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Friday, June 30, 2006
This time, no torch
Romney comes calling with '08 primaries in mind
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The last time Mitt Romney was through town, he was here for the ceremony setting the Olympic flame on its journey to Salt Lake City for the 2002 Winter Games, for which Romney filled the Billy Payne role.
We’re likely to be seeing more of the Massachusetts governor in the future. Romney is serious enough about seeking the ’08 Republican nomination to have troops on the ground in Iowa, New Hampshire, Michigan and South Carolina, already.
Officially, Romney isn’t going to make a decision between now and the November election. Between now and then, he has a tough hand to play.
Romney chairs the Republican Governors Conference, and there are eight Republican governors leaving office with only one Democrat leaving. What’s worse, he said Thursday before a speech to the Georgia Public Policy Institute, several of those Republicans who are leaving are from traditionally Democratic states, including New York, Arkansas and, of course, Massachusetts.
“Most people looking at the numbers are going to say we are going to lose quite a few governor’s races,� Romney said.
Romney’s luncheon speech was about his state’s new health care plan, notable not only because it is being spoken of as a possible model for wider health care reform, but because it was worked out with a Democratic legislature.
“It’s hard to understand why Washington has become so paralysed and so bitterly partisan, because in state after state you have Republicans and Democrats in various percentages, and in almost all of them, progress has been made and tough problems have been dealt with,� he said.
Governors have done well in recent presidential elections, but this could be one more sharply focused on international affairs. But as Romney pointed out, some governors have done quite well in foreign policy, Ronald Reagan included.
In fact, Romney added, while he didn’t subscribe to it, Gov. Howard Dean had “the clearest vision of foreign policy� of any of the Democratic candidates in the last election, while Sen. John Kerry’s view was “far more confusing.� A point to ponder.
