RUMOR: Romney to Forgo Reelection Bid, Run for President '08 instead

[liberalpragmatist]

http://www.politicalwire.com

http://www.suntimes.com/output/novak/cst-edt-novak08.html

Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney in a recent secret Washington meeting with national political operatives signaled he probably will forgo seeking re-election in 2006 in order to pursue the 2008 Republican presidential nomination.

Romney did not flatly reveal his future intentions, according to sources who were present. But he did say a presidential race would be difficult if he were concentrating on a 2006 campaign for governor and were still in that office in 2007-08.

The early evening meeting was held at the Caucus Room, a Washington restaurant popular with politicians and lobbyists. It was put together by Ron Kaufman, longtime Massachusetts member of the Republican National Committee and an intimate adviser of the senior George Bush. Political operatives attending were not committed to a possible Romney candidacy, but were asked to participate in a private discussion of the political climate.

[NAO]

1. So he will compete with Frist for the GOP/evangelical nomination?

I think Romney is a stronger candidate, but Frist will have more ferocious support from the shock troops of the religious reich.

***

The Despoiling of America: How George W. Bush became the head of the new American Dominionist Church/State
http://www.yuricareport.com/Dominionism/TheDespoilingOfAmerica.htm

[MADem]

2. Oh, I HOPE he DOES!!!

There's enough fodder to bury the bastard. He has mismanaged the Commonwealth to such an extent that he makes Jane Swift look, well...swift! And he cannot hold up in debate. Put him out there, oh PLEASE!!!

Of course, you know what he is angling for--the VP slot. They want to take Massachusetts, but he may be unpleasantly surprised. No one in the Bay State regards him as a Massachusettsian, they regard him as a goddamn cahpitbaggah who should get his sorry ass back to YOU-TAH where he belongs!

[AntiCoup2K4]

3. Bring him on, just for the comedic value. And the hypocrisy.

Can't have a President from New England (Unless he's really from Utah)

Can't trust a Catholic (JFK) or a Jew (Holy Joe) as President (But Mormons are OK)

Maybe Twit will move back to the "New Zion" so the Pukes can run him from the middle of Red State Dumbfuckistan.

[Jack Rabbit]

4. That's the last we'll hear of him

The Republicans may nominate some other yuppie fascist for President in 2008, but it won't be Mitt Romney.

[FreedomAngel82]

5. Wouldn't it be funny

if John Kerry is our nominee again and this guy is the republicans nominee? I could see him and Frist as VP. They could pull a Kennedy/Johnson ordeal. I hope enough people are fedup with republicans by 2006 and we can take the Senate and Congress and impeach Bush and his administration and put in Kerry/Edwards even if just for two years imagine what they could do.

[Rowdyboy]

6. Actually, if they won the house in 06 and impeached Bush and Cheney

in '07 the next in line to be president would be the speaker of the house, I assume-Nancy Pelosi.

[jsw_81]

9. That's a total fantasy and would be undemocratic

Even if pigs were flying and we did manage to somehow impeach and convict Bush, the new president (Cheney, I assume) would nominate a new GOP vice president.

[Rowdyboy]

13. Oh, way sillier than mere fantasy....I was just accepting the absurd

premise that Democrats could concievably impeach Bush and Cheney both (with Cheney going first, then Bush before he has a chance to nominate a sucessor to Cheney). In that case, Speaker of the House would become president. Do I envision those impeachments ever happening? Oh, for god's sake no! Thats just mental masturbation.

Personally, I think these "impeach Bush" threads are funny. Either people are woefully out of touch with reality or incredibly dense but there is no way George Bush will be impeached by this congress (or the one elected in 2006).

[flaminbats]

7. I've heard both Pataki and Allen shall do the opposite..

each will run for another term in 06' and for President before those terms are finished.

[jsw_81]

8. That would make sense

Especially given Romney's recent shift to the right on so many issues. Bring him on!

[quaoar]

10. This is a few days old

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=132&topic_id=1765596

[AP]

11. He puts MI and Mass (?) in play for Republicans, but would the rest of US

be interested in him.

He does not have a compelling story.

[Bluebear]

12. Mass can't stand his smarmy carpetbaggahhhh ass

All he has done for his term is try to eliminate gay marriage and bring in the death penalty, just a prelude to his '08 run. He will not put Mass. in play.

[arcos]

14. Why MI? nt

[AP]

16. His brother is a prominent lawyer in Michigan and his father was governor.

George W. Romney Dies at Age 88;
Michigan Governor, HUD Secretary

By Bart Barnes
Washington Post Staff Writer

George W. Romney, 88, a former secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, governor of Michigan, chairman of American Motors Corp. and a contender for the 1968 Republican presidential nomination, died July 26 at his home in Bloomfield Hills, Mich. He collapsed after suffering a heart attack while exercising on a treadmill.
Mr. Romney was among the luminaries of the national Republican Party after his 1966 election to a third consecutive term as governor of Michigan with a 570,000-vote plurality. But he abandoned his bid for the party's presidential nomination two weeks before the 1968 New Hampshire primary. That was after a three-month campaign that was dogged by his nationally televised comment attributing his initial support for the Vietnam War to his being "brainwashed" by the U.S. military during a tour of the Southeast Asian country. He would later call U.S. participation in the war "the most tragic foreign policy mistake in the nation's history."

...

In addition to his wife, he is survived by two daughters, Lynn Keenan and Jane Romney; two sons, G. Scott Romney and Mitt Romney, a Massachusetts businessman who waged a tough but unsuccessful campaign to unseat Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) last fall; 23 grandchildren; and 33 great-grandchildren.

http://www.amxfiles.com/amc/romney.html

[Mass]

17. Not Massachusetts

His poll numbers are so low right now that this is probably the main reason he will not run again. If he loses reelection, he will lose all chances to run for President.

[merbex]

15. Mitt Romney will definitely forgo a re-election campaign because

everyone here in MA knows he's just a pretty face who not only has done nothing FOR this state but has made conditions here worse and if he sticks around he is going to lose BIG TIME

One more thing, I heard Deval Patrick (an announced Democratic candidate for gov) say that MA deserves a governor who does more than travel to other States in the Nation and make our state the butt of his jokes.

Last week the Boston Globe did a big puff peice on a possible replacement for Romney - Charlie Baker; heads up Harvard Pilgrim Health

Democrats in this state need to unite;especially keep egos in check on Beacon Hill this time around

[jmm]

18. I hope he does

He won't make it through the Republican primaries but it'll help get him out of MA and be the death of his political career.