Mitt Romney 2008 presidential campaign

Mitt Romney (full name "Willard Mitt Romney") is a Republican Party primary candidate in the 2008 United States presidential election. 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. Subsequently, on February 13, 2007, he formally announced his candidacy for the Republican nomination for president in 2008.

In the first few months of the campaign, Romney had been considered a top-tier candidate in his bid for the Republican nomination. However, in a nationwide poll released on December 7, 2007, Romney was struggling in fourth place, behind Rudy Giuliani, Mike Huckabee, and John McCain, in that order.

Campaign development

File:Mitt Romney for President.jpg

2008 presidential campaign logo

Pre-announcement events

Romney spent a considerable amount of time giving political speeches in key primary battleground states. Romney traveled the country during the 2006 election cycle to campaign for gubernatorial candidates as chairman of the Republican Governors Association, spending over 200 days outside Massachusetts. While he did not run for reelection as governor, in 2004 Romney set up a federal political action committee (PAC) called the Commonwealth PAC, which raised USD$2.71 million during the 2006 election cycle.

While testing the waters for his campaign in 2005 and 2006, then Governor Romney was accompanied by Massachusetts State Troopers on his cross-country trips. The cost of the Governor's security detail for out-of-state trips increased from $63,874 in fiscal year 2005 to a cost of $103,365 in the first 11 months of fiscal year 2006. Romney's use of state troopers for security during his campaign trips was criticized by former Governor Michael Dukakis, who never traveled with state troopers during his 1988 presidential run, and Mary Boyle of Common Cause who complained that "[t]he people of Massachusetts are essentially funding his presidential campaign, whether they like it or not." A Romney spokesman noted that Romney did not accept a salary while he was Governor and that he paid for his personal and political travel, while the superintendent of the State Police pointed out that the Governor never requested the security and that the security detail followed the Governor on all trips.

On January 3, 2007, his next-to-last day in office as governor of Massachusetts, Romney filed to form a presidential exploratory committee with the Federal Election Commission. Via the campaign committee press release announcing the establishment of the exploratory committee, Romney made it clear that it is a mere formality to announce a run for president, and that an announcement merely entails changing the name of the existing reporting entity, from "Romney for President Exploratory Committee, Inc." to "Romney for President Committee, Inc." and that money raised by the exploratory committee is the same account and entity as the money raised after any announcement, and of no consequence to the Federal Elections Commission.

Republican primary campaign events

On February 13, 2007, Romney formally announced his candidacy for the Republican nomination for president in 2008. Romney made his announcement at The Henry Ford in Dearborn, Michigan.

Romney held numerous "Ask Mitt Anything" sessions in his 2008 campaign. The first "Ask Mitt Anything" session was held on April 3, 2007, in Derry, New Hampshire, and his second the following day in Urbandale, Iowa. The sessions were open forums that allow opportunities for locals to ask Romney questions pertaining to his views and policies. Sessions were held in almost every state Romney visited, including locations such as town halls, restaurants, universities, hotels, and music halls. In preparation for the Ames Straw Poll, Romney held a three-day, 14-city "Ask Mitt Anything" Iowa tour leading up to the poll.

In June 2007, a section of a four-part series on Romney from the Boston Globe documented how during a family vacation taken in 1983, Romney strapped a kennel with his dog Seamus to the roof of his station wagon for the 12-hour trip from Massachusetts to Ontario. Presented in the articles as an example of Romney's ability to deal with trying circumstances, the incident received nationwide media attention when journalists and animal activists criticized Romney's strapping of the dog to the roof for a 12-hour summer trip. Romney said that the dog had a windshield and he "jumped right in" and loved the ride.

