The Mitt & Bill Show (Romney best for the Economy per BARRON)

Barron's Online ^ | JULY 2, 2007 | JIM MCTAGUE

[DieselHoplite]

REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE MITT ROMNEY strikes some voters as just too slick, and his adherence to Mormonism has hurt him in the polls. Democrat Bill Richardson, the garrulous governor of New Mexico, has bloviated himself from near the front of his party's field to the back. Yet Romney would be the best Republican candidate for stocks, bonds and the economy, and Richardson, hands down, would be the best Democrat.

Those are among the findings of a Barron's analysis of the nine major candidates from the two parties. We based our judgments on the candidates' responses to a detailed questionnaire on taxes, spending, health care, energy and other issues. We also considered their records as governors, senators and holders of other offices. Romney, formerly governor of Massachusetts and once a top private-equity investor, garnered 3.8 points out of a possible 4, edging out Republican rival Rudolph Giuliani, with 3.7. John McCain was third, with 3.5. a On the Democratic side, Richardson scored a 3.0, handily topping the field. Perhaps surprisingly, Barack Obama, finished second, with 2.0. Despite his strong support from the party's traditional base, he displayed more free-market thinking than Hillary Clinton, who scored 1.8. He showed a healthy skepticism for big government in his approaches to both health care and energy. [drawing]

In arriving at the scores, we consistently favored market-driven points of view. We ascribed an A, which is worth four numerical points, to any answer reflecting a strong, free-market philosophy and a D, or just one point, to a big-government solution. We were restrained with Fs, which represent zero points, wielding them only when a candidate ducked a question. Tax cutters and deficit hawks fared better than tax-raisers and big spenders.

[Issaquahking]

Figures...a lib rag lines up behind Romney. A paper like Investors Business Daily would look to some like Duncan Hunter. That's because of the value of the material covered.

Others are starting to see the light too, as witnessed below...

Also on the show yesterday was Congressman and Presidential candidate Duncan Hunter from California. What an outstanding American! You really must read all about him to appreciate this very fine man.

Congressman Hunter discussed how he personally saw to it that nearly 60 miles of fencing was built in San Diego in an area of unsecure border known as Smugglers Corridor at the bottom of the San Diego border. Crime, drugs, and gangs were rampant in this corridor prior to construction of this fence.

Hunter said both the authorization and funds are available in Washington to secure the borders, but there has been a lack of will in Washington. He seeks to change that.

[DieselHoplite]

lib rag? they are owned by the same company that owns the Wall Street Journal..

“While our points of view may sound more Republican than Democratic, our guiding principle is the power of markets.”

[jeltz25]

So, at 3.8 and 3.7, of 4, Mitt and Rudy are seen as pretty much the same on Business and the economy. I’d say that’s a good showing for both of them. Hillary is at 1.8 and Barack at 2.0

For those who say there’s no difference between Rudy and Hillary, at least on the economy and business, even a conservative outlet like Barron’s would disagree.

[Rameumptom]

Mitt Best for Economy Ping

[redgirlinabluestate]

"Romney would be the best Republican candidate for stocks, bonds and the economy,...."

Bears repeating!

[LibLieSlayer]

barrons is the kiss of death!

LLS

[Saundra Duffy]

I like Duncan Hunter but this thread is supposed to be about MR and the economy. But that’s OK. They are both great guys.

[Rameumptom]

I like Hunter and Mitt. I like Hunter's stand on immigration. Last poll I saw had Mitt and Hunter tied in Calif.

Sheriff Joe Arpaio endorsed Mitt because of his stance on illegal immigration in Mass. I also liked when he denied State Police escort to the former Terrorist President of Iran who had been invited to speak at Harvard.

[CheyennePress]

A lib rag? haha! Funny. And really, is it any surprise that Romney would be seen as the best for business? Seems like he always has been...over 150 of them. The guy knows how businesses should be run and what gets the job done. That much is demonstrable by his track record.

[curiosity]

Well duh...He's the only financial professional running!

As a financial economist, that gets me excited. Finally, a president who understands finance! We need that more than anything, with the looming entitlement crisis.

[bethtopaz]

The U.S. Government IS a business and needs a smart businessman like Romney.

[curiosity]

The U.S. Government IS a business and needs a smart businessman like Romney.

Well, no, the government is not a business, nor should it be. Its purpose is not to generate cash flow for a group of investors.

But many business skills can be applied to government, and Romney has clearly shown that he can. That's why I support him.

[bethtopaz]

True. True. maybe I should have said it’s like a business. Besides, if we ran our personal finances like govt does, we would be homeless.

[Kellis91789]

They covered 6 Dems and only 3 Republicans.

They included people like Dodd and Richardson on the Dem side who have no chance at all, but went no farther than Guiliani, McCain and Romney on the Republican side. McCain is out of it, so they really only covered TWO Republicans and SIX Dems.

Duncan Hunter, Huckabee, and Tancredo are the only ones advocating complete elimination of business taxes. How do you not include them in an analysis where Taxes are one of the five criteria ?

[kevkrom]

From the full article:

We sent questionnaires to all candidates with more than $3 million in campaign cash on hand at press time. Amazingly, only Romney, Giuliani and McCain qualified on the GOP side. (Republican Fred Thompson hadn't officially declared yet). The funding bias in this election cycle clearly favors the Democrats, six of whom made the cut.

That said, the three Republicans (if you care to extend that term to RINO Rudy) are all significantly better than the best Democrat, who's an also-ran. On a grade scale, the GOP'ers average an A-, whereas the Democrats' "big three" of Clinton, Edwards and Obama manage a low C.