Reviews Are In. . .Romney Speech Didn’t Move Any Mountains

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December 7, 2007

TOP HEADLINE: Reviews Are In. . .Romney Speech Didn’t Move Any Mountains

Most conservative Christian political activists and pastors who studied Mitt Romney's speech on Thursday addressing his Mormon faith agree it was something he had to do.

But few said it was strong enough to change the minds of evangelicals - a powerful force in Republican politics.

Romney, a third-generation Mormon, did not talk about the doctrines of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in his speech. Instead, he promised to "serve only the common cause of the people of the United States."

That wasn't enough for the Rev. Frank Cook, pastor of Union Park Baptist Church in Des Moines, who remains unconvinced that Romney would make a good president.

"He was doing the Potomac two-step around the issues that concern many evangelicals," Cook said. "Most evangelicals, including myself and my church, agree with Governor Romney's stand on most moral issues in our country. Our objection with his candidacy is not so much with his public stance as it is with how the Mormon faith has tried to disguise the tenets of their faith."
http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071207/NEWS/712070374/-1/caucus=interstitialskip

He’ll Always Be Her George Washington

Ann Romney believes her husband's speech on religion Thursday will go down in history, and in Las Vegas on Thursday night, she found many people who agreed with her.

"People were saying, 'It was like George Washington,' 'It was the Gettysburg Address,' " she said in an interview just after working a room of about 120 audience members, mostly women, at a restaurant in the JW Marriott in Summerlin.
http://www.lvrj.com/news/12243536.html

Now Romney Just Has To Give a ‘Flip Flop’ Speech and He’ll Be Home Free!

Mitt Romney's religion is only part of his problem. A bigger threat to his Republican presidential candidacy, advisers say, is a record of policy flip-flops and nagging doubts about his credibility.

And so Romney's highly anticipated address Thursday was as much about his character as his Mormonism. He used an intensely personal issue — his religion — to address voters' concerns about his authenticity and integrity, about the strength of his convictions.

No single speech is likely to fix such a big concern.

"Americans do not respect believers of convenience," Romney said. "Americans tire of those who would jettison their beliefs, even to gain the world."

This from a man who campaigned for governor of Democratic-leaning Massachusetts as a supporter of abortion rights, gay rights and gun control — only to switch sides on those and other issues in time for the GOP presidential race. The first thing he did as a presidential contender in January was sign the same no-tax pledge an aide dismissed as "government by gimmickry" during the 2002 campaign.

"The Romney strategy with the speech appeared to be to try to kill two birds with one stone — to placate voters who are apprehensive about him as a Mormon or as a flip-flopper," said Costas Panagopoulos, a political scientist at Fordham University.

"But I am not convinced he was successful in doing either," Panagopoulos said. "At the end of the day, it is very difficult to change voters' pre-existing beliefs, and it would probably take a much more powerful speech than the one Romney delivered today."
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071206/ap_po/romney_authenticity;_ylt=AoXNPN1DePM7SvNld3J5SI1p24cA

More From Hamptons-Gate. . . Giuliani (Shockingly) Failed To Disclose Judith’s Earlier Security Detail

Judith Nathan got taxpayer-funded chauffeur services from the NYPD earlier than previously disclosed - even before her affair with then-Mayor Rudy Giuliani was revealed, witnesses and sources tell the Daily News.

"It went on for months before the affair was public," said Lee Degenstein, 52, a retired Smith Barney vice president who formerly lived at 200 E. 94th St., Nathan's old building.

"It was going on longer than anybody thought," added Degenstein, who, along with others in the neighborhood, said they often saw Nathan hopping into unmarked NYPD cars in early 2000, before the affair was revealed that May.

When pressed by The News Thursday, aides to the Republican presidential hopeful conceded that Nathan got police protection "sporadically" before December 2000 - the previously acknowledged beginning of her taxpayer-funded detail.
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/2007/12/07/2007-12-07_judith_nathan_got_security_earlier.html

Well Somebody’s Gotta Pay For the Louis Vuitton (And It’s Seat On the Plane). . . Giuliani Turned Down For Seeking Hefty Consulting Fee

Rudy Giuliani asked for a consulting fee of at least $20 million when he pitched the Recording Industry Association of America five years ago, the group’s former head said.