On July 4 2007, the Romney campaign officially launched the "Mitt Mobile, A Five Brothers Bus", referring to Romney's five sons and his official campaign blog, Five Brothers. When asked why his sons were not fighting in Iraq, Romney replied that his sons were supporting America by riding from town to town in the "Five Brothers Bus," saying "One of the ways my sons are showing support for our nation is helping me get elected." The RV, a Winnebago made in Iowa, had a large map of Iowa on the back and a Romney family portrait on the side with the label "Mitt Mobile", "A Five Brothers Bus". The Mitt Mobile was planned to visit all of Iowa's ninety-nine counties . Each county was checked off on the large map on the back of the RV once it was visited. On August 11, 2007, the Mitt Mobile visited Iowa's ninety-ninth county at the Ames Straw Poll. The Mitt Mobile is planned to also tour Florida, New Hampshire, South Carolina, and other key primary states. The Mitt Mobile has been a large success in attracting attention, and was even featured on Fox News' On the Record with Greta Van Susteren. Susteren interviewed Matt, Josh, and Craig Romney and toured and drove the Mitt Mobile.

On August 11, 2007, Mitt Romney won the Ames Straw Poll. He received 31.5% of the vote at the Straw Poll. Mike Huckabee came in second and received 18%, a larger margin than that of George W. Bush and Steve Forbes in the 2000 election, which had a margin of 10%. However, by December 7, 2007, Romney had slipped behind Mike Huckabee in polls conducted nationally as well as in Iowa.

Advertisements

Mitt Romney was the first candidate in the 2008 election to begin airing TV and radio advertisements, beginning in February 2007. His advertisements, most of which focus primarily on Romney's conservative credentials, have aired mainly in Iowa and New Hampshire, which experts credit with helping his early lead in those and other early primary states. Romney's campaign advisors explained that their early advertisement push was to make up for Romney being relatively unknown compared to contenders Rudy Giuliani, John McCain, and Fred Thompson. On September 4, 2007, Romney was estimated to have spent $2 million in advertisements in Iowa and New Hampshire.

In mid-August 2007, Romney began broadcasting advertisements in Iowa and New Hampshire that criticized what he called the sanctuary city policies of several cities. "Immigration laws don't work if they're ignored. That's the problem with cities like Newark, San Francisco and New York City that adopt amnesty policies." He went on to say, "Sanctuary cities become magnets that encourage illegal immigration and undermine secure borders." The New York Daily News termed the ad a "thinly veiled attack on GOP presidential rival Rudy Giuliani who is competing for conservatives who want a crackdown on illegal immigration."

Romney, on September 5, 2007, began advertising in South Carolina, the early primary state where he was doing the poorest. During the second week of September, he expanded his advertising to Florida, showing the "Energy" ad which he debuted in Iowa and New Hampshire and also began showing in South Carolina. The ad features Romney jogging and highlights his career as governor of Massachusetts, running the Salt Lake Olympics, and the private sector.

Campaign Advisors

• Beth Meyers, campaign manager (worked for Karl Rove in the 1980s, and has long been a campaign advisor)
• Jessica Peterson, chief of staff to the campaign manager
• Cofer Black, Vice Chairman of Blackwater Worldwide as Counter-Terrorism Policy Advisor [5]

See [6] for more people

On June 22, 2007, news organizations reported that one of Romney's top campaign aides was being investigated for having possibly impersonated a state trooper in Massachusetts. Jay Garrity, director of campaign operations for Romney, was named in the investigation by state police. Garrity had been investigated three years earlier for possessing police equipment and lights, while he was an aide to Governor Romney. The Associated Press also reported that the New Hampshire attorney general was opening an investigation into Garrity possibly pulling over a New York Times reporter in that state and saying that he had run the reporter's license plate. The Romney campaign denied the incident.

Fundraising

On January 9, 2007, Romney held his first fundraiser for his presidential campaign committee, bringing in $6.5 million, exceeding the amounts raised by other Republican Party contenders for the nomination; John McCain and Rudy Giuliani were reported to have raised $2 million and $1 million respectively. In Romney's 2002 run in the Massachusetts election, Mitt Romney contributed 65% of $9,456,557 raised for the Governor's race.

