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Mitt Romney has polish, but is he for real?
Mercury News ^ | Jan. 20, 2008 | by Frank Davies

Posted on 01/20/2008 5:55:26 PM PST by jdm

Mitt Romney showed that you can go home again. After disappointing losses in Iowa and New Hampshire, Romney's turning point came in a decisive, 9-point victory in Michigan on Tuesday, putting him back in the thick of a muddled GOP race.

Romney grew up in Michigan, and his father George was the head of American Motors and then a popular governor in the 1960s. Romney stressed his native-son appeal ("this is personal - my parents are buried here"), promised he "would not rest as president" until the state's dismal economy turned around, and spent more than $2 million on TV ads.

For months, the former Massachusetts governor touted his position on social issues - he opposes gay and abortion rights after supporting them in the 1990s - in an effort to woo social conservatives. Economic issues took second place. And last week, a former aide and friend, Dean Barnett, delivered a scathing critique. He said voters "sensed phoniness" in the Romney campaign for trying to "exploit wedge issues rather than focus on the issues that in truth most interested the candidate."

A wealthy venture capitalist and consultant, he can point to business successes (and some layoffs) and a reputation as a thorough pragmatist with a hunger for data and solutions - traits that could play well nationally as anxiety over the economy rises. Romney's deep-pockets campaign, with millions of his own money, helps get the message out.

There is a caveat about his Michigan comeback. Romney promised to protect the auto industry and blasted the recent energy bill, passed by Congress and signed by President Bush, calling its mandated increase in fuel efficiency unfair. He also criticized a bill to curb greenhouse-gas emissions backed by John McCain. That could backfire in California and other states where energy efficiency is...

(Excerpt) Read more at mercurynews.com ...


TOPICS: Editorial; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: flipflop; gungrabber; mi2008; mittromney; pandering; polish; rino; romney
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To: plain talk
We will see allot of this nonsense from the msm during the election. The usual suspects on FR will be eagerly posting them.

Now there will also be allot of puff pieces from the msm supporting McQueeg.

21 posted on 01/20/2008 7:45:43 PM PST by Parley Baer
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To: mtbopfuyn

If Fred drops out by the time I vote ... I will vote for Rudy over Romney.


22 posted on 01/20/2008 7:50:10 PM PST by bluebeak
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To: jdm

Romney is the real deal!


23 posted on 01/20/2008 7:53:16 PM PST by TheLion
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To: plain talk

Real? Not really.

In fact he has said he doesn’t get angry.

He says he gets ‘intense.’

What kind of a man says he doesn’t get angry? A phony, that who.


24 posted on 01/20/2008 7:55:21 PM PST by JRochelle (John Thune in 2012.)
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To: Court Watcher
I am voting for Romney because he has strong religious beliefs and is very capable with matters such as Budgets

Just a couple of years ago he was pro-abortion. What kind of religion is that?

25 posted on 01/20/2008 8:07:52 PM PST by chesty_puller (70-73 USMC VietNam 75-79 US Army Wash DC....VietNam was safer.)
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To: TheLion
Romney is the real deal!

Real Deal? That's pretty funny. Which Romney are you talking about?

He's very convincing in this video: Romney Abortion

He says he's now pro-life and supports the republican pro-life platform, but he clearly states that he does not want to ban all abortions, but instead he wants to turn it back to the states to decide.

I'm not convinced he's had a full conversion.

26 posted on 01/20/2008 8:18:05 PM PST by conservit
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To: mtbopfuyn
He will only get my vote if he’s up against Shrillary.

I'd rather vote for Hillary. Honestly.

27 posted on 01/20/2008 8:22:48 PM PST by glorgau
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To: MVV
Mitt Romney is a brilliant business man. From outside the beltway. Has a beautiful family, lovely wife. Five educated, decent sons and daughter in laws. Eleven grandchildren.

Just what we need in a president.

28 posted on 01/20/2008 8:28:47 PM PST by mickie
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To: Parley Baer
We will see allot of this nonsense from the msm during the election. The usual suspects on FR will be eagerly posting them.

