Why Romney's Right

The Boston Globe and others are reporting Romney’s remarks about Nancy Pelosi’s trip to Syria:

Romney brought up Pelosi's trip twice, both times unprompted.

"Frankly, the decision of Nancy Pelosi to go to meet with Assad in Syria is one which I find outrageous," Romney said, the second time.

Defying Bush, Pelosi, D-Calif., met with the Syrian president Wednesday in an attempt to pressure the Bush administration to open a direct dialogue with the Middle Eastern country. Democrats say the administration's attempts to isolate Syria have failed to force the Assad government to change its policies.

Certainly there will be outcry against Romney for his denouncement of Pelosi and whether this is a politically popular move is yet to be decided, but…

Romney is correct.

The President is the sole foreign policy organ under the constitution. This was understood early on in the history of the nation. In 1816, the Senate Committee of Foreign Relations stated:

The President is the constitutional representative of the United States with regard to foreign nations. He manages our concerns with foreign nations and must necessarily be most competent to determine when, how, and upon what subjects negotiation may be urged with the greatest prospect of success.

(U.S. Senate, Reports, Committee on Foreign Relations, vol. 8, p. 24.). The Supreme Court has reaffirmed this principle by stating that “[i]n this vast external realm, with its important, complicated, delicate and manifold problems, the President alone has the power to speak or listen as a representative of the nation.” (U.S. v. Curtiss-Wright, 299 U.S. 304, 319 (1936); Goldwater v. Carter, 444 U.S. 996 (1979)(concur. J. Powell)). Pelosi’s visit is, thus, patently unconstitutional so long as it conflicts with the President’s foreign policy.

Beyond the constitutional issues, the practical effect of the Pelosi visit is to present the United States as schizophrenic or bi-polar. One day nations are dealing with Bush-America, the next day nations are dealing with Pelosi-America. Neither schizophrenia nor bi-polarism is a healthy state for a person. Similarly neither is a healthy state for a nation. Which one is the one to deal with? Certainly the opposing viewpoints have their preferred representative, but that does little to solve the problem. Indeed it encourages similar behavior from other nations.

So Romney is right. He should be outraged that congressional representatives have acted outside the scope of their power and encouraged disregard for the Constitution itself.

Romney News Round Up

Here are a few interesting articles related to Mitt Romney's campaign that I've run across over the past few days:

Mitt Romney

• A Mormon President? I Don't Think So (Boston Globe): The Globe asks the question "Can a Mormon be elected president in 2008?" and answers it "No." Ostensibly because "most Americans would view [Mormon doctrines and practices] as strange."
  

• Who's The Real Mitt Romney (CBN): The Christian Broadcasting Network looks into Romney's candidacy with an extended piece that can be seen via this link.
  

• Romney Resurrects A Passe Strategy (Boston Globe): The Globe looks into Romney's "leaked" strategy targeting France. "Romney's campaign still sees political gain in whipping up anger toward France. It's similar to Romney's decision last year to refuse State Police protection for Iran's moderate former president, who was speaking at Harvard, as a protest against Iran's current hard-line president. The common thread is that Romney seems to believe that presidential voters will respond only to the gesture, not the facts behind it."

• Romneys Highlight Their "Family Values (Hearst Newspapers): "Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney on Friday showcased his "family values" before an influential audience of conservative Republicans by pointedly introducing his wife of 37 years just hours after thrice-married Rudolph Giuliani made a pitch for support from the same audience."

• To Romney Strategist, Questions On Faith Fair Game (Boston Globe): "It's appropriate for the public to ask questions about Mitt Romney's Mormon faith as he pursues his presidential campaign, a top Romney campaign strategist said yesterday."

• What Romney Could Do For Mormons (Providence Journal): Regent University President Charles Dunn writes "Can Romney do for Mormons what Kennedy did for Catholics? To do so, Romney must negate America's anti-Mormon prejudice, especially among evangelical Christians. Some parallels suggest that he could."

• Romney Picks Up Jason Roe (Politico): "The Politico has learned that [Capitol Hill veteran Jason] Roe will head north to become Romney's deputy campaign manager, assisting Beth Myers, the manager, in day-to-day operations there.... Roe has been Rep. Tom Feeney's Chief of Staff since 2003, but has considerable campaign experience.
  

• Mitt Romney Starts So. Florida Ads In Spanish (CBS4): Romney's running Spanish ads in Florida targeting Cuban-American voters. The full text of his ad is on his website.
  

Republican Competitors

• Giuliani Doesn't Worry Romney Campaign (Standard Examiner): "Republican Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign says it is unfazed by former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani’s recent surge in the polls and insists there is plenty of time to catch up with such better–known rivals."

