-Caveat Lector-
Begin forwarded message:
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Date: April 27, 2007 7:38:27 PM PDT
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: Romney Campaign Beng Managed by Karl Rove
Many Washington Ties in Romney Camp
Friday April 27, 2007 11:31 PM
By GLEN JOHNSON
Associated Press Writer
http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,,-6592914,00.html
BOSTON (AP) - Republican Mitt Romney is heading a presidential
campaign stocked with Washington insiders, even as he proudly casts
himself as a political outsider on the campaign trail.
Unlike President Bush, who ran for the White House with followers
like Karl Rove, Karen Hughes and Joe Allbaugh -- the famed ``Iron
Triangle'' that first helped him get elected governor of Texas --
Romney has ceded his polling, advertising and large chunks of his
communications and strategy to specialists from inside the Beltway.
Yet, the candidate frequently tells voters that one of his greatest
assets is his lack of ties to Washington.
``I do not believe Washington can be transformed from within by a
lifelong politician,'' the former Massachusetts governor declared
Feb. 13 in his campaign announcement speech. ``There have been too
many deals, too many favors, too many entanglements and too little
real world experience managing, guiding, leading.''
However, the names read like a Washingtonian Who's Who list in his
most recent campaign finance report, which details his fundraising
and spending - including the payroll for his campaign operations.
The campaign is being managed by Beth Myers, a former Rove aide who
went on to become Romney's gubernatorial chief of staff, but top
strategy is being devised by Ron Kaufman, a former White House
political director who is now a member of a Capitol Hill consulting
group. Kaufman is also a Republican National Committee member from
Massachusetts.
Romney's daily operations have been overseen by Jason Roe, most
recently the top Capitol Hill aide to Rep. Tom Feeney, R-Fla.,
although he abruptly announced Tuesday he was resigning.
A commuter from Washington, he cited family reasons for his
departure, although his resignation came a day after the St.
Petersburg Times disclosed Roe wrote an e-mail to the newspaper
defending Feeney over questions about a 2003 golfing trip to
Scotland the congressman took with convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff.
Romney's polling, meanwhile, remains the responsibility of Jan van
Lohuizen, who was Bush's principal pollster in 2004. Advertising is
being handled by Alex Castellanos, whose National Media Inc. is
based just across the Potomac River from the White House.
During Bush's 2000 campaign, in which he also cast himself as an
outsider, fellow Texans such as Allbaugh, Matthew Dowd and Mark
McKinnon handled the operations, polling and advertising roles.
In addition, Romney's political director is Carl Forti, previously
communications director for the National Republican Congressional
Committee, which focuses on electing Republicans to Congress.
Romney's communications director, Matt Rhoades, headed up the
Republican National Committee's opposition research team during the
2004 presidential campaign. The deputy communications director,
Carolyn Weyforth, was spokeswoman for former Sen. Bill Frist, R-
Tenn. Kevin Madden, the campaign's press secretary and primary
spokesman, was spokesman for former Rep. Tom DeLay, R-Texas, and
Rep. John Boehner of Ohio, now the Republican minority leader.
Meanwhile, Barbara Comstock, a top campaign strategist focusing on
communications, previously was spokeswoman at the U.S Department of
Justice and still lives in McLean, Va. Just Thursday, Romney also
announced he was hiring Cofer Black, a veteran of the CIA and State
Department, to be his counterterrorism adviser.
The split between Massachusetts campaign workers who have
previously served Romney and the new Washington aides prompted the
campaign to launch an effort dubbed ``Building Bridges,'' in which
staffers from both groups go to local bars for social hours.
Madden, the campaign spokesman, said the former Massachusetts
governor is being advised by a core group similar to that which
served him in the Statehouse, even as he imports Washington talent
to his campaign headquarters overlooking Boston Harbor.
``The campaign is being run from outside of Washington with ideas
and policies that have been formulated outside of Washington,''
Madden said. ``And, clearly, Mitt Romney is the candidate whose
life experiences and career have been outside of politics and
outside of the Beltway experience.''
Madden added: ``Those of us who work for the campaign and happen to
have experience working in Washington are committed to his message
of changing Washington because we believe he is the best person to
do it. That's why many of us have joined the effort and - in many
instances - relocated to Boston and moved our families here to work
for his campaign.''
Besides Myers, Romney's homegrown advisers include his eldest son,
Tagg. Staff members say Tagg Romney, 37, stands in for his father
during his frequent travels and holds great sway over campaign
decision-making.
Another exception is Spencer Zwick, once Romney's gubernatorial
personal aide and now his national finance director. The 28-year-
old Zwick has been described as Romney's ``sixth son,'' so close is
he to the candidate.
In addition, Peter Flaherty, who served as Romney's gubernatorial
deputy chief of staff, now works for the campaign as its liaison to
social conservatives, while Eric Fehrnstrom, who was Romney's
gubernatorial communications director, now serves as his traveling
press secretary.
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