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Showing posts with label Mitt Romney. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mitt Romney. Show all posts

Sunday, March 04, 2012

Romney builds momentum with easy Washington win

Romney
Mitt Romney greets diners at Montgomery Inn Restaurant in Cincinnati, Ohio
(Reuters) - Mitt Romney breezed to an easy victory in the Washington state Republican presidential caucuses on Saturday, earning another momentum boost heading into next week's crucial "Super Tuesday" contests in 10 states.

With about 80 percent of precincts reporting in the non-binding straw poll, Romney had 36 percent support. Most of the precincts still to report were in pro-Romney King County, which includes the greater Seattle area.

The biggest drama was the race for second place, with only about 250 votes separating U.S. Representative Ron Paul at 25 percent and former U.S. Senator Rick Santorum at 24.4 percent. Former House of Representatives Speaker Newt Gingrich was in fourth place, at 11 percent.

The outcome marked a fourth state win for Romney this week, after the former Massachusetts governor picked up contests in Michigan, Arizona and Wyoming. He also won the other most recent vote, the Maine caucus on February 11.

Republicans are seeking a nominee to challenge President Barack Obama in the November 6 general election.

"I'm heartened to have won the Washington caucuses, and I thank the voters for their support today," Romney said in a posting on Twitter and Facebook.

"The voters of Washington have sent a signal that they do not want a Washington insider in the White House. They want a conservative businessman who understands the private sector," Romney added.

A Republican candidate needs 1,144 delegates to win the party's nomination. Some 419 delegates are at stake in the 10 primary and caucus contests on Tuesday.

States voting on Tuesday include Ohio, traditionally a national bellwether, Georgia, Tennessee and Idaho, Washington's neighbor to the east.

Kirby Wilbur, chairman of the state Republican Party, said Romney's bid for the White House seemed finally to be picking up the "Mitt-mentum" that had eluded it so far.

"I would think this would boost his chances on Super Tuesday. I don't think Governor Romney has closed the deal, but maybe he's in the process of doing that," Wilbur said.

TURNOUT HEAVY

Turnout was heavy at Saturday's caucuses, which gained more attention from candidates and media because of the volatile state of the Republican presidential race and the looming Super Tuesday contests.

Wilbur said voter turnout could probably exceed early estimates of 50,000, versus about 13,800 who participated in 2008.

The state usually holds both a caucus and a primary, but the cash-strapped state government this year canceled the primary, saving some $10 million.

There were scattered reports of voters being shut out when venues filled to capacity, notably at a caucus in Kennewick in Benton County, southern Washington.

Washington's 43 delegates will not be allocated until the state convention in June.

Libertarian Paul was favored by local observers to do well in the state, given his campaign's active ground operation and legions of committed supporters. He was also the only candidate to run television ads in Washington.

As others turned their attention to Super Tuesday states, Paul made three stops in Washington state on Friday, finishing with a rally for about 1,000 backers in downtown Seattle. The Texan also visited a caucus site in Puyallup, south of Seattle, on Saturday.

An overflow crowd was on hand to vote in the gymnasium at Phantom Lake Elementary School in Bellevue, where 61 caucuses were pooled together.

"We had at least twice as many people as we normally do, and a thoughtful and respectful discussion of the candidates," said caucus organizer Diane Tebelius, former chair of the state Party.

Stacey Price, 46, said she backed Romney as an experienced businessman who was financially savvy and best equipped to tackle problems like unemployment and the federal deficit.

Another voter said he wished for a stronger all-around pick to take on Obama, even if it meant choosing that candidate at the party convention in Tampa in August.

"I would like to have a compelling candidate. The goal is a strong America. I would like to have the next Ronald Reagan," said Tom Taylor, 46, of Bellevue.

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Thursday, January 19, 2012

Gingrich angrily rejects marital question at debate

CNN
Newt Gingrich
(Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich angrily defended himself on Thursday against allegations that he had asked his ex-wife for an open marriage, lashing out in perhaps the most crucial debate yet in the 2012 campaign.

The CNN-sponsored debate got off to a raucous start when moderator John King asked Gingrich to respond to charges put forth by his ex-wife Marianne that he had sought an "open marriage" while having an affair.

The impropriety charges have dogged Gingrich for years and threaten to slow his momentum in South Carolina as he seeks to upset front-runner Mitt Romney in the first primary vote in the South on Saturday.

"I think the disruptive, vicious, negative nature of the news media makes it harder to govern this country," Gingrich fumed. "I am appalled that you would begin a presidential debate on a topic like that."

The Republican crowd roared its approval of Gingrich.

The was the final chance for rivals to chip away at Romney's lead in South Carolina and Gingrich, the former speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, had perhaps the best shot.

Romney came into the debate under strong pressure to turn back Gingrich, who received the endorsement of Texas Governor Rick Perry who dropped out of the race early Thursday.

Romney, a former private equity executive, insisted the company for whom he worked did in fact help create more than 100,000 jobs despite doubts about that expressed by experts.

Romney's experience at Bain Capital, which bought companies and restructured them sometimes resulting in job losses, has hurt him in South Carolina where unemployment remains around 10 percent. Gingrich lobs frequent attacks at him on this.

Romney said Bain helped nurture companies that created 120,000 jobs while business failures cost about 10,000 jobs for a net increase of 100,000.

"People have evaluated that since I ran four years ago," said Romney, who lost the Republican presidential race in 2008 to Senator John McCain.

Romney will take a huge step toward claiming the Republican nomination if he wins on Saturday.

Fighting for their political lives at the debate were former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum and libertarian Congressman Ron Paul of Texas.

GINGRICH GETS CLOSER

A strong performance in a debate in South Carolina on Monday helped him get within touching distance in the polls of Romney, who has struggled to explain why he has not released his tax forms.

But Gingrich has faced troubling questions that could halt his momentum. His second wife, Marianne, told ABC News that Gingrich had sought an open marriage while having an affair with current wife Callista. She said he should not be considered electable in the race to find a Republican challenger to Democratic President Barack Obama in next November's election.

A new Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted of 656 likely South Carolina voters showed Romney with 35 percent support, Gingrich with 23 percent support, and former Senator Rick Santorum with 15 percent support.

Romney was looking for a rebound to boost his momentum after the surprise news from Iowa on Thursday that he did not receive the eight-vote victory that he had believed on January 3.

A formal count by Iowa election officials gave the nod to Santorum by a mere 34 votes, puncturing the aura of inevitability that Romney's campaign has sought to portray.

Santorum went on the attack on Thursday night against Romney and Gingrich over healthcare. He attacked Romney's healthcare plan in Massachusetts that Democrats say was a model for Obama's unpopular overhaul, and Gingrich for prior support for a provision that individuals be required to buy health insurance.