Romney rates the presidential hopefuls and leaves door open for himself

Crain's Chicago Business' Greg Hinz on Politics Blog ^ | November 25, 2014 | Greg Hinz

[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.

[EternalVigilance]

And by the way, we haven’t even begun to discuss Romney’s virulently pro-abortion, pro-homosexual, anti-gun record as a public official in Massachusetts, all of which makes his story on this that much more in-credible.

[EternalVigilance]

Let me ask you: Would you be stupid enough to sign SEC documents, documents for which you were solely, 100% responsible, without knowing exactly what the massive transactions involved entailed?

[Finny]

Chillingly well stated.

[Trapped Behind Enemy Lines]

Apparently the timeline means nothing to you. The facts mean nothing to you. To reiterate:

1) MR took his leave absence from Bain Capital in February 1999 in order to run the Winter Olympics. According to Wikipedia, he was not involved in day-to-day operations or investment decisions at Bain from that point.

2) Bain invested in Stericycle in August of 1999.

3) There is no evidence of Stericycle being involved in the removal of aborted human remains until 2003, at which time MR was governor of MA and long gone from Bain.

I don’t deny that Bain invested in Stericycle and that MR was a passive shareholder. But since Bain invested in Stericycle in 1999, and there is no evidence that the company was involved with the removal of aborted remains until 2003, your charges are utterly baseless and carry no water whatsoever.

[EternalVigilance]

Well, I can’t stop you from believing the lying Romney spin, even though the facts clearly say otherwise.

[Trapped Behind Enemy Lines]

There you go again. I simply stated the facts.

MR took leave of absence from Bain in February 1999. According to Wikipedia. com.

Bain invested in Stericycle in August 1999 according to the Huffingtonpost.com.

Evidence of Stericycle disposing aborted human remains not confirmed until 2003 at the earliest according to stopstericycle.com.

Funny how you rely so much on Mother Jones and believe that source without question even though it is extremely far Left and I personally would not place an ounce of credibility in it.