Posts Tagged ‘Mitt Romney’
McDonnell to attend Romney retreat with VP hopefuls
Governor Bob McDonnell will be among a select group of republican leaders asked to huddle with the Romney presidential campaign this weekend in Park City, Utah.
The Washington Post reported that the pow-wow will feature major donors and a group of potential running mates for Mitt Romney in the fall election.
The governor’s office confirmed Wednesday that he will be there and is expected to deliver an address at the event Saturday night.
McDonnell has been considered on the VP short list since before Romney even secured the nomination. He has already campaigned extensively for the presumptive GOP nominee. McDonnell, like most potential candidates for VP, has been very coy about his conversations with the Romney camp. He told WTOP radio last month that he was not being vetted. He later said that he wouldn’t talk about the vetting process in specifics.
Overall, a difficult legislative session that forced the governor into the middle of several controversial debates, has hurt his stock on the VP short list. However he remains a popular governor in one of the most competitive swing states in America.
His invitation to this exclusive event would indicate that he is still very much in the running.
McDonnell plays it cool on Veepstakes
It is, without a doubt, the one issue that brings Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell the most attention. But when asked, McDonnell makes it seem that, being a potential running mate for Mitt Romney, is the furthest thing from his mind.
His focus, he will tell you, is “governing”. Wrapping up the state budget process and overseeing whatever particular initiative his office is taking on. On Wednesday it was a new program that will offer ID cards to Virginia veterans.
Even politically, McDonnell claims that being the nominee for Vice President is low on his list of priorities. He often sites his work in 13 gubernatorial races as Chairman of the Republican Governor’s Association and acting as a surrogate for Romney. He believes that work is more important than the frequent attention he receives as a potential VP nominee.
“I’m not asking for it, I’m not expecting it, I’m not sitting around waiting for the phone to ring,” McDonnell said. “I will do what I can to help him (Romney).”
McDonnell told WTOP radio earlier in the week that he has not been asked to submit any information for what is usually a rigorous vetting process. The comment set off a series of national speculation that he was out of the running. McDonnell acted today as if that was no big deal.
“I don’t think it means anything,” he said. “I told Mitt Romney that I will help him in any way that I can.”
There are reports that the Romney campaign has begun the vetting process, but not one potential candidate has confirmed that they are being investigated.
McDonnell seems to not care either way.
But it’s not just what McDonnell says when it comes to the Veepstakes, it is also the way he acts. Both tell you that he is working hard to play it cool, while at the same time doing everything he can to position himself to be picked.
Wednesday during his event honoring Veterans, McDonnell didn’t get annoyed with questions about his Vice Presidential prospects, but he also didn’t just reject them outright. He stuck to his typical talking points (“I’m not asking for it, I’m not expecting it” is his go-to line) while touting his work building a foundation for a grass-roots operation for Romney team. It could be a way to show that he is ready to deliver the state come November.
He also is playing both sides of this tight rope in his work as governor. McDonnell, who is in the twilight of his governorship, has by no means decided to coast. He fought vigorously for his priorities in the state budget and continues to offer new initiatives and give every indication that he plans to see his legacy through. At the same time he has embarked on a statewide tour highlighting his administrations accomplishments and his campaign arm bought a significant amount of television time to tout his work in a slick 30 second ad. This, despite the fact that he isn’t running for anything.
Democrats have claimed that McDonnell made both moves to re-boost his popularity to make him a more attractive VP pick. They dubbed his tour of the Commonwealth as his “pick me tour”. McDonnell’s statewide popularity and national profile took a hit after a brutal legislative session that put him in the middle of controversial abortion and gun control legislation.
So after all of this, just where does McDonnell stand? There is no doubt that he has slipped a bit in the rankings. Prior to the lumps taken in the legislative session, McDonnell was regularly considered to be in the top 5 of most speculative polls, now he is considered to be somewhere around the top 10 and holding. Being picked as a VP nominee requires an incredible amount of good fortune together all at once, most of which is outside of your control. McDonnell really has no choice but to just play it cool. There isn’t much else he can do.
That doesn’t mean he is out of the running. Virginia remains one of, if not the most, competitive state in election. His approval rating, despite dropping, remains among the highest in his state of potential VP picks. While big names pop up and gain momentum from time to time, McDonnell has to hope he can remain consistently in the mix and when the time comes to make a final choice, that his attributes fit what Romney needs to get him over the top.
Until then, he will do what the campaign needs and just remain “cool”.
An extended clip from McDonnell’s remarks on the VP search can be seen below:
Buying A Voice: Obama airs 2 minute attack ad
It aired about a week ago during the NBC12 6pm newscast, a unique ad for a candidate for president. The Barack Obama re-election campaign purchased a two-minute block of time to air a mini-documentary attack Mitt Romney‘s business record.
