Romney Getting Ready for 08
Mitt Romney has sent a strong signal to everyone by hiring “Alex Castellanos, a veteran of presidential campaigns known for his tough ads against Democratic candidates.”
Alex is one of two or three people in the country who you don’t run a presidential campaign without,” said Dan Schnur, who was communication director for Senator John McCain of Arizona during McCain’s run for president in 2000. Schnur added, “You don’t hire Alex Castellanos unless you’re committed to this.”
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“Everybody on both sides would agree: When you’re saddled up and you’ve got Alex on the other side, you better bring your lunch,” said Jim Krog, who faced off against Castellanos when Krog ran the 1994 reelection campaign of Governor Lawton Chiles of Florida.
Castellanos is well known for producing somewhat controversial ads. He openly admits that his negative campaigning is his style: it works and that is what it is all about.
In 1990, Castellanos produced a controversial ad blasting Helms’s Democratic challenger, Harvey Gantt, who is black, for his support of racial quotas. The ad depicted a pair of white hands ripping up a rejection letter from an employer. “You needed that job and you were the best qualified, but they had to give it to a minority,” the narrator says.Castellanos also produced an infamous television ad for Bush against Vice President Al Gore in 2000, in which the word rats was superimposed over attacks on Gore’s prescription drug plan. Castellanos said at the time that it was unintentional and merely a video editing quirk, but Democrats accused him — and, by extension, Bush — of using a subliminal derogatory message.
The result: highly negative campaign strategies in 08. Quite some people noticed that this year’s elections were terribly negative already. It seems that Romney is not willing to be the one to break this spiral of negativity.
I wonder what you all think of his chances of winning, at least winning the nomination of the GOP. And to our more conservative commenters I ask, Romney for President?
19 Responses to “Romney Getting Ready for 08”
Evangelicals v. Mormons.
Sects Appeal
by Molly Worthen in TNR
Post date 11.14.06 | Issue date 11.20.06
Romney has two chances, slim and none. Review the list of US Presidents, it’s like a list of directors of a CountryClub. If you aren’t a WASP you won’t be elected to POTUS.
I really don’t know if he is electable or not, but you have to give him credit for running in Massachusetts on a pretty conservative platform and winning. I also think that just having him in the race will be a good thing: for example, his health insurance plan in MA seems like a good model for health care reform that doesn’t involve nationalized health care, and he’s also been able to take a pro-life position without alienating abortion rights proponents.
I think he had a chance if the leaders melt down, or maybe a VP spot.
He has attractive bi-partisan credentials.
Exception: John F. Kennedy
JFK was the only exception. We still have a way to go before we elect a Walesa, Lieberman or Thather. The big deal over Tennessee racism ignores the record of the US overall.
Protestants will not vote for a Mormon.
Why does his smile make him look like a serial killer?
you have to give him credit for running in Massachusetts on a pretty conservative platform and winning.
That’s nonsense. Despite its reputation as a radically liberal state, Massachusetts has elected Republican Governors for most of the last 20 years.
Mikef,
I never said that Republicans haven’t been elected governor there, my point was that he ran on a pretty conservative platform: he was even able to get elected as a pro-lifer, by vowing not to change the laws of the commonwealth to fit his pro-life views. And wiki has this about one of his GOP predecessors, again making my point that conservatism isn’t exactly embraced in MA:
“making my point that conservatism isn’t exactly embraced in MA: ”
Uhmm try anywhere outside of the Boston area, and you’d be VERY wrong.
“making my point that conservatism isn’t exactly embraced in MA:”
You should read a little further than Wikipedia to decide that Weld won because he was the more ‘liberal’ candidate.
John Silber had a habit of shooting his mouth off; like referring to the residents of Dorchester, Roxbury and Mattapan as “a group of drug addicts.” That’s racism by the way, not conservatism.
His open disdain for the press didn’t help him much either. (You could also ask yourself how such a conservative character got the Democratic nomination in the first place.)
If you want an idea of how conservative Massachusetts politicians can be, look up the views of former Boston mayor Ray Flynn (also ambassador to the Vatican under Clinton) or recent state Rep Tom Finneran.
Don’t get fooled by the (D) after their names, either. Those two are pro-life social conservatives and they both came straight from the heart of Boston.
Mikef,
I admit that I’m only an outsider looking in. Why does the state have the reputation for liberalism, if what you are asserting is true? And why is that reputation somewhat borne out in its Senators, tax policy, etc?
Oh, they’re liberal. Just not radically outside the mainstream, the way most people portray them. They’re willing to elect Republicans and conservative Democrats on fiscal issues. There was also a backlash against affirmative action policies especially in the 1980s.
Romney and the other Republican governors ran on balancing the budget and cutting taxes. They explicitly did not run on outlawing abortion, state’s rights, judicial extremism or other socially conservative issues popular in the red states.
OK, Mikef, I get you. If you’ll excuse my conservative spin on it, it’s sort of “We know we need fiscal conservatism to keep ourselves from going bankrupt, but screw the rest of the country and send some liberals to DC to bring home the pork!” That may differ significantly from your view on it, but that’s how it looks from where I sit.
Uh, CS— its not just liberals who have been on the hot seat lately for earmarks! What about Ted Stevens “Bridge to Nowhere” that brought the whole subject to national attention? Conservatives have not exactly been true to their calling as of late, so pls stop judging the liberals since you guys are just as guilty of serving up the bacon at home!
Oh, I know that Kim and I’m just as angry at them or more so. But I still think there’s an irony in a state that votes for liberal Senators and fiscally conservative governors.
Alex Castellanos is a despicable human being. He is reason enough not to support Mitt Romney.