Elections Blog

http://phoenix.bizjournals.com/phoenix/stories/2006/11/13/daily9.html?page=1 From The Business Journal:

Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney met with Valley business and Republican leaders Monday, part of an effort to build a “network of people” in states with primary elections early in 2008.

Romney, who declined to run for gubernatorial re-election, is seen as a potential GOP presidential candidate and a more hard-line conservative than likely frontrunners Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and former New York City Mayor Rudy Guliani.

“I’m keeping the option open,” Romney said Monday to a small group of reporters inside Vestar offices at the Camelback Esplanade.

Romney has visited the Grand Canyon State four times in the last 18 months and said he will make an announcement on whether he’ll run for the GOP nomination after the holidays.

During the 30-minute interview, the Massachusetts governor talked about his views on Iraq, the federal debt, immigration and other domestic and national issues, while pointing some policy differences between him and McCain.

Romney supported the Bush tax cut, while McCain did not. He also isn’t in favor of the McCain-Feingold finance reform bill, saying now “there’s more money in politics, not less.”

Romney also said he doesn’t support same-sex marriages or civil unions and would only extend rights or benefits pertaining to hospital visitations.

He said last week’s elections sent a message to the Republican Party that it strayed from its hallmarks of fiscal conservatism, strong national defense and small government, and maintained that “Republicans shouldn’t go liberal.”

Romney applauded President Bush’s motion to assemble a team to analyze, debate and recommend changes to the Iraq war policy, but fell short of saying that should have happened years ago.

“I’m glad it’s happening now,” Romney, 59, said. “We need definitive measurements to see if we’re making progress.”

Romney said he was against a military draft, but admitted, “our military is stretched thin,” specifically pointing out the National Guard.

He said the federal government should issue a biometric employment card to every noncitizen in the country, deport criminals who are illegal residents, and give welfare and Medicaid timetables for noncitizens to get off those programs or face deportation. And for those law-abiding, tax-paying illegal immigrants who have been here for years, he wants to see them go to the back of the line to apply for legal status.

“We have to secure our borders and have a policy we can control,” he said.

He said the four biggest challenges facing the country are jihadists, Asia’s emergence as a competitor, reliance on oil and the federal debt.

“The financial crisis is not far from our doorstep,” he said.

Romney, an outspoken member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, serves as the chairman of the Republican Governors Association and is honorary chairman of the Commonwealth Political Action Committee. Before becoming governor of Massachusetts, Romney rose to prominence in an unsuccessful 1994 campaign against Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass. and as chief executive and organizer of the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City.

Romney’s term as governor ends Jan. 4.

Impressive! Is January 5th the day that Mitt Romney announces that he is running for president?

Kevin Davis Jr.

Technorati Tags: Mitt Romney, 2008, Presidential Election, Illegal Immigration, Iraq, Federal Debt, Arizona, Election 2008.

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http://newstandardnews.net/content/index.cfm/items/3646 This article from the New Standard has some important news . . . state & local officials can now not only enforce federal immigration laws, but they have access to federal records and screening systems (Oh WHY has it taken FIVE years since 9/11 to get this done?).

New Program Gives Local Police Immigration Enforcement Tools
by Michelle Chen

Sept. 13 – Massachusetts has become the launchpad for a new federal initiative to enmesh community policing and immigration-law enforcement. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced last Thursday that it will provide state and local police with unprecedented access to a new federal database. The plan will be tested first in Boston.

The program will integrate two key federal fingerprint databases: the DHS’s growing collection of data on visitors to the US, and the FBI’s fingerprint identification system, which links to the country’s main criminal database, the National Crime Information Center.

Under the merger, according to the DHS, when state or local law-enforcement officials process the fingerprints of someone who is also registered for an immigration violation, federal authorities will be automatically alerted. Local police can assist federal officials by detaining the suspect.

Not surprisingly, the ACLU and immigrant advocacy groups are against this measure (I guess they have something against enforcing laws).

Later the article continues . . .

The DHS acknowledges that the system is still being developed, but says the Boston pilot will serve as a trial-run before the database goes nationwide.

Meanwhile, some states have begun warming to the prospect of taking on immigration enforcement duties. Since 2002, Homeland Security’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement division has launched special joint initiatives with agencies in Florida, Arizona, California and other states to apprehend undocumented immigrants on federal and state charges. Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney proposed directing state troopers to help root out immigration violators earlier this year.

Generally, collaboration between local and federal authorities on immigration has been limited. In the wake of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, however, the Department of Justice declared that states had “inherent authority” to apprehend immigrants, even for civil violations.
Romney has been on the forefront of calling for this type of intergration for essentially his whole term as Governor. See his testimony to U.S. House Select Committee on Homeland Security given on June 17, 2003 titled “First Responders: How States, Localities, and the Federal Government Can Strengthen Their Partnership to Make America Safer.” (It’s a long document . . . but has his call for such integration and his actions as Governor up to that point.)

Jeff

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http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0814azindc14.html A recent “focus group” of 30 or so Republicans in New Hampshire and Iowa dealt with potential 2008 presidential nominees (McCain, Allen, Romney, Giuliani, Frist, and Newt).

The results are presented as McCain and Newt coming out on top. I’d love to have seen the real results and not the spin. I’m very suspicious of the headline and the subsequent spin for a few reasons: 1) this was only released to an Arizona newspaper, 2) that it was quickly picked up by a paid McCain blogger and 3) that Luntz is tightly tied to the current GOP power structure and a documented McCain fan (even titled his GOP strategy confidential memo “Straight Talk”. . . that got leaked–surprise, surprise! Interestingly, going further back, Luntz was also a key player in the formulation of “The Contract with America”)

Now, are we surprised that the results are presented in favor of McCain and Newt? (Do they think we’re not going to look into this stuff?)

Of Romney the focus group leader said:

Mitt Romney: “Romney looks and sounds presidential,” Luntz said of the Massachusetts governor.

He is viewed as “the smoothest” of the candidates, even by those who don’t particularly warm to him. But Romney’s toughest hurdle may be how well he responds to questions about his Mormon religion.

In New Hampshire, Luntz noted, “Voters appreciated how he dodged details about his faith, focusing on ‘values that we share.’ ”

But Iowa has a significant Christian conservative population, and Luntz said his response to the religious question there raised more questions than it answered.

So, the only “knock” on Romney from the focus group is among Iowan Christian Conservatives? I think that is a great sign! It’s here in Iowa that Romney is looking the strongest and where he’s gotten the best reviews from crowds. He got great reviews a couple of months ago at an Iowa Christian Alliance House Party that I was able to attend (see reports here, here and here)

Romney’s sitting pretty from my vantage point! Keep an eye out for the spin though . . .

Jeff

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