Mitt Romney

Robert Gates Challenges Republican Presidential Candidates Who Call Barack Obama Weak On Defense And National Security

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Former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates tonight, in an interview on CNN, challenged Republican Presidential candidates who have asserted that Barack Obama is weak on defense and national security matters.

Gates, a Republican who served at the Pentagon under both George W. Bush and Obama, said that when you look at the record, Barack Obama has been very willing to use aggressive tactics against terrorists, referring to the death of Osama Bin Laden and other Al Qaeda leaders.

Gates also said that Mitt Romney’s charge that Obama promotes “Pretty Please’ tactics to adversaries has no basis, as there is nothing wrong with reaching out to enemies and hoping that one can reason with them, get them to do what we want, and utilize the military option only as a last resort. Without actually saying it, he was clear in believing that promoting confrontation is not the best tactic for a President to start off his administration, a slap at Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum, and Newt Gingrich, who all seem ready to declare war on Iran on Day One in the White House.

While not willing to take a stand on GOP Presidential candidates, Gates smiled and said he has voted in the past for Democratic Presidential candidates, without specifying whom, and that he would keep his vote this November to himself, refusing to say he would back the Republican nominee because of party loyalty.

Based on earlier assessments of Obama by Gates, one would not be surprised he voted for Obama, who it is clear he has very high regard for. Gates was a tremendous help to Obama in the first two plus years of his Presidency, and will go down in history as a truly decent, caring, patriotic Republican who was willing to help a Democratic President, rather than be petty, vindictive, obstructionist, all in the name of partisan politics, rather than doing what was right for the nation as a whole!

The Worst Possible News For Mitt Romney: A Donald Trump Endorsement!

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Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, still reeling from criticism for his remark yesterday about the “very poor”, getting it from all sides including conservative commentators who are furious that Romney “let the cat out of the bag” that they and Republicans don’t give a damn about the poor, now has what can be regarded as the worst possible news imaginable: an endorsement from builder Donald Trump, the total egotist, narcissist, and overall obnoxious businessman, who always is looking for a camera and says things that most normal people would be embarrassed to say publicly!

A wealthy man being endorsed by a much wealthier man, who Romney probably envies, because of his overly materialistic nature and envy of those wealthier than himself, is a total nightmare that will haunt Romney and the Republican Party!

Romney would be better off to repudiate support from Trump, but must fear that Trump might run as an independent if such an event occurred. But the truth about how Romney feels about Trump is that he was the one GOP candidate visiting Trump last year who sneaked in and out of the session, avoiding journalists and cameras completely.

It is not clear why Trump is endorsing Romney, since Trump seemed to have a closer friendship or association with Newt Gingrich, a fellow egotist, narcissist, and overall obnoxious, embarrassing public presence similar to Trump!

Will Trump help Romney in any way by endorsing him? NO, and it will boomerang on Romney, Republicans and conservatives, and maybe finally, intelligent voters will realize that the GOP and conservative talk show hosts, all are very selfish, self centered, greedy, uncaring about anything but their MONEY. As said in an earlier post, the Republicans and conservatives only care about PROPERTY, while Democrats and progressives and liberals care about PEOPLE!

Coming off his Florida victory, Mitt Romney has now has the two WORST days of his quest for the Presidency, and it is NOT going to get better. His candidacy is DOOMED and cannot be recovered, but the GOP has no better alternative unless they become so divided that the Republican National Convention in Tampa in late August chooses to nominate someone who did not compete in the caucuses and primaries, a highly doubtful scenario!

Mitt Romney May Have Lost The Election Because Of One Comment Added To Others

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Mitt Romney may very well have lost the Presidential Election of 2012 in one fell swoop, by his stupid, uncaring, but revealing statement that he is not concerned about the “very poor” as they have a “safety net”! However, he has also made a slew of statements similar to this one, which demonstrate that he is outside the loop in the sense of understanding “average” people.