Yep.

29 posted on 01/20/2008 8:29:32 PM PST by plain talk
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To: jdm

Yes he is for real.

Even the BEST of objects have a nice polish on them.
Great cars, great furniture, ... and great presidential candidates.
If you want the unscripted, unpolished and inarticulate candidates ... I think they left the race. or maybe that’s mccain.


30 posted on 01/20/2008 9:48:45 PM PST by WOSG (Proamnesty-antiBushtaxcuts-proCO2caps-CFR-RINO John McCain delenda est!)
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To: MrEdd

BS and you know it.

Proamnesty-antiBushtaxcuts-proCO2caps-CFR-RINO John McCain delenda est!


31 posted on 01/20/2008 9:49:29 PM PST by WOSG (Proamnesty-antiBushtaxcuts-proCO2caps-CFR-RINO John McCain delenda est!)
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To: mtbopfuyn

That’s nuts. If we defeat Hillary now she is gone FOREVER.
This is her chance. If she cant do it now, she cant ever be elected President.


32 posted on 01/20/2008 9:50:32 PM PST by WOSG (Proamnesty-antiBushtaxcuts-proCO2caps-CFR-RINO John McCain delenda est!)
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To: Colofornian

Your rash assumption that lots of people share your biases and won’t vote for the smart, articulate and accomplished business leader and former Governor is as warped as your dislike for Mitt. Let’s have the nomination first before you make rash assumptions about how much he can get in the general election.


33 posted on 01/20/2008 9:55:18 PM PST by WOSG (Proamnesty-antiBushtaxcuts-proCO2caps-CFR-RINO John McCain delenda est!)
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To: JRochelle
In fact he has said he doesn’t get angry. He says he gets ‘intense.’ What kind of a man says he doesn’t get angry? A phony, that who.

Wow. You are clueless. I don't get angry either. I am no phony (and neither is Romney), I am a human being with emotions but I try to stick with healthy not unhealthy emotions where possible. Mitt sure has genuine emotions. But I think he knows, as I do, that anger is not an effective emotion, and so we channel it differently when we are cross with people who are doing us wrong. "Intense" is the right word for it. Someone like that can be adamant, intense, focussed, and ready to tear someone's lungs out if they dont get back in line. Ready to fight, but never losing control like a 4 year old.

Romney has real class, and an unflappable way that is SO MUCH BETTER than the temper-tantrum style of McCain (like when he said 'F*** You' to Cornyn because Cornyn wouldn't help him on amnesty. In business, you NEVER get angry - a good CEO never loses his cool, but he DOES signal, very effectively, when someone screwed up and it more than able to tear a new one in him/her on it. The difference is what the biz books call "Emotional IQ" - McCain rates low, Romney rates high.

Thanks for sharing that. I can relate to Romney even better now, understanding that his unflappable intense-not-angry way is a part of his "emotional high IQ" way of leading.

34 posted on 01/20/2008 10:06:34 PM PST by WOSG (Proamnesty-antiBushtaxcuts-proCO2caps-CFR-RINO John McCain delenda est!)
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To: glorgau

why Hillary over Romeny?
You prefer Bill Clinton to Ann Romney as the presidential spouse?
You want judicial activist judges?
Romney’s tax cut ideas too right-wing for you?
Afraid his promise to keep a lid on spending will make govt too small?
Afraid Romney’s opposition to CO2 caps will flood manhattan?
his anti-gay marriage stand is cramping your style?


35 posted on 01/20/2008 10:09:48 PM PST by WOSG (Proamnesty-antiBushtaxcuts-proCO2caps-CFR-RINO John McCain delenda est!)
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To: jdm

This is the media box built for Mitt. Just like the box they built for Fred.

They labeled Fred’s box: lazy.

They labeled Mitt’s box: not real.

And all over America the obedient sheep say: baaaaahhhhh.


36 posted on 01/21/2008 1:22:08 AM PST by samtheman
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