Government Executive - Authors - Sarah Huisenga

Romney ridicules 'secretary of business' proposed by Obama

Sarah Huisenga, National Journal — Thu, 01 Nov 2012 17:32:21 -0400

“I don’t think adding a new chair in his Cabinet will help add millions of jobs on Main Street,” Romney told a crowd of more than 2,000 at a window and door manufacturer in western Virginia.

Obama talked about the idea, part of a consolidation plan he proposed in January, in an MSNBC interview on Monday. “We should have one secretary of Business, instead of nine different departments that are dealing with things like giving loans to [the Small Business Administration] or helping companies with exports. There should be a one-stop shop,” Obama said.

Romney said Obama’s lack of business experience has left him grasping at straws for a new idea that would boost the business community. “We don’t need a secretary of Business to understand business, we need a president who understands business, and I do,” Romney said to enthusiastic applause.

The GOP campaign released a TV ad on the same theme, signaling this line of attack will be part of Romney’s final push. “His solution to everything is to add another bureaucrat,” a voiceover says gravely in the ad, before suggesting that Americans elect “a president who actually understands business.”

On the trail here on Thursday, Romney also revived some of his best-received attack lines from earlier in the season. He told the owners of the manufacturing company that “they did build this,” and suggested that Obama’s slogan of “forward” should really be “forewarned.”

He also warned the crowd that they would face a dire situation if the president is reelected. “If the president were to be reelected, you’re going to see high levels of unemployment continue and stalled wage growth—if any wage growth at all—just like we’ve seen over the last four years,” Romney said.

Obama campaign spokeswoman Lis Smith said Romney is lurching “from false attack to false attack” in the final days of his campaign. “The idea that Mitt Romney would help businesses grow as president doesn’t match his record or his policies. When the American auto industry and a million jobs were on the line, Romney turned his back, which is why he’s trying to rewrite history by telling desperate falsehoods to Ohio voters,” she said. She added that “independent economists agree his plans would do nothing to create jobs and could slow our recovery.”

At the White House, press secretary Jay Carney said Obama “very much wants to see action” on streamlining the federal government and his initial proposal on business is backed by the Chamber of Commerce and Republican John Engler, president of the Business Roundtable and the former governor of Michigan. Carney said the consolidation plan would save $3 billion over 10 years and offer “one location, one website, one phone number, one agency that handles all these different issues that have to deal with supporting American business and supporting exports.”

Romney’s running mate, Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan, echoed Romney’s mocking tone a few hours later in Greeley, Colo.

“Let me ask you a question, can anybody name our current secretary of Commerce?” Ryan asked the crowd. “You know why? We don't have one! It's been vacant for over four months and the president hasn't even proposed to put somebody in the job. We don't need another bureaucrat or another bureaucracy, we need another president.”

The position is filled by Acting Secretary Rebecca Blank, who took over after former Commerce Secretary John Bryson suffered a seizure that caused a car accident in June and resigned.

Rebecca Kaplan contributed to this story.]]>

Romney to Obama: Serious questions about terrorist strike in Libya

Sarah Huisenga, National Journal — Thu, 11 Oct 2012 22:17:00 -0400

Romney raised the issue after Obama Deputy Campaign Manager Stephanie Cutter said in an interview on CNN that the “entire reason” the attack in Benghazi has become a “political topic…is because of Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan.”

Romney seized on Cutter’s comment at a rally here, scoffing at the notion that his campaign was responsible for making an issue out of the events in Libya.

“No, President Obama, it’s an issue because this is the first time in 33 years that a United States ambassador has been assassinated,” Romney said as a crowd of over 8,000 shouted their agreement. “Mr. President, this is an issue because we were attacked successfully by terrorists on the anniversary of 9/11. President Obama, this is an issue because Americans wonder why it was it took so long for you and your administration to admit that this was a terrorist attack.”

The Obama administration has come under fire for its shifting accounts of the events that occurred at American diplomatic compounds on September 11th, when four Americans were killed, including the U.S. Ambassador to Libya Christopher Stevens. Administration officials initially signaled that the attacks were triggered by protests against an anti-Muslim film, although reporting later showed that U.S. intelligence agencies internally concluded within a day that the incident was a planned terror attack

Cutter’s comment about the political nature of the attacks on Obama over the Libyan incident came as she argued that the administration has passed along the best intelligence as it comes in. She was later pushed on these facts in an interview with Fox News host Brett Baier, who pointed out that the president himself tied the attacks to the video in an appearance on CBS’ David Letterman show six days after the assault on the compounds.

“It was an intelligence conclusion,” Cutter responded before becoming testy. “What are you suggesting? Are you suggesting that we are playing politics with this?”

“I am not suggesting anything,” Baier responded. “The entire reason this has become a political topic, four people are dead.”

Cutter agreed and insisted that the Obama administration “has treated this entire tragedy with the utmost seriousness to get to the bottom of the attacks, hold the perpetrators accountable, and make sure that it never happens again.”

In Asheville, Romney agreed that the issue is not a political one. “These are very serious questions,” he said. “And the American people deserve serious answers and I hope they come soon.”

The Obama campaign harked back to Romney’s initial response to violence in Egypt and Libya -- a statement late on the night of Sept. 11 that was widely viewed in both parties as premature, inaccurate and inappropriate. “From the time of the attack in Libya, Mitt Romney has stopped at nothing to politicize these events – and he wasted no time in proving that point in North Carolina today,” Obama for America spokeswoman Lis Smith said Thursday in a statement. ‘While President Obama has been focused on getting the facts, finding the terrorists responsible, and bringing them to justice, Mitt Romney has attempted to use the tragedy to his political advantage.”]]>

Obama, Romney camps agree: The other guy is a great debater

Sarah Huisenga, National Journal — Fri, 28 Sep 2012 10:00:00 -0400

In a memo to Romney surrogates that was obtained by CBS News and National Journal, senior adviser Beth Myers called President Obama a “universally acclaimed public speaker” with “natural gifts and extensive seasoning under the bright lights of the debate stage.” She predicted Obama will launch a “90-minute attack ad” at the Republican nominee in an effort to shift attention from his record.

“If President Obama is as negative as we expect,” Myers wrote in the memo, first reported by CNN, “he will have missed an opportunity to let the American people know his vision for the next four years and the policies he’d pursue. That’s not an opportunity Mitt Romney will pass up. He will talk about the big choice in this election.”