First quarter results

On April 2, 2007, Romney's campaign released first quarter 2007 fundraising information. Romney led the Republican field by raising over $23 million, which was less than Democratic contenders Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, who reported raising $26 million and $25 million, respectively, in the same period. Romney also reported a $2.35 million personal contribution to his campaign committee. Romney, a former venture capitalist with significant personal wealth (at least $250 million) and assets, had previously dismissed the notion of substantially self-funding his campaign but justified the expenditure in the interest of "seeding" interest in his candidacy. Romney raised the most money from Wall Street of all presidential candidates during the first quarter, with $1.9 million raised.

Meg Whitman, CEO of eBay, signed on as a financial co-chairwoman of his presidential campaign. She is a former co-worker of Romney's at Bain Capital.

Second quarter results

On June 25, 2007, five days before the end of the second quarter of fundraising on June 30, Romney announced that he was again lending his campaign a significant amount of money. He declined to say how much the second contribution would be, but that it was needed in order to run more advertising in battleground states. He said, "It would be nice not to have to loan or contribute to your own campaign... If other people are making sacrifices, I sure have to as well. It’s not a dream come true. In some respects, it’s kind of a nightmare to write checks from your own bank account." Romney asserted that his campaign had already spent $3 million on television advertising in Iowa and New Hampshire since February 2007.

When fundraising results from the second quarter were released, Romney had lent a total of $8.9 million to his campaign from his personal funds. From April to June, he spent $20.7 million, more than any other Republican candidate.

2008 Presidential Campaign Finance Summary

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.

Political positions

Main article: Political positions of Mitt Romney

Romney currently holds a pro-life platform, though in 1994 he promised not to infringe upon abortion rights in Massachusetts, which he says was a result of having a sister-in-law die as the result of an illegal abortion. In the 2002 Massachusetts gubernatorial campaign, he was endorsed by the Republicans for Choice coalition. In a March 15 2007 interview with Larry King, Romney explained that while governor he adapted his political position on abortion on November 9, 2004 when he met with an embryonic stem cell researcher and the idea of cloning human embryos for the purpose of harvesting stem cells was discussed in the meeting and such became an issue of debate in his state, but has made some comment that affirmed his previous pro-choice position months after he says that he had become pro-life.

During his 1994 run for the senate against Kennedy, Romney sent a letter to the Log Cabin Republicans, where he was quoted as saying he would be more supportive of gay rights than Kennedy himself. His letter included the phrase "We must make equality for gays and lesbians a mainstream concern." However, he opposed both same-sex marriage and civil unions in Massachusetts; when the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ordered such marriages be permitted, he lobbied for a constitutional amendment to overturn the decision. He has since renounced his past support for domestic partnership benefits.

Romney supported the invasion of Iraq, and supports the Iraq War troop surge of 2007, though he said it is still too early to gauge its success.

Romney has advocated eliminating the capital gains tax for "middle and moderate income Americans." At the Iowans for Taxpayer Relief Forum, Romney went into more detail, clarifying that there was no income ceiling to his definition of "moderate income Americans." Other than a general call to eliminate "entitlement programs" , no additional details were given on avoiding growth of the money supply and inflation of the United States Dollar. Romney has also advocated eliminating the inheritance tax, and has signed a pledge to oppose "any and all efforts" to increase income taxes.

Romney supports the death penalty, charter schools, and sentencing under the three strikes law. Romney has praised the executive branch for not giving Guantanamo prisoners access to the judiciary.

Following his victory in the Iowa Straw Poll, Romney repeatedly criticized former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani for sustaining what he called sanctuary city policies in New York City.

John McCain's response to Romney

In February 2007, Romney's advisor Gary Marx sent an email to 100 influential social conservatives questioning John McCain's pro-life record (McCain has been consistently pro-life on abortion, while supporting stem-cell research) since 2000. Commentators criticized the Romney campaign for portraying McCain as not having had a pro-life record when Romney ran on a pro-choice platform as Governor of Massachusetts.

