Author Topic: Life after defeat for Mitt Romney  (Read 74154 times)

Primemuscle

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Re: Mitt Romney... Again?
« Reply #475 on: February 06, 2015, 02:01:29 PM »
You'd said it as though it is a current involvement, in your last post. Is it?

Yes. Political activism continues to hold my interest. I am a congressional and legislative network activist for a labor union. I am also the Board Chair for a nonprofit corporation which represents a sector of retired people.
 

The last time I spoke with President Obama was when he was in Portland, prior to being reelected. On the other hand I just received an email today from SenatorJeff Merkly.

Everyone has the ability to dialog with their legislators. One way to do this is to attend their townhall  meetings. One on one meetings are easier to schedule when you represent a large number of people, even then you might end up conversing with one of their staff.

Jack T. Cross

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Re: Mitt Romney... Again?
« Reply #476 on: February 06, 2015, 02:24:02 PM »
Yes. Political activism continues to hold my interest. I am congressional and legislative network activist for a labor union. I am also the Board Chair for a nonprofit corporation which represents a sector of retired people.
 

The last time I spoke with President Obama was when he was in Portland, prior to being reelected. On the other hand I just received an email today from Jeff Merkly.

Everyone has the ability to dialog with their legislators. One way to do this is to attend their townhall  meetings. One on one meetings are easier to schedule when you represent a large number of people, even then you might end up conversing with one of their staff.

That's something, Prime. Was your interaction with Obama anything further than a few words as he was moving by? It would be interesting if you'd give a description of what happened.

And I trust you've worked hard toward clamping down on immigration, "legal" and otherwise, given your union interests.

Primemuscle

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Re: Mitt Romney... Again?
« Reply #477 on: February 06, 2015, 02:33:06 PM »
That's something, Prime. Was your interaction with Obama anything further than a few words as he was moving by? It would be interesting if you'd give a description of what happened.

And I trust you've worked hard toward clamping down on immigration, "legal" and otherwise, given your union interests.

The conversation with President was very brief. He thanked me for my campaign work.

Our union has not been involved in immigration issues.  These days, most of my political activism relates to senior issues.

Jack T. Cross

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Re: Mitt Romney... Again?
« Reply #478 on: February 06, 2015, 02:47:26 PM »
The conversation with President was very brief. He thanked me for my campaign work.

Our union has not been involved in immigration issues.  These days, most of my political activism relates to senior issues.

Is it seen as some conflict of interest, politically speaking, given other affiliations?

Primemuscle

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Re: Mitt Romney... Again?
« Reply #479 on: February 06, 2015, 10:44:29 PM »
Is it seen as some conflict of interest, politically speaking, given other affiliations?

I was writing a more detailed response when my computer decided to crash. I am taking this as a sign that a simpler reply is better.

My personal opinions about political issues is not in conflict with my professional ones, although they are often different. Sometimes there are conflicts of interest between labor issues and retiree issues, to be sure. The middle ground is that I am very clear about what my focus is today. As a senior and a retiree, that is where I am putting my energy.

Like most folks (I hope) I have opinions about a lot of issues before us today. Most recently, the controversy surrounding vaccinations. However, these extraneous personal opinions are not the issues which I was elected to lobby about. When I am speaking with legislators in one of my representative roles, it is not productive or even wise to not have a clear issue to discuss.

BayGBM

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Re: Life after defeat for the GOP
« Reply #480 on: February 09, 2015, 05:06:09 AM »
Democratic effort to define Jeb Bush starts with Mitt Romney
By KEN THOMAS and THOMAS BEAUMONT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Mitt Romney opposed the government's rescue of U.S. automakers. So did Jeb Bush.

Both worked in finance and backed the Wall Street bailout. Both are advocates of tax cuts that Democrats contend only benefit the wealthy and big business.

While the first actual votes of the next presidential campaign may be a year away, Democrats already are drawing such comparisons between the former Florida governor and the GOP's 2012 White House nominee — and they don't consider them flattering.

