Posts Tagged ‘mittwits and mittiots’
Read about it in a Teagan Goddard Political Wire post aptly titled Romney Bungles Response to Clinton.
Also see:
In other healthcare related debate, DaveG of race42008.com argues that the Clinton Health Plan Requires [a] Real Republican Response, and further argues that Romney’s plan as it stands is not an adequate rejoinder. We concur.
- eye asks of Romney on healthcare: “Which is it going to be Mitt? Taxes or mandates? Or are you going to require that the states do one or the other?”
- Pipes: RomneyCare a spiraling fiscal disaster; does not deliver universal coverage or meaningful structure of cost controls
There is also this issue: RomneyCare and HillaryCare are both based on individual mandates. So: Romney’s plan concedes in advance the core issue of whether we will be free to choose to buy in or not to the Democrats, whether Hillary or Edwards, who also favours mandates—the only operational difference between the plans is size, scope, and, hence, price, as argued by eye of eyeon08.com in a post titled Romney’s Clinton Problem, a post that we would re-title The GOP’s Romney Problem.
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dr. g.d.
NEW YORK, NY–(Marketwire – September 17, 2007) – Today Mitt Romney, a candidate for President, held a press conference outside of St. Vincent’s Hospital Manhattan without the knowledge or consent of the hospital to make a statement regarding the healthcare debate in the Presidential campaign. As a non-profit organization, St. Vincent’s Hospital does not become involved in political campaigns. We find it unfortunate that Mr. Romney misappropriated the image and good will of St. Vincent’s Hospital to further a political agenda. While St. Vincent’s believes that there needs to be real discussion about healthcare reform and finding ways to provide coverage to the now 47 million Americans without health insurance, it is inappropriate for the hospital to be used for political gain … more
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dr. g.d.
“This latest episode only serves to prove what many voters are already figuring out: Mitt Romney will do anything, say anything, smear any opponent and flip flop on any position in order to win,” Harris said. “The American people in general and the Republican Party in particular deserve better than this,”—Thompson aid Todd Harris—as reported by the estimable Michael D. Shear in a The Trail post titled Romney Blames Consultants For Thompson Parody Site
Romney officials today blamed the web site on an employee of one the former Massachusetts governor’s top consultants in South Carolina.
Romney spokesman Kevin Madden said the employee, Wesley Donehue, created the website phoneyfred.org without the approval of the campaign. Madden said the campaign ordered the site removed when they received calls from the media about it.
“The site has no direct affiliation to our campaign and we had no knowledge of its development,” Madden said. “We discovered it was created by an individual who apparently parked the site temporarily on the company server space of a firm whose financial partner is a consultant to the campaign.”
Madden’s comments came as Thompson’s advisers have demanded an apology for the attack website, which described Thompson in unflattering ways and appeared to be filled with opposition research about the former senator.
“If this is true, Governor Romney should exercise some of his much-touted executive acumen and immediately terminate anyone related to this outrage,” Thompson spokesman Todd Harris said late Monday evening.
Madden insisted that Donehue is “not an employee of the Romney campaign,” and his name does not appear in the financial disclosures that presidential candidates are required to make with the Federal Election Commission.
But Donehue is clearly an employee of several firms which have been paid tens of thousands of dollars by Romney.
The firm Tompkins, Thompson, Sullivan has received $37,596 from Romney’s campaign, most of it for “Political strategy consulting.” The web site for that firm has been taken down, but a recent page cached by Google lists him as an “associate consultant and vice president” of the firm.
“As the first associate consultant and vice president of TTS, Wesley Donehue runs the daily operations of the firm. Despite being only 27 years old, he is one of the most experienced operatives in the state,” the site says.
The firm is run by Warren Tompkins — Romney’s senior adviser in South Carolina — and Terry Sullivan, who is on Romney’s payroll as the South Carolina state director.
The company Under the Power Lines, which describes itself as an internet consulting firm, lists Donehue as a “Partner/Consultant.” The phoneyfred.org website was hosted on the same server as the Under the Power Lines website.
Donehue is also listed as an “Associate” in a direct mail firm called On the Mark Direct, which has been paid $146,018 by Romney’s campaign for printing.
