Posted on 12/22/2007 12:11:01 PM PST by The Pack Knight
NORTH CONWAY, N.H. - Taking aim at a rallying John McCain, New Hampshire front-runner Mitt Romney said Saturday that his GOP presidential rival had failed "Reagan 101" by twice opposing President Bush's tax cuts.
Romney also sought to turn McCain's well-known maverick streak — a central theme in his campaign ads — against the Arizona senator. McCain's go-it-alone attitude, Romney suggested, will breed more divisiveness in Washington if he wins.
"Anyone who's run something, whether it's a small business or a big business, knows that the No. 1 ingredient for success is building a remarkable team of people around you, motivating them, guiding them, insisting on them drawing out their best capacities," Romney told a crowd of more than 100 people at an elementary school.
"I've had occasions to run business, to run the Olympics and to run a state, and you don't do that by yourself," said Romney, a former Massachusetts governor.
Taxes, a major focus in a state without an income tax, drew Romney's attention in his criticism of McCain.
"He voted against the Bush tax cuts — twice," Romney said. "That's failing Reagan 101. (Ronald) Reagan taught ... almost all of us in the Republican Party that lowering taxes would grow the economy and was good for our economy and good for individuals. And I believe that the Republicans are going to nominate a tax-cutter to become president of the United States."
The McCain campaign's state vice chairman, Chuck Douglas, said Romney had a tendency to change political positions depending on the circumstance.
"From his claims of being a 'lifelong hunter' to receiving the NRA's endorsement to marching with Martin Luther King Jr., it's clear that Mitt Romney has trouble with the truth," Douglas said. "His latest attacks are yet another example of his complete inability to level with the voters of New Hampshire. The facts are clear: Romney refused to endorse the Bush tax cuts he now claims to champion, maybe because he was too busy raising taxes in Massachusetts by over $700 million per year."
In 2000, McCain beat Bush in the New Hampshire primary, and the two later squared off over the president's tax-cut policy.
The attacks on McCain come as the latest public opinion survey shows the lawmaker gaining on Romney, who long held double-digit leads in the state. Those questioned in the USA Today/Gallup Poll said they liked McCain for standing up for his beliefs and being in touch with average people, but Romney for having new ideas to solve problems and sharing voters' values.
Romney's criticism could open him up to a line attack about his own position on the tax cuts.
McCain was one of two Republican senators to vote against a $1.35 trillion tax cut that Bush proposed in 2001. McCain also voted against similar plans in 2003, as well as a proposed repeal of the federal estate tax. McCain said they disproportionately benefited the wealthy.
"That sounds like Ted Kennedy and John Kerry," Romney later told a house party in Tuftonboro, referring to the two liberal Democratic senators from his home state.
At the time of the latter votes, Romney was in his first stint in elective office, leading Massachusetts.
The Boston Globe reported that year that during a meeting in Washington with the Massachusetts congressional delegation, Romney was asked about the tax cuts and said he "won't be a cheerleader" for proposals he did not agree with. "But I have to keep a solid relationship with the White House."
Now, Romney is solidly behind the cuts, arguing they should be made permanent before they expire in 2011.
A questioner at a town hall meeting Friday night in Rochester asked Romney about his apparent change of heart. The man refused to give his name, and Romney aides surrounded him afterward and accused him of being a Massachusetts Democrat who had challenged Romney about his tax record at another event.
Romney said that his first public comments were in support of the tax cuts, and that he campaigned on behalf of Bush in 2004.
Turning back to 2003, Romney told the man: "You see, I wasn't a U.S. senator. I didn't have to vote on this, didn't get a choice to. I was running my state, so I didn't have a comment on their position. And I said, `I'm not weighing in on federal issues.' But Senator McCain was a senator. He had to vote. He had to decide, `Am I in favor of pursuing these tax cuts or not,' and he voted against the tax cuts — twice. That's a very different position."
Now, Romney is solidly behind the cuts, arguing they should be made permanent before they expire in 2011.
So Romney attacks McCain for a position McCain and Romney both held in 2003. Incredible.
Typical Mitt stuff.
Says what he needs to say to get elected, then expects us to swallow hard to believe it.
Unfortunately, so do many other Republicans in the chattering class (see National Review Online).
Isn’t this a little like the Pot calling the kettle black?
“Anti-tax advocates are scrutinizing Mitt Romney’s (R) record as governor of Massachusetts and focusing on the fact that he increased fees in the state by $500 million and proposed nearly $400 million in business tax increases...
The Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank, published a fiscal-policy report card for 2006 that gave Romney a C grade, ranking him behind 11 other governors, including Democratic White House hopeful Bill Richardson, governor of New Mexico.
“
http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/romneys-tax-record-gets-a-closer-look-2007-03-27.html
The Olympics was a 3-400 billion dollar bailout with a federal check. I think even I could do that.
Mitt raised 250 million a year, a billion dollars total in tax..er..'fees'. Of course a 'fee' isn't a tax.
And of course, Massachusetts is now threatening to arrest and fine any citizen that doesn't pony up for the ballooning costs of state commanded health care. (The soviet union used to be called a 'command economy', but when Brother Number One Mitt does it, it's free enterprise. Just make sure vor papers are in order YA!)
“The man refused to give his name, and Romney aides surrounded him afterward and accused him of being a Massachusetts Democrat who had challenged Romney about his tax record at another event.”
Hillary/Soros/FR machine is working overtime to defeat Romney. Why is it that democrats are so focused on taking on Romney and could not care less about Ron Paul or Fred Thompson? DNC knows, that Romney - with successful executive experience and more money than DNC - beats Hillary easily. Too bad the fifth column here is helping Hillary. Maybe, just maybe, you could point out something positive about your candidate instead of using Hillary/Soros talking points about the leading republican candidate? There must be something? Maybe he is leading in polls in one district in rural Georgia? There must be something? Anything?
Romney failed Reagan 101 when he lied about Ronald Reagan’s pro-life record.
Huckabee is the leading republican candidate.
If you believe polls so much, why don’t you admit that Thompson has zero chance then?
Thompson’s actual record (as opposed to talk) is pretty awful (CFR is the only piece of legislation he authored).
While I agree that cutting taxes and spending is preferred, cutting taxes alone is far preferrable to the rat alternative: increasing taxes and spending. Cutting taxes can spur economic growth and lead to more tax revenue, not less tax revenue. In addition, cutting taxes leads to pressure to reduce spending. Cutting taxes is preferrable to the status quo of incremental tax increases and spending increases.
You keep saying Thompson authored CFR, but you never provide proof.
I’ve been showing several of my skeptical Republican friends links to these various attacks on Romney. They agree, they will DEFINITELY be voting for him now as they are obviously desperation tactics to weaken the strongest Republican in the race.
I swear, FR is becoming more disgusting by the day. Romney blasts Hillary one day, destroys Time on Putin another day, blasts others on immigration... McCain on taxes...and all these disgusting FReepers do is Hillary’s dirty work, by blasting Romney. They should be ashamed.
Read the comments. Is it just me, or is it starting to look like those form letters to the editor the DNC always puts out?
“I’m a lifelong rock-ribbed Republican, but this time Bush has gone too far...”
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