Hilary Rosen, a Democrat who supports Sen. Hillary Clinton for president, offered the information in response to an inquiry from The Wall Street Journal. Rosen said the industry group didn’t hire Giuliani, now a Republican candidate for president, because he wanted too much money. “It was just the greed of the fee was too staggering,” Rosen said. She said she told Giuliani and his team: “There’s no way the industry is going to shell out that kind of money.”

Sunny Mindel, a spokeswoman for Giuliani Partners LLC, said, “We do not comment on meetings with clients or potential clients.” The campaign has referred all questions on Giuliani’s work at Giuliani Partners to the firm.
http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2007/12/06/giuliani-sought-a-hefty-consulting-fee/

Another Installment of Presidential Candidate Giuliani vs. NYC Mayor Giuliani . . . Rudy Vows To Fight AIDS, But Mayoral Records Shows Otherwise

On World AIDS Day last weekend, Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani vowed that if he were elected president he would "continue America's life-saving role as a leader in the global fight against HIV/AIDS until the day humanity can declare victory against this deadly disease."

But in his eight years as mayor of New York City, Giuliani "showed absolutely zero concern for people living with AIDS and HIV," said Charles King, president of Housing Works, the New York-based service provider for people with the illnesses. He called Giuliani's declaration "gross hypocrisy."

"We had to litigate against him from the beginning of his term to force his administration to follow New York law with regard to the provision of services and care to persons with AIDS and HIV," King said.

Giuliani's administration pulled his group's city contracts, he said, as retaliation for their frequent, very aggressive criticism of the mayor and his policies.
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2007/12/07/group_assails_giuliani_comments_on_aids_as_hypocrisy/

Fred Thompson: The Adult in the GOP Race (Check Out the Picture)

Fred Thompson told Charlie Rose why he’s running: “We’re going to need adults … someone that had the experience and knows this country and knows the people and knows the world.”

So, Rose asked, “What Republicans aren’t adults?”
http://www.kansascity.com/news/local/story/393481.html

Freddie Clearly Needs His Beauty Rest

Now that we're coming down to the last few precious days in the high-pressured presidential primary race to lead the country and the free world, former Sen. Fred Thompson of Tennessee is ramping up his campaign schedule. After all, he's got seven other hard-working Republican campaigners hard on his tail.

This morning, according to the e-mailed schedule from Thompson's press office, Fred would begin his campaign day bright and early at 8:15 a.m. EST with a telephone interview with Andy Peterson on WMT in Cedar Falls, Iowa. He'd follow that 25 minutes later with an interview on AM Tampa Bay on WFLA and then at 10:40 he'd be interviewed on WHO in Des Moines.

By 11 a.m., he would be done with that.

And that's it for the campaign day.
http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/news/politics/blog/2007/12/a_short_day_in_the_life_of_the.html

No Straight Talk From John McCain On Tax Cuts

But when he came to the Globe Wednesday, McCain took refuge in a supply-side myth: the notion that President Bush's tax cuts have created a compelling revenue surge.

Queried about funding programs like expanded healthcare for children by letting some of the Bush tax cuts expire, McCain replied, "I would suggest that most economists agree that there was an increase in revenues . . . associated with the tax cuts." Letting those tax cuts expire might actually have the opposite effect on revenues, the Republican presidential candidate warned.

Asked specifically about the idea that tax cuts pay for themselves, McCain said that "a lot of economists" believe the Bush tax cuts had stimulated the economy and that without them, "the economy would not have boomed, and therefore you would not have seen these increases in revenues."

His campaign later insisted McCain didn't mean that tax cuts pay for themselves. But the notion that tax cuts somehow leave the federal government with as much revenue - or nearly as much - as it would have had without them is a popular one in the Republican universe.
http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2007/12/07/straight_shooter_wacky_tax_idea/


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