Romney hearts Bush (just don't tell anyone, OK?)

"Thank you, President Bush, for restoring personal integrity and dignity to the White House."

Published September 24, 2007 1:25PM (EDT)

A headline in today's Los Angeles Times: "Romney Keeps Distance from Bush: Unlike other GOP hopefuls, he offers no words of support for the president. It's a risky strategy."

It's so risky, in fact, that it doesn't seem to be Romney's strategy at all.

From Google:

Mitt Romney, July 7, 2007: "I know that it is popular today to be critical of the president. And he is not above making mistakes. But we should thank him for doing everything in his power to keep us safe. Against the objections of Democrats and even some in our own party, he pushed though the Patriot Act. He made sure that someone was listening in when al-Qaida was calling. He made sure we were interrogating terrorists to learn how we could prevent attacks on our citizens."

Mitt Romney, Sept. 13, 2007: "President Bush understands that our most crucial objective in Iraq is to make sure it does not become a safe haven for al-Qaida and Jihadist terrorists ... Our troop presence has emboldened Sunni leaders to resist al-Qaida. This is progress -- important progress."

Mitt Romney, Sept. 22, 2007: "We expect our elected officials to be good role models, not bad examples -- thank you, President Bush, for restoring personal integrity and dignity to the White House."


By Tim Grieve

Tim Grieve is a senior writer and the author of Salon's War Room blog.

MORE FROM Tim Grieve


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2008 Elections George W. Bush Mitt Romney War Room