Meanwhile, asked on Thursday to speculate on the worst-case scenario for the president at the Denver debate, Obama spokeswoman Jen Psaki told reporters, “He could fall off the stage.”

Psaki implied that Romney would have an advantage because of the amount of time he’s spent preparing for the debates, which she said was more “than any presidential candidate in modern history.”

“Not John F. Kennedy, not President Bill Clinton, not President George Bush, not Ronald Reagan has prepared as much as he has,” Psaki said during a gaggle aboard Air Force One as the president flew to Virginia Beach. “So there’s no question that he will have a lead on how prepared he is.”

In a memo released on Friday, Obama senior campaign adviser David Axelrod echoed those sentiments. "Just as he was in the primaries, we expect Mitt Romney to be a prepared, disciplined and aggressive debater," Axelrod wrote.

Axelrod also argued that debates -- particularly the first one -- tend to favor challengers.

"Five out of the last six challengers were perceived to win the first debate against an incumbent president," he said. "Most profit from having debated throughout the primary season, as Gov. Romney will. And it is natural for a challenger to gain simply from standing on the stage, toe-to-toe with the incumbent. Finally, the challenger, unencumbered by the responsibilities of being the President, has more time to prepare—a benefit of which Gov. Romney has taken full advantage."

Romney has spent several days preparing for the debates with senior advisers and Sen. Rob Portman of Ohio, who is playing the role of Obama at practice sessions. During the Democratic National Convention, Romney spent three days holed up in the Vermont home of his former lieutenant governor, Kerry Healey, holding mock debates with Portman. The Obama campaign has said Obama had to cancel several prep sessions with Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts, who is standing in for Romney, due to events in the Middle East. The pair have had just one mock debate.

Myers argued that nevertheless, Obama’s experience on the debate stage gives him an advantage. “This will be the eighth one-on-one presidential debate of his political career,” Myers wrote in her memo. “For Mitt Romney, it will be his first.”

While it is Romney’s first one-on-one presidential debate, he has debated lone opponents before while running for governor of Massachusetts in 2002 and during his attempt to unseat Sen. Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts in 1994. He also has had far more recent debate experience than Obama -- 19 of them from June 2011 to February 2012 during the GOP primary process.

For all their attempts to pre-spin the presidential debates, both sides also made a point of downplaying their role in the overall campaign. Myers wrote that the election “will not be decided by the debates,” but by Americans who don’t want another four years like the last four. Psaki said there would be many twists, turns, ups, and downs before Election Day. “A lot of us have been to this rodeo before,” she said.

The Obama campaign has jumped on comments by Romney to reporters on Sunday in which he rebuked the president for what he called "very inaccurate" attacks that he looked forward to correcting in the debates. It released a web video accusing its rival of "crocodile tears," pairing Romney's accusations with apparently contradictory past statements.]]>

Romney talks troops, Afghanistan at National Guard conference

Sarah Huisenga, National Journal — Wed, 12 Sep 2012 10:00:00 -0400

RENO, Nev. – Mitt Romney paid tribute to the work of U.S. troops and veterans Tuesday in a speech that honored those affected by the 9/11 terrorist attacks and focused on topics he was criticized for bypassing in his acceptance speech at the Republican convention.

The GOP nominee declined to directly attack President Obama, telling more than 4,000 people at a National Guard Association Conference that would be inappropriate on the 11th anniversary of the worst terrorist attack on American soil.

“With less than two months to go before Election Day, I would normally speak to a gathering like this about the differences between my and my opponent’s plans for our military and for our national security,” Romney said. “There is a time and a place for that, but this day is not it.”

Romney drew reproaches from Democrats and Republicans alike after he failed to mention either the troops or the ongoing war in Afghanistan during his convention speech. After a week of fielding questions about that decision, he specifically nodded Tuesday to the 70,000 men and women still on the ground in Afghanistan and weighed in on their fate.

“Our goal should be to complete a successful transition to Afghan security forces by the end of 2014,” he said. “We should evaluate conditions on the ground and solicit the best advice of our military commanders.”

But, in an implied critique of Obama, Romney argued that the return of the troops should not be used as “an excuse to hollow out our military through devastating defense budget cuts.” He has been aggressively attacking Obama this week for his role in a bipartisan debt deal that required automatic defense cuts if Congress and the White House could not agree on other ways to reduce the national debt. Romney running mate Paul Ryan was among those who voted for the deal.

In a statement emailed to reporters, Obama campaign spokesperson Lis Smith wrote that when it comes to the automatic defense cuts, Obama and Romney are in agreement.

“The president agrees that we should avoid the automatic defense cuts in the Budget Control Act,” Smith wrote. “That’s why he has called on congressional Republicans to help prevent them by asking millionaires and billionaires to pay their fair share.”

While Romney avoided mentioning Obama by name in his speech, he implied that the country and the military need a new commander in chief. “We can all agree that our men and women in the field deserve a clear mission,” Romney said, “that they deserve the resources and resolute leadership they need to complete that mission, and that they deserve a country that will provide for their needs when they come home.”

Romney pointed to veterans’ health care as one area he would focus on as president, saying he’d work to eliminate a backlog of disability claims, try to shorten waits for mental health treatment, and treat the suicide rate among active-duty soldiers “like the emergency it is.”

“Veterans’ benefits are not a gift that is given, but a debt that is due,” he said to applause.

Romney also marked the 11th anniversary of September 11^th by remembering the victims who died in New York, Virginia and Pennsylvania and cited the troops sent around the world as a result of the attacks. “We will not forget why they are fighting or who they are fighting for,” Romney said. “They are faithful to us and to our country; we must not break faith with them.”

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Romney: GOP involvement in 2011 debt deal was ‘mistake’

Sarah Huisenga, National Journal — Mon, 10 Sep 2012 08:40:25 -0400

In comments that contrast with those of his running mate, Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney told NBC News’ Meet the Press in an interview aired Sunday that Republican involvement in the 2011 bipartisan deal to extend the nation’s debt ceiling was “a mistake,” even though it averted a government default and possible chaos in the financial markets.

