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Michigan<ref>[[Opinion_polling_for_the_Republican_Party_%28United_States%29_presidential_primaries%2C_2008#Michigan]]</ref> (which may be a key early state), Utah<ref>[[Opinion_polling_for_the_Republican_Party_%28United_States%29_presidential_primaries%2C_2008#Utah]]</ref> and Idaho<ref>[[Opinion_polling_for_the_Republican_Party_%28United_States%29_presidential_primaries%2C_2008#Idaho]]</ref>.
Michigan<ref>[[Opinion_polling_for_the_Republican_Party_%28United_States%29_presidential_primaries%2C_2008#Michigan]]</ref> (which may be a key early state), Utah<ref>[[Opinion_polling_for_the_Republican_Party_%28United_States%29_presidential_primaries%2C_2008#Utah]]</ref> and Idaho<ref>[[Opinion_polling_for_the_Republican_Party_%28United_States%29_presidential_primaries%2C_2008#Idaho]]</ref>.



===2008 Presidential Campaign Finance Report===
Mitt Romney has raised $62,829,069 for his campaign for presidency. Private donors have given $44,485,017 toward his campaign, PACs have given $298,700, and no money has come from other sources. 62% of the PAC contributions came from business groups, 0% from labor groups, and the final 38% from ideological organizations. So far 18.4% of his finances have be disclosed, while 81.6% has not. Romney has $9,216,517 on hand, has spent $62,829,069, and has a total of $17,350,000 in debts. <ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.opensecrets.org/pres08/summary.asp?ID=N00000286&Cycle=2008 | title = Mitt Romney Presidential Finance Report | accessdate = 2006-10-23 }}</ref>


==Political positions==
==Political positions==

Revision as of 17:22, 15 November 2007

Template:Future election candidate

Mitt Romney (Willard Mitt Romney)
70th Governor of Massachusetts
In office
January 2, 2003 – January 4, 2007
LieutenantKerry Healey
Preceded byJane M. Swift (acting)
Succeeded byDeval Patrick
Personal details
Born (1947-03-12) March 12, 1947 (age 77)
Detroit, Michigan
NationalityAmerican
Political partyRepublican
SpouseAnn Romney
Children5
Alma materBrigham Young University, Harvard University

Mitt Romney (born March 12 1947) was the 70th Governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Elected in 2002, Romney served one term and did not seek re-election in 2006; his term expired January 4, 2007.[1]

Romney is a Republican candidate in the 2008 United States presidential election.[2]

He is a former CEO of Bain & Company, a management consulting firm, and the co-founder of Bain Capital, a private equity investment firm. He also served as president and CEO of the 2002 Olympic Winter Games held in Salt Lake City.

Mitt Romney's Biography

Born on March 12, 1947 in Detroit, Michigan, Mitt Romney is the son of 1968 presidential candidate George W. Romney and 1970 U.S. Senate candidate Lenore Romney. He was named after hotel magnate J. Willard Marriott, his father's best friend.[3]

Romney married his high school girlfriend Ann Davies in 1968. Both are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, commonly known as Mormons, though Ann was raised Episcopalian.[4] They have five sons as well as ten grandchildren.

Romney's great-grandparents were polygamist Mormons who fled to Mexico in 1884 after the U.S. Supreme Court upheld various anti-polygamy laws in 1879.[5] Romney's father was born in Chihuahua, Mexico, and moved to the United States in 1912[5] after the outbreak of the Mexican Revolution. [6][7]

Romney is a former bishop and stake president in his church, and he attends a temple regularly. As a devout Mormon, he doesn't drink or smoke. He's also a proponent of family values, saying that he abstained from sex until marriage and has since remained faithful to his wife of 38 years.[8][9][10]

Early life and education

Mitt Romney graduated from the Cranbrook School in Bloomfield Hills (now Cranbrook Kingswood School). After attending Stanford University for two quarters, Romney served in France for 30 months as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.[11] In June of 1968 Romney was involved in a serious car accident while driving fellow missionaries in southern France. Another vehicle hit Romney's car head on; the fault for the accident, which left one person dead, has been attributed to the driver of the other vehicle.[12]

