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First Read is an analysis of the day's political news, from the NBC News political unit. First Read is updated throughout the day, so check back often.

Chuck Todd, NBC Political Director

Mark Murray, NBC Deputy Political Director

Domenico Montanaro, NBC News Political Reporter



Romney on McCain, the Clintons

Posted: Saturday, January 26, 2008 3:19 PM by Mark Murray

From NBC/NJ's Erin McPike
LAND O'LAKES, FL -- NBC's Bethany Thomas reported earlier today that McCain accused Romney of wanting "to set a date for withdrawal, similar to what the Democrats are seeking -- which would have led to a victory by al Qaeda, in my view."

Informed by a reporter that McCain had made those remarks, Romney responded tersely: "You know, I don’t know why he’s being dishonest. But that’s dishonest. To say that I have a specific date is simply wrong and is dishonest and he should apologize. That is not the case. I’ve never said that."

And he lashed out: "I know he’s trying desperately to change the topic from the economy and trying to get back to Iraq. But to say something that’s not accurate is simply wrong and he knows better."

McCain's campaign just hit back with a statement from communications director Jill Hazelbaker: "Mitt Romney's position on the war in Iraq has been a study in flexibility. Like every other issue of importance in this race, Mitt Romney has changed his position. On April 3, 2007 he advocated secret timetables for withdrawal from Iraq. His exact words were 'of course you have to work together to create timetables and milestones.' In October 2007, Romney said that Hillary Clinton, who supports Iraq withdrawal, is 'not going to be demanding a dramatically different course in Iraq than the Republican nominee will.' These statements, along with Romney's inability to stick with a consistent position, provide further evidence that he lacks the critical experience and judgment necessary to lead as commander-in-chief."
 
Romney also addressed McCain's claims that he is the only one who can beat Clinton and Obama. Romney said, "Let’s let the people decide that. Not the candidates."

As for Clinton, Romney said in MSNBC's GOP debate in Boca Raton on Thursday that he can't imagine Bill Clinton left with nothing to do in the White House, prompting some to call it a personal attack. Romney has denounced personal attacks and said that's part of the reason he was successful in Massachusetts.

Asked today how he would determine what a personal attack is if he and Clinton are the nominees, Romney was vague in saying that it's "in the eye of the beholder." He went on to clarify his comments with: "I think my comment about Bill Clinton was only that I'd just as soon have one president of the United States, not two."

"And President Clinton in the White House with nothing to do is going to try and be a co-president and try and help manage the economy and help manage the world affairs," he went on, adding, "I think that's a mistake. I think you want to have one president, not two."

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Wait a minute; I thought the Republicans were the nice ones.  McCain lied about the sustainability of the war in Iraq, too, but Romney doesn't seem interested in pointing that out.  I hope Romney gets the nomination because I think he tops out at around 100 electoral votes.  He'll carry Utah, that's for sure!!
Me, too, Gov. Romney, I just want ONE president in the White House!!  I just may vote for you if you are the nominee - I may have to go out and shoot my foot off or something after, but I would do just about ANYTHING not to give BC a third term!!
People need to think this through...for one thing, some say they are voting for Hill so they get Bill, he'll help her out. What if, god forbid, ole Bills heart goes? No more Bill and Hillary flailing around in the Oval Office, fighting those evil Republicans. God help the World. Out with the old...
Mr. "Straight Talk" McCain is LYING THROUGH HIS TEETH.  The worst thing about it is he is completely aware that he is blatantly telling lies about Romney's stance on Iraq.  Romney has never purposely told lies about McCain...I guess there must be a big difference between straight talk and truth these days.  As one can tell, I'm disgusted.
NEWS FLASH!!!!! MCCAIN BEHAVING LIKE THE CLINTONS!!!!
McCain knows he can't top Mitt on the domestic issues that are most important to Florida voters, so he changes tack.  He lies about Mitt's position on the Iraq war, and then goes on to send 'surrogates' (read: his own Mini-Bill Clintons) to chat up his position with the press and knock Romney.  

"He also sought to rebut Romney's criticisms in an unusual fashion: he dispatched high-profile surrogates to talk with the press corps traveling with the former governor.

At the St. Petersburg event, former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge offered to give an Associated Press reporter a ride to Romney's next appearance. At a later stop in Lakeland, another McCain surrogate, former Massachusetts Gov. Jane Swift, boarded the Romney press bus to repeat similar criticisms to reporters."

How low can this desperate guy go?!

