife. It had not been harmed by the bullet. The only thing that saved his life was his Bible and his picture of Ann. I would all it a miracle! Thank Jesus, quite literally. Now this great American hero can go on to be our President!

Jesus is our Savior! No New Taxes! Defend Our Borders! Support our Soldiers! Go Mitt!!!!!!

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 10:46 PM on 12/26/2007

What Republican Candidate do you believe will win the Iowa Presidential Caucus Nomination?

http://www.youpolls.com/details.asp?pid=1370
.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 09:15 PM on 12/26/2007
photo

Almost everyone in NH is ONLINE and the fact this tree culture relic has the audacity to think its endorsement is meaningful is a bit of sad joke. The fact of the matter is the only people it matters to are its advertisers who then think people still read the stupid rag even though almost everything it prints is no longer news, at all. Most people who pick it up dont ever turn the pages and look at the ads, but rather go for a single comic they like or perhaps a few sports scores for their handicapping or even an old stock quote, but of course all of this available up to date for free online. In sum, who vests any importance at all in the editorial opinion of a tree culture rag which is 99 percent ads and full of pictures like the meeting of the local DAR or Kiwannis or of even worse some stupid marriage pictures. The main thing is the editorial board wants to continue selling full pages ads tothe grocery chains and the realtors, and the later know their ads are useless but use a little picture of a house that wont sell to justify some outrageous commision theya are charging. The editorial board == who elected them and why does what they think matter at all? Seriously.
The fact that in the matter of Romney they are perfectly right is irrelevant.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 08:02 PM on 12/26/2007
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