Bloomberg.com
02-13-07
Former Governor Romney Begins 2008 Presidential Bid (Update2)
By Heidi Przybyla
Feb. 13 (Bloomberg) -- Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney today
became the first of the leading Republican hopefuls to make official his bid for the
2008 presidential nomination, casting himself as an outsider who can transform
the government.
Romney, 59, chose his native Michigan, a presidential election battleground, as
the setting for the announcement. Romney was born in Detroit and his father,
George Romney, served as Michigan governor from 1963 to 1969.
``I do not believe Washington can be transformed from within by a lifelong
politician,'' Romney said at the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn. ``There have
been too many deals, too many favors, too many entanglements, and too little
real world experience managing, guiding, leading.''
Romney has reached the top rung of Republican contenders in the past year by
aggressively building a national campaign network, hiring top political talent and
raising millions of dollars a year before the first contests in the nomination race.
That has helped put him in the hunt with the two most prominent Republicans
considering a run, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and Arizona Senator
John McCain, both of whom have national reputations and high profile perches
from which to conduct their campaigns.
``The fact that Romney has broken into that first tier is no small feat,'' said Scott
Reed, a Republican political consultant who ran former Senator Bob Dole's 1996
presidential campaign.
State by State
From Dearborn, Romney plans visits to Iowa, New Hampshire and South
Carolina, three states that that will hold some of the first votes leading to
selection of the Republican and Democratic nominees for president.
Romney's single term as governor of Massachusetts and previous experience as
an executive, including overseeing the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City,
give him a record to sell to voters. The record also gives critics a point of attack.
He won attention for overhauling health care in the state, requiring everyone to
have health insurance, whether through employers, Medicaid or as part of a pool
for lower-income residents. Romney also balanced the Massachusetts budget
without raising income or sales taxes and is credited with improving the state's
school test scores in math and science.
Governors also have a good track record in presidential races: four of the last
five presidents served as state chief executives.
Tapping Donors
Romney, the former chairman of Boston-based management- consulting firm
Bain & Co., also may benefit from contacts he made in business.
``That's a very good niche for him to work,'' said Steffen Schmidt, a political
science professor at Iowa State University. ``They are people who are not on
the front end of politics but they can be very helpful'' with fund raising, he said.
Days after forming his exploratory committee, Romney brought in $6.5 million in
a single day.
Romney chose the museum as a backdrop to buttress his campaign theme of
``innovating and transforming'' business and government. ``Talk is easy, talk is
cheap,'' he said. ``It is doing that is hard.''
Touching on traditional Republican themes, Romney said the nation is
``overtaxed and government is overfed'' and promised to work to strengthen
American families. On homeland security, he stressed the importance of secure
borders.
Iraq
Romney reiterated his support for sending more troops to Iraq, a position also
backed by McCain and one that has drawn fire from war critics in both parties.
``So long as there is a reasonable prospect of success, our wisest course is to
seek stability in Iraq, with additional troops endeavoring to secure the civilian
population,'' Romney said.
Given the competition, Romney must make his appeal to Republican social,
religious and economic conservatives to win, said David Rohde, a Duke
University political science professor.
``He can't contest the maverick or moderate segment of the party,'' said Rohde.
Those voters likely will be drawn to McCain, who has publicly opposed President
George W. Bush on issues from tax cuts to campaign finance reform, or Giuliani,
who supports abortion rights, stem-cell research and gay rights.
`Hard Challenge'
Romney's ``challenge is to become, if not the candidate of the base, at least the
candidate who is more appealing than the other players,'' said Rohde. ``That's a
hard challenge partly because of his history and partly because of his religion.''
The history is his changing stances on two issues important to core Republican
voters.
In an unsuccessful 1994 bid for the Senate in Massachusetts, a strongly
Democratic-leaning state, Romney supported a woman's right to an abortion and
criticized his party for not giving gay men and women more support. He told Bay
Windows, a Boston gay newspaper, that he would be a better advocate for
homosexuals than the incumbent, Democrat Edward Kennedy.
He took similar stances in his 2002 gubernatorial election.
Romney now says he is firmly anti-abortion and has been an advocate for a
constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage, aligning him more with
Republican conservatives.
``Once you get tagged as a flip-flopper in national politics it's very difficult to get
back,'' Reed said.
Religion Issue
Romney's Mormon faith may be an obstacle to winning over evangelical
Christians, who have a strong voice the party and some of whom regard
Mormonism as a cult. A July Bloomberg/Los Angeles Times poll found 35
percent of registered voters say they wouldn't vote for a Mormon for president.
That includes about a third of both Republicans and independents.
Facing questions about his positions early in the race may work to Romney's
benefit, said Peverill Squire, a political science professor at the University of
Iowa. ``It gives him an opportunity to respond and an opportunity to continue to
try to reinforce the notion that he is a true conservative,'' Squire said.
The biggest obstacles for Romney now are McCain and Giuliani. In Iowa, where
Republicans will vote in caucuses next January, Giuliani is preferred by 27
percent of likely voters and McCain gets 22 percent, according to a Jan. 29-Feb.
1 American Research Group poll. Romney trails with 11 percent, behind former
House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who hasn't formed a campaign.
Romney does better in New Hampshire, which borders Massachusetts, drawing
20 percent of the vote in the ARG poll, tying Giuliani behind McCain's 27 percent.
Romney will need to gain traction fast if he is to have any chance of besting the
two leaders, said Julian Zelizer, a professor of history and politics expert at
Boston University.
``The primaries are all front-loaded and losers are made very quickly in this
process,'' Zelizer said. Romney ``really has to show not just that he's a viable
candidate but that he can actually defeat John McCain.''