Romney offers himself as a D.C. outsider

Manchester, N.H. -- Mitt Romney took his fair share of abuse at Saturday night's debate among the Republican presidential candidates (and may get heaped upon again at tonight's nationally televised forum). So perhaps it was only natural that today -- during his one public rally -- he decried what he characterized as "the partisanship and the bickering and the score-settling and the insult-hurling" that marks politics in Washington.

"I believe it's high time for someone to go to Washington who's focused on helping the people rather than just helping his or her party," Romney said to applause.

He made his remarks in Nashua, N.H., to a crowd of several hundred in a school cafeteria and, The Times' Michael Finnegan reports, he continued to press his new effort to portray John McCain as a Washington insider (which would be a bit of a makeover for his rival in the GOP race, who often charts his own course in the nation's capital).

Romney described McCain and another Republican opponent, former Sen. Fred Thompson of Tennessee, as "the guys who've been around forever." (True enough for McCain; he first went to Congress in 1983. Thompson, though, served only about eight years and did not seek reelection in 2002; perhaps Romney was referring to the ubiquity of "Law & Order" reruns.)

Romney's line of attack ...

caused him to say something nice about Mike Huckabee, who this time last week -- as the Iowa caucuses approached -- was his target.

He and Huckabee, Romney said to his New Hampshire listeners, represented new energy and new ideas. It was because of that, he said, that Huckabee won in Iowa while he finished second (a positive spin on a disappointing showing for him). And it was also because of that, he went on, that Barack Obama defeated the Washington insiders in the Democratic race -- Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden and Chris Dodd.

Doing his best to envelop himself in the word of the moment, Romney said Americans are "looking for change, and change is what we're going to give 'em."

Romney can afford to take a different tack toward Huckabee; the former Arkansas governor is given little chance of winning New Hampshire's Tuesday primary. But he can ill afford for McCain to win it. So Romney pressed his most tried-and-true argument against his main foe here, assaulting him for supporting legislation that would have allowed millions of illegal immigrants to seek citizenship.

"In my opinion, that's a form of amnesty," Romney said. "In my opinion, that is wrong. That will only encourage more illegal immigration. It's time to stop illegal immigration."

The crowd burst into applause.

-- Don Frederick

Comments

[lnardozi]

When you're filling your car with $3 gas and buying some $2.65 a dozen eggs, remember who is running on stopping deficit spending. The war for oil is what caused prices for anything that eats grain to skyrocket. When THOSE prices rise, the fresh fruit seller raises his prices again, now you have some nice $5 a pound grapes in the market. Laugh all you want, it's YOUR money being spent. YOU'RE the one going to pay $250 a week for groceries. Still think Ron Paul sounds like a bad idea? He's the ONLY candidate, Republican or Democrat that is running on reducing your cost of living. Maybe you have plenty money. Me, I'm not so rich.

[A. Burns]

But McCain is right - we should just let illegals stay here until they get their citizenship. Right? Right everyone?

Um.. right?

[Drew]

What Romney said tonight rings true. You can't send the same people to Washington and just put them in different seats and expect things to change. Washington insiders have been making promises to the American electorate for years, then patting themselves on the back for winning elections and fooling the masses. Mitt Romney is the only candidate with a legitimate plan, and the experience to implement it, to bring change to Washington and the everyday life of Americans.

[Sam]

Fact is, I and almost every other republican that I know simply will not vote for McCain, and if I even am presented with the choice of Huckabee I will probably leave America (ok that part wasn't true).

My point is that if John McCain or Mike Huckabee are nominated the will not win. Its as simple as that.

Every person has a breaking point - that point where they go from "I guess he will have to do", or "at least he's better than..." to "I cannot, in good conscience vote for a person who has done so much to damage the cause I believe in."

Mike Huckabee is way over that line (in fact, I would probably donate a token dollar to Hillary or Barack just to show my disdain).

John McCain isn't so much, but I would definitely place my vote for a meaningless third party or perhaps a "mickey mouse" just to keep my grandma happy.

Why am I bothering to write about it? Well perhaps a couple of NH voters are looking at this and are thinking "Hey, I like McCain, I'll bet if he wins NH he might go all the way." I'm here to tell you that I have voted in every election since I turned 18, and (obviously) I get involved in doing what I feel is my moral obligation. There are many people out there like me. We will make sure your candidate (if McCain or Huckabee) will not win in the end.

I'm not trying to bash anyone. I understand that there are people out there who are die-hards for every candidate. Those who will stand by even if they know that their vote is being wasted (like so many Ron Paul supporters (which I may join if McCain is nominated, not Huckabee, remember, I go 360 if he gets nominated)) I am just saying that if you are sitting on the fence about these two candidates, you should think about so many of us who you will loose if they are nominated.

Consider your chances of victory, especially since the democrats are mustering such unprecedented amounts of support. Do you want to have a candidate that many will not support, or worse, that part of your own party will fight against. I clearly remember in 2004 when DEMOCRAT Zell Miller got up to support Bush. We will never win if that happens to us, and it will, I guarantee if Huckabee get the nod, and probably even if McCain gets it.

Don't take my word for it though. You found this comment, there are tons more like it (only thankfully not as long).