From a Mitt Romney fan...

The Romney campaign had a great weekend, and I want to be sure to share the news with you.  First, on Saturday, we won the Ames, Iowa Straw Poll with 31.5% of the vote, a greater percentage than George W. Bush received in 1999.

Also, this just in … the American Research Group released their latest nationwide poll this afternoon. 16% support Governor Romney, up 6 points from 10% last month. Here are the full results:

	Jul.	Aug.	Jul./Aug. Change
Giuliani	30%	27%	-3
Gov. Romney	10%	16%	+6
F. Thompson	17%	16%	-1
McCain	14%	13%	-1
Other	16%	15%	-1
Undecided	11%	14%	+3

 

Wow - a 6 point pick up in 30 days nationally.  

 

  Best Regards, david

 

P.S. By the way, the Giuliani camp has tried to diminish Mitt's victory in Iowa by saying Rudy chose to not participate.  Three quick points:

 

1. Giuliani was on the ballot, people could have voted for him

 

2. If Rudy would have had any shot of beating Mitt in Iowa, believe me, he would have shown up.

 

3. As Winston Churchill said:

 

"Wars are not won by evacuation .  .  ."

 

Gov. Romney Tours San Ysidro Border

Matthews on Romney: "Everything about him is perfect ... the tie always tied"

On the August 13 edition of MSNBC's Hardball, during an interview with Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee, host Chris Matthews said: "Let me ask you about [Republican presidential candidate] Mitt Romney. You know, I watched him on the [NBC] Today show this morning. He looks like a million bucks. Everything is perfect. Everything about him is perfect." As examples, Matthews cited Romney's "look," his "manner," and his "shirt," with "never rolled-up sleeves" and "the tie always tied," and asked: "That perfection -- is that the Republican Party of the 21st century? Is that what we're looking for, the perfect efficiency expert?" Huckabee responded: "Well, if it is, I'm not going to get the nomination, because I'm far from perfect. ... I've got a bald spot on the back of my head. My life has been one of nothing but struggle in many ways."

Matthews frequently fawns over Romney's appearance, as Media Matters for America has documented. On the January 19 edition of Hardball, Matthews said of Romney: "He has the perfect chin, the perfect hair, he looks right." On the February 13 edition of the show, Matthews said Romney has "got a great chin, I've noticed."

From the August 13 edition of MSNBC's Hardball with Chris Matthews:

MATTHEWS: Let me ask you about Mitt Romney. You know, I watched him on the Today show this morning. He looks like a million bucks. Everything is perfect. Everything about him is perfect -- his look, his manner, everything, the shirt, never rolled-up sleeves, the tie always tied. That perfection -- is that the Republican Party of the 21st century? Is that what we're looking for, the perfect efficiency expert?

HUCKABEE: Well, if it is, I'm not going to get the nomination, because I'm far from perfect. I'm the guy that -- you know, I've got a bald spot on the back of my head. My life has been one of nothing but struggle in many ways. But I think that's why I'll end up being the nominee. There a lot more people that can relate to people like me.

 

http://mediamatters.org/items/200708140005

Obama's comments on Afghanistan draw sharp rebuke from Romney campaign

WASHINGTON (Map, News) - Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama came under fire Tuesday for saying that U.S. troops in Afghanistan are "just air-raiding villages and killing civilians." The junior senator from Illinois made the comment Monday at a campaign stop in Nashua, New Hampshire.

"We've got to get the job done there," he said of Afghanistan. "And that requires us to have enough troops so that we're not just air-raiding villages and killing civilians, which is causing enormous problems there."

The comment drew a rebuke Tuesday from the campaign of Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney.

"That is a very troubling remark on so many levels," said Romney spokesman Kevin Madden. "Most importantly, it's emblematic of Senator Obama's lack of experience for the job of commander-in-chief. But it's also an entirely inaccurate condemnation of the efforts of the men and women of the United States military who are serving in Iraq and Afghanistan."

A spokesman for Obama, who will speak at the Veterans of Foreign Wars convention in Missouri next week, did not immediately respond to Madden's criticism.

The flap comes three weeks after Obama promised that if elected president, he would meet without pre-conditions with the leaders of Iran, Syria, Venezuela, Cuba and North Korea. That pledge was called "irresponsible and frankly naive" by rival Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Eight days later, eager to rebut Clinton's charge, Obama said that as president, he might send U.S. troops into Pakistan to fight terrorists not targeted by Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf.

"If we have actionable intelligence about high-value terrorist targets and President Musharraf won't act, we will," he vowed.

Critics called this overly hawkish, prompting Obama to modulate again the next day by ruling out the use of nuclear weapons to fight terrorism in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

"I think it would be a profound mistake for us to use nuclear weapons in any circumstance," he told the AP before pausing.

"Involving civilians," he added. "Let me scratch that. There's been no discussion of nuclear weapons. That's not on the table."

The gaffe was criticized by Clinton, who said: "I don't believe that any president should make any blanket statements with respect to the use or non-use of nuclear weapons."

Clinton has been criticized for a statement about Iran last year in which she said "I would certainly take nuclear weapons off the table."

On Tuesday, Clinton's campaign declined to comment on Obama's remark about U.S. troops in Afghanistan.

bsammon@dcexaminer.com

Download the video of Obama's controversial comments on Afghanistan while on the campaign trail in Nashua, New Hampshire.

Allen, Alter and Cillizza on Romney

Tuesday, August 14, 2007

Allen, Alter and Cillizza on Romney and Rove

Posted by: Hugh Hewitt  at 7:50 AM

Politico's Mike Allen on Romney:

Governor Romney looks so strong at this point. I think there was a time, tell me if you disagree, I think there was a time that if you'd put a gun to the head of most Republicans, insiders, they would have said Rudy Giuliani somehow, by hook or by crook, is going to wind up as the nominee. I think pressed now, today, those same Republicans would say Governor Romney, it's his to lose.