Democrats are unwilling to let Bush define himself as a reformer who aims to close the gap between the rich and poor, so they are trying to paint him as this campaign's Romney. The ex-Massachusetts governor struggled in 2012 against criticism related to his work in private equity and his portrayal by President Barack Obama's allies as a cold-hearted plutocrat.

"We don't need to try to show that Jeb is like Romney. He pretty much is Romney," said Eddie Vale, vice president of American Bridge 21st Century, a liberal group set up to conduct opposition research on Republicans. "When it comes to any ideas or policies, he's the same as Romney."

That line of criticism was noticeable this past week after Bush gave his first major policy speech as a potential presidential candidate. His remarks to the Detroit Economic Club emphasized an upbeat economic message and touched on overhauling the nation's immigration system and trying to improve the lives of children underserved by public schools.

Democrats countered by circulating the transcript of a 2012 interview in which Bush cited his opposition to the auto bailout. In the interview, Bush said the auto rescue, a key issue in Michigan, was "driven by politics" and he noted the Obama administration's role in shuttering car dealerships and providing the United Auto Workers union with an equity stake in Chrysler.

Obama's team successfully used that bailout as a wedge against Romney in Michigan and Ohio, repeatedly referring to a 2008 Romney op-ed with the headline, "Let Detroit Go Bankrupt." Although Romney did not write the headline and advocated a managed bankruptcy for the industry, it created the impression that he was willing to forgo thousands of U.S. auto jobs.

Bush's early approach to his potential campaign signals a desire to avoid such pitfalls, as well as Romney's most notable gaffe — his behind-closed-door dismissal of the "47 percent" of Americans who, he said, don't pay income taxes.

Lisa Wagner, Romney's 2012 Midwest fundraising director, said that once voters meet Bush, "they see his head and his heart are connected" and they are "very, very taken" with his "sincerity."

During a question-and-answer session after the Detroit speech, Bush said losing his first bid for Florida governor in 1994 taught him that winning campaigns requires building an emotional attachment with voters. When he won the job four years later, he said, he campaigned in places — from black churches to public schools in poor communities — where few expected a Republican to go for votes.

That, Bush said, allowed him to "to connect on a human level with people, and offer ideas that are important to people, so that when they think of me they think I'm on their side and that I care about them. ... You've got to care for people before you get their vote.

"That experience on a national scale has got to be part of a strategy," he said.

Democrats say that's a hollow argument and they point to Bush's record as governor, which included the eventual elimination of the state's tax on financial assets. Democrats argue that primarily helped the wealthy.

They also are eager to note how Bush, after leaving office, served on an advisory board for Lehman Brothers, a financial firm that collapsed in 2008 during the recession. They compare Bush's work in private equity to Romney's role at Bain Capital, which was criticized during the 2012 campaign for its leveraged buyouts of companies that in some cases led to job losses.

"Bush may claim a monopoly on the 'right to rise' now, but his history is full of elevating only the select few while leaving everyone else behind," said Democratic National Committee spokesman Ian Sams, citing the name of Bush's campaign-in-waiting.

The tenor of the campaign so far, however, suggests that in Bush and several of the other potential GOP nominees, Democrats will not have a target as easy to strike on economic policy as Romney. Many in the crowded GOP field are focused on the perils of stagnant wages and trying to demonstrate their middle-class bona fides.

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, for example, talks about his affinity for shopping at Kohl's, a Milwaukee-based department store chain. Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul recently allowed a reporter to interview him while he flew coach on American Airlines, saying, "We go to Target, Wal-Mart, TJ Maxx like other people. We look for bargains. We drive our own cars."

In fact, Republicans see the potential to flip the argument in their favor.

Paul's comment was a not-so-subtle jab at Hillary Rodham Clinton, the leading Democratic White House prospect, who told auto dealers in a 2014 speech that she had not driven a car in several years. GOP operatives, whenever they get the chance, talk about Clinton's use of private jets and her six-figure speaking fees.

"The Clinton's finances are the stuff opposition researchers' dreams are made of," said Dan Ronayne, a GOP strategist, in an email. The Democrats' early attacks on Bush, he said, are an effort "to try and muddy the waters."

