During Money Trip to Delaware, Romney Hides from Voters, the Press, and the Issues of Iraq and Immigration

Friday, June 1, 2007

NEW CASTLE, DE – Presidential hopeful Mitt Romney is in Delaware today for a series of fundraisers where access to him is severely restricted unless you’re willing to shell out at least $1,000 per person. Even worse, the press is completely barred from all of this evening’s activities.

His quick fundraising visit to Delaware comes after a string of bad press, most recently a column in Time Magazine on May 30^th and an article in the Boston Globe released today, both of which attacked him for his weak stances on two of the major issues on the minds of Americans, Iraq and immigration.

“I’m not surprised that Mitt Romney would want to slip into our state, raise some money, and get out before anyone has the chance to ask him any substantive questions,” said Delaware Democratic Party Executive Director Molly Jurusik. “It has become especially clear over the last few weeks that Mitt Romney is not up to the task of being President. He has presented no real understanding of the issues at the forefront of Americans’ minds and has refused to offer any concrete plans of his own on Iraq or immigration.”

Background:

Mitt Romney in February 2007 on Iraq:
We’ll know in five or six months if Bush’s Iraq plan is working.
"I think that should have been done a lot earlier and should have been part of the initial plan. But, be that as it may, it's now being added to the mission. And when you add a mission to our military that means you need to add troop strength to carry it out. We'll see how well that plan is working. It will probably play out over a matter of five to six months, or more. But it's months, not years." [Real Clear Politics, 2/26/07]

Romney Today on Iraq:
Wait until the end of the year (or longer).
“The idea of pulling American troops out of Iraq is ‘very tempting,’ Romney said, but doing so would lead to a larger conflict in the region. Romney said he was willing to give the president's plan of increasing troops in Iraq time to work, potentially as long as the end of the year.” [AP, 5/29/07] Romney has said on multiple occasions, "I think we're going to know whether this is working in a matter of months, not years." Asked how many months Romney had in mind, Romney spokesman Kevin Madden said: "That will depend on input from the military commanders... It could be 15 months." [Los Angeles Times, 5/15/07]

Romney Dismisses Injured Veteran, Ducks Critical Veterans Health Issue:
Thanks for serving this country, but don’t bother me with your problems.
“[A] Laconia man complained that he hasn’t been able to get adequate medical care since returning from Iraq in January 2005… ‘His foot has been broken since last July and he can’t get it fixed,’ said Denis Joyal of Belmont, a friend who spoke on behalf of Army National Guard Sgt. Brian Roy….Romney questioned the man’s status, wondering why the military wouldn’t help him if he is active duty. ‘He’s in the window,’ Joyal said, before Romney cut him off. ‘Don’t give me, ’he’s in the window,’’ Romney said. ‘He’s either active duty or not,’ [AP, 5/29/07]. [T]he only solution he offered was urging Roy to contact one of his U.S. senators,” [Concord Monitor, 5/29/07].

Romney on Immigration:
Lots of criticism, but no plan of his own.
“Romney's critics and presidential rivals have seized on such comments, accusing him of throwing bombs but being unwilling to do the hard work of crafting a viable alternative.

‘Somebody needs to tell Romney that if he's president he'll have to propose legislation to deal with these issues, work with Congress on getting it passed, or [veto] whatever comes out of Congress,’ one blogger wrote on the site Ankle Biting Pundits. ‘As president you don't get to pass the buck or leave the specifics to others.’ [Boston Globe, 6/1/07]