As campaign ad’s go, this came at a pretty small cost. Obama for America spent only $83 thousand nationwide.
But the way it was presented, and the charges it levels, has led to headaches for both sides.
Here is the ad, in its entirety:
The two-minute ad only aired once on NBC12 and other stations in selectively picked cities. It attacks Romney’s old investment firm Bain Capital.
“Bain capital walked away with a lot of money that they made off of this plant,” says a former worker recruited by the Obama campaign to talk about their experience with the Bain takeover.
The video has been watched close to a half a million times on the internet, and according to Obama Deputy Campaign Manager Stephanie Cutter, airing it only once on t-v was enough to get the point across.
“It was a way for us to get some of the facts out there that he’s not going to tell you,” said Cutter.
But the day the ad debuted, a former Obama economic adviser argued on MSNBC that Bain and Romney played didn’t do anything wrong.
‘This is part of capitalism, this is part of life,” said Stephen Rattner. “I don’t think there’s anything Bain Capital did that they need to be embarrassed about.'”
Then Sunday on Meet the Press, Newark Mayor Cory Booker, a Obama supporter, cautioned the campaign to tread lightly on attacking private equity.
“They’ve done a lot to support businesses, to grow businesses. And this to me, I’m very uncomfortable with,” Booker said. Booker later softened his comments, and Cutter argues that Mitt Romney is not running to be the country’s investment banker, and if he were it would be all about him.
“It wasn’t about job creation, it wasn’t about long-term economic growth,” Cuter said. “It was about wealth creation and he was pretty good at it.”
The question, is that record good for the average voter?
TELL US WHAT YOU THINK!
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Obama campaign attempts to drag Romney into Thorne-Begland controversy
Stephanie Cutter is an important player in the Obama for America campaign infrastructure. As Deputy Campaign Manager, there is only one staff member higher on the organizational chart. As a regular surrogate for the campaign she regularly drives the discussion in frequent television and media appearances.
Cutter was on a local satellite tour Wednesday to talk about the campaign’s two-minute ad that attacks their opponent Mitt Romney‘s career at Bain Capital, a private equity firm. NBC12 was one of the stations where the ad aired, and we talked to Cutter about its impact on the election. Most of the interview as about the economy, but it was a general question about the shift back to the economy after a week talking about social issues where Cutter took the opportunity to wade into a very local issue. The failed nomination of Richmond prosecutor Tracy Thorne-Begland as District Judge.
Thorne- Begland is openly gay and made a very prominent stand against “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” during his time in the Military. His activism prompted conservative members of the Virginia House of Delegates to prevent his nomination from going forward. Cutter knew all about the fight and was not afraid to attack the GOP lead Virginia House of Delegates.
“I think that when things like this happen in this country and specifically Virginia, it turns people off,” Cutter said. “The man is overly qualified to be a judge and this is a real leadership moment for some people in Virginia.”
While the Thorne-Begland controversy has grown well outside Richmond to media reports in numerous national outlets, the battle is over a relatively low-level judgeship. One primarily responsible for traffic tickets and vandalism. Important, no doubt, but more Judge Harry Stone, than Judge Thurgood Marshall. The basis of the battle, the fight over gay rights was enough for Cutter to call out the republican candidate for president of the United States.
“I think that it is an opportunity for Mitt Romney to stand up and say what the legislature did is just plain wrong,” she said. “I don’t know if he will show that type of leadership, he hasn’t so far.
The Romney campaign had no interest in wading into this hyper-local issue that could put them at odds with republicans in Virginia.
“This is yet another example of how President Obama and his campaign would rather talk about anything other than his failed economic record,” said Curt Cashour, a Romney campaign spokesman.
The Romney Team did not specifically address the Thorne-Begland nomination at all. They chose not to support or condemn the House of Delegates move. Instead they tried to put the focus back on the Obama economic record.
“Obama’s presidency just hasn’t lived up to the promise of his 2008 campaign, and after more than three years in office, Americans are still suffering through one of the worst job markets in history,” Cashour said.
Meanwhile the battle over what is normally an easy nomination appears over. Andy Jenks today ran down all 36 members of the House of Delegates who didn’t vote to see how they would’ve voted, and why they decided to leave town. There appears to be no momentum to re-nominate Thorne- Begland who has gone back to his job as a prosecutor in the Richmond Commonwealths Attorney’s Office.
But while the battle is over, it appears the remnants of the is fight will continue on well into November.