After his mission service Romney began attending Brigham Young University, where he graduated as valedictorian, earning his B.A. summa cum laude in 1971. In 1975, Romney graduated from a joint JD/MBA program coordinated between Harvard Law School and Harvard Business School. He graduated cum laude from the law school and was named a Baker Scholar for graduating in the top five percent of his business school class.[13]

Business career

After graduation Romney went to work for the The Boston Consulting Group, where he had interned during the summer of 1974.[14] From 1978 to 1984, Romney was a vice president of Bain & Company, Inc., another Boston-based management consulting firm. In 1984, Romney left Bain & Company to co-found a Bain & Company spin-off private equity investment firm called Bain Capital.[15] During the 14 years he headed the company, Bain Capital's average annual internal rate of return on realized investments was 113 percent,[16] making money primarily through leveraged buyouts.[17] He invested in or bought many well-known companies such as Staples, Brookstone, Domino's, Sealy Corporation and The Sports Authority.[18]

In 1990, Romney was asked to return to Bain & Company, which was facing financial collapse. As CEO, Romney managed an effort to restructure the firm's employee stock-ownership plan, real-estate deals and bank loans, while increasing fiscal transparency. Within a year, he had led Bain & Company through a highly successful turnaround and returned the firm to profitability without layoffs or partner defections.[16]

Romney left Bain Capital in 1998 to head the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympic Games Organizing Committee.[19]

He and his wife have a net worth of between 190 and 250 million USD.[20]

CEO of the Salt Lake Organizing Committee

Romney served as president and CEO of the 2002 Olympic Winter Games held in Salt Lake City. In 1999, the event was running $379 million short of its revenue benchmarks. Plans were being made to scale back the games in order to compensate for the fiscal crisis.[21] The Games were also damaged by allegations of bribery involving top officials, including then Salt Lake Olympic Committee (SLOC) President and CEO Frank Joklik. Joklik and SLOC vice president Dave Johnson were forced to resign.[22]

On February 11, 1999, Romney was hired as the new president and CEO of the Salt Lake Organizing Committee.[23] Romney revamped the organization's leadership and policies, reduced budgets and boosted fundraising. He also worked to ensure the safety of the Games following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 by coordinating a $300 million security budget.[24] Despite the initial fiscal shortfall, the Games ended up clearing a profit of $100 million, not counting the $224.5 million in security costs contributed by outside sources.[25][26]

Romney contributed $1 million to the Olympics, and donated the $825,000 salary he earned as President and CEO to charity.[27] He wrote a book about his experience called Turnaround (ISBN 978-1-59698-514-8).

Massachusetts political campaigns

Campaign for United States Senate, 1994 election

In 1994, Romney won the Massachusetts Republican Party's nomination for U.S. Senate after defeating businessman John Lakian in the primary.[28] Romney's mother had run for the Senate in 1970.[29] Some early polls showed Romney close to the Senator Ted Kennedy. One Boston Herald/WCVB-TV poll taken after the September 20, 1994 primary showed Romney ahead 44 percent to 42 percent, within the poll's sampling margin of error.[30] Kennedy, who typically faced only "token" GOP opposition for his senate seat was more vulnerable than usual in 1994, in part because of the unpopularity of the Democratic Congress as a whole and also because this was Kennedy's first election since the William Kennedy Smith trial in Florida, in which Ted Kennedy had taken some public relations hits regarding his character. President Bill Clinton traveled to Massachusetts to campaign for Kennedy.[citation needed]

After Romney touted his business credentials and his record at creating jobs within his company, Kennedy ran campaign ads showing an Indiana company bought out by Romney's firm, Bain Capital, and interviews with its union workers who had been fired and criticized Romney for the loss of their jobs, one saying, "I don’t think Romney is creating jobs because he took every one of them away."[31] Although both Kennedy and Romney supported the abortion rights established under Roe v. Wade, Kennedy accused Romney of being "multiple choice" on the issue, rather than "pro choice" (a shot at what he stated were Romney's flip flops on the issue). According to figures in The Almanac of American Politics 1996, which relies on official campaign finance reports, Romney spent over $7 million of his own money, with Kennedy spending more than $10 million from his campaign fund, mostly in the last weeks of the campaign (this was the second-most expensive race of the 1994 election cycle, after the Dianne Feinstein vs. Michael Huffington Senate race in California).[32] Kennedy won the election with 58 percent of the vote to Romney's 41 percent, the smallest margin in Kennedy's nine elections to the Senate through 2006.[33]