This has led to attacks by conservatives, upset that their true feelings are being expressed about poor people, and by the mainstream media nationally. It is hard to imagine that ANYONE close to Mitt Romney is not rolling his or her eyes over his failure to connect, and understand that not everyone has the fortune he has, or has children who together have a $100 million trust fund and NEVER have to work a day in their lives, as they know what complete security is. It is these five sons and Mitt and his wife Ann who have a true “safety net” not available to 99 percent of us.

Do we need a filthy rich person to care about the middle class and the poor? Yes, if his name is Franklin D. Roosevelt or Ted Kennedy or the numerous other rich people who never looked at the poor or the middle class with the disdain that Mitt Romney and Rush Limbaugh and all of the myriad RICH conservatives and Republicans have toward us, the 99 percent!

This is not an issue of the “very poor”, as it would not take much for any of us in the so called “middle class” to have a streak of bad luck and end up in that group. It is ALL OF US, the middle class and the poor, who have to unite together and defeat the unconcerned, selfish, greedy one percent who have much too much as it is, and could not care for a minute what happens to the 99 percent as long as they keep on acquiring wealth and power!

It is time to recognize that Barack Obama offers the kind of record and sympathies that make him the right person to be elected, and to be able, hopefully, to bring REAL extensive reform against the aristocracy in a second term of office!

Possible Plans Of Romney’s Opponents For The Republican Presidential Nomination

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As a result of the Mitt Romney win in Florida, many political observers can now sense the possibility of chaos in the Republican party, as the Panhandle area of Florida, the “Old South” area of Florida, voted heavily for Newt Gingrich. This can stir Gingrich to try to win all of the Southern primaries, and have, at the least, a regional base for his Presidential campaign.

Gingrich, angry at the Romney negative campaign against him in Florida, is also now hinting that he will run a campaign to appeal to the American people, rather than the Republican Party, and that seems a strong hint that he might run as an independent in November, if he fails to win the GOP nomination.

Meanwhile, there is also the possibility of Texas Congressman Ron Paul also running in November as a libertarian candidate, and already, former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson, who was a participant in two early debates, has dropped out and is a declared candidate for the Libertarian Party nomination.

Also, there seem to be hints that former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum seems ready to stay in the race, although he has not done well in South Carolina and Florida. It could be that Santorum really hopes that Gingrich will withdraw eventually, and that he could become the conservative alternative to Romney. Or it could be that Santorum is staying in to PREVENT Gingrich from having a chance to be the nominee, and that Romney will award him with the Vice Presidential nomination!

And of course, Donald Trump has also threatened to run as an independent in November, if he is displeased with the ultimate nominee of the party.

These scenarios could work out to be false, but they certainly seem plausible at this point, and add to the interest in the Presidential campaign!

Mitt Romney’s Psychological Self Destruction Again Evident!

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Imagine this: Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts Governor, is able to accomplish a major victory in Florida, and he goes ahead in the next 24 hours or less to destroy what he has accomplished!

Mitt had this urge to tease second place finisher Newt Gingrich by pointing out that Gingrich had failed to call him, and maybe had forgotten his number, said with a hearty laugh! That is very stupid, to make fun of the loser, and yet expect that the very competitive and vindictive Gingrich will eventually come around and drop his challenge. After this idiotic move by Romney, he has only guaranteed more grief longer term for his campaign. It also shows the level of arrogance that Romney has, something known before, but made worse by his cockiness after his Florida victory!

But then, Romney, in an interview on CNN, declares that he is not concerned about the “very poor”, as they are well protected by the “safety net”. This is an outrageous statement, as the very poor are in dire straits, and the so called “safety net” is full of holes, and it is no fun to see the working poor struggle to make ends meet every day of their lives! But of course, many Americans, including Romney, would like to forget these people, as they are an inconvenient annoyance!

He is also not concerned about the very rich (like himself) as they don’t need government, a totally true statement, but showing how he can only relate to his own aristocratic class of citizens. But of course, the government must not take away any of the wealth from his class in the form of taxes!

Romney claims he is there for the middle class, but he has shown no evidence of concern, and seems to fail to realize that much of the middle class has become poor due to the policies and programs of the Republican Party for the twelve years they controlled Congress, and their unwillingness to do anything to help these people because it might help make Barack Obama look better.