During the interview with NBC’s David Gregory, Romney said President Obama is to blame for provisional defense cuts that were part of the deal with Congress. When Gregory noted that Republican congressional leaders agreed to the so-called sequestration provision, Romney responded:

“And that’s a big mistake. I thought it was a mistake on the part of the White House to propose it. I think it was a mistake for Republicans to go along with it. The president was responsible for coming out with specific changes they’d make to the defense budget. … The American people need to understand how it is that our defense is going to be so badly cut.”

Romney's comments are at odds with those of his running mate Paul Ryan, who wrote in a National Reviewopinion column last year that the deal "takes an important step in the right direction."

"We still have a long way to go toward getting the key drivers of our debt — especially federal health-care spending — under control," Ryan wrote. "But considering that House Republicans control only one-half of one-third of the federal government, I support this reasonable, responsible effort to cut government spending, avoid a default, and help create a better environment for job creation."

Ryan also defended his vote on Face the Nation Sunday. "I worked with President Obama to find common ground to get a down payment on deficit reduction," he said. "It wasn't a big down payment, but it was a step in the right direction."

A little more than a year ago, as part of a deal to extend the nation’s borrowing limit and avoid default, the Obama White House and congressional Republicans agreed to $109 billion in automatic spending cuts, including $55 billion from defense programs, if a congressional “super committee” failed to find adequate savings elsewhere to meet budget targets. The super committee admitted failure in November.

Ryan also differentiated himself further from Romney by refusing to say that he would reject a hypothetical debt reduction deal — composed of a 10-to-1 ratio of spending cuts to tax increases — that Romney joined other GOP candidates in rejecting during a presidential primary debate last year.

“You know, it depends on the quality of the agreement," Ryan said on ABC's This Week. "It depends on the quality of the policy. Our negotiators in the super committee offered higher revenues through tax reform. John Boehner did as well. So George, what really matters to me is not ratios but what matters is the quality of the policy."

In another portion of the Meet The Press interview, Romney complimented former President Bill Clinton’s speech at the Democratic National Convention, which concluded Thursday, and said he thinks Clinton upstaged Obama.

“He did stand out in contrast with the other speakers,” Romney says of Clinton’s Wednesday night stem-winder. “I think he really did elevate the Democrat convention in a lot of ways. And frankly, the contrast may not have been as attractive as Barack Obama might have preferred if he were choosing who’d go before him and who’d go after.”

Clinton spoke a day before Obama delivered his acceptance speech on Thursday night.

Eric Katz contributed to this story.

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Romney leaves Tampa to seek veterans’ votes in Indiana

Sarah Huisenga, National Journal — Wed, 29 Aug 2012 20:49:04 -0400

INDIANAPOLIS — Taking a brief break from the Republican National Convention, Mitt Romney on Wednesday touted his support of veterans’ issues at the American Legion here, saying it was important for him to deliver his remarks in person.

“I consider any opportunity to address our nation’s veterans a privilege not to be missed,” Romney told the crowd.

Romney opened his address with a reference to Hurricane Isaac. “I appreciate this invitation to join you on dry land this afternoon,” he commented, drawing laughter. He then turned more serious. “For many in the Gulf Coast who just finished repairing their homes and getting their lives back to normal, this must be a heavy burden. And so, today, our thoughts are with them.”

Romney reiterated his desire to modify the post-9/11 GI Bill so that veterans are eligible for in-state college tuition regardless of residency. He also promised to make reforming the Veterans Affairs Department “a personal priority,” citing the “reproachable failures” in swiftly processing claims, and vowed not to raise rates for Tricare, the military’s health care program.

The GOP nominee also repeated his opposition to looming defense cuts through sequestration under the deal struck by President Obama and congressional Republicans last year . Though the dealratified by Congress in the Budget Control Act was bipartisan, Romney continued to single out his opponent for criticism.

“A year ago, President Obama told your national convention that, quote, `We cannot, we must not, we will not balance the budget on the backs of our veterans.’ I thought I’d finally agree with him on something,” he said. “But now he’s on the verge of breaking that promise. The Obama administration is set to cut defense spending by nearly a trillion dollars. My administration will not.”

Romeny's remarks drew a swift rebuke from Obama campaign spokeswoman Lis Smith, who blasted him for refusing to let tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans expire.

“Throughout this campaign, Mitt Romney has offered a lot of reckless bluster and vague platitudes, but zero specific national-security policies — and that continued at the American Legion today,” Smith said. “Lost in his speech was the fact that the only thing standing in the way of preventing the automatic defense cuts he decried is his refusal to ask for another dime from millionaires and billionaires.”

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Wedding party finds how hard it is to get near a presidential candidate

Sarah Huisenga, National Journal — Thu, 09 Aug 2012 09:23:00 -0400

Some are a bit more extreme.

Case in point: As Romney’s motorcade on Wednesday drove through the streets of Lakewood, N.J., en route to a high-dollar fundraiser, the entourage passed an Orthodox Jewish wedding party in the middle of taking wedding photographs. Upon recognizing that the vehicles contained the presumptive Republican nominee, the group ditched the bride and groom and began to chase the cavalcade of dark SUVs down the street, according to a pool report by Yahoo News’s Holly Bailey.

Waving cameras in the air, the group of at least 10 dressed in wedding attire tried to approach Romney’s vehicle as it pulled into Lake Terrace Hall, the site of his late-afternoon fundraiser. But, as they quickly learned, it is not easy to get close to a presidential candidate. The group was immediately swarmed by several men wearing dark suits and earpieces.

"Oh, you're Secret Service," one woman said, as she was asked by an agent to move back. "We just want to see Romney."

While a meeting with the potential leader of the free world was not in the cards for the wedding party, the bride and groom they had abandoned in the midst of their photographs were much luckier. The Romney campaign later announced that Romney took a photo with the newlyweds.]]>

Video: Romney spokesman tells reporters to 'shove it'

Sarah Huisenga and Matt Vasilogambros, National Journal — Tue, 31 Jul 2012 09:46:35 -0400

WARSAW, Poland -- A traveling press secretary for the Romney campaign had some choice words for the press corps on Tuesday in Warsaw, Poland, at one point telling reporters to “kiss my ass” and “shove it."

As Mitt Romney was leaving a stop at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, approximately 100 yards away from the site itself, reporters shouted questions to the presumptive nominee, who ignored them.

