Posted on 11/02/2011 3:53:16 PM PDT by markomalley
Republican presidential contender Mitt Romney is quietly courting the Tea Party as it becomes increasingly clear that the conservative grass-roots movement, which has stubbornly refused to embrace him, represents a bigger threat to Romney's quest for his party's nomination than any of his rivals.
Less than two months before the Iowa caucuses, Romney is skipping a major Iowa event Friday -- where every other GOP hopeful will be -- to deliver a keynote speech on fiscal policy to the conservative advocacy group Americans for Prosperity.
Americans for Prosperity is led by billionaire Republican donor David Koch, whose endorsement Romney seeks. An Oct. 4 internal Romney campaign memo obtained by The Washington Examiner describes Koch as the "financial engine of the Tea Party" even though Koch "denies being directly involved." Koch endorsed Romney for president in 2008 and his well-funded group is credited with electing dozens of Republicans to Congress in 2010 and creating a network of Tea Party loyalists who are critical to Romney's chances of winning the nomination, political strategists say.
"In many national surveys, Romney has had difficulty breaking 25 percent in support and that's because [Tea Party] conservatives are suspicious of him and doubt his commitment to their issues," said Darrell West, vice president of government studies for the Brookings Institution. "He's courting the Tea Party because he needs them to win."
Members of the Tea Party, which emerged in 2009 to demand smaller government and fiscal austerity, have so far rejected Romney as beholden to the Republican establishment.
"Our vote is split up among so many candidates -- none of whom are Romney," said Judson Phillips, co-founder of Tea Party Nation, a 50,000-member group within the national movement.
"Romney's problem with a lot of Tea Party voters, myself included, is at this point I don't know what he believes and I don't care -- because even if he tells me: 'When I get to the White House I'm going to be fiscally conservative,' he will probably change his mind, depending on which way the political winds are blowing."
Romney defends the government's 2008 bank bailouts and he once supported abortion rights, gay rights and gun control, which contrasts sharply to the positions backed by most Tea Party voters. His mere attendance at a Tea Party Express rally in August sparked a protest from another Tea Party-affiliated group, FreedomWorks.
Behind the scenes, Romney has been trying to win an endorsement from Koch, who has made no endorsements in the current race though he backed Romney for president in 2008.
Romney reached out to Koch in early October after New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who Koch is said to support, decided against a run for president, the internal campaign memo shows.
Romney spokesman Ryan Williams declined to comment on the relationship between Romney and Koch.
The memo says Romney was scheduled to meet with Koch on Aug. 28 at the billionaire's home in Southampton, N.Y. -- where Koch held a major event for Romney in 2010 -- but Hurricane Irene foiled their plans. The two last met in January for lunch in Manhattan at the Links Club, an elite social club for avid golfers.
Calls to Koch's office were not returned.
Hey Romney here is one tea partier that is telling you to go to where the sun doesnt shine.Putz
““Thou shalt not speak ill of other Republicans.””
Perry not only crossed over the line, he obliterated it. It is disgraceful and shows a complete lack of respect for an opponent.
As for me not being a Conservative, if Perry is what we have to go to war with, I will write in someone. Since the beginning I have said that I will vote for the most conservative candidate in the primary and the primary winner in the general.
But not Perry. And I actually liked Perry.
I hear you. But think about it for a minute:
ANSWER: Right now, there's a (R) House and, hopefully after Jan, 2013, a (R) Senate. If the Bamster is re-elected, they will blunt anything legislative he tries to do. If Myth was (gasp) elected, we have to start factoring in: are they going to be more conservative or more (R)? Ask yourself the question, would the (R) Congress have passed "No Child Left Behind" and "Medicare Prescription Drugs" had Gore won in 2000 instead of Bush?
ANSWER: Look back at Nixon. Look at the things he did economically. Do you remember him imposing wage and price controls back in 1971? By fiat. Speaking of fiat, he also was the one who took us off the gold standard. Remember: he had an (R) after his name.
ANSWER: You mean like John Paul Stevens (a Nixon appointee), Harry Blackmun (Roe v Wade author) (another Nixon appointee), or Earl Warren (Eisenhower appointee...chief justice of the most activist SCOTUS in modern history)?
Yes, if we had a potential nominee with the views of our own Jim Thompson...or FReeper Holdonnow, we could be pretty confident. But a liberal who happens to have an (R) after his name is still a liberal. And potentially more dangerous than the corresponding (D)...in the circumstance we're in right now.
Better to aggressively work for conservative supermajorities in both houses of Congress.
What shennanigans would that be?
Here’s a tack he hasn’t tried:
Convert to Christianity and blame all his previous leftism on being Mormon.
You believe everything Uncle Herm has to say. He has nothing that points at Perry.
Perfect. LOL
Only a vote for a republican is meaningful......as much as I wish that wasn’t the case but it is
The only thing that's going to be "meaningful" to the GOP leadership is losing an election. I wish that wasn't the case, but it is.
I refuse to have my arm twisted into voting for a RINO ever again. If Mitt winds up being the nominee, I'll write in Sarah Palin and vote for the all the down ticket races.
Then I'll go home and prepare for CWII. I will not compromise my integrity on this again.
If it’s Mitt I will be voting for the TEA Party nominee, Sarah Palin.
Of course Romney would court the Koch brothers, liberals are the only ones that believe they are in charge of it.
I respect that position more than saying you’d vote for Obama.
My position, which I will give even though not asked, is that I will vote for ANY of our Republican candidates. The only money we’ve sent this year is to Cain (we’ve sent to PACs and other congressional candidates, but no other Presidential aspirants). But officially, I am undecided in the early primary state of Florida.
And Huckabee.
Hell, I supported Romney in 2008 -- against that pair of losers.
Even though Romney was a liar, he would likely have been more conservative than either.
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