GOP Nominee
Former Candidates
The entire speech can be watched here, it’s awesome.
Romney’s speech has been the talk of the blogs tonight, and for good reason. Romney is a bright guy and charismatic. As a matter of fact I saw him speak in Aimes in August and all I could say was “holy cow.” Not all of his speeches were winners though, he took some hits at the NRO conference. Tonight his speech was a homerun.
Romney not only tackled conservatism, he embraced it and then turned it into a campaign theme. Conservatism, in my opinion, needs someone to carry the banner. We need a leader who can articulate the points and sell conservatism en mass. Why do we need this? Because conservatism is what will save our nation.
Now with this in mind, I will share some of the quotes from Romney’s speech.
The mainstream media is surprised that we’re here. They wrote our obituary last fall. Course, they’ve written our obituary before: after Watergate, after the 82 midterm elections, after Iran-contra, and after Bill Clinton’s election. The truth is that their wishful thinking reports of our demise have been greatly exaggerated. In fact, I predict that we’ll be around a lot longer than . . . say, newspapers.
Coming from Massachusetts, I saw first hand the liberal future, and it doesn’t work. That’s why I ran against Ted Kennedy. Liberal social programs weren’t solving poverty; they were in fact creating a culture of poverty. I didn’t win, but at least Teddy had to take out a mortgage on his home to beat me.
By far, the best line of the whole speech.
I saw the potential of economic conservatism when I became governor. The state budget was $3 billion short. Liberals wanted to raise taxes, but I cut government instead. I eliminated and combined duplicative and wasteful agencies and programs, and I balanced the budget four years in a row. One commentator said that I didn’t just go after the sacred cows, I went after the whole herd. And after four years as governor, I’m proud to report that Massachusetts has 600 fewer state workers than when I took office.
I went after taxes as well. The Legislature passed a $250 million retroactive capital gains tax increase. I knew my veto would be overridden by the 85% Democrat majority. So I had the Department of Revenue send every taxpayer a pro forma bill for their new higher taxes, and then I waited for folks to call their legislators. And did they ever. Then, I sent the Legislature an amendment that turned the $250 million tax increase into a $250 million refund. Amazingly, the Legislature now saw the error of their ways.
I didn’t stop there. We made the investment tax credit permanent. We passed sales tax holidays. We gave tax breaks to medical manufacturing companies. We gave real estate tax breaks to seniors. And in each of my last three years, I submitted a budget that cut the income tax.
It’s time for some economic conservatism in Washington as well.
We’ve seen an embarrassing spike in non-defense, discretionary spending. As you know, I’m proud to be the first Presidential candidate to sign Grover Norquist’s tax pledge. But I have another pledge I am making to you today. If I am elected President, I will cap non-defense discretionary spending at inflation minus one percent. That alone will save $300 billion over 10 years. If Congress sends me a budget that exceeds the cap, I will veto that budget. I don’t care if it’s a Republican or Democrat Congress, I will veto that budget.
I have stood in the center of the battlefield on every major social issue. I fought to preserve our traditional values and to protect the sanctity of life.
I vetoed bills, and filed new bills. I enforced a law that banned out-of-state same sex couples from coming to Massachusetts to get married. I went to the court again and again, I testified before Congress for the federal marriage amendment, and I championed our successful drive that collected 170,000 signatures for a citizen ballot initiative to protect marriage.
To me, a fundamental principle of democracy is at stake. It is the people who are sovereign in America, not a few folks in black robes. Judges add things that aren’t in the Constitution, and they take away things that are in the Constitution. In that regard, they let the campaign finance lobby take away First Amendment rights. If I’m President, I will fight to repeal McCain-Feingold.
You strengthen the American people by letting them keep more of their own money, and not taxing their families at death.
You strengthen the American people by making sure that the voice of millions of voters trumps the voice of unelected judges.
You strengthen the American people by securing our borders and by insisting that the children who come legally to this land are taught in English.
And perhaps most importantly, you strengthen the American people when you strengthen the American family. Marriage must come before children because every child deserves a mother and a father.
This is not the time for us to shrink from conservative principles. It is time for us to stand in strength.
CPAC is an important venue. Nearly every major site had a blogger in attendance. All the movers and shakers of conservatism were there, and by and large they loved Romney. Now, one speech does not a presidential candidate make, but a 2 year campaign on the issues of conservatism does.
Many here will argue anyone can give a great speech. Yes, that is true. But, Romney is not just blowing smoke out his back end, this is his message. This is what he is running on. It’s his platform. Do you really think a guy is going to run on all the conservative principles and then drop them the second he takes his hand off the bible?