Romney just shows how out of touch he is with reality, and to expect him to do anything economically in the next four years for the middle class is a hallucination, as his whole record shows he is only concerned with protecting his own, and other wealthy people’s, assets!

Even conservatives, who truly don’t care about anyone but the wealthy, have expressed shock and dismay that Romney actually said what he said. They may, quietly agree with his statement, but trying to be elected and making such statements is tantamount to suicide.

What Mitt Romney has done in one day is guarantee a longer battle for the Republican Presidential nomination, and more “red meat” for Barack Obama and his campaign to use against him. It is almost as if Mitt Romney has a “death wish”, and really does not want to be elected President of the United States!

Romney Victory In Florida: The End Or The Beginning Of The Nomination Battle?

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Mitt Romney’s decisive victory in Florida seems to many to be a sign that he will be the nominee of the Republican Party for President in November.

But actually, the race may be far from over, as there are still 46 states left to go through the caucus or primary process, and Newt Gingrich, Rick Santorum, and Ron Paul are not expected to give up the fight after only four states have voted.

And Mitt Romney has a lot to answer for on his fortune, his personality, his record and tendency to switch views completely from those he held a few years ago, and on his Mormon faith and how it might affect his decision making and his judgments on various political issues.

All of this will be explored as time goes on, but for now, congratulations to Mitt Romney, but don’t enjoy too much as the battle for the nomination and the White House against President Barack Obama has just begun!

The 130th Anniversary Of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Birth: The Sustained Republican Attack On The New Deal’s Survival!

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Today marks the 130th anniversary of the birth of our second greatest President, Franklin D. Roosevelt, who served 12 years and 39 days in the Presidency, and took America through the Great Depression and most of World War II.

Rated the greatest President in most polls of scholars and experts after Abraham Lincoln, FDR personified the growth of big national government, including the recognition that the federal government was needed to deal with the crisis presented by the depression, the worst economic downturn in American history.

Now in 2012, we are being told by the opposition Republicans that the answer is to revert to the philosophy of Calvin Coolidge and Herbert Hoover, and keep the federal government out of the economy as much as possible. Mitt Romney can be seen as the new Herbert Hoover, aloof, imperial in nature, unable to relate to ordinary people’s problems and daily struggles, extremely rich, and believing that the private capitalistic system without government interference is the best for America’s future.

Even Herbert Hoover started to abandon that belief in laissez faire, and is called, therefore, the “forgotten progressive” by Joan Hoff and others. And maybe Mitt Romney, due to his past reputation of being a moderate to liberal as Governor of Massachusetts, might back away from his present promotion of a conservative image.

But the Republican Party, whether Romney, Newt Gingrich, Rick Santorum, Ron Paul or anyone else as the nominee, has fundamentally declared war on the New Deal!

The GOP wants to privatize Social Security and Medicare, and gut as many government departments and agencies as possible, along with destroying labor unions and showing lack of concern for the environment, all major tenets of the New Deal. When Republicans can claim that the New Deal was “socialism”, as some of them do, they are being ridiculous and setting out to end the laws and programs that have advanced America and helped to create the middle class!

Conservative scholars and propagandists have been advocating negatives about the New Deal as part of their aim to destroy the good programs that Barack Obama has achieved, and to go back to the mentality of the 1920s era and the Gilded Age of the late 19th century.

We can be sure that if FDR was alive today, that he would be on the attack against the Republican Party and their aims of destroying his New Deal, and it is therefore the job of Barack Obama to go out and assault, rhetorically, those who wish to destroy not only the New Deal of FDR, but also the Great Society of Lyndon B. Johnson, and the other progressive, human oriented programs of Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, Harry Truman, Dwight D. Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, Richard Nixon, and Bill Clinton.

This is the time to defend big government and FDR, not shrink from the challenge!

Florida In Many Ways The Major Battleground Of America In 2012

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The state of Florida is now the center of attention, with its Presidential primary coming up on Tuesday, and polls indicating that former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney has a double digit lead over former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, with Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum and Texas Congressman Ron Paul lagging behind.