A Romney ally points out that just working for a firm like Tompkins doesn’t necessarily mean that person is working for Romney. Heath Thompson, another partner in the firm, is reportedly a Giuliani guy.
Asked whether Donehue should be fired, Madden said that it is not up to Romney to decide that. “He has no role with the Romney campaign,” Madden said. He said the campaign will not sever ties with Tompkins or Sullivan because they have told Romney officials that they knew nothing about the development of the website.
Some South Carolina consultants are skeptical of that claim.
“The notion that Romney and them are going to throw one [person] under the bus is just nuts,” said one longtime GOP operative in South Carolina. “it just didn’t happen that way.”
The companies Donehue works for are part of a large political operation founded by Tompkins, a longtime adviser to the late former governor, Carroll Campbell, who is known for his bare-knuckles approach to politics.
Tompkins ran the South Carolina campaign operation for George W. Bush in 2000 and led a concerted effort to defeat Bush’s chief rival that year, John McCain. Romney has paid him $12,000 a month for political advice.
In an e-mail, Tompkins said he did not know anything about the phoneyfred.org site.
“I did not know about a web site and quite frankly am very internet dysfunctional,” he wrote. “Anyone who knows me would laugh at the prospect of my even being involved in such an undertaking.”
Donehue could not be reached for comment … more
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dr. g.d.
“An e-mail headlined “Statement on Romney’s South Carolina Cover-Up” seems to have rocketed the Republican nomination race into a new, nuclear phase,” writes the estimable team of Memmott and Lawrence and the Romney cover up and the Thompson response.
The statement from Todd Harris, communications director for Fred Thompson, accuses Mitt Romney’s campaign of a “half-baked cover-up” of what he alleges is the association between a Romney consultant and a hastily pulled website that said nasty things about Thompson.
Harris concluded with the kind of rhetoric that tends to warm Democratic hearts: “This latest episode only serves to prove what many voters are already figuring out: Mitt Romney will do anything, say anything, smear any opponent and flip flop on any position in order to win. The American people in general and the Republican Party in particular deserve better than this.”
Romney spokesman Kevin Madden’s response: “We had no knowledge of the development or administration of this site. We also disapprove of the site and have made it very clear that the site does not have an affiliation with our campaign.” Madden also said: “Today is a day of remembrance, and should be a day without political statements or attacks on opposing campaigns.”
Update at 6 p.m. ET: Harris tells us that the Thompson campaign “felt compelled” to respond today, rather than wait until tomorrow, after hearing the Romney camp attempt to “cover up” its connection to the website. “They need to know that if they’re going to hit us, we’re going to hit back harder,” Harris said.
Our friends at ABC News also are following the story about PhoneyFred.org. Jake Tapper writes that the man behind the site is Wesley Donehue, who directly works for Mitt Romney’s senior South Carolina consultant J . Warren Tompkins and another Romney consultant, Terry Sullivan … more
For more details, see The Palmetto Scoop blog and The Washington Post.
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dr. g.d.
“And so, on page A3 of the Washington Post, appears my favorite political story of the day — about the role that seems to have been played by South Carolina’s feared and (in some quarters) revered GOP hitman, J. Warren Tompkins, in the creation of an anti-Fred Thompson website called PhoneyFred.org,” reports the estimable Jay Carney in a Swampland post titled Warren Tompkins Plays Dirty? No Way!!
Tompkins is serving as Mitt Romney’s top South Carolina adviser — a role he has played often in his 25-year run as the most powerful non-elected man in Palmetto State politics. It was the role Tompkins played for George W. Bush in the Bush campaign’s smackdown of John McCain in the 2000 South Carolina primary. For those who don’t recall, that was the state where “mysterious” pro-Bush forces waged an under-the-radar slander campaign against McCain, who had just demolished Bush in the New Hampshire primary. The Bush campaign — including Tompkins — claimed no complicity in the slander, an assertion taken at face value by exactly no one with any experience in South Carolina GOP politics.