Campaign for Governor, 2002 election

In 2002, Republican Lieutenant Governor Jane Swift was expected to campaign for the governor's office. Swift had served as acting governor after Republican Governor Paul Cellucci resigned upon being appointed U.S. Ambassador to Canada. Swift was viewed as an unpopular executive, and her administration was plagued by political missteps and personal scandals.[34] Many Republicans viewed her as a liability and considered her unable to win a general election against a Democrat.[35] Prominent GOP activists campaigned to persuade Romney to run for governor.[36] One poll taken at this time showed that Republicans favored Romney over Swift by more than 50 percentage points.[37] Swift decided not to seek her party's nomination.

Massachusetts Democratic Party officials claimed that Romney was ineligible to run for governor, citing residency issues. The Massachusetts Constitution requires seven consecutive years of residency prior to a run for office. Romney claimed residency in Utah from 1999 to 2002, during his time as president of the Salt Lake City Olympic Committee. In 1999 he listed himself as a part-time Massachusetts resident.[38] The Massachusetts Democratic Party filed a complaint with the Massachusetts State Ballot Law Commission, which eventually ruled that Romney was eligible to run for office. The ruling was not challenged in court.[39]

Supporters of Romney hailed his business record, especially his success with the 2002 Olympics, as that of one who would be able to bring in a new era of efficiency into Massachusetts politics.[40] Romney contributed $6.3 million to his own campaign during the election, at the time a state record.[41] Romney was elected Governor in November 2002 with 50 percent of the vote over Democratic candidate Shannon O'Brien, who received 45 percent of the vote.[42]

Governor of Massachusetts, 2003–2007

Romney was sworn in as the 70th governor of Massachusetts on January 2, 2003. Upon entering office, Romney faced a projected $3 billion deficit, but a previously enacted $1.3 billion capital gains tax increase and $500 million in unanticipated federal grants decreased the deficit to $1.2 billion.[43]

Through a combination of spending cuts and lower taxes, and removal of tax loopholes the State had a $700 million surplus by 2006.[44] Romney supported raising various fees by $500 million per year, including raising fees for driver's licenses, marriage licenses, and gun licenses.[45] Romney increased the state gasoline tax by 2 cents per gallon, generating about $60 million per year in additional tax revenue.[46] Romney also closed a tax loopholes that brought in another $181 million from businesses over the next two years;[46] The state legislature with Romney's support also cut spending by $1.6 billion, including $700 million in reductions in state aid to cities and towns. [47] The cuts also included a $140 million reduction in state funding for higher education, which led state-run colleges and universities to increase tuition by 63%.[46] Romney sought additional cuts in his last year as Massachusetts governor by vetoing nearly 250 items in the state budget. All of those vetoes were overturned by the legislature.[48]

According to an analysis by the Tax Foundation, the state and local tax burden in Massachusetts increased from 10 percent to 10.6 percent of per capita income during Romney's governorship.[46]

On April 12, 2006, Romney signed the Massachusetts health reform law which mandates nearly all Massachusetts residents to buy health insurance coverage or else face a substantial penalty in the form of an additional income tax assessment. The bill also establishes means-tested state subsidies for people without adequate employer insurance and who make below an income threshold by using funds previously designated to compensate for the health costs of the uninsured.[49] [50] [51] He vetoed 8 sections of the health care legislation, including an employer assessment[52] [53] and provisions providing health coverage to senior and disabled legal immigrants not eligible for federal Medicaid.[54] [55] The legislature overrode all eight vetoes. Romney's communications director Eric Fehrnstrom responded saying "These differences with the Legislature are not essential to the goal of getting everyone covered with insurance."

