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 Says Clinton "Timid" On Iran

Mitt Romney accused Hillary Clinton yesterday of being "timid" about the security threat posed by Iran.

At the Republican Study Committee's Conservative Retreat, Romney said "At this point, we don't need a listening tour about Iran. Someone who wants to engage Iran displays a troubling timidity toward a terrible threat of a nuclear Iran."

Thursday, Clinton had called Iran both a danger to the U.S. and a grave threat to Israel. In dealing with Iran, she said "We need to use every tool at our disposal, including diplomatic and economic in addition to the threat and use of military force."

Conservative Members Retreat

Today, Romney will address the Heritage Foundation Conservative Members Retreat. He has released portions of his remarks online and says he will be discussing "his record of strong conservative leadership and the right strategy to deal with the threat posed by Iran." Question is whether he will take National Review Editor Rich Lowry's criticism to heart and bring up Iraq. Should he?