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5if5DTLHOkjV981GiHLtXNtHOaTDgD8UDPHNO0
McCain going negative must mean that his internal polling numbers are not looking good in Florida.  McCain really comes off as an angry old man.  The voters in Florida will not be fooled.  Romney will win Tuesday.  
Bill Clinton want a third term in the Oval office,it will not happen,"Bill"find you a Monica lookalike in your office or your library,Hillary what happen to the money that was for New Orleans after "Hurricane Katrina" it did not go to the residents of "New York" who pocket it went in yours are Bill Clinton.
Bill Clinton want a third term in the Oval office,it will not happen,"Bill"find you a Monica lookalike in your office or your library,Hillary what happen to the money that was for New Orleans after "Hurricane Katrina" it did not go to the residents of "New York" who pocket it went in yours are Bill Clinton.
What does Romney think of a member of the Community of Christ (RLDS), the second largest Mormon church and it's chief rival, being on Bill Clinton's cabinet?
In september, 2000, was the first time in recent history that our budgfet deficit turned into trending back toward a budget surplus after Reagan's "voodoo" economics; in other words, Clinton got us out of the depths of Reagan's economic, cut-taxes program back to the plus side.  Since Bush took office, with his return to "Reaganomics", we've gone back, big time, to increasing our deficits during the Bush years.  

Now, tell me what was wrong about Clinton's positive economic policies as compared to Bush pushing us into the diasterous economic depths into which he's led us.

I am a supporter of McCain.  I am not a supporter of Romney.  I don't think the guy is terribly bad nor am I turned away by the fact he is a Mormon.  I just don't think he has what it takes.  He wants to be President for himself more then he wants to be it for the country.  This is why, it is documented, that he changes his situation so frequently to appeal to specific voters at specific times.  Now, that said, I am dissapointed in McCains behavior lately in going negative.  Everyone knows Romney has fought dirty from day one but I had hoped McCain would stay above that.  Apparently he hasn't.  Let me finish though, relative to this first read.  I follow politics closely and I do recall on several occassions seeing Romney express his desire to have timetables, so the fact that his supporters and him are saying McCain is lying is in itself dishonest.
McCain loses more of my respect every day.  McCain denounces "negative campaigning" in New Hampshire and now has been going very negative lately.  His "Mitt Surfing" ad he is running is much more negative than any of the ads Romney ever ran.  This guy is such a liar and hypocrite.  I hope people can see through his BS and vote Romney for president.
If based on this statement (Complete statement below)McCain is saying romney supports timetables then he is indeed lying..if this is an example of what McCain calls flip flopping, to TWIST someones words around, then no wonder we think Romney flip flops. If pointing out someones record honestly(which is what romney did in iowa) is the same as out and out LYING..is the same thing??..then maybe some of the romney critics have a point...but have we really lost our ability to see right from wrong??...this is what romney said in its entirety.

"There is no question that the President and Prime Minister Al Maliki have to have a series of time tables and milestones that they speak about, but these shouldnt be for public pronouncement. You dont want the enemy to understand how long they have to wait in the weeds until you're going to be gone".

Also asked if he would veto any timetable he said Yes he would veto it.

I think McCain is showing his desperation mixed with his very mean streak...not a good combination..it may just be his end!!
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The press creates lazy narratives and then biases every event to make it fit into the narrative. Even though McCain has changed positions on some major issues (taxes, immigration, judges), the press decided he'd be the gruff old truth-teller, the wise man in the room. So fact-checking is never done against his claims. Romney was made out to be the flip-flopper, so everything his says is over-simplified and called a pander. For some reason John McCain can claim nuance in his twisted history but Mitt has to have stubbornly stuck to a position regardless of the changing times. But in this case, there is no nuance. Mitt said he wants the troops to come home (which McCain has also said, and the American people have said) and he wants some accountability in this process. He wants real goals, to define victory and then to go get it. It's that simple. Is McCain suggesting that we should not have private goals set and hold the Iraqi leadership accountable for their successes or failures? How does this help him?

Former Pres Clinton had nothing to do with the upturn in the economy during his term in office. The credit goes to Silicon Valley and all the dot.coms and jobs that were created during those years. Unfortunately, like a deck of cards, it all came crashing down later.

Another help the economy got at that time was the fact that the Republicans!!! forced the Clinton administration to cut back on all the welfare cheats that were in the system. Clinton got the benefit, but did not initiate the change.

WHAT HE SHOULD HAVE BEEN DOING AS OUR PRESIDENT...WAS KEEPING OUR ENEMIES AT BAY...AND HE FAILED AT THAT!!!
WE WERE BEING PROVOKED AND HIT IN MANY PLACES. THE MOST EGREGIOUS WAS WHEN THE WORLD TRADE CENTER WAS BOMBED THE FIRST TIME. THAT! WAS AN ACT OF WAR!
CLINTON DID NOTHING!!! BECAUSE HE WAS TOO BUSY BEHIND THE OVAL OFFICE AND THEN WAGGING HIS FINGER AT US BECAUSE WE DARED TO CONFRONT HIS DISGUSTING CONDUCT AND TOTAL LACK OF SELF CONTROL.

