Tag: Mitt Romney (page 5)

Bump and Update: ABC had Ron Paul beating John McCain. Now they say McCain is in second place.

The Republicans started their caucuses two hours earlier than Democrats.

Fox News and NBC have projected Mitt Romney the winner.

Update: NBC has McCain second and Ron Paul third. CNN has them tied right now.

Wyoming held its Republican caucuses today. Mitt Romney won.

The former Massachusetts governor won eight delegates, former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson got two and California Rep. Duncan Hunter won one, meaning no other candidate could beat Romney. Caucuses were still being held to decide all 12 delegates at stake.

Wyoming only gets 14 delegates at the national convention as a penalty for bumping up the date.

Wyoming Republicans also paid a price for jumping ahead. The Republican National Committee has slashed half of Wyoming's 28 national convention delegates. National party leaders similarly penalized Florida, Michigan, New Hampshire and South Carolina for moving up the dates of their nomination contests.

Romney's son owns a ranch in Wyoming and he and his sons visited the state, although Romney hasn't been there since November. McCain and Giuliani didn't bother to visit.

Bump and Update: Tancredo's out of the race and gives his support to Mitt Romney.

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Tom Tancredo Might Withdraw from Presidential Race

Update: Not so fast. His wife says he's first going to meet with other Republican candidates and will withdraw only if he can support one of them on immigration.

Jackie Tancredo said the situation has “changed hourly,” and on Wednesday night there still was a “slim” chance that her husband would continue his uphill battle, which now finds him near the bottom of the polls in Iowa and nationally.

Tancredo confirms an announcement is coming and says he wouldn't hold a presser without something important to say. Will it be just a withdrawal or a withdrawal and declaration of support for another candidate? Or, is it a stunt where he says he's staying in because all the other Republican candidates are too soft on immigration? Tomorrow, by the way, Tancredo turns 62.

More....

Republican candidate and former Mass. Governor Mitt Romney is under attack because a former prosecutor he appointed to the bench set bail for an inmate who had just finished serving a manslaughter sentence. Prosecutors, in an effort to keep the inmate in jail after finishing his sentence, charged him with crimes arising from two incidents occurring more than a year earlier. One incident involved him spitting on a guard and in the other, he hit a guard with a cast that was on his arm.

The inmate, Daniel Tavares, Jr., moved to Washington State after his release where he resided with his wife whom he met through a prison pen pal program. The wife brought a gun into the home, even though as a felon, Tavares isn't allowed to possess a gun. Tavares is now charged with and has confessed to shooting and killing a newleywed couple in WA over a $50 debt.

A "Willie Horton" campaign moment (1988 ad here)is brewing against Romney. In response, he has called for the Judge to resign and pushes the death penalty button.

More...

Things are looking up for Mitt Romney in New Hampshire.

The WMUR-CNN poll of likely Republican voters conducted by the University of New Hampshire shows Romney with 33 percent support, up from 25 percent in the same poll in September. Giuliani has declined, slipping to 16 percent compared to 24 percent in September.

Giuliani is now third choice among Republicans, behind both Romney and McCain, in that state. The poll results are here (pdf).

I wonder if the Bernie Kerik Indictment had a bigger impact than he expected.

A McCain aide points out the problem with Rudy, Kerik, Judith Regan, et. al.

"Obviously there are some very serious charges involved for a guy who was his protégé and one of his closest friends. And for Rudy to go out and say this is not worthy of discussion when it directly involves him and his decision making, and in the case of department of homeland security, the security of our country - it's disturbing that Rudy would think it's not something he is going to have to address. "

And a Romney aide says:

"Voters grow very weary of story after story after story having to do with public officials who have not adhered to higher ethical standards," said Madden. "Right now it is very important to Republican primary voters that we have a candidate who can draw a very clear contrast between a Republican nominee and Hillary Clinton. If you have a nominee who is distracted by this type of narrative, you lose the ability to contrast yourself with Hillary Clinton and past Clinton administrations. It cancels out any advantage you would have."

Republican hopeful Mitt Romney didn't serve in the military because he had a religious exemption for his missionary work and a high draft lottery nuimber.

Why aren't his sons serving? Because they are supporting the country by helping him get elected. Seriously, that's his reason.

"My sons are all adults and they've made decisions about their careers and they've chosen not to serve in the military and active duty and I respect their decision in that regard."

He added: "One of the ways my sons are showing support for our nation is helping me get elected because they think I'd be a great president."