PhoneyFred.Org disappeared from the Web shortly after the Post’s reporter, Michael Shear, began asking the Romney campaign about it. Thompson spokesman Todd Harris (a McCain 2000 veteran) called on Romney to fire Tompkins. As this SC blogger pointed out last year, Tompkins’ power in the state has been ebbing. And his role in Romney’s campaign hasn’t done anything to lift the former Massachussetts governor out of fourth place in South Carolina polls of the GOP candidates. We’ll see what happens … more
Credit: Tommy Oliver
Also see:
- Romney slime machine staggers, sputters, and creaks into motion; target: Fred Thompson—question: how critically will the blowback damage the Romneys or the GOP?
- Romney thug—later identified as an NH campaign staffer—accused of harassing woman because he “intuited” that she would cause trouble; also: team Romney busted for anti-Fred hit site
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dr. g.d.
“Mitt’s not about to apologize for the Thompson attack site created by one of his top political advisors and lead South Carolina consultant, J. Warren Tompkins,” writes the estimable Kavon W. Nikrad in a race42008.com post titled No Apology Forthcoming …
The Romney campaign tells The Brody File:
“The site was not affiliated with our campaign, but we did make it clear that we did not approve of the site, strongly disavowed it and made sure that it had absolutely no connection to our campaign whatsoever. We took immediate action once we were alerted to it.”
Thompson, of course, is not amused:
“There is no room in our party for this kind of smut. As the top executive of his own campaign, Governor Romney should take full responsibility for this type of high-tech gutter politics and issue an immediate apology. If this is true, Governor Romney should exercise some of his much-touted executive acumen and immediately terminate anyone related to this outrage.”
Brody further explains:
Romney’s campaign is clearly saying since they didn’t have any knowledge of its’ development, then it’s a non-issue. Plus the person who actually created the site doesn’t work for the campaign.
I guess the distinction is totally lost on me. The site was the work of top Romney advisor and lead SC consultant Warren Tompkins. But since he is not an “official” member of the Romney campaign, no apology is needed?
Seems to me that the smarter move would have been to state that Gov. Romney had nothing to do with the production of the site, did not approve of it’s content, spoke with his consultant to ensure it never happens again, and apologize … more [emphasis ours]
We concur. Also see:
USA TODAY: “left and right agree: ‘PhoneyFred’ website linked to Romney consultant was a low blow”
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dr. d.g.
“On Sept. 3, I attended a house party for Mitt Romney in Ashland. While standing quietly waiting for Romney to appear, a gentleman approached me and said if I started any trouble I would be thrown out of the event. He stated that although the event was open to the public, it was still private property and I could be asked to leave at any point. He reiterated I would be tossed out because my “kind” weren’t welcome at such an event,” writes a distressed and perplexed Ms. Michelle Cunha in a letter to Concord Monitor titled Shoddy treatment from Romney’s staff.
I am an independent voter who was wearing a pair of jeans and a gray Bedford, Mass., sweatshirt to show my hometown pride. I was offended this gentleman would make such a blanket assumption about me. When I asked where he got the idea I would cause trouble, he stated it was his “intuition.” He said he would keep his eye on me. All the while, he used his 6-foot frame to intimidate my 5-foot-4-inch body … more
More on the sordid and lowly criminal underclass who serve as flunkies to the Romneys:
- Top Romney aid claims to be “’special ops’ employee who toils in the ‘underbelly of politics.’”
- Bostonherald.com:”Romney aide’s bogus badges: Sources detail ‘illegal’ security tactic”
Or: see here for the estimable and always on point eye of eyeon08.com’s account of Romney’ pretending to already to president in SC.
Or: see here for more dirty politics from the Romney slime machine: phoneyFred.org—a site crafted by paid Romney stooges and hirelings. The estimable Tommy Oliver of Race42008 reports the same story in a post titled WELL, WELL, WELL… Romney Camp- busted!!!
Romney? Please wait until you are sworn in—or: wait until you actually have any power—before you start abusing your power. OK?
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dr. g.d.
WASHINGTON (CNN) — Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee took on fellow Republican candidate Mitt Romney’s spending habits Sunday on CNN’s Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer. The former Arkansas governor said: “I would be worried if I were a voter if a person is spending millions and millions of dollars to barely be in double digits. I’d be beginning to think I don’t want that person in charge of the Federal Treasury,” writes estimable CNN Associate Producer Jennifer Burch in a CNN Political Ticker post titled Huckabee: ‘I’d be worried’ about Romney spending.
