News Round Up

A round up of some recent articles:

Economic Speech

Club for Growth Responds to Romney’s Economic Speech (Club For Growth Release): “Governor Romney outlined today an economic platform that is, generally speaking, very pro-growth despite the surprising limit he suggests for tax-free savings,” Toomey said. “As the governor develops the specifics of his economic policies, we hope he will boldly build upon the limited government, free-market policies he discussed today.”

Mitt Changes Tax-Cut Tune (Boston Herald): "After refusing to endorse President Bush’s tax cuts when he was governor, Mitt Romney has now made them a central part of his presidential campaign, stirring accusations that he is changing his position to appeal to GOP primary voters."

CNBC - Kudlow & Company Interview: Here is the full text of Romney's pretty favorable CNBC interview with Larry Kudlow Wednesday, where he discussed his economic, social and foreign policy positions.

2008 GOP Field

'08 Slate Without Standout For GOP (Washington Times): "Many conservatives say they pick "none of the above" when faced with a choice of Arizona Sen. John McCain, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and former New York Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani as the 2008 Republican presidential nominee."

Energy

Romney Visits Iowa State lab, Endorses Energy Independence (Des Moines Regiser): Romney visited Iowa yesterday, touting energy independence and taking the time to stop by a University lab and assess the efforts of researchers at making plastic with vegetable oil rather than petroleum.

Iraq

Romney Concedes Iraq War Poorly Managed (AP): "We were underplanned, underprepared, we were understaffed in terms of our military team," he said. "We have to a certain degree created the difficulty that we are in."

Social Issues

Romney Re-Affirms Abortion Opposition During Stop In South Carolina (AP): Romney spoke to crowds in South Carolina today, taking the opportunity to reaffirm his position on abortion. One Christian Conservative activist, Dick White is quoted as saying: "If he follows through with his conservative philosophies . . . . I don't think the issue is what church he belongs to. It's where he stands on conservative issues."

To Flip Is To Flop-- Or Not (Orlando Sentinel): The Sentinel's Kathleen Parker describes Romney's position shift on abortion and stem cell research: "All of which is to say that Romney did the nerd-wonk thing: He studied; he listened; he changed his mind. Unfortunately, the flip-flop factor has shifted focus from other issues of greater concern both to Romney and most Americans, including the war in Iraq and terrorism. You have to be not dead before you can enjoy the luxury of defining life."

Mormonism

Faith Could Be Hurdle in Romney's White House Bid (NPR): NPR explores how much of a hurdle Romney's religion will be among social conservatives and the public at large.

Endorsements and Support

Romney Announces New Support (mittromney.com): On Wednesday, Romney announced his Florida Steering Committee, including Toni Jennings, the former Leuteniant Governor to Jeb Bush. On Thursday, Romney announced the support of Alabama Representative Robert Aderholt, the 22nd Congressman to endorse his campaign. Today, he announced that economist John Cogan, a former economist in Reagan's administration, will serve as a Co-Chair of his Economic Advisory Council (joining Glenn Hubbard and Greg Mankiw).

Romney Responds to Rich Lowry

The National Review has a transcript of an interview with Mitt Romney yesterday in which, among other things, he responds to Rich Lowry's criticisms earlier this past week:

Jim [NRO]: ... I presume you saw the comments on the Corner by Rich Lowry, that you should have addressed Iraq more. Any reaction?

Gov. Romney: Well, he’s correct that I didn't talk a great deal about Iraq; I wanted to concentrate on Iran. You have different speeches for different audiences. I had spoken about Iraq before, and in fact I spoke about Iraq a great deal yesterday.

Jim [NRO]: Was it a fair criticism?

Gov. Romney: All criticism is fair; it represents the viewpoint of the author it is true that in my address I didn’t speak much about Iraq. But I have in other speeches. Next week, I’ll be speaking at the Detroit Economic Club, where I won’t be speaking about Iraq or Iran there, I’ll be speaking about the economy. I spoke a great deal about Iran at the Herzliya Conference in Israel. In any given speech, you can’t speak on all important topics. I can understand that Rich felt I should have spoken more about Iraq.

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?

Hedging on the Surge

As I've argued earlier, I think unqualified support for President Bush's decision to "surge" the number of troops stationed in Iraq is a pretty big gamble for any of the 2008 presidential candidates. The situation in Iraq looks grim and, whatever the outcome, it likely won't be pretty. I think the issue has the power to undo the candidacies of several 2008 presidential hopefuls if they are not careful.

John McCain has been one of the most staunch supporters of the surge, but it seems that he is now beginning to hedge his bets. He is rumored to be drafting a new Iraq resolution that sets "benchmarks" in an attempt to blunt the impact of two other resolutions that are currently making their ways through Congress. Meanwhile, Sam Brownback, who came out against a surge earlier this month, said today that he did not "rule out" voting against the surge at some point.

Mitt Supports Troop Surge

In anticipation of Bush's expected announcement this evening that he will increase the number of troops in Iraq for the time being, Romney sent out a press release this morning expressing support for such a surge. In it he said:

I believe securing Iraqi civilians requires additional troops. I support adding five brigades in Baghdad and two regiments in Al-Anbar province. Success will require rapid deployment.

What are the implications of this in the primary next year? If the war continues to go as badly as it has this past year, will this decision have any negative consequences in a general election?