After several questions involving Romney’s missteps on the trip, including comments he made in Israel, Romney spokesman Rick Gorka shot back.

“Show some respect,” he said after being challenged for not taking questions, according to pool reports.

“We haven't had another chance to ask a question,” a New York Times reporter said.

“Kiss my ass,” Gorka said back. “This is a Holy site for the Polish people. Show some respect.”

Just a few moments later, Gorka told a Politico reporter to “shove it,” reports CNN.

Gorka apologized to reporters for the altercation. Poland is the last stop on Romney’s six-day foreign tour.

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Romney all business about picking Cabinet

Sarah Huisenga — Tue, 10 Jul 2012 09:23:00 -0400

In an interview with nationally syndicated conservative talk-show host Michael Medved, Romney said, “It would be a very different lineup than the president has assembled. His team is almost entirely void of anyone with any experience in the business sector, (who) understands how the economy works. I will assuredly have members of my team who will have experience in the real world, in the private sector. My Cabinet will not be filled with academics and politicians alone.”

Romney indicated he already has people in mind but offered no names, saying a number of them are currently employed and “they wouldn’t appreciate having their employers think they’re going.”

Asked about his tax plan on a day that Obama was campaigning on a proposal to raise taxes on households earning over $250,000, Romney said that in his first year in office, he would lower taxes for individuals and small businesses while limiting tax breaks for high income-earners as a way of keeping government revenues at a level necessary to fund the government.

His plan, he said, “keeps revenue coming in by limiting some of the deductions and exemptions, particularly for people at the high-income level, so we can keep the progressivity of the code. … Get our rates down, encourage growth, business startups and expansions, (that) mean jobs for middle-income Americans.”

The interview was one of several media appearances scheduled for Romney this week. In an interview with the John Fredericks Morning Show in Virginia, scheduled to air on Tuesday, Romney called Obama’s proposal to renew the Bush-era tax cuts only for those earning less than $250,000 “a massive tax increase on job creators and on small business.”

He added, “Small businesses are overwhelmingly being taxed, not at a corporate rate, but at the individual tax rate. So successful small businesses will see their taxes go up dramatically and that will kill jobs. That will be another kick in the gut to the middle class in America. We just saw a terrible jobs report, just last week, and now to add a higher tax on job creators and on small business is about the worst thing I could imagine to do.”

Also during the interview, Romney suggested that Obama’s health care overhaul, which was upheld by the Supreme Court on June 28, is designed to be the first step toward a government-run system.

“The president said, before he was elected, that it was his objective to have a single-payer system. I think that’s where he would like to go,” he said. “My own view is that if Obamacare were allowed to stand … you would see down the road private insurance getting squeezed out, and ultimately a call for a government insurance plan or a government insurance program of some kind. And ultimately it would take a lion’s share of the health market.”]]>

Romney hosts 'tryouts' for veep slot

Sarah Huisenga, National Journal — Tue, 19 Jun 2012 10:57:00 -0400

“I get a very biased audience depending on the state I’m in,” the presumptive Republican presidential nominee told reporters on a flight from Iowa to Michigan on the eve of the last day of his six-state “Every Town Counts” bus tour through key battleground states.

The tour -- a quest for exposure and votes in New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Wisconsin, Iowa and Michigan -- has showcased no fewer than four Republican leaders often mentioned as prospective running mates for Romney. In addition to Ryan and Portman, Romney has appeared with New Hampshire Sen. Kelly Ayotte and former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty in what amount to auditions for the second most powerful position in the United States government.

Romney has campaigned with all four officials in the past, but not since the vice presidential vetting process has begun. On this tour, the scrutiny was intense and Romney’s bus companions played it safe. There was no going off script and no attempt to divert the spotlight from the man who may one day be their running mate.

KELLY AYOTTE

First up to audition was Ayotte, the only female Republican official to appear with Romney and the only potential ticket mate to appear with the presumptive nominee but not ride on his bus.

Ayotte, who endorsed Romney on November 20, well ahead of the New Hampshire primary, appeared at both of the scheduled bus stops in her state. In Stratham, at the 300-acre farm where Romney also launched his presidential campaign in 2011, Ayotte attacked the president for taking America “down the wrong road.” As she handed over the microphone, Ann and Mitt Romney greeted her warmly and each kissed her on the cheek. Romney, who has a house on the state’s Lake Winnipesaukee, told the crowd that Ayotte is a “great senator” and a “great friend.”

Later, in Latham, N.H., at an event billed as an ice-cream social, Romney’s competitor-turned-endorser -- Pawlenty – made the introduction. But Ayotte reappeared afterward to help serve ice cream. While Romney dished up vanilla and chocolate-chunk, Ayotte stood two people away and handled the chocolate. She took a photo from one constituent and handed it to Romney, who signed the image as Ayotte leaned in to give instruction.

When he finished they both turned to the woman and in unison said, “Thank you!”

TIM PAWLENTY

Pawlenty had the good fortune of getting to spend the most time with Romney on the bus tour, traveling with him through both New Hampshire and Pennsylvania. One of the most active Romney surrogates among the list of prospects (granted, he also does not have a day job), he was the only auditioner to ride on both Romney’s bus and his charter flight. He also proved to be the most fiery speaker of the four prospects on the tour.

The former Minnesota governor introduced Romney at three events, including the New Hampshire ice-cream social and two rallies in Pennsylvania. While Ayotte spoke, Pawlenty mingled with Romney staffers and some voters who arrived late and were forced to stand at the back of the crowd of over 1,000. When he took the stage, Pawlenty spoke forcefully and worked to rile up the crowds before Romney spoke.

“New Hampshire, have you had enough of runaway federal spending?” he challenged the crowd at the ice-cream social, his voice hoarse. More than 500 thundered back a resounding, “Yes!” including Romney, who also nodded his approval and joined in the applause. “Have you had enough of Barack Obama?” Pawlenty yelled, and got a similar response. Romney laughed as he looked out at his enthusiastic supporters.

ROB PORTMAN

On Day Three, which was Father’s Day, Portman brought his wife, Jane, on the bus to travel through Ohio with Mitt, Ann, two of their son, and five grandchildren. Portman described the bus as “wild” and “fun” with all of the kids running around with blueberry pie on their shirts.

