Friday, February 01, 2008

MITT ROMNEY

Highlights From Mitt Romney’s Conference Call

Moments ago, Mitt Romney completed a brief conference call with conservative bloggers.

Mitt Romney: It’s been fun to watch the Democratic race, Hillary and Obama are really going at it. I think Hillary has won four, Barack has won two. The national media says it’s not a done deal on that side. But it’s a different story on our side, apparently. We’ve had seven, Huck won one, John McCain and I have each won three.

And that last one was “very, very close indeed.” The Crist and Martinez support made a difference as well as Senator McCain’s false accusation about my support of pulling troops out of Iraq.

I give him a slight edge, but it’s a two man race now. It’s very unlikely Mike Huckabee emerges as our nominee… but he takes a slice of conservative voters who otherwise would come to me.

It is a battle for the heart and soul of the Republican Party.

Romney compares this race to 1976, Ford vs. Reagan. “Reagan was the Washington outsider with a message of positive change. We picked the insider, the more moderate, the more established. We lost, and the cost of that was Jimmy Carter… I don’t want to say I’m Ronald Reagan. I’m not, there’s only one. And I respect Jerry Ford. But in some respects, there are some similarities.”

 

He says McCain has “scores to settle.” "We have different philosophies. McCain Feingold is a disaster. I would repeal it if I could."

Hits McCain-Kennedy immigration, says McCain would sign it into law if he could.

"When only one nation participates in McCain’s climate change legislation, high-carbon industries will just move overseas."

Notes McCain voted against tax cuts, voted against ANWR.

"I have an optimistic, I’ll-fight-for-every-job attitude."

Reid Wilson: Why delay in buying ads?

Romney: It took 24 hours, wanted to figure out which states would be best for us. Wanted to take into account Florida, Rudy’s departure, Rudy’s endorsement.

Ed Morrissey: What are your strong states on Tuesday?

Romney: It’s very possible nothing is decided on Tuesday. There are other scenarios, but I think this goes on… We have number of states we think we can win, that we think we have a good shot, that we think we have a good shot, and states that aren’t good for us. I don’t know if I want to reveal which states are which.

California is a state that is good for us. 54 districts. When you have something that big, it gives you some encouragement. We’re doing well in some winner-take-all. Some are apportioned, even if we can’t win, we can pick up some delegates there. It’s a complicated matrix you have to go through.

When Sean Hannity says he’s voting for me, when Laura Ingraham says she’s endorsing me…

Rush has been going after McCain pretty aggressively. Michael Reagan has been pretty aggressive. The world of conservatism is pretty solidly behind my effort.

Rasmussen has McCain up 28 to 26 nationally – he should do well in some places, I should do well in some places.

I was talking to one governor, and he said, ‘I’m gonna wait until the end, see who is ahead, and that’s who I’m going to endorse.’

Amanda Carpenter: How is McCain is winning economic voters?

Romney: I scratched my head on that. It’s very possible that in Florida, most people thought top issue was economy. Then the governor endorsed. Forty percent said that the governor’s decision was important in their decision. You had two things that may not be causal, and he may have gotten more support than he otherwise would have.

I missed Phil Klein’s inquiry, but it sounds like Romney said he wasn’t aware of what was going out in the robo-calls criticizing McCain’s vote on Medicare reform…

“I’ll look into that call and make sure it doesn’t happen again.”

Dean Barnett: Iraq war is going to be settled one way or the other in the next few years. What is the next front on the war on terror?

Romney: We’re going to continue to see flare-ups. Pakistan is going to have everyone holding their breath. Afghanistan is not finished. When I visited Afghanistan, I concluded, ‘Iraq is going to be easier to fix than Afghanistan.’ Their economy and infrastructure are like 800 years old.

Cites Aznar of Spain calling for help in intelligence and advice to other countries, a comprehensive global basis.

And with that, it was off to Colorado for Romney.

02/01 12:02 PMShare