Huckabee is right of course. But we have harped upon this string for weeks and weeks. See:
Romney: GOP for sale; says US$20,000,000.00 is the price for a top-tier position—here is where we also exposit upon Romney’s shockingly low-gain marginal return on every campaign dollar investment, and why every Romney campaign dollar is worth about 20% of any other campaign’s dollar—Romney probably does need cash, but what Romney needs far more than cash is the practical wisdom necessary to use that cash efficiently and effectively.
Are we ahead of the curve or what?!
Conclusion: Romney has overplayed his “I’m so super-rich I can fund my own campaign” line of reasoning. It has now become a liability. The Romney campaign must be in panic mode—again: their one true strength—their staggering wealth—has turned into their greatest point of vulnerability virtually overnight. Hence Justin Hart’s conveniently timed announcement about a new Romney grass-roots fund-raising effort; you can read about it here:
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dr. g.d.
Creepiest campaign video ever: [Romney and] The New Silent Majority.
Tagline: “Finally, a leader with integrity and experience has emerged, when we need him the most. Thank you Mitt Romney. God bless America.”
Here is what interests us. The text announces:
First screen: <fade in>There is a new silent majority in America. Are you are a part of it?<fade out>
second screen: <fade in>They [the new silent majority] don’t think of themselves as Republicans or Democrats.<fade out>
Third screen: <fade in>Or red or blue. They think of themselves as Americans. <fade out>
Etc., etc.
Romney supporters don’t think of themselves as Republicans? Funny. We tend to agree. In fact: there are many of us—that is, Republicans—who don’t think of Romney as a Republican either. BUT: Romney insists that he is not only a Republican, but a socially conservative Republican—well, sometimes he makes this claim—well, most of the time, at least since about a year ago when he had his Saul of Tarsus moment. But many of his followers insist that Romney is something other than a Republican or a conservative, as evidenced by this not-endorsed-by-the-Romneys campaign video. And behind the backs of conservatives Romney himself emits similar noise—he assumes this strangely messianic line that purports to transcend party or faction. See:
- Romney abandons conservative line; reverts to previous line
- the Romney message in total flux—where is the real Romney amidst all the obfuscation and conflicting testimony?
- Brooks of the NYT suggests that Romney’s alledged conservatism is a facade to win the primaries
Here is the problem for Romney: He is already known as an unprincipled shape-shifter. He cannot therefore maintain both a conservative line and his non-partisan, apolitical, turn-around manager for the nation line, not without ghost-writing his own counter-narrative. His tack to the right has already alienated independents and moderates. And if Romney cherishes in his small, black heart the fantasy that he can tack in any other direction once he has secured the GOP nomination and still hold the GOP base together, then he has sadly, and disastrously, miscalculated. See:
Even if we were to concede that our divided nation needs someone who can transcend party or faction—which we do not concede, as we value pluralism and the discussion, debate, and the often adversarial reasoning that supports it—we would insist that Romney could never, ever be this person: Romney is too small, too weak, and too bereft of vision or even foresight. Besides: those who await strong leaders to save them invite disaster. The US is still a nation-state; not yet a principate, however much Romney and his toadies may wish that it were, and may wish that Romney were their prince. See:
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dr. g.d.
“Mitt Romney has driven home his support for American-made cars during his White House bid but the message is running on empty with his top staffers and even his five sons as they motor around in imports,” reports the estimable Dave Wedge of the Boston Herald in a story titled Mitt’s staff gung ho for imports.
The parking lot at Romney’s Commercial Street campaign headquarters could be mistaken for a high-end foreign car dealership as staffers drive Lexus SUVs, Mercedes-Benzes, BMWs, Audis and Saabs, many adorned with Mitt Romney campaign stickers.
Among the Romney staffers’ with foreign-made vehicles:
- Campaign manager Beth Myers drives a $35,000 Lexus RX350;
- Former state GOP director Mark Rowe has a BMW 325i;
- Benjamin Godley, who also worked for Romney in the Bay State governor’s office, has a Mercedes-Benz CLK320;
- Adviser Ron Kaufman, a former strategist for President Bush, drives a $50,000 Mercedes S600.