In Brunswick, Portman poured syrup on pancakes that Romney and his family had served to hundreds who waited out a rainstorm to see him. Later in Troy, he sat down for a burger with Romney and House Speaker John Boehner in K’s Hamburger Shop, a local fixture.

The possibility of sending an Ohioan to the White House as vice president excited many who attended the rallies where Portman appeared with Romney, but Portman stuck to bland assurances about his happiness in his current job.

“I’m lucky to be where I am,” he told one man in the pancake line in Brunswick. Later in Newark he responded to another woman who said she thought he’d make a good vice president. “Well, thank you. I’m happy doing what I’m doing, representing Ohio.”

PAUL RYAN

Ryan, chairman of the House Budget Committee, was the last to audition and spent the least amount of time with Romney. He appeared Monday at Romney’s lone stop in Wisconsin, at a textile mill in Janesville, after riding over on Romney’s bus from Romney’s hotel.

Pointing out several people he recognized in the audience, Ryan praised both the community and state he lives in, and told the crowd that they were among the few who live in states that “would likely determine the trajectory of this country.”

Ryan is a hero to conservatives because of the stringent budget he wrote, one which the House has passed and Romney has endorsed. But he shared the stage Monday with other GOP heavyweights from his state – Gov. Scott Walker, Sen. Ron Johnson, and Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus.

It was Walker, also a conservative icon after winning a historic recall election, who introduced Romney at the morning event – while Ryan stood offstage amid the crowd. That was a shift from Romney’s earlier swing through the state, when Ryan was constantly at his side, making all the introductions, and displaying excellent retail campaign skills. Spotting Ryan during Walker’s introduction, Romney motioned the congressman onto the stage and warmly shook his hand.

Ryan has avoided questions about his vice presidential prospects, and he refused to discuss the process in an appearance on NBC’s Meet the Press at the end of May. But as with Portman in Ohio, some of Wisconsin’s residents were not so shy. Dan Sinykin, the president of the mill where Romney raised the topic directly with the presumptive nominee in his welcoming remarks.

“Gov. Romney, we are in Congressman Ryan’s hometown,” Sinykin said. “He is right here. If you have an announcement to make …” As the audience laughed and began to cheer, Ryan shook his head from side to side.

Rebecca Kaplan and Haley Bull contributed to this report.
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Romney mistakenly adds two more Navy ships to his promised total

Sarah Huisenga, National Journal — Thu, 17 May 2012 16:24:00 -0400

This story has been updated.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla.--Mitt Romney on Thursday revised upward by two the number of Navy ships he would seek to build annually as president, although campaign aides said later that the former Massachusetts governor misspoke.

"America must have a military so strong no one would ever think of testing it," Romney said in a speech in Jacksonville. "So rather than cut back on the number of ships we buy per year, as the president would, or we build per year, I'd go from the nine we're planning on building to 17 a year."

As recently as two weeks ago, Romney had called for building 15 ships a year. Adding to the fleet would be welcomed in Florida and Virginia, both of which have a substantial Navy presence, but military analysts have warned that additions would be tough to pay for and require cuts elsewhere in the Pentagon budget.

Several hours later, however, campaign aides said Romney misspoke and that he intended to stick to the 15-ships number.

Romney also repeated his other campaign promises to bolster the military, including increasing the size of the Air Force's fleet and adding about 100,000 active-duty personnel.

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Romney: Obama is a 'big government' Democrat

Sarah Huisenga, National Journal — Wed, 09 May 2012 09:15:00 -0400

LANSING, Mich. – Mitt Romney on Tuesday took direct aim at President Obama’s reelection theme “Forward,” arguing that the president's policies are actually a throwback to the era of “big government” Democrats more extreme than the last Democratic president, Bill Clinton.

“President Obama chose to apply liberal ideas of the past to a 21st-Ccentury America,” Romney told a crowd in the auditorium at Lansing Community College. As a result, he said, middle-class Americans over the past three and a half years have been forced to put off retirement, work longer hours, and forego things like vacations, movies, and eating out.

“This wasn’t what we expected from President Obama,” Romney said, reading from prepared remarks. “He promised change and hope, and he said we could do anything we wanted together. But rhetoric met reality, and reality won.”

Romney hit Obama for trying to dig the country out of the recession by focusing on government-run programs and increasing taxes. “President Clinton, remember, he said the era of big government was over,” Romney said. “President Obama brought it back with a vengeance.”

Romney seized upon the recent “Life of Julia,” a cartoon story created by the Obama campaign, as an example of the president’s “old school” liberalism. The graphic, which shows how bills signed into law affect the life of a cartoon woman named Julia, has come under attack by conservatives who claim it promotes reliance on government aid.

“Julia progresses from cradle to grave, showing how government makes every good thing in her life possible,” Romney said of the fictional character. “The weak economy, high unemployment, falling wages, rising gas prices, the national debt, the insolvency of entitlements – all these are fictionally assumed away in a cartoon produced by a president who wants us to forget about them.”

He added, “By the way, what does it say about a president's policies when he has to use a cartoon character rather than real people to justify his record?”

Romney said he would improve health care by getting the industry to work more like a consumer market, improve education through technology, and usher in a “revival in manufacturing” through better trade and labor policies. But Romney did not go into specific details on any of his policy positions.

He also avoided a topic of great importance to Michigan’s economy, the auto-industry bailout. Romney on Monday said that he would “take a lot of the credit” for the industry’s comeback since he had argued for a managed bankruptcy – a comment the Obama campaign was quick to attack.

"Mitt Romney didn’t have the courage to bet on American workers and instead said that we should ‘let Detroit go bankrupt’ ” Obama spokesman Lis Smith said in a statement. “Despite his best efforts to Etch A Sketch this position, he can’t shake away the fact that if he’d had his way, the American auto industry and the millions of jobs it supports would have been devastated.”

Smith also pushed back against the suggestion that Obama’s ideas are vastly different from those of Clinton’s, pointing out the former president’s comments on Romney’s economic proposals.

“Now he wants to bring back budget-busting tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans and letting Wall Street write its own rules—policies that President Clinton compared to the failed economic policies that created the crisis, but ‘on steroids.’ ” Smith said.