BayGBM

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Re: Life after defeat for the GOP
« Reply #481 on: February 12, 2015, 06:43:40 AM »
No longer a candidate, Mitt Romney seeking a GOP kingmaker role
By Steve Peoples

BOSTON — A potential candidate no more, Mitt Romney is charting an aggressive course to help shape the Republican presidential field in 2016.

The GOP's 2012 presidential nominee will be a keynote speaker at the Republican Jewish Coalition's spring meeting in Las Vegas, one of several high-profile appearances he has scheduled to try and remain relevant in party affairs despite his recent decision not to launch a third presidential campaign.

"The thing that Mitt Romney has going for him is he has a microphone," said Spencer Zwick, who led the Romney campaign's massive fundraising operation and remains one of his closest advisers. "When he talks about an issue people are going to have to listen and they're going to have to respond."

Romney will be the keynote speaker at the Republican Jewish Coalition's April meeting at the request of the organization's benefactor, Sheldon Adelson.

Other confirmed speakers include former President George W. Bush, House Speaker John Boehner and Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, who would surely love Adelson's financial backing should he get into the GOP presidential race. Romney will speak on the first night of the gathering, which is traditionally a private event at Adelson's private residence.

"Gov. Romney is the perfect speaker for us to kick off our annual leadership conference," said Republican Jewish Coalition executive director Matt Brooks, citing Romney's "unflinching support for Israel."

"He has been proven correct on so many issues he talked about during the campaign," he said.

After a brief flirtation with a third presidential bid, Romney late last month took himself out of the running. He told supporters he expects and hopes that "one of our next generation of Republican leaders" will be the GOP's nominee.

But he has no plans to fade from presidential politics. Aides suggest he is in a unique position to shape the 2016 debate, maintaining a regular presence on the speaking circuit and in national media, speaking on issues such as foreign policy, immigration and the minimum wage.

"He'll be a very active player in helping us win the presidency," said longtime Romney aide Ron Kaufman.

Beyond the April Las Vegas appearance, Romney's schedule includes spring stops at the hometown chamber of commerce of his running mate, Rep. Paul Ryan, in Janesville, Wisconsin; the University of Chicago Institute of Politics; the commencement addresses at Jacksonville University, Utah Valley University and St. Anselm College in New Hampshire; and his annual Utah retreat in June, which brings together top donors and likely presidential candidates.

Romney maintains close connections to some of the most powerful Republican donors in the nation. He appears likely to lend his support to one of the younger faces in the 2016 field, although aides report he has yet to decide whether he'll make a formal endorsement or not.

"Is there such a thing as a kingmaker in the Republican Party? Mitt Romney is in a unique position to do that," Zwick said. "In some ways, you have more of an impact when you take yourself out of the running."


 ::)

Jack T. Cross

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Re: Mitt Romney... Again?
« Reply #482 on: February 12, 2015, 10:50:55 AM »
I was writing a more detailed response when my computer decided to crash. I am taking this as a sign that a simpler reply is better.

My personal opinions about political issues is not in conflict with my professional ones, although they are often different. Sometimes there are conflicts of interest between labor issues and retiree issues, to be sure. The middle ground is that I am very clear about what my focus is today. As a senior and a retiree, that is where I am putting my energy.

Like most folks (I hope) I have opinions about a lot of issues before us today. Most recently, the controversy surrounding vaccinations. However, these extraneous personal opinions are not the issues which I was elected to lobby about. When I am speaking with legislators in one of my representative roles, it is not productive or even wise to not have a clear issue to discuss.


Do you see how a conflict might arise between trying to preserve and grow the strength of your union, while the country becomes flooded with a potentially unlimited number of outsiders?

The politicians that are inclined to meet with unions have been the same ones to lay the groundwork for the other.

Have you union leaders discussed this, much?

BayGBM

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Re: Life after defeat for the GOP
« Reply #483 on: February 24, 2015, 03:22:19 AM »
Mitt Romney's Niece Picked To Head Michigan Republican Party
by AP

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Michigan Republicans picked a niece of Mitt Romney on Saturday to lead the state party for the next two years.

