Romney exits stage right, as a conservative
By Brian C. Mooney, Globe Staff
Mitt Romney ended his candidacy for president today in a manner befitting his political transformation -- exiting stage right from the Republican campaign with a red-meat speech delivered to a Washington assemblage of the leaders of the party's ultraconservative wing.
Once a moderate who was elected governor of one of the nation's most liberal states, Romney stood before a gathering of the Conservative Political Action Conference as one of them, espousing down-the-line unalloyed positions on social, cultural, fiscal, and foreign policy issues.
"I will continue to stand for conservative principles; I will fight along side you for all the things we believe in," he told an approving audience, one whose support he will need if Romney, who turns 61 next month, decides to run again in the future.
Romney's candidacy, into which he has dumped well more than $35 million of his own fortune, had become a longshot, slipping far behind John McCain and losing ground even to Mike Huckabee. But he said he was pulling out of the race and clearing the way for McCain's nomination for the good of the party and, ultimately, the country.
As president, either of the Democratic contenders, Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama, Romney asserted, "would retreat and declare defeat" in Iraq and the war on terror. "And in this time of war, I simply cannot let my campaign be part of aiding a surrender to terror," Romney said.
Romney offered a self-serving parallel to Reagan's losing struggle with Gerald Ford for the party's nomination in 1976 as his justification for abandoning his candidacy at this stage.
"Even though we face an uphill fight, I know that many in this room are fully behind my campaign," he said. "You are with me all the way to the convention. Fight on, just like Ronald Reagan did in 1976. But there is an important difference from 1976: today we are a nation at war."
But there are more differences than similarities in the two candidacies. Romney was far behind McCain in the delegate count with 21 primaries and caucuses yet to be held and draining his personal fortune at an accelerating clip. Reagan, on the other hand, went to the convention in Kansas City with momentum, the nomination very much in doubt and with the future at stake of a party then led by moderates from the Northeast and Midwest.
The Republican Party today is dominated by conservatives and the intramural scrum has been as much about Romney's authenticity as McCain's reliability. By contrast, 1976 was an epic struggle between the moderates of the Northeast and Midwest, embodied by Ford, the last Republican nominee to favor abortion rights, and the Reagan-led insurgency of western and southern conservatives who would prevail four years later.
The Mitt Romney who stood before an approving crowd today at the CPAC convention was a political figure largely unrecognizable to many who elected him in his adopted home state of Massachusetts. The upstart who threw a scare into Senator Edward M. Kennedy in 1994 and won the governor's office eight years later was in many ways a conservative adapted to survive in a liberal environment. Even as he cemented his conservative bona fides in today's remarks, Romney continued to shed policies that defined him as governor.
In slamming the Democrats for creating a "culture of poverty," Romney said "the liberals haven't given up. At every turn, they try to substitute government largesse for individual responsibility. They fight to strip work requirements from welfare, to put more people on Medicaid, and to remove more and more people from having to pay any income tax whatsoever."
Putting more people on Medicaid, the federal-state health care program for the poor and disabled, was an important element of then-governor Romney's drive to provide health insurance for all Massachusetts residents.
"Medicaid rolls surge with Romney aid," said a Globe headline in 2005 over a story that began: "At a time when other states are kicking people off Medicaid to save money, Massachusetts is headed in the opposite direction."
Now that Mitt has given up his campaign for the Presidency and his sons are no longer serving our country., do you think his sons will join the service in order to serve their country? After all we are at war and winning in Iraq is paramount according to Mitt. I expect they will all go down their local requiting center tomorrow. A bunch of phony’s all of them.
Now that Mitt has given up his campaign for the Presidency and his sons are no longer serving our country., do you think his sons will join the service in order to serve their country? After all we are at war and winning in Iraq is paramount according to Mitt. I expect they will all go down their local recruiting center tomorrow. A bunch of phony’s all of them.
Romney's words here are just unbelievable. So, what he is saying is that if either Obama or Clinton are elected we are giving in to the terrorists. This is absolutely a case of bottom-feeding politics. Whatever your political leanings, this is the kind of inflammatory rhetoric that we simply should not allow to be part of our national discourse. Do you think Mitt really believes this in his heart of hearts? I doubt it. Shame on you, Mitt Romney!! I am totally ashamed to be from a state where you were governor. And I think you owe Hillary and Barack an apology!!