You can see extended clips from Cutter’s remarks below:
Romney plans big Virginia swing around Obama launch event
Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney will appear at four different events in Virginia over the next two weeks. The Romney swing represents the first significant amount of time the republican has spent in the Commonwealth since taking control of the GOP nomination for president. It also comes around the same time as President Barack Obama plans a major event at VCU in Richmond to formally launch his 2012 campaign.
Romney will appear by himself at an event in Chantilly Wednesday morning and then a fundraiser with Governor Bob McDonnell that evening in Northern Virginia. McDonnell will then join Romney at an event at a business in Portsmouth Thursday afternoon. Finally Romney will return to Virginia next Saturday May 12th to serve as the commencement speaker at Liberty University in Lynchburg. First Lady Michelle Obama will deliver the commencement address at Virginia Tech the day before Romney’s Liberty event on Friday May 11th.
The dual focus on Virginia comes as a new poll released by the left leaning Public Policy Polling shows Obama holding a 7 point lead in the Old Dominion. This poll follows two surveys from other services that show Romney leading by a smaller margin. The Real Clear Politics polling average gives the president a 2.5 point lead.
The visit will also increase the speculation about Governor McDonnell as a possible running mate to Romney. McDonnell has emerged as a top surrogate for the new presumptive nominee and this will be our first opportunity to see the two in what could be a ticket leading into the fall.
We will have complete coverage of th Romney Virginia swing this week on Decision Virginia and NBC12.
McDonnell chides Obama on campaign “kickoff”
Governor Bob McDonnell is a prominent Mitt Romney supporter so it is not a surprise that he doesn’t share the same enthusiasm about Barack Obama‘s upcoming visit to Virginia as the wide-eyed Obama volunteers who we featured Wednesday night.
But that doesn’t mean he can’t appreciate the significance of the Obama campaign picking Richmond as one of two locations to kickoff off the president’s re-election bid.
“We are going to see plenty of the candidates, that’s good,” McDonnell said. “Most people ignore Virginia because they think it is going one way or the other. But this is going to be a real competitive race.”
But McDonnell stops short of buying into the notion that Saturday May, 5th is really the start of the Obama campaign.
“Well he’s been campaigning for the last two years so it’s really not the kickoff to the campaign,” he said.
The republicans seem intent to remind everyone that the president has been spending a lot of time in swing states. Events that may not have been campaign events, but ones that played to audiences that will play a key role in his re-election. House Speaker John Boehner was among those who said the White House was campaigning on the taxpayer’s dime. The Speaker even called on the Obama campaign to reimburse the federal government for the president’s recent trip to college campuses to drum up support for an extension on lower student loan rates.
The Obama campaign deflected the criticism and argued that the president’s travel is not out of the ordinary for a Commander-in-Chief. Even one seeking reelection.
McDonnell said regardless of how many times Obama comes to Virginia it can’t change what he views as policies that have not worked.
“No matter what the president may say that doesn’t change the fact that we are $16 trillion dollars in debt and unemployment is at 8.3%.”
Expect McDonnell to be front and center as a chief surrogate for the Romney campaign, there to rebut the president’s speech and offer the alternative perspective.
See an extended clip from Governor McDonnell’s remarks below:
Poll shows positive signs for Obama in Virginia
President Barack Obama has made Virginia an important focus and it is paying off. A new poll from Quinnipiac shows Obama opening up his largest lead in the 2012 campaign. He is up 8 points. The poll also revealed that Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell would have a negligible impact on the ultimate outcome of the race.
See the full poll on Quinnipiac’s web site
It is early, but the Obama campaign has to be thankful that their work leading to success. Team Obama already has a great deal of paid staff on the ground and the president has made many visits to the commonwealth. Democrats also believe that their work drawing attention to controversial bills in the General Assembly on abortion and gun rights are having an impact. According to this poll, Obama leads Mitt Romney among women 52%-39%.
Of course it is very early and Romney paid no attention to Virginia during the GOP primary because of the lack of competition. He has almost no organized staff on the ground here and his only visits have been private fundraisers. And it is also worth mentioning that he is not the official nominee quite yet.
I have more on what this poll means in the context of the 2012 race on NBC12.com.
RICHMOND (WWBT)- The topsy-turvy Virginia political picture took another turn today, with a new poll that is filled with good news for President Obama. It is just one poll, but democrats are very satisfied with what it says in many key areas that will be vital to the November election.
It is still a very close race, but it appears that President Obama’s intense focus on the commonwealth is starting to pay off. A new poll conducted by Quinnipiac shows the Obama- Biden ticket with their largest lead in Virginia, 8 points over Mitt Romney.
Democrats credit the intense focus on social issues in the recent general assembly session as part of their success. They have coordinated on all levels to bring a bright focus to bills, sponsored by republicans impacting abortion and guns.
That may have pushed Obama to a 52%- 39% lead with women.
