Monday, March 26, 2012
Romney staves off a fierce challenge
From The Hindu
Mitt Romney, former Governor of Massachusetts, consolidated his position as the frontrunner in the Republican presidential nominee race as he swept up important victories in primary contests in his home State of Michigan and in Arizona on Tuesday.
Staving off a fierce challenge in both States from the former U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania, Rick Santorum, Mr. Romney garnered slightly over 41 per cent of the vote in Michigan and 47.3 per cent of the vote in Arizona. Mr. Santorum won nearly 38 per cent and 26.6 per cent respectively, garnering second place in both States.
Possibly indicating the White House's expectation that Mr. Romney may ultimately win the nomination, President Barack Obama, during a speech to the United Auto Workers labour union, referenced a 2008 op-ed by Mr. Romney titled “Let Detroit go Bankrupt”. “Think about what that choice would have meant for this country,” said Mr. Obama, adding, “All of you, the men and women who built [General Motors, Chrysler and Ford] with your own hands, would have been hung out to dry.”
A jubilant Mr. Romney said in Detroit, “Great victory in Arizona. Thank you, Michigan. What a win. This is a big night. A week ago the pundits and the pollsters were ready to count us out.”
Mr. Santorum similarly underscored the surge in popularity he has enjoyed over the last few rounds, saying, “A month ago they didn't know who we are... They do now.”
Mr. Romney's sweep of Arizona will net him all 29 delegates moving him a step closer to the 1,144 total that he needs to secure the nomination. In Michigan the 30 delegates will be distributed on a proportional basis.
Both candidates and others still in the race — including libertarian Ron Paul and the former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Newt Gingrich — will now be focussed on “Super Tuesday” on March 6 when a total of 10 States will head to the polls and the candidates will be competing for 400 delegates.
Labels: 2012 U.S. Presidential Election, Arizona, GOP race, Michigan, Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich, Republican primaries, Rick Santorum, Ron Paul
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Romney extends lead with New Hampshire victory
From The Hindu
Mitt Romney, former Governor of Massachusetts and frontrunner in
the race for the Republican presidential nominee, has won the primary in New
Hampshire garnering close to 40 per cent of the vote and a second straight
victory after the Iowa caucus last week.
While New Hampshire was widely expected to be one of the easier
states for Mr. Romney to capture, all eyes are now on the next primary in South
Carolina on January 21, a far more conservative state where the Romney campaign
machine may have a harder time convincing voters. Success there may well give
him an unassailable lead, said observers.
Libertarian candidate Ron Paul also performed consistent with
expectations, and won close to 23 per cent of the vote. Mr. Paul is the only
other current candidate who has the national-level campaign infrastructure and
finance on a scale similar to Mr. Romney. His supporter base, comprising
numerous younger voters, has also acquired the reputation of being a loyal
voting bloc that returns consistent polling figures across elections.
In third place was Jon Huntsman, former Governor of Utah and
President Barack Obama's former Ambassador to China. He cornered close to 17 per
cent of the vote on the back of more than six months of intense campaigning.
Mr. Huntsman, whose adoption of Chinese and Indian girls was
recently attacked by a Paul-linked campaign group, said the third-place result
gave him a “ticket to ride” to South Carolina and he would not be dropping out.
As Mr. Romney's lead in New Hampshire became evident, he told
supporters on Tuesday night, “Tonight we celebrate. Tomorrow we go back to
work.” While he admitted that winning South Carolina would be an “uphill
battle,” he also trained his guns on rival and former House Speaker Newt
Gingrich and also Mr. Obama.
Mr. Romney said, “We expected President Obama to put free
enterprise on trial. We were a little surprised to see it coming from Speaker
Gingrich.” He was referring to attacks by Mr. Gingrich and others on Mr.
Romney's record at private equity firm Bain Capital, where he allegedly laid off
numerous workers in companies that his firm bought over.
Governor of Texas Rick Perry, who performed poorly in New
Hampshire winning less than one per cent of the vote, similarly accused Mr.
Romney of “vulture capitalism” that led to job losses in economically distressed
South Carolina. Mr. Romney has also become the prime target of Rick Santorum,
former U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania, who is one of the most conservative
candidates and may be on track for a good showing in South Carolina.
Labels: Democrats, Mitt Romney, New Hampshire primary, President Barack Obama, Republicans, U.S. Presidential elections
Saturday, November 05, 2011
Republican debate gets personal
From The Hindu
Even as the sweltering summer of Obama-bashing wore thin in the ongoing Republican nomination debates, Texas Governor Rick Perry and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney slugged it out in the latest debate in Las Vegas this week and it descended into an ugly brawl.
The softer, Obama-targeting tone of the debate all but disappeared when the two frontrunners confronted each other on the core issue of illegal immigration. The exchange of barbs became personal at one point when Mr. Perry accused Mr. Romney of hiring illegal aliens to work in his yard.
In a sharp attack Mr. Perry said, “Mitt, you lose all of your standing from my perspective because you hired illegals in your home and you knew about it for a year.” He added that the idea of Mr. Romney standing here and claiming that he was strong on immigration is “the height of hypocrisy”.
Though Mr. Romney initially tried to remain calm about the accusation, he lost his cool after further remarks from his critic and said, “This has been a tough couple of debates for Rick, and I understand that, and so you're going to get testy.”
Apart from the two sparring Governors, another potential candidate who was forced onto the back foot was Herman Cain, former CEO of the Godfather Pizza Company. He was roundly slammed for his so-called 9-9-9 plan proposing nine per cent income, corporate and sales taxes as a means to circumvent the complexities of the tax code.
Starting with Rick Santorum, former Senator from Pennsylvania, who was followed by Mr. Perry and others, virtually every candidate decried Mr. Cain's plan as one that would ultimately result in higher taxes for ordinary Americans and businesses.
While previous rounds of debate at Iowa, Florida, New Hampshire and South Carolina had the net effect of putting Mr. Romney near the top of the polls Mr. Perry's ratings had recently flagged after what was described as a poor showing in several debates.
The latest round in Nevada however was a visceral attack on Mr. Romney by all the candidates, who possibly view his lead in the polls as dangerous to their individual prospects.
The caucuses and primaries, through which the Republican nominee will finally be selected, will kick off in either December 2011 or in early January 2012, and New Hampshire will likely be the first venue. The Presidential election is on November 6 2012.
Labels: Mitt Romney, Rick Perry, U.S. politics
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