"McCain and Romney spoke by phone after Romney's speech, though no endorsement was requested nor offered ..."
So ... the delegates who were pledged to Romney, what happens to them? Do they go to whoever was second in their respective states? That's a little unfair isn't it? Because I'm sure there are a lot of conservatives who would prefer secularism over Huckabee, and still really don't like Romney.
Brian,
Here's a thought: Romney served the needs of the people of Massachusetts just as he positioned himself to serve the needs of the people of the United States. And you're calling a man who understands that as an elected representative he has to represent the needs and wishes of the people inconsistent? You'd do well to stop drinking in with all the rhetoric flying around the media.
P.S. Did you seriously cite the Boston Globe as a source of Romney's Medicaid policies? Don't they teach you folks how to cite your sources?
Brian,
Here's a thought: Romney served the needs of the people of Massachusetts just as he positioned himself to serve the needs of the people of the United States. And you're calling a man who understands that as an elected representative he has to represent the needs and wishes of the people inconsistent? You'd do well to stop drinking in with all the rhetoric flying around the media.
P.S. Did you seriously cite the Boston Globe as a source of Romney's Medicaid policies? Don't they teach you folks how to cite reliable sources?
The noise maker ran out of budget for this adventure. He's positioning himself to control delegates at the convention.
The conservatives, meaning the outrageously ultra-right wing, could do better by seeking an honest middle class man.
Romney is phony as a $3 bill. Always has been, always will. Amen and Mitt don't let the door hit your wife's ass on the way out...
I smell a rat. He suspended his campaign... therefore, he retains all his delegates. He is up to something. Someone as power hungry as him just doesnt give up like this.... He may just flip flop and decide to run again. Or trade his delegates for a VP job?
Of course he's evolved from the man elected Gov of this bluest of blue states. Do you think a staunch conservative would be elected here let alone get anything done with an 85% liberal legislature? We need a major change in the the makeup of Beacon Hill and I fear it will never happen.
Ah, the ever negative slant of the Globe. "Romney unrecognizable to Massachusetts?" If so unrecognizable, how is it that he captured well over 50% of the popular vote in the Mass Presidential Primaries last week?
Once again, this newspaper's office filled with hippies and B-rated students from state schools just does not reflect reality, nor the citizens opinions of this state.
Mitt Romney didn't leave his home state to get elected like Mrs. Hillary Clinton. He had to speak to the liberals of Massachusetts and he had to say things he never believed in. To quote Ann Coulter, if Romney would have quoted the communist manifesto to beat Kennedy we would have owed him a debt of gratitude. Many Republicans searched for reasons to overlook Romney's record as Governor and focus on what he said in 1994, because of his faith. Who loses, the United States of America. I still hope Mitt will get the chance to run this country. He strongly believe he will be as good if not better than Reagan!
Romney was obviously bought off by the Republican National Committee, which is looking ahead to a bruising general election.
The GOP's best chance is to wrap the primary up early and gently, and let the American people watch the two Democrats rip each other to shreds.
It's brilliant. No distractions, just the full-on ugliness of a racially-charged Democratic primary. American voters will be thoroughly turned off, and primed for an alternative in McCain.
Mitt Romney didn't leave his home state to get elected like Mrs. Hillary Clinton. He had to speak to the liberals of Massachusetts and he had to say things he never believed in. Two weeks ago Ann Coulter said, “if Romney would have quoted the communist manifesto to beat Kennedy we would have owed him a debt of gratitude”. Many Republicans searched for reasons to overlook Romney's conservative record as Governor and focus on what he said in 1994, because of his faith. Who loses? The United States of America. I still hope Mitt will get the chance to run this country. I strongly believe he will be as good if not better than Reagan!
It was Mitt's flip-flop on the issues and his anti-Christian faith that was his undoing.
America doesn't like either in a president.
At least Romney is honest. I am so sad he "threw in the hat." I will not vote in this next presidential campaign. Romney represented my values. Thank you Mitt for a job well done - running a great campaign - McCain and Huckleberry were dirty scoundrels Tuesday - pulling off their little "trick" to take the delegates from you. Keep up the good work. Thank you.