WE PAID FOR IT LATER. WITH THE LOSS OF ALMOST THREE THOUSAND OF OUR CITIZENS WHEN THE EMEMY WAS EMBOLDENED AND HIT THE WORLD TRADE CENTER YET AGAIN.

THE ONLY 'EXPERIENCE' HILLARY CLINTON HAD WHILE IN WASHINGTON WAS DEFENDING THE INDEFENSIBLE AND STICKING TO THIS ROUGE SO AS TO FULFILL HER OWN AMBITION WHICH HAS HER NOW RUNNING TO RETURN, AS PRESIDENT, ALONG WITH HER SCOUNDREL HUSBAND, BACK TO WHERE THEY RULED...BUT DID NOTHING.
NO HEALTH PLAN! NO STOPPING OF THOSE WHO HAD ALREADY GIVEN US WARNING OF WHAT WAS TO COME!

DO WE REALLY WANT A RERUN OF THIS BAD SOAP OPERA???
IT WILL BE AT OUR OWN PERIL...IF WE DO!!!
"milestones and timetables" does not equate to a timetable for withdrawal.  You can have a timetable for sovreign oversite of Iraqi military or a timetable for public works projects.  That McCain equivocates what Romney said as a timetable for withdrawal shows only what observant people already know:

McCain isn't as honest as he says he is. He's a liar and a hypocrite both for taking his morally superior stance of not being a mud slinger AND for calling himself a straight talker.
Good God let this election finally be over.  They've been running for two years already.  Vote for anyone but Hitlary.
I voted for Bush twice, but if McCain gets the Republican nomination, I hope that Obama gets the Democrat nomination. At least then I'll have someone who I can vote for. Clinton vs. McCain is my worst nightmare.
Alright everyone look at this. you can dis on Mitt cause he is a mormon but you cant dis on a muslim. is America that stubid. your are all idiots. there is no way a muslim can be american. look at there religion. mormons are by far the best people i know and im not even mormon. i bet 90% of the people that dis mormons dont even know what they believe. you are all sell - outs. get on the train cause everyone else does it. you guys are all cowards
A quick study of Bill Clinton, and the facts surronding his eight years, makes one ask . other than M.L., why do  Republicans state we do not another Clinton in office? Note they never go beyond that line. Do we another Bush or Pres. Chaney! Think people think. PS. When was the last balanced budget?
I AM FROM ARIZONA AND I HAVE CHANGED MY MIND ABOUT McCAIN. McCain has always been a hero to me and still is. He represents me in Washington now. I respect him for his military service but he has not lived up to the values he has run on and I have been waiting his entire career to make real changes in Washington. I have followed and supported McCain his entire career but now I have to admit he can NOT make the difference. He is now desperate for POWER not honorable service.  McCAIN WITH THESE COMMENTS HAS STARTED A WAR TO WIN A WAR. IS THIS HONORABLE? MITT ROMNEY GETS MY VOTE! He CAN turn things around. The spin in the media says he can’t do it. Mitts past performance says he WILL. REGARDLESS of his religious beliefs, I can look past all the media hype and evangelical resentment for I have seen this type of white wash my entire life. By the way, Huck is a very very good man, not the best President. Mr. G., if you had show us this life and this election was important before Florida. Fred, Thank you, you are a TRUE American. God Bless America!
I would like to hear all the candidates define "winning the war on terror". Being in Iraq for 100 years certaintly isn't a win for the men and women who are serving and it's not a win for our economy.
John Davis....Don't think you have it right. Anyone who is willing to sink that much of his own money and time into anything is simply doing it because he feels it's the right thing to do and honestly feels he is the best man for the job. Now don't say "oh he has heaps of money to waste anyway", because I've never met a rich man that ever felt that way. I think he really is the best man for the job.
McCain claims that Mitt has experience as a C.E.O. but does not have experience as a leader . . . ? ? ?  Does this guy every really listen to himself? Governors develop great leadership skills that prepare them quite well for the presidency - they have to deal with both parties in state legislatures and work out many of the same problems that face our nation as a whole.  What type of real leadership experience do you get by serving in the Senate as a career politician?

I understand that McCain's wife is from a very wealthy family.  So why does the press make such an issue out of how much $ Mitt has put into his own campaign, but they don't ask McCain how much $ his wife has put into his?  And, if his wife hasn't put a large amount of personal $ into her husband's campaign, why not???