Ronna Romney McDaniel got 55 percent of the vote on the first ballot before delegates made the selection unanimous. Bobby Schostak didn't seek another two-year term after four years as chairman.

Republicans control the state Capitol but haven't delivered Michigan to a GOP presidential candidate since 1988. President Barack Obama defeated Romney, a Michigan native, and picked up the state's electoral votes in 2012.

"We might not agree on everything, but we can agree that seven years of liberal Obama policies have a destructive effect on our nation and we need to get a Republican in the White House through Michigan in 2016," McDaniel, 41, of Northville, told the convention.

The other candidates for party chair were Norm Hughes, who worked for former President Ronald Reagan, and Kim Shmina, a nurse.

Mike Farage of Grand Rapids said he voted for McDaniel partly because she wants to make the party more appealing to minorities — "the elephant in the room" for Republicans.

Republicans made some changes in local leadership Friday night as Norm Shinkle in the 8th District and Paul Welday in the 14th District were defeated.

Gov. Rick Snyder, who was re-elected in November, recorded a video greeting but didn't attend the convention while he recovers from a blood clot in his leg, spokesman Dave Murray said.

andreisdaman

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Re: Life after defeat for the GOP
« Reply #484 on: February 24, 2015, 06:39:10 AM »
Mitt Romney's Niece Picked To Head Michigan Republican Party
by AP

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Michigan Republicans picked a niece of Mitt Romney on Saturday to lead the state party for the next two years.

Ronna Romney McDaniel got 55 percent of the vote on the first ballot before delegates made the selection unanimous. Bobby Schostak didn't seek another two-year term after four years as chairman.

Republicans control the state Capitol but haven't delivered Michigan to a GOP presidential candidate since 1988. President Barack Obama defeated Romney, a Michigan native, and picked up the state's electoral votes in 2012.

"We might not agree on everything, but we can agree that seven years of liberal Obama policies have a destructive effect on our nation and we need to get a Republican in the White House through Michigan in 2016," McDaniel, 41, of Northville, told the convention.

The other candidates for party chair were Norm Hughes, who worked for former President Ronald Reagan, and Kim Shmina, a nurse.

Mike Farage of Grand Rapids said he voted for McDaniel partly because she wants to make the party more appealing to minorities — "the elephant in the room" for Republicans.

Republicans made some changes in local leadership Friday night as Norm Shinkle in the 8th District and Paul Welday in the 14th District were defeated.

Gov. Rick Snyder, who was re-elected in November, recorded a video greeting but didn't attend the convention while he recovers from a blood clot in his leg, spokesman Dave Murray said.

Nepotism is an amazing drug

BayGBM

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Re: Life after defeat for the GOP
« Reply #485 on: February 25, 2015, 03:30:56 AM »
Nepotism is an amazing drug

It is annoying because it is true.  :(

AbrahamG

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Re: Life after defeat for the GOP
« Reply #486 on: February 25, 2015, 06:31:43 PM »
Mitt Romney's Niece Picked To Head Michigan Republican Party
by AP

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Michigan Republicans picked a niece of Mitt Romney on Saturday to lead the state party for the next two years.

Ronna Romney McDaniel got 55 percent of the vote on the first ballot before delegates made the selection unanimous. Bobby Schostak didn't seek another two-year term after four years as chairman.

Republicans control the state Capitol but haven't delivered Michigan to a GOP presidential candidate since 1988. President Barack Obama defeated Romney, a Michigan native, and picked up the state's electoral votes in 2012.

"We might not agree on everything, but we can agree that seven years of liberal Obama policies have a destructive effect on our nation and we need to get a Republican in the White House through Michigan in 2016," McDaniel, 41, of Northville, told the convention.

The other candidates for party chair were Norm Hughes, who worked for former President Ronald Reagan, and Kim Shmina, a nurse.

Mike Farage of Grand Rapids said he voted for McDaniel partly because she wants to make the party more appealing to minorities — "the elephant in the room" for Republicans.

Republicans made some changes in local leadership Friday night as Norm Shinkle in the 8th District and Paul Welday in the 14th District were defeated.