But republicans have yet to pick a candidate. While Romney is in the lead, The GOP nomination isn’t sealed. On CNN Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell said the long primary is not a problem.
“He’s getting more and more endorsements from key people, conservatives, independents, moderates,” said McDonnell, Romney supporter. “I think he’ll be the nominee and I think it will be by June.”
read and see the whole story on NBC12.com.
Virginia primary: by the numbers
It was largely an uneventful night in the Commonwealth of Virginia, but we did learn a little bit about the electorate and where it may lead us in November. For the most part the news was mostly good for former Massachussettes Gov. Mitt Romney.
Here is a look at some of the more interesting numbers that came out of Tuesday nights vote:
VA Primary Results:
Delegate breakdown:
*Total up grabs- 46
*Romney- 43
*Paul- 3
Exit Polls
(If all had made the ballot)
Romney- 40%
Paul- 24%
Santorum- 20%
Gingrich- 13%
Geographic Results
Romney vote totals
Richmond area- 59%
Hampton Roads- 58%
D.C. Suburbs- 59%
Northern VA- 52%
Total Turnout
263,186 of 5,155,342 total voters (5.105%)
Now on to the general election for Virginia voters.. no rest for the political talk as President Barack Obama comes to Prince George on Friday.
Super Tuesday in Virginia
Today is the biggest day in the Republican Presidential Primary contest, but unfortunately Virginia’s role is expected to be a minor one. With only Mitt Romney and Ron Paul on the ballot, Virginia was not really in play. None of the candidates made much of an effort to garner votes and as a result the focus will be on other states with closer contests and more delegates at stake.
However, that doesn’t mean the vote is not important. Virginia will still contribute 49 delegates to the eventual GOP nominee and the state is still one of the most important come the fall election. We will have complete coverage today on air and on-line. Including the latest returns when the polls close at 7pm.
Also.. today on NBC12 First at 4, we will talk live with DNC Chairperson Debbie Wasserman Schultz. Democrats are ready to put Virginia in play for November, wasting no time after the Virginia primary. President Barack Obama will visit the Central Virginia on Friday.
Update: In addition to Rep. Wasserman Schultz, I will also be joined by Virginia Victory Chairman Pete Snyder. Synder is a close ally of Governor McDonnell and rumored to be considering a run for statewide office in Virginia.
As always, I’ll be looking for your view of what is happening at your polling location. Send me your tweets @ryanobles or post your perspective on my facebook page. I’ll update what you are seeing throughout the day.
Our Tayleigh Davis was at a polling location in Church Hill from the time it opened at 6 am until 7 and did not see one voter. Church Hill is not a very GOP heavy area, but the fact that not one voter showed up to cast their ballot, could give us an idea as to how slow the turnout will be today.
The view from the ground:
@PatrickSmithRVA just voted at gordon elementary, was voter number 261. crazy low turnout today.
@MzInvestigator I was # 125 to vote. That’s 80 people on my precinct since 1:00.
@BradfordAmbrose Just voted with my mom for the first time at the Dorey Park Precinct in Eastern Henrico. We were the only two voters in sight.
@bollach- at 9:42 I was the 47th in my precinct (Southampton Baptist serving Stratford Hills/Oxford/Cherokee).
@frashure At 1:30 I was the 85th voter at my precinct in Prince George. That’s 0.004% of registered voters in the county.
@Joseph_Taylor: I was voter 16 at 8:30, one campaign worker for Paul/Bob Marshall outside. I voted for Ron Paul
@notashamed87: I voted at 7:40 in Mangohick. I was #7. #5, #6 and #8 were there, too. Polling lady said, “We’re having a rush!”
@MzInvestigator: my bf just voted at Beulah precinct in chesterfield. He was #48.
@taotetek: Just got back from the Battery Park polling place – no one else there but the workers, I was voter #8
@MCPollock: It was a very slow day, at about 8:30, only about 12 had voted at my precinct #204, I voted for @MittRomney
@blairmatfleet: I voted 4 #RonPaul in Hanover at about 10:30. I was the 51st vote at my precinct.
@AndyJenksNBC12: The media gathered at Main St. Station outnumber the actual number of voters (6) since the polls opened. http://t.co/cZNkQ1Hs
Kristen Bartholow Anderl Only 27 people so far at Providence Middle School by the time I voted at 815. It was a ghost town.
Jeff Dzado – I saw a whole lot of nothing at my polling place. The place was a ghost town except for the 3 or 5 workers.
@pjsykes- 6:30am about 7 people were working but I was the only one voting. I didn’t see any other voters leaving/arriving.
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This morning I previewed what to expect from the Virginia primary on NBC12 News Today. You can see my chat with Gray Hall and Heather Sullivan below:
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