Mitt's Snit Shatters Credibility, Drives Him Out of South Carolina
January 18, 2008
Smooth talking Mitt Romney is at it again. Yesterday, Romney was caught on tape playing semantics with an Associated Press reporter over the role of lobbyists in his campaign. Romney grew visibly irritated when the reporter challenged his claim that he did not have lobbyists running his campaign or sitting in on strategy meetings, despite the fact that veteran Republican lobbyists like Ron Kaufman, Barbara Comstock and Al Cardenas have served as high-profile advisors and strategists since he announced his candidacy. [Associated Press, 1/17/08]
Mitt's snit over lobbyists is the latest in a pattern of exaggerations, flip-flops and shameless semantic debates that have destroyed Romney's credibility throughout this campaign. Last month, Romney was caught misleading the voters on his father's civil rights record by claiming he "saw" his father march with Martin Luther King even though Romney's father had never appeared with Dr. King. After reports revealed that Romney falsely told Meet the Press that the National Rifle Association had endorsed him in 2002, Romney tried to debate the definition of the word "endorsement." After Romney called himself a "lifelong hunter," media reports revealed he had only been hunting twice in his life and never held a hunting license. Romney also told an Iowa audience he was "very proud of the fact" that he had "made it tougher for people with meth labs" despite that fact that his proposed legislation never became law. [New York Times, 12/21/07]
Now, with polls showing South Carolina voters rejecting Romney's latest attempts to smooth talk himself out of his record by trying to reposition himself as an economic populist, Romney is simply leaving town and banking his increasingly desperate campaign on Nevada--a state where no other leading Republican is even competing. [New York Times, 1/18/08]
"Smooth talking Mitt Romney may be running for linguist-in-chief, but he has already redefined terms like 'craven panderer' and 'shameless flip-flopper' for the American people," said Democratic National Committee spokesman Damien LaVera. "Romney's parsing, pandering and empty promises can't hide the fact that he has spent the last year running for a third Bush term on everything from health care and the economy to the war in Iraq."
ROMNEY'S OUTSIDER RHETORIC…
Romney: No Lobbyists "Tied To Me." "I don't have lobbyists that are running my campaign. I don't have lobbyists that are tied to me.... Somebody doesn't put the kind of financial resources that I've put into this campaign and the personal resources that I've put into the campaign in order to do favors for lobbyists." [CBSNews.com, 1/17/08 http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2008/01/17/politics/fromtheroad/entry3724226.shtml ]
….DOESN'T MATCH HIS INSIDER CAMPAIGN
Washington Lobbyists Advising Romney:
Ron Kaufman: Ron Kaufman a Senior Advisor. Since the beginning of his presidential run, Romney has relied upon close advisor and lobbyist Ron Kaufman. Kaufman has nearly three decades experience in national Republican politics, beginning his career with George H.W. Bush in 1978, managing his NH primary campaign, and working as the White House political director for Ronald Reagan. Kaufman works as a top lobbyist for Dutko Worldwide and serves on the board of Representative Chris Cannon's (UT) Eagle Leadership PAC. [Evote, 12/16/06; Dutko Worldwide Online, accessed 4/19/07; Salt Lake Tribune, 4/13/07]
Barbara Comstock: Noted Republican Lobbyist, Attorney, and Campaign and Media Advisor. "The Philadelphia-based law firm formally launched a separate lobbying arm in Washington, Blank Rome Government Relations, which included the three former White House staffers and the Dyer Ellis principals. Later that year, the firm also brought on Barbara Comstock, a former congressional staffer who had served as the chief spokesperson for then-Attorney General John Ashcroft -- after becoming notorious as the head of the opposition research team at the Republican National Committee (RNC) in 2000; The Washington Post dubbed her a 'one-woman wrecking crew.' Since joining Blank Rome, Comstock also has led a public relations campaign on behalf of Tom DeLay and is spokeswoman for former Cheney aide I. Lewis 'Scooter' Libby's legal defense fund." [American Prospect, 12/18/05]
Gary Marx: Romney Paid Focus on the Family Lobbyist More Than $70,000. Gary Marx was paid nearly $71,431 by the Romney campaign for consulting in the first three quarters of 2007. Marx's experience includes serving as the coalition's director for the national Bush/Cheney 04 campaign, working as a lobbyist for Focus on the Family, and working at Ralph Reed's political consulting firm, where his primary client was Pres. Bush. [Judicial Confirmation Network, judicialnetwork.com; FEC Data]