• CPAC Embraces Steele, Gingrich (Washington Times): The Washington Times writes that Steele and Gingrich were CPAC's biggest stars (while barely mentioning Romney).
  

• As Others Look Vulnerable, Brownback Gets A Look (Kansas City Star): Is Brownback "the most interesting and foolishly overlooked candidate in the crowded presidential field"?

• Master of Disaster (Newsweek): Newsweek has an in depth piece this week on Giuliani and his candidacy.

Miscellaneous

• An Open Letter To CPAC (American Mind): A who's who of conservative bloggers call for a Coulter boycott in the wake of her recent controversial remarks.

Internal Campaign Document

I've been a little removed from the blogosphere these past few days and have several posts on the backburner, but there's a pretty interesting article in the Globe I thought I should throw a link up to quickly. The paper received a leaked copy of an internal Romney campaign document that outlines his overall strategy, what he views Giuliani and McCain's strengths and weaknesses are and what he thinks his own strengths and weaknesses are. I'm still a little perplexed over how this was leaked. It's certainly not something the Romney camp wants out there. Any Romney-watcher should find this Globe article interesting though (I'll admit I laughed at it's last line). Like Giuliani's leaked dossier a couple months ago, this kind of document gives you a rarely seen peak into the internal workings of campaign machines.

Romney Zeroes In On Hillary

At a campaign event in South Carolina yesterday, Mitt Romney spoke at length on Iran, criticizing Clinton for "a lack of understanding" in advocating engagement with Iran. I'm wondering if the strategy is to provoke Clinton in some way on this issue. Instigating an Obama-Clinton-like public debate with Clinton on Iran would be a dream scenario for Romney in my mind. It would allow him to burnish his foreign policy credentials while opposing someone who is a pretty polarizing figure among his Republican base. It is to this end I think Romney is circulating a letter he wrote Clinton and several other New York politicians calling for them to "launch a policy of strategic disinvestment from companies linked to the Iranian regime."

I can't find the full text of his remarks yesterday, but the Globe quotes him as saying: "You don't want to reward bad behavior. . . . We want to squeeze the pressure on that country and get them on the right track. . . . We don't want to give a signal of support or accomplishment to someone like [Iranian President Mahmoud] Ahmadinejad."

The Globe also noted what it saw as an implied shot at Giuliani and McCain: "Romney's wife, Ann, played a particularly prominent role last night, as Romney made a special effort to highlight the fact that he's been married to the same woman for almost 40 years. "She's been the person behind me all my life," Romney said. Left unsaid: His chief Republican rivals, Senator John McCain of Arizona and Rudy Giuliani, former New York mayor , have each divorced at least once."

Romney News Media Round Up

To follow up on Kyle's recent post on how the press covered Mitt Romney's announcement this last week, I thought I'd do another media round up. I've been away from the blog for a few days, and there's been some interesting stories:

Romney's Mormonism

Poll Numbers Looking Up - Much has been made about the large numbers of people who say they couldn't vote for a Mormon. The numbers seem to be softening a little though. 72% of those polled by USA Today last week said they could vote for a Mormon, much better than the thirty-something% of people that other polls have shown saying they couldn't. A closer look at the numbers suggest Romney still has his work cut out for him (58% said they could vote for a Mormon without reservation, 14% said they could with reservations, 24% said they could not, and 4% weren't sure). All in all, it's good news for Romney though, given how bad some polls have been in this respect.

Will Mormon Faith Hurt Bid For White House - In light of its new poll numbers, USA Today takes a look at Romney's faith and the hurdles he might face. "The emergence of former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, a Mormon waging a strong campaign for the GOP presidential nomination, spotlights a religion often viewed as odd despite its rapid growth and attempts to go mainstream. Hartley and others say they welcome the scrutiny. For Romney, set to announce his candidacy today, it may be less than a blessing."

Romney's Announcement

Romney's Family Values - "Just before Republican Mitt Romney formally embarked on his race for the White House, his high school sweetheart and wife of nearly four decades, Ann, called him to the podium in glowing terms. Their five grown sons, five daughters-in-law and 10 grandchildren gathered nearby. The images and speech provided far-from-subtle campaign messages -- an unspoken claim that Romney is an actual practitioner of family values and the spoken argument of the need to strengthen the country's families. . . . The family image was a reminder of how Romney differs from his top GOP rivals, the once-divorced Sen. John McCain and the one divorce, one annulment Rudy Giuliani. It also echoed of a more famous political family from Massachusetts -- the Kennedys." (Romney Announces Candidacy With Family)

Romney Downplays Massachusetts - I think the Boston Globe is still a little bitter that Romney chose to announce in Michigan: "It's been his foil, his punch line, and his source of political achievement, but yesterday Massachusetts earned just two passing mentions in Mitt Romney's presidential announcement." Friday, however, Romney "came home": "With the Boston skyline as a backdrop, Mitt Romney reclaimed Massachusetts as his home state last night, telling hundreds of supporters at a fund-raiser for his presidential campaign, 'My lifetime has been spent with you.'"

