Don't play musical chairs in Washington, Romney ad says
Mitt Romney plays up his outsider fix-it credentials in a new TV ad aimed at Florida voters.
"I keep hearing the same thing, that Washington is broken," he says in the spot that began airing yesterday. He then ticks off the priorities that have gone undone despite lots of talk: universal healthcare, the tax burden on the middle class, illegal immigration.
"If you send the same people back to Washington just to sit in different chairs, nothing will happen," he says. "I will change Washington. I will take it apart and put it back together. I know how to bring change."
Romney is returning to Florida's and South Carolina's airwaves after pulling off a critical win in Tuesday's primary in Michigan.
Romney is running fourth - behind John McCain, Rudy Giuliani, and Mike Huckabee - in the most recent polls in Florida, which holds its primary on Jan. 29 and is a key bridge between Nevada and South Carolina on Saturday and Super Tuesday on Feb. 5.
Giuliani, who has made Florida his must-win state, launched a new TV ad of his own, calling on well-known conservatives to vouch for his tax-cutting plans.
As martial, upbeat music plays, the ad lists glowing quotations from Grover Norquist, George Will, Steve Forbes, the Club for Growth, and Americans for Tax Reform.
It even quotes Romney saying, "Mayor Giuliani has a great record of cutting taxes."
The Giuliani campaign says that came from a CNBC report after a debate last October. But the Romney camp said he went on to say that Giuliani left "excessive deficits" as New York's mayor, and during the campaign, Romney has been far more critical of Giuliani's fiscal record.
FOON RHEE
"We need a president who can reintroduce America to the world and actually reintroduce America to ourselves," Leahy, who has been in the Senate since 1974 and is now chairman of the Judiciary Committee, said in a conference call with reporters. "I believe Barack Obama is the best person to do that."
In the last week, Obama has also won endorsements from Senators John F. Kerry of Massachusetts, Claire McCaskill of Missouri, and Ben Nelson of Nebraska. Obama now has eight endorsements from Democratic senators, compared to 11 for Clinton.
The Republican National Committee immediately sought to use the endorsement to hit both Obama and Clinton.
"It's no surprise that the liberal lions love Obama's plans to raise taxes and increase spending," spokesman Alex Conant said in a statement. "On the other hand, the Democratic senators' rejection of Clinton is nothing short of stunning. Clinton is running on her record, but those that know it best - her Senate colleagues - are increasingly rejecting her candidacy."
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Giuliani also leads in fundraising from the casino industry, with more than $177,000, compared to $103,500 for Republican John McCain, according to the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics. Among Democrats, Hillary Clinton is the top moneyraiser from the industry with about $60,000.
In Nevada so far, Romney has raised about $715,000, ahead of Giuliani's $650,000. Clinton leads among Democrats with about $448,000, the center said.
In South Carolina, Giuliani has brought in about $391,000, compared to $329,000 for John McCain. John Edwards leads among Democrats with $317,000.
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His campaign launched a Web video asserting that "celebrity candidates" Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are getting more than their share of attention.
It cites a study by the Project for Excellence in Journalism that shows that 25 percent of campaign news stories by major outlets mentioned Clinton and more than 15 percent mentioned Obama; Edwards was mentioned less than three percent of the time.
"And they continue to act as if there were only two candidates in the race, even after John Edwards beat Senator Clinton in Iowa and poll after poll show competitive races in Nevada, South Carolina, and other key states," spokesman Chris Kofinis said in a statement accompanying the video.
FOON RHEE 