After Romney criticized McCain for his stance on immigration, McCain said, "In the case of Governor Romney, you know, maybe I should wait a couple of weeks and see if it changes because it’s changed in less than a year from his position before. And maybe his solution will be to get out his small-varmint gun and drive those Guatemalans off his lawn." In addition to Romney's hunting statements, McCain's reply also referenced reports that a landscaping company Romney had hired illegal Guatemalan immigrants to do the work. It is important to note, that Romney said he didn't ask them what their legal status was for fear of a lawsuit. He said that you don't just go up and ask things like that. He said it while at the Sept. 5th Republican debate. At the second debate, in South Carolina, McCain said he hadn't changed his views "because of the different offices that I may be running for."

Time on Marriott board

Romney has criticized what he calls the "cesspool" of pornography. However, in July 2007, Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council, the president of the American Family Foundation, and Daniel Weiss, media analyst for James Dobson's Focus on the Family said Romney had not prevented Marriott Hotels from making pornography available in its hotel rooms when he served on the hotel chain's board from 1992 to 2001. In an Associated Press interview, Romney said he was unaware of how much revenue the hotels generated from pornography, although he had served on the board's financial audit committee.

Less than two weeks later, Romney began running ads in key early primary states of New Hampshire, Iowa and South Carolina saying that children should not be exposed to destructive influences. Romney said, "I am not pursuing an effort to try and stop adults from being able to acquire or see things that I find objectionable; that's their right. But I do vehemently oppose practices or business procedures that will allow kids to be exposed to obscenity."

Health Care Plan

On August 22, 2007, Mitt Romney announced the formation of a committee of health care advisors that will help him define his health care plan. The advisory council is led by co-chairmen Tom Price, Georgia congressman, and Tim Murphy, currently president of Beacon Health Strategies and formally Romney's secretary of health and humane services in Massachusetts. The four other members are Georgia Congressman Phil Gingrey, domestic policy expert John Cogan, Columbia Business School Dean Glenn Hubbard, and Romney aide Cindy Gillespie.

On August 24, 2007, Romney unveiled his national health care plan. His plan allowed the states to choose individual health care plans for their respective states.

Religious beliefs

Romney is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (commonly referred to as the Mormon church). The practice of polygamy has been officially forbidden by the LDS church since 1890, and Romney personally described it as "bizarre".

Some media outlets have reported that voter perceptions of Romney's campaign may be influenced by the fact that his paternal great-grandparents emigrated to Mexico in the nineteenth century, where they would not be subject to laws banning their polygamous practices. Romney has denounced plural marriage, and is a proponent of traditional monogamous marriage.

If Romney wins the nomination, he would be the first Mormon on a major party's presidential ticket. In pursuing the Republican Party presidential nomination, he is following in the footsteps of his father, George W. Romney, who ran for the White House in 1968 and lost; fellow Mormon Orrin Hatch of Utah, who ran in 2000 and lost; and Joseph Smith, who ran in 1844 but was eliminated from the race when he was killed by a mob. In contrast to Hatch's 2000 attempt or Smith's 1844 attempt, Romney was felt to be a major contender until he slipped to number four in national polls, and so the effect his religion would have on the election came under serious consideration by pundits. Whether it will hurt or help his candidacy remains to be seen; as of September 2007, 75% of the American electorate professes that Mormonism in a candidate would not affect their vote.

Romney may be challenged by voters with the concern that a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints would take commandments from the president of the church who is regarded as a living prophet. In an interview aired on Fox News Romney said, "America has a political religion, which is to place the oath of office, an oath to abide by a nation of laws and the Constitution, above all others. And there's no question that I make that my primary responsibility." Mike Otterson, an LDS spokesman, said, "The suggestion that a Mormon leader would dictate policy to a President Romney is absurd. I can't imagine any president that would allow that." During the 1960 presidential campaign of John F. Kennedy, similar allegations were made that a Roman Catholic would take orders from the Pope.