Parsing Romney's Speech - Over at the Fix, Chris Cillizza breaks down Romney's announcement speech. (Analyzing Romney's Announcement Speech)

Romney's Wife Ann

ABC Interview - ABC aired a fascinating interview with Ann Romney, who opens up about her battle with MS, her conversion to Mormonism, and her thoughts on her husband's candidacy (she says she is "totally onboard with it"). The Boston Globe had a run down of the interview yesterday. I think this was a good thing for Mitt, it really humanized him. We haven't heard all that much from Ann up to this point, if Romney's smart, we'll hear more.

Campaigning and Endorsements

Battle Over Massachusetts - Former acting Massachusetts Governor Jane Swift endorsed McCain over Romney last week (her opinion mattered again for all of 10 seconds). While Swift certainly has bones with Romney, the GOP in Massachusetts has certainly not been lining up behind Romney. Three prominent GOP State Senators were the latest Massachusetts Republicans to announce their support for non-Romney candidate, this time it was Giuliani.

Good News From Florida - "Jeb Bush, who hasn't publicly picked a favorite in the Republican presidential race, privately is talking up the candidacy of Mitt Romney and steering some of his closest advisers to the campaign." (Jeb Bush Steers Advisors Toward Romney).

Fundraising Juggernaut - Romney raised more than $1 million at a fundraising event in Boston on Thursday. Whatever his hurdles he may have, fundraising is not one of them. I think Romney will make some serious waves and raise a lot of eyebrows when he announces his first quarter's fundraising totals on March 31st.

Convincing Conservatives

One of Romney's biggest challenges in the run up to next year's primaries is convincing social conservatives to take a chance on him. While there's been a lot of discussion about Romney's policy shifts on conservative sites this past week (see here and here for example), Romney seems to be making some significant political headway nonetheless. The Boston Globe has a story today about Romney's "point man" for conservative outreach, Peter G. Flaherty. The Globe writes that Flaherty "isn't just defusing concerns about Romney's past support for abortion rights and gay rights. He's also busy building relationships with prominent religious leaders, and helping Romney understand hot-button issues," something that sends "a strong signal to conservatives" in the words of conservative activist Gary L. Bauer. The Salt Lake Tribune and US News & World Report have articles this weekend detailing some of the dividends Romney's efforts among conservatives have paid. An essential part of this outreach, in my mind, has been Romney's astute reaction to political attacks (ala Youtube) as well as gaffes of his own making. After receiving very mixed reviews at the National Review Summit a week and a half ago, Romney did "much better" at this past Friday's Conservative Member Retreat.

Romney and Healthcare

I think Mitt Romney's openness to exploring new ideas on healthcare will be one of his biggest selling points in a general election. This is an issue that he can't be pigeonholed as an idealogue on, and one that showcases his executive experience. In my view, most Americans are anxious for leadership that is not overly partisan or ideological on this and other similarly difficult issues like social security. Romney is someone I see as having the potential to bridge differences in these areas.

I think its less clear how important healthcare will be to Romney in the Republican primaries. This past week, Romney did tout Massachusetts-style healthcare plans while campaigning in New Hampshire, saying "I can't guarantee my state will get it right every single step, but one state out there is going to get it right, and when we see it's working in one of the states, we'll be able to adopt it nationally." But he's also taken care to hedge his bets on the issue, giving him an opening to deflect criticism of the healthcare plan he signed into law last year. Yesterday, while speaking at the Conservative Members Retreat, Romney said of the plan, "I hope [the Massachusetts legislature takes] action that makes it work even better than I could have thought of, but if they take action that makes it unworkable, I'll point that out. I'm not going to sit on the sidelines and not have a comment to make."

What roll will healthcare play in the Republican primaries?

Former Massachusetts Governor Supporting Giuliani

Former Massachusetts governor Paul Cellucci (1997-2001) has said he will support Rudy Giuliani despite the fact that Romney asked Cellucci for his endorsement in a meeting two weeks ago. Cellucci says Romney is a "capable leader" and that no snub was intended. "This is not anti-Mitt. This is pro-Rudy."

Romney and the Boston Media

It seems as though the Boston Media will be much the same thorn in Mitt Romney's side during the looming presidential campaign as the New York Media is sure to be in Rudy Giuliani's. In the wake of Romney attending an event last week with NRA brass, both the Boston Herald and the Boston Globe have done stories on Romney's rightward drift on gun rights. Also in yesterday's Globe, a somewhat positive story on "nimble Mitt", albeit laced with references to views that have shifted since 1994.