Romney, Brownback in SC
Posted: Thursday, August 16, 2007 4:21 PM by Domenico Montanaro
Filed Under:
Republicans
From NBC’s Andrew Merten
Romney spoke to the Greer Chamber of Commerce in South Carolina today, outlining several economic policy plans and repeating his familiar mantra of increasing the strength of American military, economy and families. He slipped in a couple of shots at McCain and Giuliani for deciding not to compete in the Ames straw poll, but he reserved most of his political punches for the top three Democratic presidential contenders.
“If you listen to Hillary Clinton talk about the economy, her view is that taxes are too low – that individuals should be paying higher taxes and that corporations should be paying higher taxes,” he said, warning that an increase in corporate taxes would quickly drive companies’ operations overseas. He went on to tout his tax relief plan for the middle class, in which tax rates on savings interest, capital gains, and mutual fund dividends would be “absolutely zero.”
Brownback also stumped in the Palmetto State, meeting with reporters at Tommy’s Ham House in Greenville. Although he took a moment to congratulate Romney on his straw poll victory last weekend, he also leveled some more criticism (albeit toned down from his Iowa robo-call and exchanges at debates) on his opponent’s abortion stance, saying, “He’s moved back and forth over the years, and on a core topic, if we’re going to lead and move the country forward toward overturning Roe versus Wade, and ending this night of wrong on abortion, I think you have to believe the topic yourself.”
When asked about how he compares to Huckabee, given their close straw poll finish, Brownback sought to differentiate himself from the former Arkansas governor. “We certainly appeal to a values voter base,” Brownback said, “but I’m trying to expand that also to economic conservatives.”
Brownback, who is a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, then went on, continuing his stress on the importance of foreign-policy experience in the next administration.