McCain's just another my-way-or-the-highway Republican who has not linked our failed anti-terror policies with our failed economic policies - which are driving this country to bankruptcy! His only support must come from closed-minded old farts still in denial.
McCain is too grumpy to have his finger on the nuclear bomb.
Romeny is a member of a cult that belives Jesus visited them in the US and spoke to their crazy leaders.
I like Mike Huckabee, he is honest and a ground Christian.
Bill & Hillary are a joke.  Obama will kick their ass in South Carolina and beyond.  At least he seems like an honest guy unlike Billary.
There is no way in h3ll I'm voting for McAmnesty. He feels he deserves a pass on certain things because he was a POW...bullcrap! He's a nasty old warmonger set in his ways and going senile. He has twisted what Romney said and takes us for dummies!
Ren Souza story on the issue of running for presidency of US
January 26, 2008


The story is a comedy between heaven and hell, and of course there is politics in all, so where to go and what to choose, that was the question, but after the math Hell was still the winning place, but going back there and seeing how horrid and plagues fested it is, one wonders what did it happen to the beautiful, party time, fun filled Hell I knew from before, then the Devil said, whell son the political election is over and now everything is back to normal... after all ask me whatever you want and I will tell you what you want to hear, because after that the only thing politicians will say are: "I can’t recall what was said" or "what I really meant was…”. Isn’t really interesting that only the rich people and professional career minded politicians can run for office now days? Do you think this is right? Oh no!
What a sad moment in history to be an American, in this the greatest Country in the entire Universe, and having to decide in whom to vote, and the choices are: political favoritism, corporate favoritism, medical favoritism, enrichment favoritism, and everything else favoritism. For Pete’s sake, is there anyone that truly believe that exist one in either platform that really care for the little guy walking the streets, the elderly refilling a prescription, the soldier at the battlefield, the woman nursing her child while unemployable, the immigrants enjoying or sacrificing the ride into democracy, to all I say no!
The toilet is the same, only the “Seating-bull” is the changing for a determined period of time. Lets not waste too much on who is going to do what, when, how and for whatever reason; it is only favoritism and nothing else. If you fail in real life, government will make sure you know and everybody else knows, but if the elected officials fail they will find an escape, a regurgitate story, a looser on the run, a distraction for the news and we will buy it for a while, and in the process we will eventually forget and let it rest in peace and the vicious circle will continue to live its life without regards to its own core and human elements, after all they all know we will be leaving this earth and this country within a few years one from another, and the renewed life form will again be permeated with the parasites of political favoritism again and again. So while we can let’s enjoy the ride, pretend everything is red white and blue, and let’s have the fat (hag) lady sing last. I am not an expert, a doctorate in any subject, neither a very intelligent person (trying not to be conceded) but I alone can resolve the entire problem of the medical benefits being extend to all living American in this Country without raising one penny in taxes for the rest of our mortal existence and beyond and these "mouth-full" politicians or aspiring ones cannot even come close.
Where we Republicans or Democrats before we were Americans? The wiser we become the more we understand, it is nothing but a game where there is only one winner, can you name the winner? Yeah, I knew it. You and I are in the game but really not playing.
So let mediocrity play its role and canonize stupidity in the eyes of the beholder... It is still the best damn place on the planet to live and I don’t care if I will have my children paying $10 a gallon of gas while making $6 an hour maintaining the existence of our communities, and working more months of their lives to pay for the government to exist, we all need to participate and that is the price for every American to give. Well I won’t move out and here shall I die still wearing my red, white and blue stripes!!!!


Why doesn't anyone headline McCain's flip flops??!!  If you want the list, Google it.  And if the media is going to quote McCain, why don't they also get the complete, exact quote of what Romney said about timetables?  Otherwise they are headlining hearsay, and THAT is dishonest!  "He said", "She said" reporting is gossip, not viable information.
Mitt shows his wonderful leadership skills as he promotes the idea that there SHOULD be benchmarks and goals to frame the new Iraqi government so they can finally be a unified country again.  No one, including Mitt wants to stay in Iraq indefinitely.  These private benchmark goals are in NO WAY a sign of retreat and defeat!!  They are called common sense, people.  And the funny thing is, even Senator McCain knows this is a good idea, but he's trying to twist this to make Mitt look like an anti-troops person.  The more I listen to what comes out of McCain's mouth, the more I can't stand him.  The Republican base will NEVER support this loser.
The "straight talk express" just got derailed.  What a liar!  He saw his poll numbers slipping and so he decided to take a page out of the Clinton's playbook.  Pathetic.


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