At the beginning of his governorship, Romney opposed same-sex marriage and civil unions.[56] [57] Faced with the dilemma of choosing between same-sex marriage or civil unions after the November 2003 Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court decision legalizing same-sex marriages (Goodridge v. Department of Public Health), Romney reluctantly backed a state constitutional amendment in February 2004 that would have banned same-sex marriage but still allow civil unions, viewing it as the only feasible way to ban same-sex marriage in Massachusetts.[58] In May 2004 Romney instructed town clerks to begin issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples, but citing a 1913 law that barred out-of-state residents from getting married in Massachusetts if their union would be illegal in their home state, [59] [60] no marriage licenses were to be issued to out-of-state same-sex couples not planning to move to Massachusetts. In June 2005, Romney abandoned his support for the compromise amendment, stating that the amendment confused voters who oppose both same-sex marriage and civil unions. Instead, Romney endorsed a petition effort led by the Coalition for Marriage & Family that would have banned same-sex marriage and made no provisions for civil unions.[61] In 2006 he urged the U.S. Senate to vote in favor of the Marriage Protection Amendment.[62][63]

On December 14, 2005, Romney announced that he would not seek re-election for a second term as governor.[64] Romney left office with a favorability rating of 43% at a time when President Bush was at 28%. [65]

Romney filed papers to establish a formal exploratory presidential campaign committee the next to last day in office as governor.[66] Romney's term ended January 4, 2007.

Campaign for United States President, 2008 election

Template:Future election candidate

File:Mitt Romney for President.jpg
2008 presidential campaign logo

Since the 2004 Republican National Convention, Romney had been discussed as a potential 2008 presidential candidate.[67] On January 3 2007, two days before he stepped down as governor of Massachusetts, Romney filed to form a presidential exploratory committee with the Federal Election Commission.[68][69] On February 13, 2007 Romney formally announced his candidacy for the Republican nomination for president in 2008.

In August, 2007, Romney won the Ames Straw Poll with 31% of the vote.[70] His closest rival in the Straw Poll, Mike Huckabee, received 18% of the total vote. [71] Rudy Giuliani, John McCain, and the then-unofficial candidate Fred Thompson, did not attend. Romney also won the Illinois Straw Poll with 40.35% of the vote, with Fred Thompson coming in 2nd with 19.96% of the total vote.[72]

Romney has been criticized for comparing his sons' campaign service to service in the military. Said Romney, "one of the ways my sons are showing support for our nation is helping to get me elected.” Neither Romney nor his five sons have served in the military.[73] Romney later apologized and said he misspoke and that there is no comparison to the sacrifice that military persons make.[74]

Romney at a parade in Milford, New Hampshire; September 3, 2007

Another criticizism of Romney is that he is the Republican version of John Kerry. Former NY Mayor Rudy Giuliani accused Romney of 'flip-flopping' on issues[75]. He is seen by many to have changed his views on gay marriage and abortion[76]. Also like Kerry, Mitt Romney is financing much of his campaign with his own personal fortune, contributing over $17 million to the campaign[77].

As of September 2007, state-by-state polls for the 2008 Republican nomination show that Romney has electoral support in the key early states of Iowa[78], and New Hampshire[79] as well as polling strongly in Nevada[80], Michigan[81] (which may be a key early state), Utah[82] and Idaho[83].


Political positions

Romney believes that Roe V. Wade should be overturned and believes a constitutional amendment is appropriate when America is ready for it and that abortion is wrong except to save the life of the mother.[84] Romney has made pro-choice comments in the past, but now says he has reversed his position.[85]

As governor of Massachusetts, Romney opposed amending the constitution to codify only traditional marriage, believing it unnecessary. He changed his mind in 2003, however, when the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled in favor of legalized same-sex marriage, Romney lobbied for a state constitutional amendment.[86]

Romney supported the invasion of Iraq[87], and supports the Iraq War troop surge of 2007, though in Summer 2007 he said that it was still too early to gauge its success.[88] Upon hearing the testimony of General Petraeus, Romney reemphasized his agreement with current policy in Iraq and has called for a "Surge of Support" for the military. Romney has called for increased military spending to at least 4% of the United States GDP and wishes to increase the size of the military by at least 100,000 troops[89].

Romney has focused on tax relief for "middle income Americans" and has advocated eliminating the capital gains tax for all those who earn less than $200,000 per year. [90] Romney has also advocated eliminating the inheritance tax,[91] signed a pledge to oppose "any and all efforts" to increase income taxes,[92] and promises to control spending by Congress.

