Dec 30, 2006

Governor Mitt Romney and President Ronald Reagan

http://www.berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/2004/06/images/reagan_1964.jpg

Quotes from Governor Mitt Romney about President Ronald Reagan

2004

  • "It is appropriate and fitting to set aside a day to honor the memory of Ronald Reagan, who inspired the nation with his optimism and belief in the greatness of the American people. He led the nation with vision, courage and humor and defended freedom and democracy around the world."

2005

  • "I believe people who are in a position of visibility and leadership affect the character of young people and individuals who look to them as leaders. And in some respects just as important as their policies and positions is there character and their substance. What for me makes people like Teddy Roosevelt and Franklin Roosevelt and John Adams and George Washington and Dwight Eisenhower and Ronald Reagan such extraordinary leaders is that they had integrity through and through. What they were on the inside and what they said on the outside was harmonious. There a lot of people like that. I think that if people try to live a very different personal life not consistent with the role they've assumed as a governor or senator or president, we lose something as a nation."
    • Governor Mitt Romney, The Atlantic (September 2005)
  • Ronald Reagan is one of my heroes," Romney said as he praised Reagan's strategy for winning the Cold War: We win; they lose."
  • "Ronald Reagan is also my hero and a friend of all of ours…I believe that our party's ascendancy began with Ronald Reagan's brand of visionary and courageous leadership."
    • Governor Mitt Romney, Speech in South Carolina (February 2005)
  • "And for all those people, for all those people like myself who yearn for world peace, don't forget that a strong America is peace's best ally. As Ronald Reagan said, he said, I saw four wars start in my lifetime and not one of them was started because America was too strong. We have a president who is committed to defending this land and to spreading liberty throughout the world and we are firmly behind him. We just had a--we recently just had a visit from Shimon Peres of Israel. He said America is unique in the world and plays a unique role. In the history of the world, he said, when wars are fought, they're fought over land and the victor takes land. But when America has been drawn into war and when millions of its sons and daughters' lives have been taken, it asks for nothing in return. No land did we take from Germany, no land did we take from Japan. In fact we invested in their countries to preserve their liberty, because we recognize their liberty and their freedom provides freedom for us and the entire world. This is a nation which is unusual in the history of the world, it is unique, and this is a nation which helps preserve the peace of the entire planet. And I'm proud and privileged to know that we have such great militrary and such great leadership carrying out and fulfilling that promise."
    • Governor Mitt Romney, 06-03-2005, NH Federation of Republican Women's Lilac Dinner

2006

  • "Well, I think people in this country want a person of faith to lead them as their governor, as their senator, as their president. I don't think most people care what brand of faith they have. And I don't believe that that's been an issue for me in my race for governor. It wasn't an issue, I believe, serious, for John Kennedy when he ran for president. People said oh, gosh, Ronald Reagan, he's been an actor who's been divorced, you can't elect him. Those things, I think, get swept away as people get to know the individual, understand their character, their vision, their values, and I think that's true regardless of a person's faith if they are a faithful person."
    • Governor Mitt Romney, 02-27-2006 Interview with CHRIS WALLACE on FNS
  • "When I was running for office for the first time in 1994, I was trying to define who I was, not who I wasn't. I was trying to define that I was an individual who had his own views and perspectives and I wasn't a carbon copy of someone else. I've said since, and continue to reiterate, that one of my heroes is Ronald Reagan. I've been asked time and again in interviews, who are your heroes? And I mention Ronald Reagan and Teddy Roosevelt and Dwight Eisenhower among others as some of my favorite heroes, and I feel that deeply. But I am a different person than any other person and my interest is, of course, looking forward to defining who I am. Of course, now there's no need for me to try to define myself in reference to others. I've got a record. And people can look at my record and see, for instance, that when people were clamoring to raise taxes in Massachusetts, I said "no" and we held the line on taxes, and held the line and borrowing, and we balanced our budget. They can see that I vetoed literally hundreds of line items in budgets because I thought there was too much spending. They can see that I fought for better schools. They can see that I fought for a better environment. And they can recognize that a lot what Ronald Reagan was doing I'm also doing. So I'm pretty proud to follow in his legacy, if you will, recognizing, of course, that there's some differences. He's just a lot better than anyone else I know."
  • Now of course there's some big differences between Massachusetts and New Hampshire as well. There is this affection that some people in Massachusetts have for toll booths. I don't understand it. This Memorial Day weekend my wife and I waited in the toll booth line at the Hampton tolls for just about half an hour. And I have a message for your Democratic governor. Tear down that wall.
    • Governor Mitt Romney
  • "I believe people will see that as governor, when I had to examine and grapple with this difficult issue, I came down on the side of life. I know in the four years I have served as governor I have learned and grown from the exposure to the thousands of good-hearted people who are working to change the culture in our country. I'm committed to promoting the culture of life. Like Ronald Reagan, and Henry Hyde, and others who became pro-life, I had this issue wrong in the past."
  • "Not really. Not at this stage. You know its possible that there will come some point were there is a question that galvanizes interest and there is an occasion to say something that cuts through the confusion that may develop but at this stage it is kind of hard to predict what will happen. I mean I remember in the race with Ronald Reagan, it was in his debate that he said, "I'm not going to let your youth and inexperience become an issue in this campaign". That sort of put aside his age issue. And there may well be something of that nature. I just don't think Americans will do something the constitution forbids. The constitution says that no religious test shall ever be required for qualification for office in these United States, and I don't think my party or the American people would ever do that."
    • Governor Mitt Romney, discussing his religion on the Charlie Rose Show. Was asked, "John Kennedy, we remember, looked for and found a venue where he could talk about his catholic faith. The Houston ministry is a very famous speech that he gave. Would you look for and are you looking for a place were you can make a statement like this and are you looking for the right place and time?"

