Posted on 11/25/2014 10:25:00 AM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
Past and perhaps future presidential hopeful Mitt Romney came to Chicago last night and, in blunt and sometimes surprisingly candid comments, acted like someone who probably won't run again but is leaving the door open in the apparent hope that his party might call.
In a speech and question-and-answer session with the Chicago/Midwest chapter of the Turnaround Management Association, the man who lost to Chicago's Barack Obama in 2012 says he's "not planning" to seek the 2016 nomination—language that politicians frequently use to suggest they haven't decided but are keeping their options open.
The former Massachusetts governor declined to elaborate, under questioning by Crain's Publisher David Snyder, who moderated the event. But he did have some sharp thoughts about other potential contenders.
For example: 2008 GOP vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin. "She's not running," Romney said with a poker face, drawing a big laugh.
Or Democrat Hillary Clinton, former secretary of state. She's the "prohibitive favorite" for the Democratic nomination and will be in position to hoard her cash for the general election, Mr. Romney said. But she'll also have to accept some responsibility for Obama's foreign policy failures.
Romney was neutral to flattering on former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, Wisconsin Congressman Paul Ryan and Govs. Scot Walker of Wisconsin and John Kasich of Ohio.
OBAMA'S IMMIGRATION ORDER
But Romney took a shot at conservative Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, describing him as a tea party favorite who "made a mistake" in pushing for the 2013 shutdown of the federal government amid a budget standoff. Romney went out of his way to praise New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, whom Romney aides blasted during the 2012 election after he made nice with Obama after Hurricane Sandy. Romney described Christie as a "strong, forceful, get-the-job-done" type who might run a successful presidency much like Democrat Lyndon Baines Johnson did in the 1960s.
Overall, perhaps because he was speaking to an audience of attorneys and other professionals who work with troubled corporations, Romney was quite negative about America's current standing. He said "almost no progress" has been made in recent decades on big issues like rising debt, global warming, cutting the poverty rate and challenges from countries such as China.
But he raised eyebrows when he said that, while immigration reform should be handled by Congress rather than through an executive order, Obama's recent move to suspend the deportation of five million undocumented immigrants "may well work out for him" politically. Romney, of course, got whacked during the 2012 campaign when he suggested 11 million immigrants here illegally would "self-deport" if the country ignored their plight.
I thought Romney's best moment of the event came after the founder of Bain Capital explained some of the virtues of the private-equity business. He would have done himself some good to have done just that two years ago. It would have been good for Gov.-elect Bruce Rauner, too, whose record as an investor came under intense attack without much defense from him about what his life's work was about.
‘The HERO of the (0bamacare) story is Mitt Romney’ - “Stupid” Jonathan Gruber
That is the second time we have a Republican compared to LBJ, Jeb Bush said he would govern like LBJ too.
Cray. Nobody out there wants to be a Reagan anymore
How does the Bishop RomneyCARE
know what Gov. Palin intends?
And the backstabber egregiously continues his
Palinzation of Sen. Cruz for his BF Obama.
The Gruber Republican speaks.
FUMR!! GOPe RINO, liar, loser.
Will somebody please tie Jonathan Gruber around Romney’s neck and throw both of them off of a pier.
Which is funny because NOBODY likes LBJ
Well, there ya go.
Mitt, if you run again, the TP members will nominate someone to run against the GOPe and the Marxists...
In 1992, before he became a republican (after leaving the party because of Reagan), Mitt Romney voted for Paul Tsongas.
“surprisingly candid comments”
My eye, the rube who wrote this needs to get back on the turnip truck
Why are so many people going after Cruz? BECAUSE HE IS A FORMIDABLE OPPONENT, THAT’S WHY!
He sees the benefit in being a tyrant and a usurper. After all, he himself instituted "gay marriage" in Massachusetts by executive fiat. And look what it got him: the Republican nomination for president.
bump
Four years ago, you could barely find anyone on FR who said they would vote for Romney.
Then, as the election grew closer, a huge number of people got weak in the knees, reversed course, and not only said they would vote for Romney but attacked those who refused to.
I'm guessing 2016 will look much like 2012 but hope to be proven wrong.
Apparently the RINO’s are the ones who like LBJ these days
ONLY Mr. RomneyCARE offers the Democrats the
ability to make moot: Bad government AND ObamaCARE.
Four years ago, you could barely find anyone on FR who said they would vote for Romney.
Then, as the election grew closer, a huge number of people got weak in the knees, reversed course, and not only said they would vote for Romney but attacked those who refused to.
I'm guessing 2016 will look much like 2012 but hope to be proven wrong.
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