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Romney reminisces about 'magnificent' French vacations

Sarah Huisenga, National Journal — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 17:52:00 -0400

ASTON, Pa. – Mitt Romney, who spent two years in France as a Mormon missionary, instead talked about vacationing in France when a French television reporter asked him about his best memories of the country.

“I have a lot of memories of France. I think the best memories were with my wife on vacations, from time to time in France,” the presumptive Republican presidential nominee said at a press conference here with Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla. “The last vacation we had there, walking around the city of Paris, not just in the Champs-Elysees, but also over to the Jardin of Luxembourg and around the city, as one of the most magnificent cities in the world and I look forward to occasional vacations again in such a beautiful place.”

Romney just last week accused President Obama of “jetting around the world” and, asked by National Review about exorbitant spending by the General Services Administration that’s now under investigation, said Obama’s “elaborate vacations” set a bad example.

“I think the example starts at the top,” Romney said. “People have to see that the president is not taking elaborate vacations and spending in a way that is inconsistent with the state of the overall economy and the state of the American family.”

Throughout the campaign, Romney has repeatedly made remarks that underscore his wealth, from challenging Texas Gov. Rick Perry to a $10,000 bet during a debate, to dropping that his wife drives two Cadillacs, to mentioning in separate incidents that his friends own NASCAR and football teams.

His reminiscences of France produced a Twitter outpouring. “Sound of Republican heads hitting desks as Mitt riffs about his French vacations,” Politico’s Jonathan Martin said in a tweet that was retweeted dozens of times.

(Image via Consu1961 /Shutterstock.com)

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Romney previews more general-election themes

Sarah Huisenga, National Journal — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 09:46:00 -0400

BROOMALL, Pa. – Proceeding with his pivot toward the general election, Mitt Romney on Wednesday elaborated on the economic-based themes he will use to attack President Obama and Democrats.

Hours after blasting Obama in a speech to the American Society of News Editors, he rebuked the president for promoting a “government-centered society” and of “crushing the dreams … crushing the dreamers” through an overabundance of regulations, taxes and bureaucrats. And he accused the Democratic Party of being hostile to business.

“I listen to some of our out-of-touch liberal friends,” Romney told an enthusiastic crowd in this Philadelphia suburb. “And they always say they want a strong economy, but they don’t tend to like business very much. What they don’t understand is that the economy is the addition of all the businesses in the country together.”

As Romney has continued to pull away from his rivals in the Republican field, he has shifted back to depicting Obama as someone who is in over his head. "He just doesn't understand … he doesn't see how many people are struggling amidst his policies," Romney said.

And he did not bother to ask audience members for their help in Pennsylvania’s Apr. 24 primary, but in helping him to "defeat Barack Obama next November."

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Romney's staff plays April Fool's prank on boss

Sarah Huisenga, National Journal — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 10:36:27 -0400

MILWAUKEE -- Mitt Romney, who’s known for his fondness of playing practical jokes, on Sunday found himself the victim of an April Fool’s Day prank orchestrated by his staff -- with help from Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson and Rep. Paul Ryan .

Romney, who was scheduled to address a pancake brunch in Milwaukee, was warned by some of his advance staff that there had been a light turnout. The former Massachusetts governor waited behind a curtain -- as he usually does -- while Ryan began introducing him to a smattering of applause.

But when Ryan finally called out his name, Romney entered with Johnson to find the room -- which had been decked out to look like the site of an actual rally -- completely vacant, save for a few staffers who watched their boss' astonished reaction. The campaign later posted a video online.

“There’s nobody there!” Romney later recounted at the real pancake breakfast, where a crowd of several hundred gathered to hear him speak. He then quipped, “It’s like, oh boy, this is going to look really bad on the evening news, let me tell you.”

Hours after the gag, the candidate told reporters: " You know, I think they’re much funnier when I do them on other people than when they do them on me."

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Romney, Gingrich blast Obama for missile defense comments

Sarah Huisenga and Sarah B. Boxer, National Journal — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 15:15:00 -0400

Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich on Monday quickly added their names to the list of Republicans reacting with alarm to President Obama's comment to outgoing Russian President Dmitry Medvedev that he will have greater flexibility "after my election" to iron out differences over a planned U.S. missile defense shield in Europe.

The two leaders, attending the two-day Nuclear Security Summit in Seoul, held their last official meeting before Russian President-elect Vladimir Putin takes office in May. The conversation was picked up by the microphones as reporters were entering the room for remarks by Obama and Medvedev at the end of their meeting.

Republicans in Congress have accused Obama of seeking a deal with Russia that would not stand up to electoral scrutiny -- a view shared by the two presidential contenders.

"That is an alarming and troubling development," said Romney, calling the president's comment "revealing" for what he called Obama's unwillingness to provide more details about missile defense.

"This is no time for our president to be pulling his punches with the American people," Romney said while campaigning in San Diego. "And not telling us what he’s intending to do with regards to our missile defense system, with regards to our military might and with regards to our commitment to Israel ... I will make it very clear that the relationship we have around the world is one where America will be strong, that America’s strength and commitment to our friends and allies will be unshakable and unwavering."

Gingrich called the exchange with Medvedev an “extraordinary moment caught on tape where the president basically said to a Russian leader, 'Please wait until after the election so I can sell out.’

"If you read what he said, it is the most blatant comment about selling out American defenses I think any American president’s ever made and I don’t see how any American could trust him ever again after that comment," Gingrich said. "I mean, he thinks it’s in private and he’s saying to the Russians, please quote 'give me some space' so I can be re-elected and then I’ll be free to do anything I want to. Well, that just told you how radically left-wing Obama’s going to be in the second term.”

The Obama campaign was quick to respond to Romney's comment, saying that he had undermined his own credibility by speaking so flippantly.

“Governor Romney has been all over the map on the key foreign policy challenges facing our nation today, offering a lot of chest thumping and empty rhetoric with no concrete plans to enhance our security or strengthen our alliances," Obama 2012 press secratary Ben LaBolt said in a statement.

"Governor Romney once said that a president is not a foreign-policy expert and that he would rely on the experts and defer to his lawyers on critical foreign policy issues. Instead of passing the buck, it is time that Governor Romney shared his foreign policy agenda with the American people.”