Press Releases from Governor Mitt Romney about President Ronald Reagan

06-08-2004, ROMNEY DECLARES JUNE 11th DAY OF HONOR FOR PRESIDENT REAGAN

Comparisons Between Governor Mitt Romney and Ronald Reagan

"Romney had a genuine conversion on the abortion issue," French acknowledged. "In that he is no different than Ronald Reagan." He might have added George H.W. Bush, who was embraced by pro-lifers in 1988 despite a pro-choice past. Source: http://www.spectator.org/dsp_article.asp?art_id=10274

Mitt does not appear to have any skeletons in his closet. He is likely to remind many people of Ronald Reagan with his easy-going attitude. Sourece: http://thetemplarpundit.blogspot.com/2005/06/2008-profile-mitt-romney.html

Mr. Romney could be an attractive presidential candidate. His sunny disposition puts one in mind of Ronald Reagan--he laughs easily and smiles almost continuously. He is a governor, as four of the past five presidents were; but he can claim more international experience than most state executives. In addition to his work on the Olympics, he has served on the federal Homeland Security Advisory Council, chairing its working group on intelligence and information sharing. Source: http://www.opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=110007755

See Also:

http://myclob.pbwiki.com/Ronald-Reagan

I received the following feedback on one of my posts:

"Romney is a liar and an idiot. How dare he try to amend the Massachusetts Constitution! How do voters feel? It's obvious! Did Romney's Right-wing wish-list Republica win in the 2006 election for governor? OR was it PRO-Gay Marriage and PRO-Equality candidate Deval Patrick? The answer is clear."

"Just a few more days and Romney will be looking for another job. This guy is a loser and nothing but. Spends all his time on gay marriage, can't even run the state...that's why the Democrats now have it! Good Riddance Romney!!"

This is my response:

Why is Romney a "liar" and an "idiot"? If Romney is a "liar" what lie did he tell? If he is an idiot what idiotic thing has he done? Your post tells more about you than it does Romney.

He is not trying to amend the Massachusetts constitution, it is the voters... Do you know anything about this issue? Or do you only read the Boston Globe?

You might want to read this:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitt_Romney#Same-sex_marriage

and this:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Same-sex_marriage_in_Massachusetts

before you say anything else stupid.

re: "Did Romney's Right-wing wish-list Republica win in the 2006 election for governor? OR was it PRO-Gay Marriage and PRO-Equality candidate Deval Patrick? The answer is clear."

Yes that was one of the issues in the race for Governor. I guess you think the voters have already spoken, but you know there are these things called ballet initiatives that voters can vote on. They get to choose the outcome of one issue at a time. Look into it, it is kind of cool. There were many issues that went into a vote for Governor. Why don't you want to let the people vote? Are you afraid you might loose? I thought you believed in Democracy? Why shouldn't the people be able to vote? When the courts decide and when should the people decide? When ever you don't like the outcome, the process must have been wrong?

Re: "This guy is a loser and nothing but."

Did you see Little Miss Sunshine? You are the loser, man. People who use the word loser are the only losers. We all win and we all loose some times. Those that loose more often than win need our help, not ridicule. Romney is not one of these people.

Alright, you only have two more accusation, and you offer zero reasons to agree with these accusations. I find this typical of Romney detractors. A lot of accusation, and name calling, but no reason, or logic. No reasons to agree with their conclusions that they repeat over and over again. That is why I want to create a forum where people brain storm " Reasons to agree" or disagree with conclusions, and try to put the best reasons to agree with a conclusion at the top of the list. This will force us to have some sort of rational discussion. But I digress. Here are the last two accusations:

1. Romney spends all his time on gay marriage,
2. Romney can't even run the state...

I assume that he means that Romney spends too much time on gay marriage, instead of "all his time". I do not know how much time Romney has spent on Gay Marriage. One way to figure out the relative amount of time he spends on something would be to count the press releases. I count 4 press releases having to do with gay marriage. I see 28 press releases on education, 19 press releases that deal with housing, 15 press releases that have to do with homelessness, 8 press releases that have to do with terrorism, in fact I can't find one issue that has fewer press releases than gay marriage. I'm sure there are. I've been clicking on them from my site, but I'm tired of looking, that is all I can find for now.

Another way to figure this out would be to count the number of words coming out of the office, or his speeches, and figure out the percentage of time devoted to the issue. But I assume you are not interested in really finding the truth.

The last accusation is this. "Romney can't even run the state". Oh, my, gosh. What does someone say to something like this. How are we supposed to have any sort of rational debate when this is the kind of stuff you have on the internet? This is what 90% of the people on the internet are like. No joking. Their nuts! I am going to pretend that this world is sane, and I am going to try to deal with the stupidity that I am surrounded with. OK. How do we measure weather someone can or can not "run the state"? Does a Governor or do the people "run the state"? One part of "running the state" might have something to do with the budget, and taxes. Why don't you look into how well Romney has done on those issues, before we continue this intelligent debate?

~Mike

Mitt Romney on John Edwards

John Edwards of North Carolina, again seeking the presidency, greeted supporters yesterday in Portsmouth, N.H.

The Boston Globe has another attack add/article, wait, this is a democrat, it is a glowing report...

"PORTSMOUTH, N.H. -- The day after formally announcing his presidential campaign, former North Carolina senator John Edwards came to New Hampshire, where he faced an overflow crowd and growing excitement..."

Mitt Romney on John Edwards:

ROMNEY: If you think trial lawyers need more money, our economy needs more law suits, and malpractice costs should go even higher, then send in John Edwards with him.

AUDIENCE: Boo.

ROMNEY: And Senator Edwards, if you don't like hearing that, sue me.

http://myclob.pbwiki.com/Convention