Thank God he's gone! I got the feeling Mitt would have said anything to get his greedy hands on the power. When's the last time any of us believed what a CEO had to say anyway? By focusing his campaign on the largest subset of republicans, neocons, now without a clear leader following the debacle of the bush administrations; pontificating and clutching at moronic platitudes like "the house that ronald reagan built" he learned that most voters have had a belly full of this swill, this crap that brought us executive office lies, un-necessary war, diversion of middle class assets to the rich, torture, suspension of habeas corpus, health care and pharma changes that enrich corporations and impoverish Americans, WMD in Iran, Valerie Plame and Scooter Libby, US Attorney firings, signing statements, SCHIP, a shaky economy, huge deficit spending - this is pornography! If the Clinton's me-ism's end up burying Obama and dis-enfranchising moderates, independents and centrists, I get the feeling we can work with McCain
HEY! IT'S NOT TOO LATE FOR HUCKABEE!! DON'T LISTEN TO WHAT THE MEDIA TELLS YOU. THEY ARE LIBERAL AND HAVE THEIR OWN AGENDA THAT DOESN'T INCLUDE A BORN AGAIN CHRISTIAN LEADING OUR NATION. PEOPLE, DO YOU WANT SOMEONE WITH MAN'S WISDOM OR GOD'S WISDOM RUNNING OUR NATION? GO HUCK!!
I trust to Mr. Romney complitely . He understands any situation and responses
immediately . Hi is brilliant . His mind is very quick and flexible . Our country lost
a great leader . America need him TODAY . I am sorry , that Republican Party
choose a " wrong horse " . It is very sad .
Rommey's speech was insulting to Clinton and Obama, he portraits himself as a complete ultraconservative-droid or Bush-clone which is very sad, he talks about the future of the elections as the future of the republicans and not the future of the Americans. McCain on the other hand is a respectful candidate who is an American before a Republican, I think that his positions are what he thinks is better for the USA, a not necessarily better for a selected group of people.
Romney did not have a perfect conservative record, but he was growing that way. I used to be a Huckabee fan until he showed how bigoted he was. McCain is not conservative, but I guess he is better than Hillary or Obama, but just barely. I guess my biggest worry is Iraq and illegal immigration.
I am baffled at the animus the Globe and Mr. Mooney feel towards Romney. Well I guess I'm not, but it is still awkward to read a liberal newspaper's attacks on a man who is no longer in the race. There is plenty to say in response to this attack, but I will limit the scope to one issue. Health care. Either the Globe and Mooney have an incredibly short memory or they are attempting to rewrite history to attack a retired opponent, either of which, suffice it to say, should destroy their journalistic credibility. While Mr Mooney is correct, the number of people on Medicaid increased under Gov. Romney's tenure, one would be miss-guided to blame that on the Governor. Point of fact, he vetoed the liberal legislatures amendments to his proposal and were it not for an override Mass. like the rest of the states would have less not more people on Medicare and Medicaid.
I am baffled at the animus the Globe and Mr. Mooney feel towards Romney. Well I guess I'm not, but it is still awkward to read a liberal newspaper's attacks on a man who is no longer in the race. There is plenty to say in response to this attack, but I will limit the scope to one issue. Health care. Either the Globe and Mooney have an incredibly short memory or they are attempting to rewrite history to attack a retired opponent, either of which, suffice it to say, should destroy their journalistic credibility. While Mr Mooney is correct, the number of people on Medicaid increased under Gov. Romney's tenure, one would be miss-guided to blame that on the Governor. Point of fact, he vetoed the liberal legislatures amendments to his proposal and were it not for an override Mass. like the rest of the states would have less not more people on Medicare and Medicaid.
I'll miss the guy. He had a strong name. Though i am a bit bias...
ROMNEY IS, HAS BEEN, AND ALWAYS WILL BE A FAKE!!! GOOD RIDDANCE.... and I'm glad he LOST money in the process....
Thank God he's no longer a contender. Flip floppers always LOSE!
Mitt Romney was the RIGHT choice for the United States Of America. None of you spouting off against him even come close to his Character, IQ, Success, Fortitude, Conservative Values, etc.
You, Scratch that, WE, just lost someone who's Presidency just might of went down in the books as an ALL TIME GREAT.
Why don’t you just try to be OBJECTIVE and watch his last Speech? Doing so might just open your eyes, that is, if there are any brain cells left, if not, that’s your problem.
Sincerely, "A Texan for Romney and a Texan Against our Current Governor Rick the fake Perry."
Richard
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