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Gingrich ignores comment on Obama being Muslim

Sarah Huisenga, National Journal — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 09:51:00 -0400

LAKE CHARLES, La. – After a Louisiana voter on Wednesday called President Obama a Muslim during a question-and-answer session at a campaign stop, Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich chose to ignore the comment rather than correct it.

After speaking to an overflow crowd of more than 200 people at the Harlequin Steaks and Seafood Restaurant, Gingrich opened the event to questions. A local man, Bob Nolan, of Lake Charles, began by making a comment about the president.

“I believe that Obama is not stupid,” Nolan said to Gingrich. “I believe he knows exactly how the economy works, but I also believe that number one, he’s a Muslim; number two, he's a student of Saul Alinsky.... And I believe that it’s his policy to bring this country to its knees and ruin the United States of America.” Another man chimed in, “I believe that, too.”

Gingrich paused for a brief moment before he answered, “I believe this is a president who prefers power to prosperity and who follows policies that centralize power in the government. And if the price of that is that we’re poorer and we have fewer jobs and that we have less energy, that’s fine with him. It’s a price he’ll pay."

The former House speaker went on to address the man’s comment about the late Saul Alinsky, a leftist political organizer, but he did not mention the comment that Obama is a Muslim.

“I agree with you about Alinsky,” Gingrich said. “I think he's driven by a radicalism to remake America and he doesn’t frankly care what level of pain it costs the rest of us.”

Obama’s religious faith is Christian. Asked later why Gingrich did not correct the comment, spokesman R.C. Hammond said, “The guy asked a question and he answered it. It was not done intentionally. Someone in Louisiana asked a question, he answered it. That’s all there is to it. Newt, on numerous occasions in public town hall venues, has stated that President Obama is an American, that any discussion of his birth certificate is silly. He has said several times on national television and venues that he believes President Obama is a Christian. And he’s also said several times he also believes President Obama is a nice guy.”

The moment for Gingrich was reminiscent of 2008, when GOP presidential candidate John McCain was told by a Minnesota voter that she could not trust Obama, then the Democratic nominee, because she thought he was an “Arab.”

But McCain did push back against the woman’s statement, saying, “No, ma’am, he’s a decent family man, a citizen who I just happen to have disagreements with on fundamental issues. And that’s what this campaign is all about.”

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Video: Gingrich calls for De Niro apology over 'white first lady' joke

Sarah Huisenga, National Journal — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 15:14:10 -0400

SHREVEPORT, La. – Newt Gingrich on Tuesday called on President Obama to apologize for comments Robert De Niro made on Monday night at a Manhattan fundraiser attended by Michelle Obama, when the movie star quipped that it was too soon for the country to return a “white first lady” to the White House.

De Niro, who was hosting the fundraiser at a restaurant he owns, warmed up the crowd of about 85 with a joke. "Callista Gingrich. Karen Santorum. Ann Romney. Now do you really think our country is ready for a white first lady?" he asked. After the audience responded negatively, De Niro asked, "Too soon, right?"

Gingrich on Tuesday was the first presidential candidate to seize on the comments, and opened his first campaign stop at a café in Shreveport by calling the remarks inexcusable.

“It divides the country,” he said, “and if people on the left want to talk about radio talk-show hosts, then everybody in the country ought to hold the president accountable when somebody at his event says something as utterly, totally unacceptable as Robert De Niro said last night and I call on the president to apologize for him.”

Gingrich went on to say that while he would prefer that his wife, Callista, be the next first lady, he would also be “very proud and very honored to have Ann Romney as the first lady or Karen Santorum as the first lady.”

Watch:

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Santorum to get Secret Service protection

Rebecca Kaplan and Sarah Huisenga, National Journal — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 09:47:00 -0500

Rick Santorum will be getting Secret Service protection beginning Tuesday, a campaign aide said on Monday.

Santorum, the former Republican senator from Pennsylvania, heads into Tuesday's contests in Michigan and Arizona as one of the race's top candidates after winning in Colorado, Minnesota, and Missouri earlier this month.

Santorum would be the second candidate still in the race to get protection. Mitt Romney already has it.

A Newt Gingrich campaign aide who asked not to be named confirmed that the Gingrich campaign requested Secret Service protection last week as well. The campaign was awaiting word on whether the request would be granted. The aide was unable to give more details.

Ron Paul has not requested protection. He has said before that he would not ask for Secret Service protection before he was president because it would be a waste of taxpayer money.

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Gingrich launches 30-minute energy spot in Super Tuesday states

Sarah Huisenga — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 16:50:59 -0500

Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich, who has recently shifted his focus from the economy to gas prices and energy policy, is set to air a 30-minute speech on those issues in several states that vote early in March.

As prices at the pump continue to inch upward, the former House speaker has seized on the issue and blamed President Obama’s energy policies as part of the problem. He routinely calls for a new “American energy program” that will allow energy development on federal property and in federally controlled waters.

“I think our goal should be simple,” Gingrich said on Tuesday in a speech to Oklahoma state legislators. “We want to be so independent in energy production that no future president ever again bows to a Saudi king.” The line is a reference to Obama’s deep bend at the waste when greeting King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia in 2009, which the White House has insisted was not a bow. But the reference usually draws enthusiastic applause from Gingrich’s crowds on the campaign trail.

The focus on rising gas prices has the Obama administration on the defensive, with White House press secretary Jay Carney on Tuesday dismissing the idea that the president is to blame for the increases.

“The rise in gas prices is clearly the effect of a variety of factors on the global price of oil around the world,” he told reporters at a press conference. “They include unrest in certain regions of the world. They include growth in places like China and India.”

In the video, which was filmed last week in California while Gingrich was on a fundraising swing through the state, the candidate speaks directly to the camera for 28 minutes with a simple blue curtain behind him. The campaign points out that he is speaking “without a teleprompter or text,” a dig at Obama’s use of teleprompters in his speeches.

In his talk, Gingrich calls for an expansion in American oil and natural-gas supplies through increased production and the utilization of new technologies in shale exploration and hydrofracturing, the process of extracting oil from rock with pressurized water. And he promises to expand the areas where the U.S. drills for oil.

“What we should do and what I will do as your president is I will authorize the development of offshore as long as it is far enough out that it is not visible, and it is not a threat to tourism or the fisheries,” he says. “And I will authorize the development of federal lands that are appropriate.”