Allen on Fred Thompson:

Just to give you a quick little insight into the Fred strategy? They plan a little bit of a low impact campaign. They're pointing to Governor Bush's schedule in 2000, where his pattern was two events and a fundraiser a day. I think that that is the sort of schedule Senator Thompson's going to stick to....[H]e's not going to do the diner to diner, church to church, break your back sort of campaigning that at least in the primaries has come to be sort of customary.

Chris Cillizza on Fred Thompson's projected pace:

HH: But Mike Allen just said to me that he's heard that Thompson's going to run a two-event, one fundraiser a day campaign. And I wonder, and it's more of a feel issue, and you've been on the road a lot more than I have in the last three months, can a Snuffy Smith, you know, lying in my hammock, getting up off the back porch for some lemonade campaign work in 2007 and 2008, Chris Cillizza?

CC: I don't think so, and I think it would be a mistake if that was the campaign Thompson was running. Now he has, throughout his political career, faced questions about his political metabolism, you know, does he have the heart to do it. I mean, Hugh, you've seen this, and I've seen it up close, running for office is not a cakewalk. You've got to be tireless, going to event after event. When I was in Iowa one day last week, Mitt Romney did six town halls in one day. You know, the problem for Fred Thompson is he's up against a guy like Romney who seems tireless, who whether he is enjoying it or not makes it look like he's enjoying it. And when you've got a guy out there going to six events, and you're doing two at the most, well, I'm no mathematician, but he's probably meeting three times as many people as you are.

Jonathan Alter on Romney:

HH: Jonathan, 30 seconds, if you're Hillary Clinton, who don't you want to run against as the Republican nominee?

JA: I think you don't want to run against Romney. I think that she could take Giuliani more easily than she could take Mitt Romney in a general election.

Governor Romney Files Public Financial Disclosure With The Federal Election Commission

Monday, Aug 13, 2007

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Romney Press Shop (857) 288-6390

Boston, MA – Today, Romney for President released Governor Romney's Public Financial Disclosure Report. According to the report, Governor and Mrs. Romney's assets are valued between $95 and $287 million. The 45-page report (SF 278) was submitted after several meetings and discussions with the Office of Government Ethics (OGE), conducted over a period of several months, to ensure that the report is complete, accurate, and in full compliance with the financial disclosure requirements. The report, required for all candidates for President, lists income, assets and liabilities for Governor and Mrs. Romney.

Aside from some cash and cash equivalents, all of the Romneys' assets are held in blind trusts and an IRA which is managed on a blind basis. The management of these assets has been deemed blind in an opinion issued by the Massachusetts State Ethics Commission. These blind investment entities were established when Mitt Romney became Governor in 2003. All three blind entities are administered by the Trustee, Brad Malt, Chairman of Ropes & Gray, LLP. The investment advisor to the entities is Jim Donovan a Managing Director at Goldman Sachs. The Romneys have not made any investment decisions since the establishment of the entities and do not have actual knowledge of their holdings.

"The aim," said Malt, "was to invest Governor and Mrs. Romney's assets prudently. The assets were invested, to the best of our ability, in a diversified portfolio that we felt reflected a risk and return profile appropriate for Governor and Mrs. Romney's financial circumstances, and was consistent with other investment trusts of similar scope and nature."

After discussions with OGE, OGE decided that, under its precedents, a state blind trust, such as the Governor's, could not qualify as a federal blind trust. For that reason, the Romneys will obtain legal knowledge of their holdings today when Governor Romney's Financial Disclosure Report is made public. Up through today's filing, the Romneys have retained the practices established when he was Governor and they do not have actual knowledge of their holdings. All decisions will continue to be made by the Trustee as they have been since establishment of the blind trusts.

From 1978 to 1984, Romney was a Vice President at Bain & Company, Inc., a leading management consulting firm. In 1984, he founded Bain Capital, one of the nation's most successful venture capital and investment firms. Several years later, he was asked to return to Bain & Company as CEO to lead a financial restructuring of the organization. Governor Romney later returned to Bain Capital, and retired on Feb. 11, 1999 to lead the Salt Lake Olympics. He has not had any active role at any Bain Capital entity since that date.

As part of his retirement from Bain Capital, he entered into a non-compete, non-hire agreement running through February 11, 2009 which provides him with a passive, declining profit share that is fixed by contract in certain Bain Capital entities, and the right to make passive investments in certain Bain Capital investments. With respect to these profit shares and investments, since January 1, 2003, "neither Mr. Romney nor Mrs. Romney has had any control over the assets acquired or disposed of, neither Mr. Romney nor Mrs. Romney has received any reports identifying specific assets held, and the management of the assets has been deemed blind by the Massachusetts State Ethics Commission," according to a footnote in the report filed today.

Other Items Of Note: 

- The Public Financial Disclosure Report (SF 278) Requires Filers To List Assets Within Ranges. While the disclosure shows that the Romney's assets are valued between $95 and $287 million, a more accurate range is between $190 and $250 million. 

- Investment In Market Securities Are Spread Over Most Sectors Of The Economy: Including consumer discretionary, consumer staples, energy, financial, health care, industrial, information technology, materials, telecommunications and utility securities. 

- Roughly 40% Of All Assets In The Romney Trusts Are Invested In Bonds. 

- Roughly 11% Of All Assets Are Invested In International Securities.  

- The Romneys Established A Trust For Their Children Valued At $100 Million. The campaign is not filing a disclosure report for this trust and is not required to because neither Governor nor Mrs. Romney is a beneficiary and Governor Romney is not the trustee.