>>> news right now. conservatives are taking their message of austerity and traditional values right to the president's backyard. the first of three kornss under way in chicago right now as we speak. mitt romney is not there, but several of the speakers are said to be on the short list of possible vps, including three governors, bob mcdonald of virginia, and new jersey's own chris christy. conservatives including rick santorum called for a smaller government while taking a hit at the president's leadership.
>> your war here in america. and we have a president who is leading that charge and is a committed advocate of transforming america at its very foundation.
>> barack obama 's leadership is driving this business, the united states of america towards a fiscal cliff. we better stand together in the next five months and stop him from doing it.
>> and let's bring in republican strategist and former huckabee campaign manager chip salzman. good to see you.
>> good to be with you.
>> which of the men we just heard from do you think is your guy?
>> well, you know, there's a lot of good folks out there. and i'll be honest. if i had an exact ya box with senator rubio and i'll have another to win the vp stakes. but with i'll have another scratched, i'll have to rework my pecks.
>> look at you. let me ask you, speaking of things that might be seen as humerus, what do you think about what rick santorum said today regarding mitt romney ? let's play it.
>> we cannot afford four more years of president obama . we cannot afford what aes doing to the economy, wa he's doing to the culture, what he's doing to the fundamental freedoms that we have in this country. governor romney is a tremendous improvement for that. as i said during the campaign, i think we could have been even more of an improvement, but that issue is passed.
>> chip, has it really passed? it seems like he's still hanging on.
>> oh, yes, sure.
>> santorum has not been alongside governor romney . governor romney has been with donald trump more than he has with rick santorum .
>> i think senator santorum will get there. i've been through somebody that went through a tough primary with governor huckabee . four years ago, i couldn't imagine governor huckabee or myself supporting governor romney . but senator santorum is on his own time frame . and you saw senator santorum . surely, he's his first choice. and this is a tough process for people to put everything to bed and start their new lifetime.
>> even with that smile on his face, we know we can tell the truth and smile at the same time or reflect true feelings. is he at all reflecting what some of the conservatives who perhaps are even at that conference still feel about mitt romney , that there's still hesitation? they may rally around him, certainly, come november, but there's still a little bit of a whisk with some of them and maybe even with sanatorium.
>> if there was any of those hesitations, it's reaffirmed by what happened this week where conservatives had a big victory. and talking about the president's press conferences today where he said the private sector is fine. people know it's not. conservatives and moderates and liberals alike know the issues about what's going to happen.
>> let me ask you about jeb bush . you say people have rallied around. i would assume that he's considered one of the great leaders in the party. jeb bush has expressed concerns that even he would not have been able to be successful in this climate and that part of the strength of a leader is to be able to stand up against your base. he praised president obama for doing that. could you offer the same praise for mitt romney ? would he be able to go to cpac and stand up on some of those issues if he were elected?
>> great leaders have to know who they were and what they believe and what direction they want to take this country.
>> but if he specifically said great leaders need to be able to stand against their base. has mitt romney shown that he's been able to do that?
>> well, i think for a lot of different reasons, if you look at his career, i'm not on the romney campaign, i'm not paid by the romney campaign. i don't pay attention to it every sympathy day. but i know governor romney knows exactly what he is and willing to stand up for those issues because he knows what is right. and that's the mark of a great leader. and i know governor romney has done that in the past. if you look at his record as governor, when he saved the olympic, and really at bain capital , he made hard decisions that ultimately were good for individual, businesses and people. as governor, he did the same thing in massachusetts.
>> let me talk to you about governor chindahl. is there someone at this point that stands out to you as the person that would be the right fit for mitt romney at this point?
>> yeah. i think you can make the cases for several at this point. i think if we look at the vp stakes from 30,000 feet, a lot of these folks are on the list for a lot of different reasons. they've been great governors, they've been great senators, they've cut governor. but i think as we're looking at who we think is going to be it, look at who the candidates are that are going out and doing other states on their own. not necessarily with governor romney . we're seeing senator rubio going to colorado on behalf of the romney campaign. we've seen congressman ryan do the same thing. governor christie is traveling all over the country for governor romney . how do they go on the campaign trail on their own and are they being successful saying the right thing and is governor romney personally comfortable with them? those are the things i would look for.
>> and michele bachmann speaking, as well, later. she sure will probably provide fodder for us to discuss a little later. chip, thank you. great pleasure having you on.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.