Al Cardenas: Federal Lobbyist Heads At Least Four Romney Steering Committees National Hispanic Committee. Alberto Cardenas, former Florida GOP chair, holds a number of positions in the Romney campaign, heading up Romney's National Hispanic Steering Committee, and serving on his Latin American Policy Committee and his Florida Statewide Steering and Finance Committees. Cardenas is also a partner of Tew Cardenas, the expansive law and lobbying firm with offices in Tallahassee, Miami and Washington DC that bears his name. While on FEC reports he has neglected to note his position as a lobbyist, identifying himself as an attorney instead, Cardenas has defended his lobbying. "I do lobby, am proud of it and have (to my knowledge) always registered on behalf of [the] firm's clients for whom I have personally done lobbying work," Cardenas wrote in an email to The Hill. [Romney Release, 2/7/07; Romney Release, 2/22/07; Romney Release, 6/7/07; Romney Release, 1/28/07; The Hill, 4/18/07]
Cindy Gillespie: "Senior Romney Campaign Aide" Turned Health Care Lobbyists Serves on Romney Healthcare Advisory Group. Before leaving her paid position on the Romney campaign in September 2007, Cindy Gillespie served as a senior Romney campaign aide and trusted advisor. During his term as MA governor, she served as Romney's counselor and chief of legislative and intergovernmental relations. She joined McKenna Long & Aldridge's Government Affairs practice, where she "focuses on healthcare and legislative matters." During her time with the Romney campaign, she was paid nearly $50,000. She remains involved in the campaign as a member of his Healthcare Policy Advisory Group. [Romney Release, 8/22/07; McKenna Long & Albridge, www.mckennalong.com/people-1113.html ; Washington Business Journal, 9/21/07]
Washington Insiders On The Romney Campaign:
Glen Hubbard: Chairman of Bush's Economic Council. Romney's Economic team mirrors President Bush's 2001 Social Security Commission. According to Fox News Network's Carl Cameron, "Many on Romney's economic team worked for President Bush, including Glen Hubbard, the former chairman of the president's Council of Economic Advisers, and Robert Posen, who helped craft the president's failed 2005 plan to reform Social Security with private accounts." [Special Report with Brit Hume, FNN, 2/7/07]
Cofer Black: Former Bush CIA Counterterrorism Chief Now Romney's Counterterrorism Policy Chief. In April 2007, Mitt Romney named J. Cofer Black, State Department Counterterrorism Coordinator and Central Intelligence Agency Counterterrorism Chief, as his "Senior Adviser for counterterrorism and national security issues." In September 2007, Romney expanded Black's role, naming him as chair of his counterterrorism policy advisory group. [Romney Release, 4/26/07; Romney Release, 9/13/07]
Beth Myers: Romney Campaign Manager a Karl Rove "Protégé." Beth Myers, who formerly served as Romney's chief of staff during his term as MA governor, is Romney's campaign manager and closest aide. Myers is a protégé of Karl Rove, having served as a deputy campaign manager under him in 1986 during the campaign of former Texas Gov. Bill Clements (R). [Washington Post, The Fix blog, 4/9/07; Washington Post, 1/7/07]
Carl Forti: Former NRCC Spokesman Hired as Romney Political Director. Forti, hired by Romney to be the campaign's political director, was formerly the communications director for the Republican Congressional Committee. Forti worked at the NRCC for seven and a half years and also headed up the NRCC's independent expenditure program for the 2002, 2004, and 2006 cycles. [Washington Post, The Fix blog, 1/11/07]
Matt Rhoades: RNC Research Director Hired as Romney Communications Director. Matt Rhoades, highly-regarded by GOP insiders for heading up the RNC research efforts in the 2006 cycle for the RNC and 2004 for Bush's reelection, is another high-profile addition to the Romney camp. Rhoades is also friendly with Matt Drudge -- founder of the conservative Drudge Report. [Washington Post, The Fix blog, 4/9/07]
Kevin Madden: Former Tom DeLay, John Boehner Spokesman Hired as Romney Press Secretary. Kevin Madden, hired as Romney's spokesman, was "a staple of Capitol Hill," having worked as the spokesman to former Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Texas) and current Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio). Madden also worked as the Ohio spokesman for Bush's 2004 reelection campaign. [Washington Post, The Fix blog, 4/9/07; USA Today, 11/30/06]
Aaron Baer: Bush-Cheney Rapid Responder Running Romney's "War Room." Aaron Baer, who worked on the Bush-Cheney'04 campaign, maintains the Romney "war room" where 16 televisions line a wall showing everything from CNN and C-Span to the major networks and cable stations. [Deseret Morning News, 4/3/07]