Gov. Rick Snyder, who was re-elected in November, recorded a video greeting but didn't attend the convention while he recovers from a blood clot in his leg, spokesman Dave Murray said.

Looks as retarded at Terry Schiavo.  LMFAO.

BayGBM

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Re: Life after defeat for the GOP
« Reply #487 on: February 26, 2015, 03:26:02 AM »
Looks as retarded at Terry Schiavo.  LMFAO.

Not a flattering portrait, true.  Presumably she does not always look like this.  :-\

LurkerNoMore

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Re: Life after defeat for the GOP
« Reply #488 on: February 26, 2015, 06:14:34 AM »
Not a flattering portrait, true.  Presumably she does not always look like this.  :-\

She has the Sean Allen Gum Effect going on...

BayGBM

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Re: Life after defeat for Mitt Romney
« Reply #489 on: March 19, 2015, 04:04:03 PM »
Mitt Romney Exclusive: Former GOP presidential candidate talks Clintons and facing off against Evander Holyfield
By Jon Ward

Former Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney told Yahoo Global News Anchor Katie Couric in an exclusive interview Wednesday that he decided not to run for president a third time for a simple reason.
 
“It just didn’t feel right,” Romney said in his first interview since deciding at the end of January not to mount another campaign. “Somehow, it just didn’t feel like this was the right time for us to step forward.”
 
He said, “I would love to be president. I just concluded I was not the best person to carry forward the Republican torch.”
 
If he had run, Romney said, he would have spent “a great deal of time taking my message to Hispanic Americans and to other minority groups in this country — African Americans, Asian Americans — and describing why it is that conservative principles are best for them and for their families.
 
“That’s something I wish I would’ve spent a lot more time doing” in 2012, he said.
 
The 68-year-old former Massachusetts governor told supporters at the time he announced he would not run again that he thought he could have won the nomination had he fought for it. And he has told advisers that he doubts any of the prospective Republican candidates will have trouble beating the expected Democratic nominee, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
 
Romney, speaking with Yahoo News at his son Craig’s home in San Diego, heaped praise Wednesday on several of those Republicans — including former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) — and he even had kind words for Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), who had been outspoken in saying that Romney should not run.
 
“A lotta young people are very excited about Rand Paul. And of course, there’s a libertarian strain in my party, and he’s connected with a lotta folks who wanna see us take a different course as a party,” Romney said. “I mean, more power to him as he expresses his views.”
 
Romney said he does not plan to endorse anyone in the crowded Republican field, but he called Bush “a sound, effective governor” and “a very formidable and capable candidate.”
 
“And I think he’d be a very good president,” Romney said.
 
He was effusive in his praise for Walker, calling him “a man of integrity and character.”
 
“He was one that faced a recall, fought for his agenda; it was supported by the people of Wisconsin. I think a guy like that really has stood the test of a very close inspection,” Romney said. “I think he makes a very compelling case to become a nominee.”
 
And Romney said that Rubio “has really distinguished himself” on foreign policy, which may be a major issue in the coming 2016 presidential election.

On the Democratic side of the 2016 field, Romney said that the controversy over Clinton’s use of a private email address that routed through a server stored in her home was “a mess.”
 
“I mean, it’s always something with the Clintons,” he said. “They have rules which they describe before they get into something, and then they decide they don’t have to follow their own rules. And that, I think, is gonna be a real problem for her. ...
 
“She didn’t follow the rules and regulations of the federal government,” Romney said.
 
A bigger challenge for Clinton in 2016, said Romney, would be to explain and defend what he referred to as “the Hillary Clinton/Barack Obama foreign policy.” He faulted Clinton’s attempt to “reset” relations with Russia and the Obama administration for not reaching a status of forces agreement with Iraq that would have left a residual force of U.S. troops on the ground there.
 
“That would’ve helped dissuade the creation of ISIS,” Romney said.

Romney called President Obama “the Pete Carroll of foreign-policy play calls,” a reference to the Seattle Seahawks football coach, who was maligned for his decision to throw a pass during a goal line play in the final seconds of this year’s Super Bowl. The pass was intercepted, and the Seahawks lost to the New England Patriots.
 