The campaign says the ad will first air Saturday night on a local affiliate in Washington state, which holds caucuses on March 3. It will also play in key markets in advance of Super Tuesday, March 6. Ten states hold primaries and caucuses that day, including Gingrich’s native Georgia.

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Gingrich wants U.S. base on the moon

Sarah Huisenga, National Journal — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 09:07:00 -0500

COCOA, Fla.--Appealing to residents of the state's economically struggling "Space Coast," Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich promised to have a permanent U.S. base on the moon by the end of his second term as president.

To cheers and applause in an area that has suffered major job losses since the cancellation of the space shuttle, Gingrich said, "By the end of my second term, we will have the first permanent base on the moon and it will be American.

"We will have commercial near-Earth activities that include science, tourism, and manufacturing, and are designed to create a robust industry precisely on the model of the development of the airlines of the 1930s, because it is in our interest to acquire so much experience in space that we clearly have a capacity that the Chinese and the Russians will never come anywhere close to matching."

He also said that by the end of 2020, the country would have "the first continuous propulsion system in space" capable of allowing people travel to Mars. "I am sick of being told we have to be timid, and I am sick of being told we have to be limited in technologies that are 50 years old," the former House speaker told the crowd at a "space roundtable" he hosted at a Holiday Inn.

Responding to rival Mitt Romney's criticism of his proposal for a lunar settlement, Gingrich said, "When we have 13,000 Americans living on the moon, they can petition to become a state. And here's the difference between romantics and so-called practical people. I wanted every young American to say to themselves, 'I could be one of those 13,000. I could be a pioneer. I need to study science and math and engineering. I need to learn how to be a technician. I can be a part of building a bigger, better future.' "

Gingrich said he has had a "deep passion" for space travel since he was boy and read Missiles and Rockets. He also said he was fascinated by the Sputnik, the first artificial satellite to orbit the Earth.

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Gingrich: Super committee collapse ‘good for America’

Sarah Huisenga — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 00:00:00 -0500

USA Today/Gallup poll showed him in a statistical tie for the lead in the GOP primary race with former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. He said he believed he would be by far the better debater if he wins the right to face off against Obama next year. "I think, first, is the scale of the solutions that I propose, which are much bigger and much more comprehensive than any other person running for office," said Gingrich, with his characteristic brimming self-confidence. "The second is the fact that I've actually done it. I'm the only person running this year who's actually helped create a national majority twice … balanced the budget for four straight years at the federal level. Nobody else running comes anywhere close to that." ]]>

Cain re-embraces electric fence

Sarah Huisenga — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 00:00:00 -0400

"I'm not walking away from that," he said.

Cain has spent the last several days explaining a controversial comment about building an electrified fence along the U.S.-Mexico border that he said could kill people trying to enter the country illegally. On Sunday, he said his comments were "a joke." But talking to reporters here after a meeting with Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, who has made a national reputation for cracking down on illegal immigrants, Cain reversed course.

Initially, Cain apologized when told his remarks had upset some in the state. "Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea culpa," he said, using the Latin formula for expressing contrition. But when a reporter challenged his description of his comments, saying he didn't seem to be telling a joke, the retired pizza executive acknowledged: "You're right." He said he still believes in the need for a border fence, "and it might be electrified."

About 45 minutes late for his meeting with Arpaio because of what he said was "harassment," which caused the sheriff's office to deploy an escort, Cain would not discuss the details.

"We received some information that caused us to improve our security on the way over here, and I would like to just leave it at that," Cain told reporters. "When you become a top-tier candidate, a lot of nuts come out of the closet. That's basically what it is."

Cain wasn't the only Republican presidential candidate in Arizona - host of one of the early primary contests - talking immigration here on Monday. Earlier in the day, Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., met with Arizona lawmakers and law enforcement officials to discuss border security. Afterwards, she accused both Cain and Texas Gov. Rick Perry of not being tough enough on the issue.

Without mentioning him by name, Bachmann referenced a controversial statement Perry previously made in which he called a border fence "idiocy."

"I wouldn't call completing the fence 'idiocy,' as has been done in the recent presidential conversations," Bachmann said. "It is important that we actually do complete the fence in every portion."

And she pounced on Cain's suggestions that he had been making a joke about an electrified border fence.

"I also want to say that this is no laughing matter, the border fence," Bachmann said. "We've seen jokes made by presidential candidates about the fence."

Bachmann has been a staunch supporter of building a fence along the entire border between the United States and Mexico, and on Saturday she became the first presidential candidate to sign "The Pledge," a declaration of support for the construction of a border fence created by the national advocacy group Americans for Securing the Border.

Cain, campaigning last week in Tennessee, said he wanted to build an electric fence along the border that would kill those trying to climb it to enter the country illegally. When pressed on the comment Sunday by NBC's David Gregory on Meet the Press, the former Godfather's CEO said of the comment, "That's a joke."

But Bachmann wasn't laughing.

"That was a joke, and this is no laughing matter," she told reporters when asked about Cain's comment. "It's important that we take this issue very seriously in dealing with the fence, as all of the individuals in front of me are doing, they're dealing with it very capably and very seriously."

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Bachmann speaks on border agent controversy

Sarah Huisenga — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 00:00:00 -0400

"Yes I would, yes I would," the GOP presidential candidate said at Council Bluff's Bayliss Park Hall before an audience of about 50 when asked if she would work to help release Jesus Diaz, the Border Patrol agent.

Diaz was convicted after being accused of using excessive force on a 16-year-old drug smuggler in 2008 near Eagle Pass, Texas, by wrenching his handcuffed arms upward while pressing a knee into his back. In an attempt to make the smuggler reveal where he had hidden marijuana, Diaz also allegedly kicked the teen and dropped him face-first on the ground.

The Diaz case has become a cause celebre among some conservatives opposed to illegal immigration who contend his prosecution was politically motivated at the behest of the Mexican government. They have pressed President Obama and other presidential candidates to act on the case.

Bachmann also said she was unimpressed by efforts to enforce the U.S.-Mexican border.

"I would build a fence -- every mile, every yard, every foot, every inch," she said. "I would build the fence and have border security guards down there. The only problem is, the government has been suing the border security guards every time they want to try and enforce the border. I will have a very different view. I will tell the border security guards, if you follow the law, I will have your back."

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