Salon.com > Kasie Hunt

Romney: ‘It’s possible’ Obama could win

Sun, 04 Nov 2012 21:57:00 +0000

CLEVELAND (AP) — Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney says he may be defeated by President Barack Obama in Tuesday's presidential contest, but it's doubtful.

Speaking at an Ohio rally Sunday afternoon, Romney said that it's possible, but not likely that Obama will win. He was responding to supporters who booed he when he speculated on the consequences of an Obama second term.

Polls suggest the race is very close. Both campaigns predict wins.

Romney is campaigning in four battleground states on Sunday, including Pennsylvania. Romney's visit follows the decision by his campaign and its Republican allies to put millions of dollars in television advertising in Pennsylvania during the race's final weeks to try to make it competitive.

No Republican presidential candidate has carried the state since 1988.

In this video, Romney promised to bring "real change" to America:

From a TV show, a new Romney slogan for victory

Wed, 10 Oct 2012 14:36:00 +0000

WASHINGTON (AP) — "Clear eyes and full hearts — and America can't lose."

It's Mitt Romney's campaign trail twist on the inspirational slogan from "Friday Night Lights," the gritty but poignant TV series about football at fictional Dillon High School in rural Texas. The popular version — simply "Clear eyes, full hearts, can't lose!" — has become a rallying cry for a resurgent Romney campaign.

Romney has repeated a version of the line for several days straight on the campaign trail. His campaign sent fundraising email with the motto in the subject line. And it's now plastered at the top of his Facebook page, overlaid on a black-and-white photo of the candidate standing in the rain, his back to the camera, at a rally in Virginia on Monday.

"Clear eyes, full heart, can't lose," Romney said Tuesday in Iowa as he recalled a young teenager facing certain death from cancer. "This is something that we share in this country, men and women of clear eyes and full hearts and America can't lose."

Left out of that speech was the refrain that has been his campaign slogan: "Believe in America."

The unofficial new motto came to prominence almost by accident.

Romney: US should be more assertive on world stage

Mon, 08 Oct 2012 14:30:00 +0000

WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney is proposing the U.S. take a more assertive role in Syria, put conditions on aid to Egypt and tighten sanctions on Iran as he looks to use a planned foreign policy address to paint President Barack Obama as a weak leader who has limited America's influence on global affairs.

Declaring that "it's time to change course in the Middle East" and accusing Obama of "passivity," Romney plans to call Monday for the U.S. to work with other countries to arm rebels in Syria with weapons that can defeat the "tanks, helicopters and fighter jets" that make up President Bashar Assad's army.

Romney also plans to call for tougher sanctions on Iran than those already in place, and plans to say he will condition aid to Egypt on continued support for its peace treaty with neighboring Israel. He will emphasize his commitment to a two-state solution for peace between Israelis and Palestinians, a process he dismissed during a secretly videotaped fundraiser in May.

Romney plans to make the comments at a major foreign policy speech at Virginia Military Institute. His campaign released excerpts of his prepared speech in advance. Aides previewing the speech in a conference call with reporters emphasized that the Republican, who took a hawkish tone throughout the GOP primary, would outline a "mainstream" foreign policy vision.

Race is on: Mitt Romney picks Paul Ryan

Sat, 11 Aug 2012 11:15:00 +0000

NORFOLK, Va. (AP) —

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney tapped Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin as his vice presidential running mate on Saturday, turning to the architect of a conservative and intensely controversial long-term budget plan to remake Medicare and cut trillions in federal spending.

Romney made his announcement to supporters via a phone app. "Mitt's Choice for VP is Paul Ryan," it said and implored backers to spread the word.

The ticket-mates arranged their first joint appearance later in the morning at a naval museum, the initial stop of a bus tour through four battleground states in as many days.

In a written statement issued a short while later, Romney's campaign said that Ryan had worked in Congress to "eliminate the federal deficit, reform the tax code and preserve entitlements for future generations."

In a statement issued Friday night, Romney's campaign said only that the running mate would be present at 9 a.m. EDT at the Nauticus Museum. The USS Wisconsin is berthed there—offering a hint about Ryan's selection.

Ryan's selection—as well as Romney's own nomination—will be ratified by delegates to the Republican National Convention that begins on Aug. 27 in Tampa, Fla.

