On Friday, CBS released a transcript of part of an interview Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney gave to 60 Minutes’ Mike Wallace. Romney finally used some strong language when discussing President Bush and the war in Iraq. “I think the administration made a number of errors. I don’t think we were adequately prepared for what occurred. I don’t think we did enough planning. I don’t think we considered the various downsides and risks,” Romney said.
He also thinks that President Bush isn’t the only one to blame for the situation in Iraq. “He’s the person where the buck stops, but it goes through the secretary of defense and the planning agencies, the Department of State — it’s the whole administration,” Romney says. “They made mistakes … and we’re paying for those mistakes.” Romney also said that the Bush troop surge plan might never work, but it should be given time. . “We’re going to know in a matter of months if it’s working or not working,” the former Massachusetts governor said.
Romney also talked about how voters might have a problem with the Mormon Church’s long outlawed practice of polygamy. “That’s part of the history of the church’s past that I understand is troubling to people, I have a great-great grandfather. They were trying to build a generation out there in the desert and so he took additional wives as he was told to do. And I must admit, I can’t image anything more awful than polygamy,” he said. I think Romney has a combination of problems beyond his religion that are holding his campaign down. Mitt suffers from the same thing that ails John Edwards. Both of them are rich, handsome, and perceived by some as long on style, but short on substance.
In the end though, Romney’s biggest problem may turn out to be that he isn’t offering what Republican voters want next year. The flip-flopper charge and positional inconsistencies have hurt his campaign from the beginning. Many GOP voters are registering disappointment with their top tier candidate choices so far, because all three are moderates. It seems like there are elements in the party that are yearning for a strong conservative nominee. No matter how conservative Romney tries to appear now, those moderate stances that he took as governor are coming back to haunt him. Mitt Romney like most of the GOP field isn’t a bad candidate, but he also isn’t a very good one either. He is just sort of OK, and I don’t think OK will be good enough to win in 2008. His religion hurts him and his moderate political past isn’t helping either.
Jason Easley is the editor of the politics zone at 411mania.com. Â His news column The Political Universe appears on Tuesdays and Fridays at www.411mania.com/politics
Jason can also be heard every Sunday afternoon at 1:30 pm (ET) as the host of The Political Universe Radio Show at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/thepoliticaluniverse
7 users commented in " Mitt Romney on 60 Minutes "
Follow-up comment rss or Leave a TrackbackDid you watch Countdown tonight and see Mitt roll out his promise to veto non-defense discretionary budget increases exceeding inflation minus 1%? This is an old Republican sleight of hand — the only part of the government they want to drown in the bathtub is the non-defense part. Their mentality is that defense spending is off-the-books. All of the Dem candidates need to call them on it, and point out how Mitt’s demonstrating the same mentality that brought us missing bricks of $100 bills in Iraq and the other lovely accounting scandals that will be the hallmark of the Bush years.
Personally, I can’t envision a more fiscally responsible president than Mitt Romney. Unlike all of his counterparts, he is the only candidate that has proven expertise and success in the private sector. I challenge anyone to name another candidate that would be better at eliminating the “pork-spending” of Washington and that has a firmer grip on fiscal management.
What is remarkable about Romney is that he made his money the old fashion way. McCain married a heiress of a beer distributor, while Giuliani simply charged U.S. citizens a wopping $88,000 per speech in the aftermath of 9-11. Talk about using an American tragedy for personal gain. Despite the continual liberal assault on Romney’s character, which is clearly an indication of the threat he poses to the liberal agenda, he is clearly the best candidate to represent the GOP and America. Go Mitt!
mitt romney is the only qualified candidate running for president. Anyone doing some indepth study of his personal & business life & look at his interactions/worldviews will learn the truth about this very conservative leader who follows his mormon faith which the liberal media doesn’t understand or refuses to acknowledge. On all fronts, Mitt is very conservative & all we hear is very skewed & biased views that has no legs to stand on. Mitt Romney means what he says & mormons know exactly where he is coming from — all devout & faithful mormon followers are personally pro life & pro gay, etc — any mormon that holds a personal pro choice view or antigay view is no mormon at all. If a mormon member is proabortion, this person would be subject to ex-communication by the church if this person advocates this position publicly (look more to mormon doctrine & practices to learn the truth). It’s difficult for people to get that because many people don’t understand mormon doctrine. Mitt Romney may support pro choice law and may support a woman’s right to choose for themselves but on the personal realm (as a devout mormon) he cannot personally support abortion which the church is against. Gay people are no mormons either –they are also excommunicated from the church. Momon leaders in public office can support pro choice laws and support efforts to give gays equal rights but all devout mormons do not support anyone saying being gay is acceptable behavior, however, gay people are still people and mormons reach out to them. To better understand Mitt Romney’s conservative views, one must understand his mormon faith’s views on a lot of these important issues. Because Romney was once a mormon bishop and stake president, it is very clear to mormons that he must abide by certain rules of morality and clearly he has thruout his political career, otherwise he is no mormon at all.