“In Syria, we should’ve worked with moderate voices there, armed them to make sure we could topple [Syrian dictator Bashar] Assad, as opposed to have this ongoing circumstance, which has allowed ISIS to grow,” Romney said. “And then ISIS begins to grow and thrive, and we’re not ready. We’re not there to immediately respond as they come rushing into Iraq.”
 
He said, “I’m afraid you’re gonna have to see more American military involvement in order to keep ISIS from spreading even further.” He expressed hope that the bulk of ground troops fighting Islamic State forces in the Middle East would be sent from “Turkey or Saudi Arabia or others. ... But I think, as the president of the United States, you have to say that we will defeat ISIS, period. Full stop. And we will do what’s necessary for that to happen,” he said.

Romney himself has been the subject of some criticism lately from former Obama adviser David Axelrod, who wrote in his recently released book that on election night in 2012, when Romney called to concede, he made an ungracious comment about the president owing his re-election to African American voters.
 
Obama was irritated during the call, according to Axelrod, and upon hanging up, he paraphrased Romney as having said to him, “You really did a great job of getting the vote out in places like Cleveland and Milwaukee.”
 
“In other words, black people,” Obama said, according to Axelrod. “That’s what he thinks this was all about.”
 
Romney told Yahoo News that he hadn’t made any race-related insinuations during his concession call.
 
“I certainly did not,” he said. “Sometimes misunderstandings occur. ... I remember going into the room with a few of my staff people, picking up the phone and being as gracious as I could possibly be at a very difficult time, and congratulating the president on winning and congratulating him on having a good campaign and running a good campaign. I may well have said what a good job they did turning people out, because they did,” Romney said. “By the way, I don’t even know what happened in Milwaukee, so some of those quotes are obviously a misunderstanding.
 
“But I had nothing but congratulations for the president and positive feelings that I expressed to him,” he said.
 
Now that he is no longer in politics, Romney said, he will divide his time between business, philanthropy, and spending time with his wife and family.
 
“People in politics always say they’re spending time with their family, but in my case, it’s a big family,” he said, laughing. “We got 23 grandkids, so I get to spend a lotta time with them, and it’s extraordinarily enjoyable.”

Romney will put his fame to good use in May, when he’ll step into a boxing ring with former heavyweight champion Evander Holyfield for a charity match to raise money for CharityVision, which gives medical support to blind people.
 
Romney cautioned that the event “will not be a true bout. ... I think there’ll be a lot of Democrats there paying good money to see me get beaten up,” he joked.
 
That clearly won’t happen. What’s not clear is whether Romney will strip down to a pair of boxing shorts for the match. He said Wednesday that this is his plan.
 
“You don’t go in there wearing a T-shirt, you know,” he said.
 
Romney’s wife, Ann, said that she has “already made the physical therapy appointments after the bout.”

BayGBM

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Re: Life after defeat for Mitt Romney
« Reply #490 on: May 08, 2015, 05:16:06 AM »
Mitt Romney convenes 2016 contenders, donors for Utah retreat
By Robert Costa

Mitt Romney, who earlier this year decided against a third presidential bid after briefly flirting with a run, will jump back into the national political scene next month when he hosts GOP presidential hopefuls and some of the party’s biggest donors in Utah.

Romney’s 2015 E2 Summit will take place June 11-13 in Deer Valley, a ski resort east of Salt Lake City, according to an invitation obtained Thursday by The Washington Post.

Confirmed speakers from the likely 2016 Republican field include Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, Sen. Marco Rubio (Fla.), New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Ohio Gov. John Kasich, and Sen. Lindsey Graham (S.C.).

Former Florida governor Jeb Bush, long seen as a Romney rival due to tensions between their camps, was invited but will not attend, per a Romney ally.

“The format will be similar to that of the past, with speakers on a range of topics throughout the day and outdoor enthusiast activities each morning and Saturday afternoon,” wrote Spencer Zwick, Romney’s former national finance chairman, in the invitation to Romney’s associates.