Romney currently supports the death penalty, charter schools, and sentencing under the three strikes law.[93][94][95] Romney has called for secure borders through reforming current immigration laws. Romney welcomes increased legal immigration and supports implementing a mandatory biometrically enabled, tamper proof documentation and employment verification system. Romney said that he would like to see illegal immigrants register with the government and apply for citizenship.[96] Romney supports the use of enhanced interrogation techniques[97] but says that he opposes the use of torture during prisoner interrogation.[98]

Electoral history

  • 2002 Race for Governor, Massachusetts
  • 1994 Race for U.S. Senate, Massachusetts
    • Edward Kennedy (D) (incumbent), 58%
    • Mitt Romney (R), 41%
    • Lauraleigh Dozier (L), 0.7%
    • William Ferguson, 0.2%

See also

References

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  6. ^ Could ancestors haunt Romney? Polygamous family tree of Mitt Romney Salt Lake Tribune, August 21 2006
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  8. ^ http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2007-02-12-romney-cover_x.htm
  9. ^ http://www.ldsmag.com/books/070316presidents.html
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  11. ^ Miller, John J. "Matinee Mitt." National Review, June 20 2005.-
  12. ^ Paulson, Michael. "Survivors recall tragic car crash in France with Romney at the wheel" Boston.com News, June 24 2007.-
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  19. ^ Mitt Romney Commonwealth of Massachusetts (Official web page of Governor Romney) (no date) via The Internet Archive (retrieved July 22, 2007) Mitt Romney
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  77. ^ http://politics.nytimes.com/election-guide/2008/finances/index.html
  78. ^ Opinion_polling_for_the_Republican_Party_(United_States)_presidential_primaries,_2008#Iowa
  79. ^ Opinion_polling_for_the_Republican_Party_(United_States)_presidential_primaries,_2008#New_Hampshire
  80. ^ Opinion_polling_for_the_Republican_Party_(United_States)_presidential_primaries,_2008#Nevada
  81. ^ Opinion_polling_for_the_Republican_Party_(United_States)_presidential_primaries,_2008#Michigan
  82. ^ Opinion_polling_for_the_Republican_Party_(United_States)_presidential_primaries,_2008#Utah
  83. ^ Opinion_polling_for_the_Republican_Party_(United_States)_presidential_primaries,_2008#Idaho
  84. ^ http://www.mittromney.com/Issue-Watch/Values
  85. ^ http://www.mittromney.com/Issue-Watch/Values
  86. ^ Phillips, Frank (February 23, 2005). "Romney's stance on civil unions draws fire". LifesiteNews. Retrieved 2007-04-20. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  87. ^ Lorentzen, Amy (July 27, 2007). "Romney:U.S. is angry about Iraq". American Spectator. Houston Chronicle. Retrieved 2007-04-20. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  88. ^ https://www.mittromney.com/News/Press-Releases/Iraq_Statement_1_10_07 Press release from official Mitt Romney website
  89. ^ http://mittromney.com/News/In-The-News/Defense_Energy_Research_Spending
  90. ^ "Mitt Romney Iowa Straw Poll Speech". CSPAN. 2007-11-08.
  91. ^ "Romney rolls through business plan in hopes of winning Iowa". Boston Globe. 2007-08-10. {{cite news}}: Text "http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2007/08/10/romney_rolls_through_business_plan_in_hopes_of_winning_iowa/" ignored (help)
  92. ^ Helman, Scott (2007-01-05). "Romney finds 'no new taxes' promise suits him after all". Boston Globe.
  93. ^ Lewis, Raphael (April 29, 2005). "Romney files death penalty bill". Boston Globe. Retrieved 2007-04-20. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  94. ^ Sacchetti, Maria (February 1, 2005). "Romney plan would greatly boost charter schools". Boston Globe. Retrieved 2007-04-20. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  95. ^ "Mitt Romney on crime". OnTheIssues. , 1994. Retrieved 2007-04-20. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  96. ^ http://www.mittromney.com/Issue-Watch/Immigration
  97. ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o8NKiz18k4o
  98. ^ "Mitt Romney Iowa Straw Poll Speech". CSPAN. 2007-11-08.
Official
Speeches, multimedia and transcripts
Interviews
Databases and information
Media coverage
Political offices
Preceded by
Jane Swift
as Acting Governor
Governor of Massachusetts
January 2, 2003January 4, 2007
Succeeded by
Party political offices
Preceded by Massachusetts Republican Party gubernatorial candidate
2002
Succeeded by