Oh Gawd. GOP looking to Romneys for MA Senate

[Laura PourMeADrink]

Sorry if this is old news...just read it.

http://bostonherald.com/news_opinion/local_politics/2013/02/brown_out_gop_mulls_romney_energy

With Brown out, GOP mulls Romney energy
Saturday, February 2, 2013

Massachusetts Republicans are desperately scrambling to find a strong Senate candidate to replace Scott Brown, with some even trying to persuade Mitt Romney’s wife or son to jump into the race to avert another electoral disaster.

The former GOP senator’s decision to stay out of the June 25 special election surprised and angered some Republican leaders, who said it will make it much harder to beat a Democratic opponent without Brown on the ballot.

“I’ve had several people call me and ask about Ann Romney,” Ron Kaufman, a longtime friend and aide to the former Massachusetts governor and 2012 presidential candidate nominee, told the Herald.


Ann Romney’s inspiring battle against multiple sclerosis and her star turn on the GOP convention stage turned her into a popular national figure, especially among women voters in Massachusetts.

“That would be a very interesting thing. I would certainly love her to think about something like that,” said House Minority Leader Bradley Jones (R-North Reading).

But Kaufman said Mitt’s charismatic wife, who has never run for office, would be unlikely to take the plunge. “The timing is not great, and I don’t think she sees herself as a candidate,” he said.

Other GOP leaders also raised the prospect of Mitt’s eldest son, Tagg, launching a surprise Senate campaign. Tagg Romney was a close campaign adviser and surrogate for his father and is a successful businessman living in Belmont.

The push for a Brown substitute comes as frenzied Republicans are running out of time to find someone who could raise enough money and collect enough signatures to get on the ballot.

“Obviously, it’s not what anybody I talked to had hoped for … it’s daunting,” Jones said.

“Our bench isn’t too deep,” added Rob Willington, a former Massachusetts Republican Party executive director who’s worked with both the Brown and Romney campaigns.

Without someone such as Ann Romney, most Republicans agree the strongest candidate would be former Gov. William F. Weld, who just moved back to Massachusetts and hasn’t ruled out another run for office. Weld did not return messages, but sources close to him said he has “no interest” in running.

Former Lt. Gov. Kerry Healey was also being touted as a candidate, but sources said she also is unlikely to get in the race. Former state Sen. Richard Tisei, who narrowly lost a race for Congress in November, said he’s taking the weekend to consider running but said he has been more focused on another congressional bid.

“Scott caught everybody by surprise,” Tisei said. State Rep. Dan Winslow is also considering running and newcomer and former Navy SEAL Gabriel Gomez is expected to get into the race.

Brown released a statement saying he was too tired of the partisan bickering on Capitol Hill to make a third try for the Senate. Sources said he’s likely to take a job in the private sector.

[MADem]

1. Won't happen. The RMoney brand is about as popular as a turd in the punchbowl in MA.

Richard Tisei or Gabriel Gomez, I'm thinking...the latter more likely, as he was invited to go down to GOP HQ for a chat...

[Laura PourMeADrink]

3. Hey...you were right thinking Brown wouldn't run !!

[MADem]

5. He can't debate, except to mock and deride. It worked on one woman

(Martha Coakley, who is kind of serious and schoolmarmish) but it didn't work on Senior Senator (heh heh) Warren!

Markey has the gift of gab.

I kinda figured he'd be skeered of him...!

[xtraxritical]

6. I thought the Romney's were living in LaJolla California? Residency requierment again.

[MADem]

7. They have a house on the Vineyard (unless they sold it), and they bought one of

those "shitty little poor people" garden homes, you know, the ones that go for "only" between three fifty and a half million, in a little development near one of their pukey kids after they sold the Belmont mansion (the house where the undocumented workers did all the lawn care, in the town where they built a Mormon temple that looks like Sing Sing).

I think they bought the garden home as a crash pad so they'd have a place to vote from. It's too close to other houses to be a place where they'd live regularly.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

8. And he had the gall to repeat "My State, Massachusetts" over and over and over again.

[MADem]

13. He had an ENORMOUS "ski house" in Utah that looked like an orphanage, it was so big.

He was getting a "homesteader" tax break from Utah (another "home state" apparently) when he filed papers to run in MA. I think he finally sold that thing a year or so ago.

