Romney returns to Iowa with new pitch
By Michael Levenson, Globe Staff
ROCK RAPIDS, Iowa -- Mitt Romney, debuting a new pitch to Iowa voters in the final sprint to Thursday's caucuses, cast himself today as the King Midas of change.
"I've brought change to everything I've touched," Romney declared at the first stop of a five-day bus tour across Iowa. "And I'm going to bring change to American to make sure we overcome the challenges we face and we're an even stronger, great nation going forward."
US Representative Peter Hoekstra of Michigan introduced Romney to about two dozen voters and nearly as many reporters inside a café in this conservative, heavily Dutch-American farming community. Romney said there was a reason he had brought Hoekstra along with him.
"He has a few ties because there's a certain Dutch-American population that knows Congressman Pete Hoekstra very, very well," Romney said. " And his tie here has meant a great deal to me in being able to reach out in Northwest Iowa."
Romney spoke for about 20 minutes and took no questions -- allowing him to keep to a new faster--paced schedule during the multi-stop bus tour. He touted himself as a leader in business, the 2002 Winter Olympics in Utah, and as Massachusetts governor. Ann Romney spoke about her husband's softer side, saying he had supported her in her darkest days battling multiple sclerosis and raising their five sons.
Jim Kelly, 67, a corn, soybean, and hog farmer, said he was impressed with Romney but still undecided about whom to support.
"If he can get elected in Massachusetts and fix their health care system, he's got a leg up on some of the others," Kelly said after listening to Romney.
But he said his caucus precinct would probably support Romney's chief rival in Iowa, former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, who is leading in the polls. Kelly noted that his caucus supported anti-abortion activist Gary Bauer in 2000.
"They're all hard, Christian conservatives," Kelly said.
Romney is being seen as insincere. People do not want another president that they cannot trust. We have had WAY too much of that.
FIX Massachusetts' health care system?????? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA....
I work in health care, and the new "system" is a complete disaster!!! Not to mention unconstitutional! He recently backed away from it saying that it was mostly the pressure from the other insiders in MA who were going to do it anyways when he left, so he had to find a reasonable solution. That was after he took complete credit for it...and now he's owning up to it again???
He's going to bring CHANGE??? Mitt Romney is politics as usual. He's already lied to us hundreds of times thinking that we can't see past his Presidential exterior.
"I'm Mitt Romney and I will fight to maintain the sanctity of marriage"
Oh...is that why Massachusetts became the first state to legalize gay marriage during your term in office, and why when campaigning for Governor, you said that you would be more supportive of gay rights than Senator Kennedy?
"I'm Mitt Romney and I would like to see Roe v. Wade get overturned"
Oh...is that why you received money and endorsements from pro-abortion groups who helped you get elected as Governor because you were so supportive of a woman's right to choose?
"I'm Mitt Romney and I saw my father march with Martin Luther King"
No you didn't.
"I'm Mitt Romney and I balanced the MA budget"
No you didn't.
"I'm Mitt Romney and I turned the state of MA around."
Is that why MA has to resort to casino gambling in order to make enough revenue to fix our streets and pay for programs that already had to be cut when you left office? Is that why MA tolls are being raised in Jan. so that we have enough money to repair the bridges and fund the disasterous Big Dig?
You can't believe anything this man says, so when you vote for him...you're voting for nothing.
CHANGE??? Not with Mitt Romney!!!
What does that have to do with the article? How is he being insincere by saying he has a record of effecting change for the better in previous responsibilities? You can try to disprove him, but I think documented history is about as sincere as you can get.
Mitt Romney is the "King of the flip flopper".
Mitt Romney is the "King of the flip flopper".
Elect this guy and you will see how he change his decisions by the minute.
For years we have been unhappy with the Republican Presidential aspirants. We are sick of politicians. We want someone who actually know how to make things work and understands laissez-faire capitalism. Someone who abhors waist and can run government like an efficient business. Someone who is a producer and has a track record of success. And someone who is right on taxes, immigration, life, all of the important issues. And someone who lives what he teaches.
Romney is that man, the Hank Reardan of our times.
You fools don’t deserve to have him as POTUS.
I AM sick of politicians and politics as usual...and THAT is why I and millions of others will NOT be voting for Mitt Romney.
You don't do the things Romney has done, achieve the successes and accomplishments he has --in both his personal and private life--without sincere, rock-solid, core values. He is by far the best candidate in this race. Regarding Romney’s “flip-flopping”, I would be concerned about a candidate who did NOT, over time, adjust his or her positions based on maturation, experience, gaining new knowledge & insight, etc.
You don't do the things Romney has done, achieve the successes and accomplishments he has --in both his personal and private life--without sincere, rock-solid, core values. He is by far the best candidate in this race. Regarding Romney’s “flip-flopping”, I would be concerned about a candidate who did NOT, over time, adjust his or her positions based on maturation, experience, gaining new knowledge & insight, etc.
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