Romney praises Bush, bashes Washington

Reuters ^ | Jan. 26, 2008 | Jason Szep

[AlternateEgo]

Republican presidential contender Mitt Romney often casts himself as an agent of change who would fix a "broken Washington" but he spares an obvious target -- President George W. Bush.

"I salute the fact the president has kept us safe these past six years," he told a rally on Saturday in Florida, whose primary on Tuesday is the next test in the most wide open race for the Republican presidential nomination in 50 years.

A day earlier, speaking to reporters, he was even kinder to the unpopular president, saying that while he differed with Bush at times he still deeply respects him.

[AlternateEgo]

With Bush's low approval ratings, this is not something you hear very often from the other candidates.

[digger48]

He just won a brownie point from me.

Love him or hate him I’m sick of our side bashing the President

[robomatik]

"Has the president done everything perfectly? Absolutely not," he said. "But is he a person I deeply respect for his conviction and his appreciation for the country and his desire to do what's right for it? I sure do."

i would agree with that statement.

[My Favorite Headache]

+1 Ditto

[DoughtyOne]

I’ll grant you that, but Mitt is smart enough to know that he’s going to need every single ‘no matter what’ Bush supporter’s vote before this is over.

My missing vote will be part of the reason why.

[Brilliant]

I thought you meant he was bashing George Washington. You might ask the moderator to add “D.C.” at the end.

[Bigun]

"Has the president done everything perfectly? Absolutely not,". "But is he a person I deeply respect for his conviction and his appreciation for the country and his desire to do what's right for it? I sure do."

AMEN!

The president is, after all, a human being with all the attendant frailties!

Good on ya Mitt!

[Jeff Chandler]

I think it's a good tactic. President Bush has been great in defending us against the IslamoAsshats, and the base knows it. Defending W is smart. McKennedy has been rather ambivalent about it in the past, giving qualified support while currying favor among the Democrats.

Take his "support" of the surge, for instance. He had been trashing Bush for years, demanding a larger conventional military presence in Afghanistan and Iraq, when what was needed was a change of tactics accompanied by an influx of specialized (fighting) units. Now he claims credit for supporting the surge after recommending something different as a way to trash Bush.

[DoughtyOne]

So what do we do about his border policies, praise him for not living up to his oath of office, or just ignore it until there are 150 million Mexicans here?

[JaneNC]

Mitt and Rudy are not Bush bashers.
McCrazy always has been a back stabbing cretin.

[Jeff Chandler]

Clarification: McKennedy = McAmnesty = McLettuce

[Jeff Chandler]

So what do we do about his border policies

Keep the heat up. W's position on the borders is unsupportable.

[antienvironmentalist]

Great move Mitt. Let’s see which republican candidates stand behind GW and which ones throw him to the sharks.

[DoughtyOne]

Exactly.

[matthew fuller]

" President Bush has been great in defending us against the IslamoAsshats, and the base knows it."

This will be Bush's legacy, and it should be. It is his greatest accomplishment (so far).

[The Ghost of FReepers Past]

That doesn’t make sense.

[Blue State Insurgent]

There you go, Mitt. Make nice to Bush and Thompson and I might just give you a second look.

[dandiegirl]

I read awhile back that the Bush family and Romney family have been friends for years. Going back with George Sr. and Barbara.

[Blue State Insurgent]

I remember when McPain wanted to invade Afghanistan with 250,000 troops: ‘Bootch on the ground’.

[Jeff Chandler]

If W had secured the borders early in his second term, (instead of wasting his efforts on trying to tame the Social Security monster), he would have probably been able to get much of what he wanted in his amnesty bill. That fiasco, and his failure to lead his party in support of the war, will overshadow his accomplishments for a long time.

History, however, will be kind to him.