He has more home states (Michigan, Utah, MA, CA) than many fellows have wives....!!!

[Laura PourMeADrink]

14. Yep...fits his anal retentive personality disorder - amassing possessions. Wow

Jane Pauley's on MSNBC...haven't seen her in a zillion years. Road by her house in the Thimble Islands last summer. They must be very private people

[MADem]

21. Jane Pauley suffered from bipolar disorder and it wasn't adequately controlled.

That's why she disappeared so quickly. Not sure what the details were; but she looks great, looks like she is doing well.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

15. BH saying "TAGG EYING SENATE" - Gov Weld says no

http://bostonherald.com/news_opinion/local_politics/2013/02/tagg_you%E2%80%99re_it_gop_senate_hopes

Tagg Romney is considering a run in the special Senate election now that Scott Brown has opted out, the Truth Squad has learned.

Related: Former Mass. Gov. Weld says no to Senate run

Calls for Romney, 42, to join in the short campaign to replace Secretary of State John F. Kerry have increased since the Herald first reported heavyweight Republicans are urging both Romney and his mother, Ann, to get in.

The eldest son of former governor and presidential candidate Mitt Romney already has statewide name recognition and could quickly ramp up the campaign infrastructure for a short, five-month race.

The father of six was a regular on the campaign trail in both of his father’s failed races for president in 2008 and 2012, which would give him some political know-how while working to win over Bay State voters. But the younger Romney is weighing joining the fray against remaining with his successful venture capital firm, Solamere. Many Democrats also have noted Mitt Romney’s dismal Bay State returns in the most recent presidential election, losing the state by 23 points.

There is no doubt that Tagg Romney, if he decides to run, could be a shining knight to crestfallen Republicans who had set their hopes on Brown. State GOP officials are scrambling to find a viable candidate, despite a lackluster Democratic primary field that includes U.S. Reps. Edward J. Markey and Stephen F. Lynch, and might be further strained by the entrance of Middlesex District Attorney Gerard T. Leone.

Tagg Romney, who has been fairly silent on Twitter since his father’s loss in November, seems to be bolstering his profile. He even posted a pic on Saturday of his two sons getting a haircut at Frank’s Barbershop in Belmont, a neighborhood staple.

Other potential Republican candidates include state Rep. Dan Winslow (R-Norfolk) and Gabriel Gomez, a Navy SEAL who is set to meet with national Republicans to discuss a possible race this week. Former congressional candidate Richard Tisei has ruled out a run.

[MADem]

18. He's the bigmouth who accidentally told the truth about Seamus without getting an "off the record"

assurance from the press pool...that's how we learned the dog RAN AWAY!

I think he's also the one that spilled the beans (while everyone else chuckled) about the poor dog shitting in fear on top of the car.

My sense is that even the tony town of Belmont would reject him.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

19. Here's the snippet from Vanity Fair - Feb 2012..

http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/2012/02/mitt-romney-201202

Mitt imposed strict rules: they would stop only for gas, and that was the only chance to get food or use the restroom. With one exception, Tagg explained. “As soon as my mom says, ‘I think I need to go to the bathroom,’ he pulls over instantly and doesn’t complain. ‘Anything for you, Ann.’” On one infamous road trip, though, it wasn’t Ann who forced Mitt off the highway. The destination of this journey, in the summer of 1983, was his parents’ cottage, on the Canadian shores of Lake Huron. The white Chevy station wagon with the wood paneling was overstuffed with suitcases, supplies, and sons when Mitt climbed behind the wheel to begin the 12-hour family trek from Boston to Ontario. As with most ventures in his life, he had left little to chance, mapping out the route and planning each stop. Before beginning the drive, Mitt put Seamus, the family’s hulking Irish setter, in a dog carrier and attached it to the station wagon’s roof rack. He had improvised a windshield for the carrier to make the ride more comfortable for the dog.