I fully recognize Romney’s numbers are low compared to Giuliani and McCain. He dangles around 7-10% nationally and 10-12% in key states. But, it’s a long year, and people are fickle. My prediction: this speech will be a roadmap for Romney’s success. He will continue to push for the repeal of McCain-Feingold- there his high GOP support for that position, and it will hurt McCain immensely with the base. He will continue to push for SoCon issues in an articulate manner, demonstrating they can be sold the general public- this will hurt Giuliani. I think we will hear a lot more specific plans on Terrorism, immigration and Asia, which will give him more and more credibility as the season wears on. There won’t be fast huge gains, but there will be a slow growth that will be solid. I think he can win.
Yes, I know this is Pro-Romney, get over it.
March 3rd, 2007 at 1:48 am
[...] post by Jason and software by Elliott [...]
March 3rd, 2007 at 3:32 am
Jason, great stuff, but please spell check the end of the first paragraph.
This speech once again confirms to me that I would be very comfortable with Mitt as my Commander in Chief. He is perhaps the most competent and needed person for the job. If he could get all those great conservative based programs done with an 85% Democratic majority in the Mass state legislature, just imagine what he could do with a 54% Democrat majority in congress.
March 3rd, 2007 at 5:07 am
Mitt Romney offers the strong leadership that America needs to continue its status as world
superpower into the 21st Century. His message its strong. His only challenge is getting the
message out over the next year. If he can get people to listen to what he has to say without
the on going flip flop accusations I think he will win. He is the best man for the job.
March 3rd, 2007 at 6:21 am
So how is he going to deal with Ann Coulter?
I cant believe that he actually introduced her.
Is this how you want your candidates to portray your party?
March 3rd, 2007 at 6:57 am
Romney didn’t introduce Ann Coulter. He made a throwaway joke about her in his opening line.
March 3rd, 2007 at 7:26 am
Jason, I can probably live with your pro-Mitt Romney advocacy, since it is up front. But to claim that this is now a two-person race between Rudy Giuliani and Romney for the GOP nomination is so over the top and unsubstantiated as to, in my view, deserve serious condemnation. Come on, if nothing else the amount of money and support among big time GOP donors that John McCain has will keep him in this race for a long time, if not through the finish. And if Newt Gingrich, Fred Thompson, or Jeb Bush got in - which is not out of the realm of possibility - they would garner substantial Republican support. So your “analysis” seems tendentious and uninformed to me, sorry to say. For goodness sakes, we haven’t even had a single debate yet and you are kissing off most of the GOP field. That is advocacy and cheerleading, not analysis, and I think it diminishes the site.
March 3rd, 2007 at 8:59 am
Please someone answer why Ann Coulter endorsed someone that her website “Human Events” called the 8th biggest RINO in the Republican Party? Huckabee gave a great speech! Oh yeah, he has always been pro-life. Just thought I would let the Romney people know that. In my opinion if the Republican Party nominates Rudy,Mccain or Romney a huge chunk of the GOP faithful will stay home. Its time for Conservatives to look outside the relm of three and discover real Conservatives. My choices are Huckabee or Jim Gilmore. Gilmore speaks today at CPAC at 2:30. OH! I do think that having Ann Coulter endorse your campaign is actually a really awful thing. I just had no idea she was drinking the MASS water of flip-flop. You call a guy a RINO and then endorse him. WOW!
March 3rd, 2007 at 9:02 am
Republius,
The two many race was called “Friendly ribbing” meant to get people talking. I am sorry if it didn’t meet your “high standards” But I doubt anyone who doesn’t agree with you can. I think you need to relax just a little, a calm your ego. I didn’t come up with the idea McCain is tanking, Erick at Redstate said it and so did Dick Morris. Do I really think that? No I don’t.
I realy get a laugh when you sit here and claim “objectivity.” There is no true objetivity. You have opinions on these candidates, so therefore you can’t be objective. You are a pundit, and you need to realize that while you haven’t chosen a second candidate, you have rejected the top 3 and chosen to hold out for a “Dark horse” which is just the same. So you’re not objective and please stop claiming you are and eveyrone else that doesn’t follow your line is an “ass.” This is no better than me saying there is whoever doesn’t like Romney is an “ass.” This is line of cynaciscm is clear naysay-ism and doesn’t help the site any more than my “cheerleading.”
March 3rd, 2007 at 9:31 am
The fact that Republius says that Jeb Bush or Newt Gingrich
could get considerable Republican support this election is
laughable.
