Blog:
"Now that the Democratic ticket is set, and the neocon hate merchants are launching the ineffectual smear machine, let's take a look at the LOVE shared between John McCain and Mitt Romney -- the person identified by Time Magazine as McCain's pick for VP.
They have SO much in common -- other than their vast wealth.
Quote:
To McCain, Romney was the guy who took “at least two positions on every issue,” a manager rather than a leader. During their fierce primary contest in Florida, McCain demanded Romney apologize to U.S. troops for once suggesting that American and Iraqi leaders should discuss “timetables and benchmarks” for withdrawal from Iraq, which McCain charged “would have led to a victory by Al Qaeda.”
Romney called McCain “dishonest” and warned that the Republican Party wasn’t ready “to take as dramatic a departure from the house that Reagan built” as they would if they embraced McCain.
We all remember how McCain praised Romney's handling of the Salt Lake Olympics.
Quote:
On Sept. 19, 2000, John McCain rose in the Senate to rail against what he called the “staggering” sums that the federal government planned to spend to help Salt Lake City stage the 2002 Winter Olympics.
“The American taxpayer is being shaken down to the tune of nearly a billion and a half dollars,” McCain said.
The Arizona Republican vowed to “do everything in my power” to delay or kill “this pork-barrel spending” and to end the “fiscal abuse” related to the Olympics. “This is preposterous and it must stop,” he said.
We'll all hear more about how CLOSE McCain and Romney were, and the warm, affectionate things they had to say to each other before Super Tuesday.
Quote:
The sharpest exchange in the debate came when Romney, the former governor of Massachusetts, was asked about the McCain campaign's charge that he once said he favored a strict timetable for removing troops from Iraq.
Romney has consistently denied ever having backed a timetable and said McCain was taking a small portion of a quote out of context.
"It's simply wrong," Romney said. "By the way, raising it a few days before the Florida primary, when there was very little time for me to correct the record, falls in the kind of dirty tricks that Ronald Reagan would have found reprehensible."
But McCain, the Arizona senator who has strongly backed President Bush's Iraq policy, accused Romney of hedging after public support for the war waned.
"I was on the front lines with my friends saying we not only can't withdraw but we've got to have additional troops over there in order for us to have a chance to succeed," he said.
McCain had nice things to say about Romney's business background. (Same story)
Quote:
McCain sideswiped Romney's credentials as a successful business leader while answering a question about who would best run the nation.
"I think he managed companies and he bought and he sold and sometimes people lost their jobs," McCain said. "That's the nature of that business."
McCain has shown himself ever eager to take advice from Romney. (Same story)
Quote:
Romney hit McCain for his opposition to drilling for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska. He also noted that McCain twice voted against tax cuts pushed by President Bush and sponsored campaign-finance reform legislation that he claimed "took a whack at the First Amendment."
...and since then, McCain has flip flopped on BOTH of those issues!
McCain had nice things to say about Romney's readiness to step into the White House, should something happen to him after the election.
Quote:
Republicans John McCain and Mitt Romney angrily fought for conservative support Wednesday, as Romney accused the Arizona senator of "dirty tricks" while front-runner McCain said his rival lacked "the experience and the judgment" to be commander in chief.
...and Romney had nice things to say about McCain's Republican credentials. (same story)
Quote:
From the debate's opening moments, Romney sought to portray McCain as "outside the mainstream of Republican conservative thought." Some examples he cited: McCain's championing of campaign-finance restrictions that banned unlimited donations known as "soft money" and work with liberal Democrat Edward Kennedy on "guest worker" programs for illegal immigrants.
Romney also lauded McCain's truthfulness. (same story)
Quote:
(McCain) hit Romney for raising fees and imposing a health care plan while he was governor. Romney said he hiked certain fees to cover a budget shortfall and accused McCain of misstating the amount.
"Let me help you with the facts here, senator," Romney said, ticking off his rebuttal list.
Romney's campaign staff also had complimentary things to say about McCain.
Quote:
Late in the day, Romney's chief spokesman, Kevin Madden, put in his two cents. McCain, he said in a statement, “has a troubling history of neglecting substantive issues and getting personal in his attacks against those who happen to disagree with him. It’s the McCain way."
Yes, as we look back at the primary campaign, it's clear the love these two men have for each other.
Quote:
The attacks turned personal when McCain delivered a sharp jab at Romney's latest strategy of attempting to position himself as the "change" candidate.
"I just want to say to Gov. Romney, we disagree on a lot of issues, but I agree you are the candidate of change," McCain said, a veiled swipe at Romney's new positions on on abortion and same-sex marriage.
Romney shot back: "The continued personal barbs are interesting but unnecessary."
Quote:
Meanwhile, McCain tried to position himself as the candidate of experience, best able to face what he called "the transcendent challenge of the 21st Century, and that is radical Islamic extremists."
Turning toward McCain, Romney said that strategy wouldn't work if Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., was the Democratic nominee.
"If you think that making that argument as a Republican, that you have more experience, and have been around longer in the Senate, that you know the Senate cloakroom better than he does, that's not going to work," Romney said.
Yes sir, Republicans! Go ahead and keep running those TWO clips showing some friction between Biden and Obama in the primaries! Go ahead and offer the VP slot to Romney, and watch it come back... with interest!" |