In Iowa, Obama to make pitch on tax cuts

Tue, 10 Jul 2012 10:15:00 +0000

WASHINGTON (AP) — Seeking an election-year fight over taxes, President Barack Obama is hitting the road to press Congress to extend tax cuts for low- and middle-income earners, framing a debate with Mitt Romney and congressional Republicans over tax fairness.

Obama was making his pitch Tuesday in Iowa, the state that launched his presidential bid in 2008. He faces a tough contest there against Romney this fall.

The president wants Congress to pass a one-year extension of the Bush-era tax cuts for households earning less than $250,000 before they expire at the end of the year. Romney has pushed for an extension of cuts for all earners.

"This nation runs on economic freedom and we have to restore it," Romney told radio host Michael Medved on Monday. "And to restore economic freedom we have to have taxes that are competitive with other nations."

Obama sought to elevate the tax debate as one of the defining issues of the campaign, saying the outcome in the November election would determine the fate of the tax cuts for higher income earners. The White House and Obama's campaign want to use the tax debate to portray congressional Republicans as obstructionists and Romney as a defender of the wealthy who is willing to push an across-the-board extension of the tax breaks at the expense of those earning more modest incomes.

Romney starts new ad wave

Wed, 13 Jun 2012 16:54:00 +0000

WASHINGTON (AP) — Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign is making its largest ad buy of the head-to-head contest with President Barack Obama.

Officials who track ad purchases say the presumptive Republican candidate is spending $3.3 million in the coming week in Colorado, Iowa, North Carolina, New Hampshire, Nevada, Ohio and Virginia. The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity Wednesday because the Romney campaign has not announced the advertising plan.

Romney’s team has already released ads outlining what a Romney administration would do in its first days in office. This new wave of advertising is the largest so far and is a signal Romney is ready to spend heavily on television and cable stations.

Romney’s allies at an independent super PAC have been on the air for weeks while Romney raised campaign cash.

Mitt’s email possibly hacked

Tue, 05 Jun 2012 23:02:00 +0000

WASHINGTON (AP) — Authorities are investigating whether Mitt Romney’s private email account was hacked.

On Tuesday, the website Gawker reported that an anonymous hacker had signed into Romney’s personal Hotmail account.

Gawker reported that the hacker guessed the answer to a security question about Romney’s favorite pet in order to gain access to the account and change the password. The anonymous hacker told the website that Romney’s account on DropBox, a file sharing service, also was compromised.

Romney’s campaign said that “proper authorities are investigating this crime”

Campaign spokeswoman Gail Gitcho refused to comment further and would not say who was investigating. She also would not say whether Romney still uses the Hotmail account. The account was accepting email as recently as March 2012.

Romney clinches nomination, but Trump overshadows

Wed, 30 May 2012 13:17:00 +0000

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Mitt Romney has won the Republican presidential nomination after years of fighting, though his triumph was partially overshadowed by the celebrity businessman who helped him along the way.

As primary voters in Texas on Tuesday pushed him past the 1,144-delegate threshold he needed to win the nod, Romney was raising money in Las Vegas with Donald Trump, the real estate mogul who has stoked doubts about whether President Barack Obama was born in America.

It's the start of a weeklong push to raise millions of dollars during a West Coast swing as Romney looks to bring in as much cash as possible ahead of a ramped-up campaign schedule later this summer.

"Mr. Trump, thank you for letting us come to this beautiful hotel and being with so many friends. Thank you for twisting the arms that it takes to bring a fundraiser together," Romney told the approximately 200 people who paid thousands to attend the event at the Trump International Hotel. "I appreciate your help."

Christie: “Now is not my time” for White House bid

Tue, 04 Oct 2011 17:20:00 +0000

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie says he will not seek the White House in 2012 and says "now is not my time."

Christie said Tuesday he felt an obligation to reconsider his repeated statements he would not make a White House run. Party leaders in recent weeks have lobbied him to re-evaluate that position and he spent the weekend considering a late entry into the field.

He says he wants to remain governor of New Jersey -- but isn't ruling out a future White House run.

If he had run, he would have faced a challenge to quickly assemble a campaign just three months before voting begins.

The blunt governor also told his constituents: "whether you like it or not, you're stuck with me."

His decision means that three months before voting is set to begin, the Republican race remains focused on two men -- former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and Texas Gov. Rick Perry.