Mitt Romney is not perfect but his views is many of the issues reveals a very conservative leader and is the most qualified of any of the candidates running, republicans or democrats.
Go Mitt Romney !!! You have our support in spite of biased media reporting!
Mitt Romney is the ONLY candidate that I can point my kids to and say “Now there’s a guy that you want to be like.” Doesn’t drink, doesn’t smoke, doesn’t cuss, smiles and laughs genuinely and often, and always does the right thing. Not to mention he’s one of the best business minds this great Country has ever spawned – and one of it’s most prolific leaders, in Church, in personal life, in business, and in government. AND he has an amazing and beautiful wife Ann, who has just as much integrity and honesty, and an even bigger heart. There is no better team to lead America into the future than Team Romney. It’s a complete no-brainer. Kinda like lining up a bunch of 12 year olds to play basketball against Shaquille O’Neal. The only question is – will the people listen to their hearts and think this through for themselves? Or will they be deluded by the main stream media? I, for one – believe in the people!!
Kudos on the blog but I do disagree somewhat.
Romney is not a moderate Republican. The media wants to paint that picture to stir up controversy and sell news but if you read or watch his speeches and investigate his past closely you will find someone different than the mainstream media portrays.
1- He is the most fiscally conservative candidate running. This is evidenced not only by his huge success in business and the Olympics but also from the great spending cuts and government downsizing he did as Governor. Spending cuts and reduction of government is the mark of a true conservative unlike many of the current “conservatives” in congress.
2- He is taking the defense of the nation very seriously which is the federal government’s greatest responsibility. His speeches and campaign talks have been very specific in this regard, more so than Giuliani or McCain in my opinion. He clearly recognizes the danger that the Jihad ideology represents and has come up with innovative ideas to respond to it. Basically, he proposes to engage the international community to help the Muslims overcome it themselves by using civilian endeavors in addition to the military. I haven’t heard as specific or as serious of a plan from the other candidates. Taking the defense of the nation so seriously in such a specific way points to how conservative he really is.
3- Socially. while he has changed his mind regarding the goverment’s role of abortion, he has personally always been pro-life and has a very excellent record when it comes to how he fought as Governor to preserve marriage and strengthen families. He accepted responsibility when it came to the abortion issue by admitting that his stance was effectively pro-choice and said that he was wrong. Accepting responsibility shows his character in my opinion. Also, if you want to measure if someone is truly committed to conservative values, take a look at his family life. Out of all of the candidates he shows that he knows how important the family is by his past history and example. This might be his greatest attribute – that he has been a wonderful husband and father. Look closely at the other leading candidates and see if you can say the same thing?
4- One of the other issues that is very important to conservatives is immigration. He is just as strong as any other candidate when it comes to his views on illegal immigration. However, where I really agree with him is on his views with legal immigration. He recognizes the current system is broken and needs to be changed to allow immigration based on merit rather than just on the basis of need and relation.
I also don’t believe his faith will hurt him. I think that as more people like Al Sharpton and others in the mainstream media attack him, the more the religious right will feel like he is on their side. The majority of Americans still believe in God and still consider themselves religious and I believe most people don’t like to see someone attacked for what they believe in. Also, the religious conservatives recognize that he has very strong values and has served faithfully for his church his entire life. To be fair, I have to admit that I am Mormon. I serve in my church and work very closely with the Bishop of my area. Like all bishops of the Mormon church, he serves willingly and completely voluntarily without getting paid. He puts in at least 20 hours a week sometimes many more. Mitt Romney would’ve done the same as a Bishop and also as a Stake President. Romney also devoted 2 1/2 years of his life as a missionary at his own (or his family’s) expense. I very highly doubt that any candidate has given so willingly of his time in service of others. It’s unfortunate that the media seems to only cover what they perceive to be the strange things about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and don’t focus on the vast charitable work it accomplishes. I believe as the election continues that the wonderful things about the Mormon church will come to light. It’s sad that some think that religion causes many problems when those problems are really caused by religious intolerance.
Now, there are a few things where Romney isn’t strong but I don’t think that they will affect him much. One is gun control. He isn’t a lifelong conservative when it comes to gun rights. He isn’t liberal either. He is moderate. It’s possible that his health care solution as Governor won’t be very positive because it’s the first of it’s kind and may have problems. It might be a big plus though, the jury is still out. His huge fortune might cause some to feel that they can’t connect with him. On the other hand, it also shows that he is a proven leader and a successful individual.
Mitt Romney is much more conservative than most people think and I believe his conservativism will become more and more apparent as the race continues.
One more note. While re-reading my post I would like to acknowledge that I recognize the great sacrifice that John McCain made for this nation while serving in the military. Surely nothing can compare with this selfless sacrifice.
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