Zwick, Romney’s political confidant since the 2012 election, has so far remained uncommitted in the 2016 race. He has frequently expressed hope to Romney’s friends that the former Massachusetts governor will rethink the decision to forgo another campaign, which he announced in late January after weeks of consideration.

But Romney has resisted the encouragement. After watching Bush collect significant support from the Republican Party’s establishment, he and many of his advisers at the time were unsure of how he would fare.

The summer affair is Romney’s fourth annual summit. The events began as a way for him to personally connect with the power brokers and financiers backing his political operation. The theme of this year’s gathering is the “strength and future of American leadership.”

Other speakers listed are Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.), American Enterprise Institute president Arthur Brooks, journalist Katie Couric, former defense secretary Robert Gates, former treasury secretary Lawrence H. Summers, and former Obama adviser David Axelrod, among others.


andreisdaman

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Re: Life after defeat for Mitt Romney
« Reply #491 on: May 08, 2015, 06:56:13 AM »
I'mm having second thoughts about Mitt running...it may have been a mistake for him to have droped out so soon....if you look at Jeb's apparent weakness so far, Romney could have been the frontrunner possibly..

BayGBM

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Re: Life after defeat for Mitt Romney
« Reply #492 on: May 09, 2015, 08:15:53 AM »
"I know I lost twice and dropped out of the race this time before it began, but I still want to be relevant.  Pay attention to me!"  ::)

andreisdaman

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Re: Life after defeat for Mitt Romney
« Reply #493 on: May 09, 2015, 12:05:58 PM »
"I know I lost twice and dropped out of the race this time before it began, but I still want to be relevant.  Pay attention to me!"  ::)

might be angling for a cabinet post........Secretary of the Treasury???....we know he sure loves money

BayGBM

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Re: Life after defeat for Mitt Romney
« Reply #494 on: May 09, 2015, 07:34:20 PM »
might be angling for a cabinet post........Secretary of the Treasury???....we know he sure loves money

His ego could not handle being in someone's cabinet.  It is not the way Romney thinks of himself; Romney sees himself as the biggest fish in every pond.  He is smarter, richer, better, more worthy, more capable, etc.  Watching someone else campaign and win the brass ring that he failed (twice) to win is not something he could do.  It takes being a bigger person than he is to do that.  See Hillary.

BayGBM

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Re: Life after defeat for Mitt Romney
« Reply #495 on: May 16, 2015, 04:39:56 AM »
Mitt Romney lasts 2 rounds against Holyfield in boxing match
by Brian Skoloff

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Former Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney and five-time heavyweight boxing champion Evander Holyfield squared off in the ring Friday at a charity fight night event in Salt Lake City.

Romney, 68, and Holyfield, 52, sparred, if you could call it that, for just two short rounds before Romney ran away from the boxer and threw in the towel, giving up a round early in the lighthearted fight that came amid several other fights by professional boxers and an auction.

The two barely threw any punches and largely just danced around, occasionally lightly jabbing each other in the midsection in what was much more of a comedic event than an actual bout.

The black-tie affair raised money for the Utah-based organization CharityVision, which helps doctors in developing countries perform surgeries to restore vision in people with curable blindness.

Romney's son Josh Romney, who lives in Utah, serves as a volunteer president for CharityVision.

Corporate sponsorships for the event ranged from $25,000 to $250,000. Organizers say they raised at least $1 million.

"He said, 'You know what? You float like a bee and sting like a butterfly,'" Romney said after the fight.
Attendees just enjoyed the festive atmosphere and the chance to see Romney in the ring.

"Oh, it was great. I was very proud of Mitt," said Katie Anderson, who attended the event with her husband.

"I was happy it went to the second round," Devin Anderson said.

Romney, the most-high profile Mormon in America, is hugely popular in the state, where more than 60 percent of the residents are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Beyond his religious connections, the former Massachusetts governor is remembered by many for turning around Salt Lake City's 2002 Winter Olympics after a bribery scandal.

Romney has recently built a home in the Salt Lake City area and registered as a Utah voter.