Bush’s name and Gingrich’s past are certain killers in a
general election. The times are changing. If conservatives
continue to hold on to the past, 2008 will make 2006 seem
pleasant. I was out there in Tennessee in 2006. It came down
to personality and trust. If conservatives have a candidate
who has proven conservatism works by way of his own achievements,
like Romney, rather than talk, like Jeb or Newt, other voters
who are independents will pay attention. And that’s what it
will take to win the general election.
March 3rd, 2007 at 12:33 pm
Human Events has been quite a bit more friendly to Romney since then. And you’re right about Huckabee always being pro-life. He’s also always been a nanny-stater who’s said, that he thinks people ought to be taken care of both in the womb, and outside. He’s conservative on guns, gay issues, and abortion. That’s it. Everywhere else, he’s Hillary Clinton (and essentially says as much in his MSM appearances). He even sounds pathetic when talking about the war on terror, with his nonsense about international institutions, humility, and vague statements about supporting the President. The idea of Mike Huckabee being a war-time leader, who not only has no foreign experience whatever (compared to Romney who’s secured the Olympics, worked overseas on business deals, worked on the Homeland Security Commission, etc), but honestly sounds like he doesn’t have a clue what he’s talking about on the issue, is simply laughable. In fact, he reminds me most seriously of Jimmy Carter.
March 3rd, 2007 at 1:00 pm
Matt,
You are exactly right regarding Huckabee. My wife, who previously knew nothing else about Huckabee, got the same impression just from watching his appearance on one of the Sunday morning shows a few weeks ago. He is not hiding his love for big government and, other than social issues, is not advocating conservatism at all. He’s the Bizzaro Giuliani*.
*A Superman/Seinfeld reference, in case it unclear what I mean
March 3rd, 2007 at 2:12 pm
Rudy, Mitt and John have NO SUPPORT in NH.
We are backing Ron Paul. Why have you not included him on this site?
You have others who are definitely NOT running….so where is Ron?
He was treated like a rock star last weekend.
Hunter appeared and we got 30 people out for him, while Ron raised big bucks to a full house.
http://www.ronpaulexplore.com
March 3rd, 2007 at 2:14 pm
PS - Romney is a liberal. Just look at his record in Mass!!!!
March 3rd, 2007 at 3:10 pm
NH,
“…NO SUPPORT”? No support? Not one pro-Rudy, John, or Mitt guy in the entire state of New Hampshire. Not a single one? Nobody in the whole state supports either Giuliani, McCain, or Romney?
Amazing.
As to Romney’s Massachusetts record, apparently you and I are looking at different records.
March 3rd, 2007 at 7:37 pm
Jason, why post things about this now being a two-person race if you don’t mean them? Isn’t this supposed to be a serious site? Perhaps one with cartoons would be more appropriate for those who want to engage in high jinks.
I realize that none of us can be completely objective, but the outlandish claims in March of 2007 that certain candidates are going to be the nominee and that certain candidates have no chance are ridiculous and take away from the credibility of the site.
March 3rd, 2007 at 10:48 pm
Republius,
I see your point, and I will do better, but I think you are little over board on this. There is a time and place for everything, I agree, but that means there is time for fun and old fashion ribbing. It was common place on this blog for months- I read it nearly every day and commented occasionally. If we are going to only have serious debate and never a moment of lightheartedness, well than we should be the CSPAN blog. People like blogging because personalities come out along with good points. Your so focused on good points you want to neuter the personalities.
When I told people privately I was to start posting here, everyone said good that place has become a huge anti-Romney fly nest. Romney was slammed constantly. Now I come out, make plenty of good points (even was quoted on National Journal) and you seem to find it necessary to call me and DaveG an ass because we don’t fit into your guidelines.
I will slow down on the ribbing if you just calm down a little.
As for the only two candidates get over it. You act like I was the only one. It’s on the front page of Redstate and all over the net on Dick Morris’s article. It’s not like I made it up. You don’t agree, point taken.
March 4th, 2007 at 1:00 am
Romney is a Liberal and no true Conservative will ever support him.
March 4th, 2007 at 1:06 am
Matt, so what your saying is that Human Events has flip flopped. Wow! They are real Conservatives. Mitt Romney is a joke and if he is the party’s nomination I will stay home on election day among with millions of others. Mitt is flipper the flip flopper, forever.
March 4th, 2007 at 1:24 am
Wow that Romney CPAC speech rocked the house, didn’t it? Say what you people want, but Romney is NO liberal. And I am off the chart conservative. I support him. Sending money right now. Recommend you folks do likewise, or get out of the way.