- Romney himself drives a Ford Mustang and his wife has a 2005 Cadillac, but he has been a foreign car aficionado, despite being the son of a Detroit auto magnate. Records show Romney owned a 1985 BMW and a 1996 Saab Turbo 9000.
- One GOP insider said Romney treated the classic BMW – his favorite – “like his baby.”
Romney’s five sons appeared with their dad onstage in February when he announced his presidential bid in Dearborn, Mich., at the Henry Ford Museum, father of the American auto assembly line. But all of Romney’s boys are foreign car owners, and most have never owned an American vehicle, records show … more
Here is what really galls.
Here is what really rankles.
Romney insisted—yes, Romney insisted—rumour has it that he pounded the table and demanded—despite urgent protests from National Jewish Democratic Council—on launching his poorly organized, spectacularly expensive, yet largely ineffective campaign for the Republican nomination for the presidency at the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan,
- [a museum] “named for America’s greatest anti-Semite,”
- [a museum] “named for a man revered by Adolf Hitler, who awarded [Ford] the Grand Service Cross of the Supreme Order of the German Eagle,”
- [a museum] “named for the U.S. publisher of the ‘Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion’ and ‘The International Jew: the World’s foremost problem.’
See:
So Romney chooses Ford over the Jews, then he chooses BMW and SAAB over Ford!
Is this man loyal to anyone? We mean, anyone? Even Romney sycophant Justin Hart argues that Romney’s first and only priority is Romney. See:
Oh, well. It’s not like Romney will ever be president or anything. But what does it say about the GOP that one of their top candidates is Willard Milton Romney?
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dr.g.d.
willard milton romney
hebrew date-
- blog-buzz on wonkosphere.com (beta)
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- blogometer national journal
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- wonk-o-blog
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- virtual vantage points
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- willard milton romney on technorati.com, blogpulse.com, DIGG.com, reddit.com, The American Federalist’s Romney Ramblings etc., etc.
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- Trump praises fictional serial killer Hannibal Lecter during rally speech (Edward Helmore/The Guardian)
- Michael Cohen: A challenging star witness in Donald Trump's hush money trial (Associated Press)
- Former Utica Mayor and School Board President Pleads Guilty to Mail Fraud Scheme (US Department of Justice)
- Biden taps Obama, George Clooney, Julia Roberts and the Clintons for mega fundraisers (NBC News)
- Trump appointee blasts Fifth Circuit over "landmines" in its recent decisions (Chris Geidner/Law Dork)
- A wargame simulated a 2nd Trump presidency. It concluded NATO would collapse. (Michael Peck/Business Insider)
- He's Running for Senate With an Immigrant's Origin Story. Here's the Rest. (New York Times)
- Switzerland's Nemo wins 68th Eurovision Song Contest after event roiled by protests over war in Gaza (Jill Lawless/Associated Press)
- Trump insults prosecutor at Jersey Shore rally filled with vulgar jabs (Marianne LeVine/Washington Post)
- Trump blasts Biden as 'total moron' before crowd of 100K at NJ rally: 'Whole world is laughing at him' (New York Post)
- latest Romney
- Inside Utah Politics: Sen. Mitt Romney and a military veteran - MSN
- Who will replace Sen. Mitt Romney? Trump endorsed in the race – Deseret News - Deseret News
- Mitt Romney says his dog scandal doesn’t compare to Kristi Noem’s: ‘I didn’t shoot my dog’ - The Guardian US
- Sen. Romney links TikTok ban to pro-Palestinian content - Axios
- Mitt Romney Reveals Twisted Reason Why Congress Moved to Ban TikTok - The New Republic
- Romney and Blinken blame TikTok and social media for ‘awful’ PR against Israeli war effort in Gaza - The Independent
- Romney: ‘You don’t pay someone $130,000 not to have sex with you’ - The Hill
- Utah Republicans to select nominee for Mitt Romney's open US Senate seat - The Associated Press
- Can Biden Make Trump Seem Like Mitt Romney? - The New York Times
- Lawmakers Admit They Want to Ban TikTok Over Pro-Palestinian Content - Rolling Stone
who is willard milton romney? 