Posted on 12/22/2011 11:38:12 AM PST by Cincinatus' Wife
Less than two weeks before Iowa Republicans make their crucial caucus choices on the night of Jan. 3, George H.W. Bush offered words of support, if not an official endorsement, to an old friend, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, according to a story today in the Houston Chronicle.
“I think Romney is the best choice for us,” former President Bush told the newspaper. “I like Perry, but he doesn’t seem to be going anywhere; he’s not surging forward.”
The former president’s choice is a blow to native son Rick Perry, the Texas governor who has had a long-standing feud with the Bush family and no doubt would have preferred that Bush remain neutral.
Bush said he had known Romney for many years and also knew his father, George Romney, a former Republican governor of Michigan who ran for president in 1968. He praised Romney for his “stability, experience, principles,” and added, “I just think he’s mature and reasonable – not a bomb-thrower.”
But he said he did not mean to imply that the other candidates are bomb-throwers. “I’ve got to be a little careful, because I like Perry; he’s our governor,” he told the newspaper.
Joe Householder, a Houston-based political consultant, told he Chronicle that with his not-an-endorsement statements, the former president probably was drawing a distinction for voters around the country who may not be aware of the historic antipathy between the Bush and Perry camps. In last year’s GOP gubernatorial primary, when Perry sought a history-making third term as governor, the Bushes endorsed Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas...
They probably all know each other thru the Repub Gov Association.
Thanks! What a line-up.
Could Romney name Jeb as VP if he gets the nomination?
More here:
.....”I must admit, this is much more important to me personally than politically. He’s a real hero to me,” Romney told reporters.
He said the support was a sign of the “growing momentum” for his campaign.
Romney has already been endorsed by Bush’s vice president, Dan Quayle. Bush’s chief of staff, John Sununu, is also a Romney backer and was on the trail with him Thursday.”
http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-pn-bush-romney-best-choice-20111222,0,3716097.story
Oh come on, Sockmonkey, I just ate!
Anybody But O’Bama.
I’ve had all the Irish I can stand. </sarc>
Read his lips....
Doesn’t sound like Marlin Fitzwater would be endorsing Romney...
http://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2823246/posts
“I remember back in 1990, just after Newt had become GOP whip, when Mr. Bush, urged on by Mr. Sununu, was about to break his campaign pledge and raise taxes, which eventually cost him his re-election bid against Mr. Clinton. It was Newt who opposed it. In fact, Marlin Fitzwater, the loyal and shrewd White House press secretary, and no fan of Newt’s at the time, later wrote in his memoirs, “As it turned out, one of the few people on the Republican team who understood this trap [the Democrats demanded Bush raise taxes as the political price to reduce the deficit] was Newt Gingrich. … Newt had … recommended a different course of action: Abandon the budget negotiations [with Democrats], keep the tax pledge, insist that Congress cut spending, and make a political fight out of it. It’s clear now that we should have followed his advice.””
Vote Perry. Annoy the East Coast Establishment.
I suppose Bush Sr. doesn’t like Romney that much.
I am sick to death of Northeastern establishment Republicans and all they represent. Yes, Babs, this means YOU. I remember your snarky comment about Palin and how you hoped she stayed in Alaska. The two of you are just staying true to form by endorsing oily-haired, socially retarded Willard. You can HAVE him. I, on the other hand, will stick with a true patriot and a solid Christian conservative——RICK PERRY.
I didn’t even think of this as a Perry snub, as GHWB had backed Hutchison for governor in 2010. Bushes are socially superior to Perry even if their philosophies are similar. GHWB, himself a failure in office, is just following the lead of his old intraparty rival and other failure, Bob Dole. Do you think Dole’s running mate would be endorsing Romney if he were still around for this election cycle?
I didn’t even think of this as a Perry snub, as GHWB had backed Hutchison for governor in 2010. Bushes are socially superior to Perry even if their philosophies are similar. GHWB, himself a failure in office, is just following the lead of his old intraparty rival and other failure, Bob Dole. Do you think Dole’s running mate would be endorsing Romney if he were still around for this election cycle?
You should never be embarrassed FOR a Bush. A Bush will leave you flat every time! When I was in Midland, I stopped by the GWB Bush boyhood home there for historical reasons, but I refused to pay the $5 to go inside. Still though so many Republicans do like Bushes. It’s like Louisiana people liking the Longs, I guess.
“Bush Senior Backs Romney”
RINO’s of a feather.
Who else would he back?
Haha that little white dog looks just like my dog! Neither of us wants Mittens!
Bush Senior was the one who announced the birth of the bastard “New World Order”.
That’s it. They want the NWO and they’ll get it. 0bama is just the latest implimenter. Evil bastards.
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