Romney remark on cost of getting bin Laden stirs the bloggers

April 29, 2007

Mitt Romney generated a tempest in the blogosphere last week by suggesting in an interview that the United States shouldn't devote too many resources trying to capture Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. "It's not worth moving heaven and earth spending billions of dollars just trying to catch one person," Romney told the Associated Press, adding that the United States should concentrate instead on fighting the broader problem of Islamic militancy.

Bloggers on both sides of the ideological spectrum, including some loyal to opposing candidates, seized on the former Massachusetts governor's remarks. "Perhaps Romney should watch the tape of the planes hitting the towers again," the writer Byron York wrote on National Review Online. A blogger on the left-leaning site Talking Points Memo wrote, "One wonders what the reaction would be if a Democrat said this."

Asked to clarify Romney's comments, a campaign spokesman, Kevin Madden, said: "Governor Romney believes that the terrorism threat posed by radical jihadists is larger than only one person. Governor Romney believes and has stated time and time again that in order to confront these threats we have to focus on the larger problem of the global jihad and break down entire regional and global terror networks of Al Qaeda and others."

Romney's comments came just days after a GOP rival, former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani, drew heated criticism from Democrats for suggesting the United States risks another major terrorist attack if it elects a Democrat as president.

SCOTT HELMAN

COLUMBIA, S.C. -- The United States has lost its global standing during George W. Bush's presidency and needs a Democratic commander in chief to restore America's place in the world, Democrats running for the White House said yesterday. "We are today internationally and domestically a nation that is no longer a leader," said New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, one of three candidates to address a convention of the South Carolina Democratic Party. Former North Carolina Senator John Edwards, the 2004 vice presidential nominee, said the world needs to see that "America can be a force for good. What their perception is that America is a bully and we only care about our short-term interests," Edwards said. "The starting place is to end the bleeding sore that is the war in Iraq." Richardson, Edwards, and Delaware Senator Joe Biden said they would make ending the war a priority. (AP)

DES MOINES -- A series of presidential debates in the next month and a straw poll this summer in Iowa will highlight the differences in the large Republican field and probably doom the current front-runners, former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee said yesterday. "Republicans don't ultimately choose their candidate based on poll numbers and predictions," Huckabee said. "They base it on the principles those candidates espouse and their ability to articulate them." Huckabee spoke during a campaign visit in Iowa, where precinct caucuses traditionally launch the presidential nominating season. He was courting conservative activists at an antiabortion meeting and speaking to a conference on the emergence of diabetes. Diabetes has been one of Huckabee's pet topics since the disease was diagnosed in him nearly five years ago. He has lost more than 100 pounds in an effort to combat it. Most surveys have shown Huckabee far behind Giuliani, Arizona Senator John McCain, and Romney, who are generally atop the field of GOP candidates. (AP)

SAN DIEGO -- Hillary Rodham Clinton denounced President Bush yesterday for his "Mission Accomplished" speech and said his conduct of the Iraq war was "one of the darkest blots on leadership we've ever had." Addressing delegates at the California State Democratic Party convention, Clinton said that if elected president, she would end the war. The New York senator also promised to "treat all Americans with dignity and equality no matter who you are and who you love." The pledge was a clear bow to California's politically active and influential gay community. Clinton said the president has ignored scientific evidence on global warming and stem cell research while also dismissing the concerns of the middle class. She said his administration had "lied" about the effects of toxic dust at the World Trade Center site in New York after the Sept. 11 attacks. Delegates were to hear Clinton's main rival, Illinois Senator Barack Obama, later yesterday, in addition to Connecticut Senator Chris Dodd and Ohio Representative Dennis Kucinich.