Romney Distances Himself from Bush

According to an article posted on the online journal, The Politico, former Massachusetts Governor and current candidate for the GOP Presidential nomination, is making an effort to distance himself from Republican President George W. Bush. Speaking to 800 of his fundraisers, Romney, without naming the President, made it clear that he sees a need to change the direction of the United States from what it currently is.

The Politico quotes Romney as saying, "We're going to have to get ourselves back on track again so that we can remain the powerful nation we've always been -- powerful not just by our strength and our economic vitality, but powerful because of our goodness and the greatness of the American spirit. And that's what the campaign is about."

The GOP candidates have so far refrained from open criticism of Bush, but polls that show the majority of Americans opposed to the current direction of the country have led Romney to put some distance between himself and the President.

According to the Politico, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani also indirectly criticized President Bush a few weeks ago, saying that what the nation is lacking "is strong, aggressive, bold leadership like we had with Ronald Reagan."

In his remarks, which were partly intended to fire up his fundraisers for the work ahead, Romney reminded them that they had raised more money in the last quarter than any other Republican running for the nomination. He then urged them to continue to work hard, saying, "We pushed you all as hard as we possibly could to raise as much money as we thought we could possibly raise." He added, "Why don't we bring everybody in for one more last squeeze." The squeeze, Romney continued, should be administered "to everybody you know, everybody you thought of knowing."

During the rally, Romney had campaign officials from the Iowa and New Hampshire sites talk about how well Romney is doing in those states. The Politico noted that Massachusetts candidates scored New Hampshire primary wins in the 1988, 1992 and 2004 primaries.

A humorous moment came during the rally when Tagg Romney, the oldest son of the candidate, talked about his experiences speaking on behalf of his father at conservative Bob Jones University in South Carolina, not a promising place to campaign for a Mormon. "For those of you who don't know," the Politico quotes the younger Romney, "Bob Jones University is a very, uh, very, uh, well-known conservative--he's [Mitt Romney] nervous I'm going to say something I shouldn't have." He added, "It was one of the most fantastic experiences I've had."

Sources:

www.politico.com/news/stories/0607/4631.html
www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1856090/posts