Romney, by going on the attack against Gingrich in the two Florida debates this past week, and spending about four times as much on campaign advertising as Gingrich, seems likely to win despite the decision of two popular Floridians, Senator Marco Rubio and former Governor Jeb Bush to avoid endorsing anyone.

Without an endorsement, it still seems as if both Rubio and Bush are secretly behind Romney, seeing Gingrich as divisive and likely to cause a disruption in party unity.

Both are potential Vice Presidential candidates for Romney, and both are also potential Presidential candidates in 2016 if the Republicans lose to Barack Obama in 2012.

And being the third largest state, with an increase of two electoral votes, and matching New York in electoral votes, Florida becomes the biggest battleground of all, since California and New York are seen as strongly Democratic and Texas as strongly Republican.

Florida, won by Obama in 2008, is definitely up for grabs with its 29 electoral votes, and it is really three or four states. There is the Panhandle of Florida, likely to go Republican for sure. There is Central Florida, including Tampa and Orlando and other areas, which is the real battleground. There is Broward and Palm Beach Counties, likely to support Obama. And then there is the Miami-Dade County influence of Cuban Americans, traditionally Republican.

Florida is the South (Alabama) in the North; the Midwest in the Central area; and Northeast and Cuba in the South. It is also affected by the Jewish vote in South Florida and the Puerto Rican vote in Central Florida. As one observer summed it up, Florida is the Jews, the Cubans, and the “rednecks”! Of course, this is an oversimplification of the state’s political clout, but it is clear that the Republican nominee and President Obama will spend a lot of time in the state, as it may very well decide who occupies the White House in 2013!

Mitt Romney’s Investment In American Financial Institutions: Not Preferred Over Bermuda, Cayman Islands, And Switzerland

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Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts Governor, would be, by latest estimate, the FOURTH wealthiest President if he was elected, just behind George Washington, Herbert Hoover, and Thomas Jefferson, and ahead of John F. Kennedy, Andrew Jackson, Theodore Roosevelt, Zachary Taylor, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Lyndon B. Johnson, and James Madison.

Romney would have twice as much wealth (at about $250 million) than the last eight Presidents combined, from Richard Nixon to Barack Obama. And over time, he could be worth more than the three Presidents ahead of him, and become historically the wealthiest President ever!

And we have now learned that Mitt Romney pays only 13.9 percent of the wealth he has gained by investment, rather than by working, and that he has large amounts of money invested outside the United States, notably in Bermuda, the Cayman Islands, and in Swiss banks.

So while he wishes to promote American economic recovery, he is, apparently, not willing to keep his investments in America!

This could become a major issue in the Presidential campaign of 2012!

Newt Gingrich: The Demagogue, The Bully, The Narcissist, Revealed Again!

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Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich has been shown to be a full scale demagogue, and Mitt Romney showed Gingrich’s hypocrisy again and again in last night’s debate, leading to the belief that Romney has recovered from his defeat in very conservative South Carolina, and now is more likely than ever to be the GOP nominee.

Gingrich is a demagogue on the level of Joseph McCarthy and Richard Nixon; he is a bully; he is a narcissist par excellence; he is a man without any morals, ethics or scruples, except his own aggrandizement!

Newt Gingrich is willing to victimize the poor; he is willing to behave as a racist; he is willing to lie without any shame; he is willing to stir up anti Islamic hatred; he is willing to stir up trouble in the Middle East by claiming that Palestinians do not exist; he is willing to sacrifice wives as disposables for his own ambitions; and he is willing to use incendiary language against the President of the United States, and in so doing, encourage lack of respect for the person holding the office, in a way that no other President has EVER been treated!

The people he has worked with in the Republican Party and in Congress have turned against him, and the conservative ideologists have mostly abandoned him, with the major exception of Michael Reagan, Ronald Reagan’s adopted son, and conservative talk show host.

It cannot be soon enough for Newt Gingrich to be removed from the attention of the national news media. Maybe Florida will be the place of his “Waterloo”, and if so, NOT soon enough, as he makes the word “politician” a dirty word, which it should not be!