Romney's campaign speeches contain a standard response to the religion issue as a whole: "I believe in God. I believe in the family. I believe in America's future. It has a great role to preserve the peace on the planet. So the kinds of values I have are very much in line with those of the American people. My guess is as they get to know me better, there will be other faults that they find more troubling."

In October 2006, Romney asked to meet with a group of influential Christian leaders, including Jerry Falwell, Franklin Graham, Gary Bauer, and Paula White to discuss his presidential candidacy. About a dozen accepted and traveled at their own expense to Boston, gathering at Romney's home in Belmont, Mass. A prominent Evangelical leader, Dr. James Dobson, has not ruled out supporting him, while at the same time, Dobson has ruled out supporting Fred Thompson, John McCain, and most strikingly, Rudy Giuliani.

Mitt Romney gave a speech Thursday, December 6 at the George Herbert Walker Bush Presidential Library in Texas. The speech, entitled "Faith in America", outlined the role of religion in American society and politics and that he would not allow any authorities from any religion, including his own, to influence Presidential decisions. He avoided speaking about specific Mormon doctrines as he stated that by forcing him to become the spokesperson for his faith, it would be enabling "the very religious test the founders prohibited in the Constitution." Instead, he addressed religion in general, saying "Freedom requires religion just as religion requires freedom.". Washington Post Eugene Robinson has argued that Romney implied that nonreligious people cannot be proper Americans, and called that assertion "a form of bigotry."

Speeches

Media Matters pointed out that in an April 10 speech, Romney criticized House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for her "partisan" trip to Syria, but he did not mention that a Republican was a member of her delegation, or that a separate Republican-led delegation had met with the Syrian President three days before Pelosi did.

On May 5, 2007, in a graduation speech at Regent University, a conservative Christian institution founded by evangelist Pat Robertson, Romney extolled marriage and the family and criticized those who choose to remain single because they enjoy "the single life." He added, ”It seems that Europe leads Americans in this way of thinking. In France, for instance, I’m told that marriage is now frequently contracted in seven-year terms where either party may move on when their term is up. How shallow and how different from the Europe of the past.”

On December 6, 2007, at the George Bush Presidential Library Romney gave a speech on Faith in America.

Debates

Romney participated in the first 2008 Republican Presidential Candidates Debate on May 3, 2007 at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library along with the other Republican presidential contenders. The debate was sponsored by MSNBC, politico.com, the Reagan Presidential Library, and Nancy Reagan.

Romney also participated in the second 2008 Republican Candidates Debate on May 15, 2007 at the University of South Carolina. When Brit Hume asked about the use of "Enhanced Interrogation Techniques" including waterboarding on captured terrorists, Romney replied that the real key is prevention through counterintelligence, adding that "we ought to double Guantanamo." His full quote is:

"Now you said the person was going to be on Guantanamo. I'm glad they're on Guantanamo. I don't want them on our soil. I want them on Guantanamo, where they don't get the access to lawyers that they get when they're on our soil. I don't want them in our prisons. I want them there. Some people have said we ought to close Guantanamo. My view is we ought to double Guantanamo.

"We ought to make sure that the terrorists... [Applause] and there's no question but that in a setting like that where you have the ticking bomb, that the President of the United States - not the CIA interrogator - the President of the United States has to make the call. And Enhanced Interrogation Techniques have to be used - not torture, but enhanced interrogation techniques. Yes."

During the debate Romney also said, "There is a global jihadist effort. And they’ve come together as Shia and Sunni and Hezbollah and Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood and Al Qaeda with that intent."