BayGBM

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Re: Life after defeat for Mitt Romney
« Reply #496 on: May 16, 2015, 04:45:21 AM »
He would never get my vote, but he gets my salute for his sense of humor here and entering the ring for charity at 68.  Had he been more authentic, humorous, and personable he would have won more support. I hope he spends his life in philanthropy and fundraising for needy causes.

andreisdaman

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Re: Life after defeat for Mitt Romney
« Reply #497 on: May 18, 2015, 01:00:30 PM »
To be honest he looks really good for a man his age....I wonder if he lifts?

Jack T. Cross

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Re: Life after defeat for Mitt Romney
« Reply #498 on: May 18, 2015, 05:05:30 PM »
To be honest he looks really good for a man his age....I wonder if he lifts?

Romney is the white guy.

BayGBM

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Re: Life after defeat for Mitt Romney
« Reply #499 on: June 13, 2015, 05:25:39 AM »
Mitt Romney gives a brutal PowerPoint critique of Obama’s foreign policy
By Philip Rucker and Robert Costa

PARK CITY, Utah — Ever since Mitt Romney’s loss to President Obama in 2012, it has become a mantra in the Republican Party that on foreign policy especially, “Romney was right.”

In a stuffy mountain lodge here Friday night, Romney joined the chorus. Dusting off a page from his management consulting playbook, the former Republican nominee delivered a speech by PowerPoint to more than 200 corporate CEOs and other attendees of his annual ideas festival about what he deemed (and titled his slides): “The Most Consequential Obama Foreign Policy Mistakes.”

Slide by slide, Romney ticked through 20 mistakes, from Obama’s “Middle East apology tour” to the president’s lack of support for Iran’s green revolution to the administration’s infamous “reset” with Russia.

“With all that bad news, is it not true that arguably President Obama is the worst foreign policy president in history?” Romney asked. “I think he is.”

Next came the slides about Obama’s first-term secretary of state, Hillary Rodham Clinton, the Democratic presidential front-runner. First, Romney showed a map of the globe, colored in for all the countries she visited.

Then he mocked her.

“Secretary of Schlep,” the next slide read.

“She was everywhere,” Romney said, but he insisted she made “mistake after mistake after mistake.”

In the back of the room, Robert Gates — Obama’s former secretary of defense, Clinton’s Cabinet Room ally and a featured speaker at the Romney conclave — listened awkwardly alongside news anchor Katie Couric.

Romney’s use of PowerPoint to illustrate his frustrations with Obama’s leadership was perhaps the most telling moment of his three-day E2 (for Experts and Enthusiasts) gathering, a donor confab that drew six presidential candidates as featured guests.

The presentation hinted at the kind of president Romney would have been — technocratic and hawkish. At one point, he showed how he would have reorganized the State Department bureaucracy by dividing the map into color-coded regions to exert soft power, much the way military commanders do at the Pentagon.

It also underscored his continued and keen interest in global affairs during his political winter. After critiquing Obama, Romney laid out a plan for getting the United States on what he called “the right course.”

“Strengthen, organize and strategize,” Romney said. “By the way, that’s S.O.S., and we do need help.”

Romney’s blame was not directed solely at Obama. He called former president George W. Bush’s 2003 invasion of Iraq “a mistake.”

“I certainly supported it at the time, but today, given what we know, it was a mistake,” Romney said.

Romney reserved particular ire for Russian President Vladimir Putin. In the 2012 campaign, he was mocked for saying Russia was “our number-one geopolitical foe,” although many GOP analysts now say he has been proven prescient by Putin’s aggression in Ukraine.

With a slide titled, “What’s Putin’s strategy?” Romney deplored the reach of Putin’s propaganda. “Russia TV,” he said. “I mean, I turn on my TV here — and there’s RT!”

After Romney finished his speech to respectful applause, loyalists whispered that he could be positioning to be secretary of state in the next Republican administration.

But the atmosphere shifted quickly — and in a most undiplomatic way. The projection screens moved from Romney’s PowerPoint presentation to video clips of Romney, shirtless and sweating, in his charity boxing match with heavyweight champion Evander Holyfield.