Mitt Romney
Romney: Bain’s in bounds
The GOP candidate tells Time's Mark Halperin that he welcomes a discussion of his business record
Mitt Romney (Credit: Reuters/Larry Downing) After some debate this week about whether Bain Capital is fair game in the wake of Booker-gate, Mitt Romney himself ruled his private equity record as being “in bounds” Wednesday. Romney has made Bain a central focus of his campaign, and in an interview with Time magazine’s Mark Halperin, Romney said he welcomes the discussion:
Halperin: So when the President says he wants to focus a lot of the election and debate on your career at Bain Capital, do you welcome that?
Romney: Well of course, I’d like to also focus on his record.
Pressed again by Halperin, “But you welcome scrutiny of your business record, is that right?” Romney replied, “The fact is that I spent 25 years in the private sector. And that obviously teaches you something that you don’t learn if you haven’t spent any time in the private sector.”
It’d be impossible for Romney to avoid completely talking about Bain, considering how central it is to his narrative about his ability to fix the economy, but some people on both sides of the aisle have called Obama’s Bain attacks unfair.
But even some of Romney’s own surrogates — perhaps veering a bit off message — have sanctioned putting Bain in play. Former New Hampshire Gov. John Sununu, who was one of Romney’s key allies in the first-in-the-nation primary, told reporters yesterday, “I think the Bain record as a whole is fair game, and what you have to do is do an honest evaluation.” Former GOP presidential candidate turned Romney-backer Newt Gingrich agreed in an interview on CNN this week, though he cautioned Democrats that his own experience attacking Romney over Bain didn’t work out too well.
Alex Seitz-Wald is Salon's political reporter. Email him at aseitz-wald@salon.com, and follow him on Twitter @aseitzwald. More Alex Seitz-Wald.
Romney shifting focus from economy to education
Romney stresses "better teachers, better options" as he lashes out at teachers unions
FILE - In this May 8, 2012 file photo, Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney speaks in Lansing, Mich. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio, File)(Credit: AP) NEW YORK (AP) — Mitt Romney is wading into a new policy arena — the nation’s education system — as he broadens his focus to appeal to general election voters still getting to know President Barack Obama’s likely opponent.
The presumptive Republican presidential nominee, who has been reluctant to stray far from economic issues, is expected to outline a proposal for improving education in a speech Wednesday at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in Washington.
Romney has offered few details for his plans on several key policy areas, including foreign policy, health care and education. He attacked Obama’s education policy while speaking to donors in New York City on Tuesday evening, previewing themes likely to play prominently in Wednesday’s speech.
Continue Reading ClosePolls show presidential race tightening
With five months until the election, new polls show the candidates in a dead heat
Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon, left, and Joplin Superintendent of Schools C.J. Huff, right, flank President Barack Obama as he takes the stage to deliver the Joplin High School commencement address a day before the anniversary of the twister that killed 161 people, Monday, May 21, 2012, in Joplin, Mo. Obama jetted to Joplin immediately after wrapping up the national security-focused NATO conference in Chicago, the second international summit the president hosted over the past four days. (AP Photo/The Kansas City Star, Shane Keyser)(Credit: AP) With about five months to go, the presidential race is tightening, polls show, with voters nearly evenly divided between President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney, his likely Republican challenger.
Obama and Romney are locked in a dead heat over handling the economy, the top concern of voters, a new Washington Post-ABC News poll shows. They are tied at 47 percent.
Overall, 49 percent said they back Obama for re-election and 46 percent preferred Romney, a statistically insignificant difference.
Other recent national polls show a similarly close margin.
Continue Reading CloseRomney’s Bain playbook unclear as attacks grow
The Romney campaign still lacks a response to criticism about his time as a corporate raider
Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney is surrounded by members of the Secret Service as he arrives in Jacksonville, Fla., Thursday, May 17, 2012. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)(Credit: AP) NEW YORK (AP) — The core of his presidential candidacy under attack, Mitt Romney has yet to shape a playbook to defend a quarter-century in the business world that created great riches for himself and great hardship, at times, for some American workers.
Romney and his aides have struggled to respond consistently to intensifying criticism about his tenure at Bain Capital and how it would be reflected in his presidency. The lack of a cohesive message stems, in part, from Romney’s fundamental belief that any debate that puts the economy front and center is a win for Republicans. Public polling shows most Americans are not satisfied with the pace of the recovery under Obama’s watch.
Continue Reading CloseMitt’s new Latino hurdle
The conservative Hispanic group Romney will address this week once slammed "right-wing extremists" on immigration
Mitt Romney (Credit: AP) As part of an effort to win back Latino voters, Mitt Romney will address a conservative Latino business group this week that has advocated immigration policy views in stark contrast to his own. Romney’s “self-deportation” policy put him well to the right of many of his GOP primary challengers, and the Latino Coalition once slammed “right-wing extremists” who opposed comprehensive immigration reform.
The presumed GOP nominee’s Wednesday speech to the Latino Coalition comes as polls show Romney way behind President Obama among Latino voters and with little hope of capturing the 44 percent of the bloc George W. Bush won in 2004, a highwater mark for the GOP. Even New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez (R) — whom Romney floated as a potential vice-presidential choice — mocked the presumed GOP’s immigration policy last week.
Continue Reading CloseAlex Seitz-Wald is Salon's political reporter. Email him at aseitz-wald@salon.com, and follow him on Twitter @aseitzwald. More Alex Seitz-Wald.
Three Wall Street stooges
Romney uses Booker, Ford and Rattner to attack Obama. Can Dems take back their party from finance capital?
It was inevitable.
Mitt Romney put out an ad Monday using Newark Mayor Cory Booker, along with former Tennessee politician Harold Ford Jr. and former auto czar Steve Rattner, to attack the Obama campaign for its criticism of Romney’s work with Bain Capital. “Have you had enough of President Obama’s attacks on free enterprise?” the ad asks. “His own supporters have.”
Booker, of course, has become infamous for telling David Gregory on “Meet the Press” Sunday that Obama ads criticizing Romney’s Bain work are “nauseating” and “crap.” Then Harold Ford Jr., who laughably tried to become the senator from Wall Street in 2010 after failing to become the senator from Tennessee in 2006, couldn’t stand seeing Booker getting all the centrist Wall Street love, and jumped in behind him: ”I would not have backed off the comments, if I were Mayor Booker,” Ford told his friends on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” Monday. “Private equity is not a bad thing. Private equity is a good thing in many instances.” For good measure the Romney ad also scooped up Rattner’s criticism – also on “Morning Joe” – from a few weeks ago: “I don’t think there’s anything Bain Capital did that they need to feel bad about,” Rattner told the crew.
Continue Reading CloseJoan Walsh is Salon's editor at large. More Joan Walsh.
Page 1 of 81 in Mitt Romney