New Hampshire debate

In the June 5 New Hampshire debate, in response to a question asking if Iraq should have been invaded in hindsight, CNN and Media Matters pointed out that Romney's answer to the question was incorrect. He said that if events occurred differently, with Saddam Hussein allowing UN inspectors into his country, Iraq would not have had to have been invaded. It was pointed out by watchers in the media that Hussein did in fact allow UN weapons inspectors into Iraq, and they found little evidence of weapons of mass destruction. CNN analyst Paul Begala said the misstatement would disqualify Romney if it had occurred in a general election debate, and it was akin to saying "the Mexicans bombed Pearl Harbor." Romney's full statement was:

"Well, the question is kind of a non sequitur, if you will. And what I mean by that—or a null set—and that is that if you're saying, let's turn back the clock and Saddam Hussein had opened up his country to IAEA inspectors and they'd come in and they'd found that there were no weapons of mass destruction—had Saddam Hussein therefore not violated United Nations resolutions—we wouldn't be in the conflict we're in. But he didn't do those things, and we knew what we knew at the point we made the decision to get in."

In his own defense, Governor Romney clarified that he was not meaning that Saddam had completely denied allowing inspectors in, but he was referring to the specific times where inspectors were prevented from entering several of Saddam's palaces for inspection. He was referring to these moments that led to the suspicion that Saddam's regime was hiding weapons they did not want to be found.

YouTube debate

After the Democratic CNN/YouTube debate in July 2007, Romney said that he was not inclined to participate in the Republican YouTube debate scheduled for September 2007. However, Romney then flip-flopped and participated in the debate anyway. Romney had said earlier, "There is a degree of respectfulness that ought to be associated with the process for selecting a nominee. From what I've heard, that level of respectfulness was breached...I don't know that it makes sense to have people running for president answering questions posed from snowmen." A question on global warming featured in the Democrats' YouTube debate was posed by a snowman.

Polls

Main articles: General Election Polling and GOP Primary Polling

First seven Republican primaries and caucuses, California and New York

Iowa

See also [7][8]

Michigan

See also [9][10]

South Carolina

File:2008 GOP South Carolina.png See also [11][12]

Nevada

See also [13][14]

New Hampshire

See also [15][16]

Florida

See also [17][18]

California

See also [19][20]

New York

See also [21]

Hypothetical presidential matchups

Clinton v. Romney

Edwards v. Romney

Obama v. Romney

Straw polls

On March 3, 2007 Mitt Romney won the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) Straw Poll. He received 21% of the vote. Rudy Giuliani received 17%, Senator Sam Brownback received 15%, and Senator John McCain received 12%. 1,705 attendees voted.

Mitt Romney benefited in the polls from voters' confusion with Rudy Giuliani's abortion stance following the first Republican debate.

In July 2007, Romney won the straw poll at the Young Republicans National Convention at 46%, in front of Fred Thompson's 28% and Rudy Giuliani's 10%.

On August 11, 2007, Mitt Romney won the Ames Straw Poll. He received 31% of the vote at the Straw Poll. His closest rival received 18%, a larger margin than that of Gov. Bush and Steve Forbes, which had a margin of 10% in 1999.

On August 16, 2007, Mitt Romney won the Illinois Straw Poll with 40.35% of the vote. Fred Thompson placed second with 19.96%, and Ron Paul in third with 18.87%.

On September 23, 2007, Mitt Romney won the Michigan Straw Poll with 39% of the vote. John McCain placed second with 27 percent.

Endorsements

As of November 5, 2007, The Hill's running tally of endorsements from members of Congress showed Romney leading McCain 33 to 28 for the lead among Republican candidates (not counting McCain's endorsement of himself). (See also Congressional endorsements for the 2008 presidential election.)

See also

• Massachusetts gubernatorial election, 2002
• Governorship of Mitt Romney

External links

• Official website: Romney for President, Inc.
• Official blog: Five Brothers: The Romney Campaign Blog
• Official internet TV channel: Mitt TV
• Mitt Romney Press Releases: From 2003 to 2007
• Spartan Internet Political Performance Index rank for Mitt Romney by week
• Vote 2008: Mitt Romney - Online NewsHour with Jim Lehrer
• Polls: Summary of Mitt Romney's Poll Performances by Month
• Mitt Romney 2008 presidential campaign at Curlie