Then Mitt put his sons on notice: there would be pre-determined stops for gas, and that was it. Tagg was commandeering the way-back of the wagon, keeping his eyes fixed out the rear window, when he glimpsed the first sign of trouble. “Dad!” he yelled. “Gross!” A brown liquid was dripping down the rear window, payback from an Irish setter who’d been riding on the roof in the wind for hours. As the rest of the boys joined in the howls of disgust, Mitt coolly pulled off the highway and into a service station. There he borrowed a hose, washed down Seamus and the car, then hopped back onto the road with the dog still on the roof. It was a preview of a trait he would grow famous for in business: emotion-free crisis management. But the story would trail him years later on the national political stage, where the name Seamus would become shorthand for Romney’s coldly clinical approach to problem solving.

[MADem]

20. And let's top that off with a clip about Seamus running away!

Mr. Romney and his wife clearly want the world to think that, despite defecating himself, Seamus had a pleasant trip to Canada and a long life in the Romney household. However, based on what Mr. Romney’s sons allegedly told reporters about Seamus going on the lam in Canada, Seamus didn’t like being strapped to the car enough to stick around for the return trip.

http://politicker.com/2012/01/did-mitt-romneys-dog-seek-asylum-in-canada/


Ahhhh, Seamus! He's a gift that keeps on giving!

[Laura PourMeADrink]

23. Interesting. Did the sons say Seamus came back?

[MADem]

27. No! That was IT for Seamus--he'd rather take his chances with Canadian bears and wolves than

be forced to rickety-rock back-n-forth for 12 hours back to Belmont!

[Laura PourMeADrink]

24. btw, the thing that still bothers me the most about this whole story is the bit about romney

meticulously planning the trip down to bathroom and gas breaks. My dad hated to stop unnecessarily...but if someone
had to stop, he would, of course. It shows to me what a rigid, anal retentive asshole he is.

[MADem]

28. Well, he was ANXIOUS to get to Canada....

He didn't spend a Fourth of July in the USA until he was 16 years old!

I wanna see his birth certificate!!!

[Smilo]

2. So Romney is damaged goods, but the

others are okay?

You peasants - don't you know this is hard!!!!!!!!!!!

And Twerp Romney - can just see the people falling in love with him - ha, ha, ha,

[JaneyVee]

4. Romney left MA with a 35% approval rating. GOP is DESPERATE. Too bad us North-Easterners

aren't dumb enough to vote for the party that denied Sandy relief. GOP blew it, NJ could have been in play but the NE is rapidly becoming Anti-GOP.

[liberalhistorian]

11. Not only that, but he lost MA

last November by over 20 points, an almost unheard-of gap for a presidential candidate in his state, especially considering he'd been governor of it and it was where his campaign was headquartered. You'd think that would give the GOP a fucking clue as to the electability of him or any other Romnoid in that state.

And I just love the GOP's comment that "our bench isn't too deep here". NO. SHIT. lol

[hobbit709]

9. Desperation is in the air.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

10. Yes, and there was a time when we all thought "they will win" and always

somehow pull something out of their ass and pull one over on us. It's a new experience
to win.

It's almost like whoever was in charge of their machine quit.

[liberalhistorian]

12. Ya know, let 'em run Annie.

All the Dems would have to do would be to continuously play that tape of her "stop it" comments, which is a real doozy when you listen to it. Can the MA GOP really be that fucking dumb? LOL, never mind, don't answer that.

[WilliamPitt]

16. Bring it.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

17. LOL. Markey will eat him up alive

[ananda]

22. Now that's really desperate!

..

[lindysalsagal]

25. ...because what Anne really wants is to work 14 hour days in a dusty senate office

and be chased around by reporters.


Riiiiight.

Morons didn't even ask her before putting her name out there. Simply astounding.

They really ARE that stoopid.

First the Booshes, then The Maverick, then the female Barracuda, and the freaking crybaby from the black lagoon!

This is ALL these tools have. No self-respecting candidate will tolerate the puppetry and Koches that come along when you try to run GOP.

Simply astounding.

[kairos12]

26. Run Rafalca Run

[MADem]

29. If he had a choice, he'd probably run like Seamus! nt