Romney Campaign Press Release - The Experience to Lead

"Senator Clinton possesses a Washington, D.C. mindset that is incapable of leadership and entirely without the experience required to get things done for the American people. Senator Clinton has shown us time and time again that she is more interested in political posturing than any core principles." – Kevin Madden, Romney for President spokesman

ROMNEY VISION: THE EXPERIENCE TO BRING CHANGE TO WASHINGTON

Gov. Romney Has Led In The Bluest Of Blue States And Has Actually Produced Results:

Gov. Romney Was Able To Govern Successfully In The Bluest Of Blue States. "But I think the most important element of my having been successful in Massachusetts is not just showing that I was able to win a Democrat state, but that I was able to work with Democrat legislators, and to find enough common ground to balance their budget every four years without raising taxes, to put in place a health care system that is private, market based, to make important reforms to our education system, to make important reforms to our transportation system...that I was able to work across the aisle." (M.E. Sprengelmeyer, "Back Roads Interview With Mitt Romney," Rocky Mountain News, 8/2/07)

- Gov. Romney: "And I think Americans are looking for people who can get the job done and can do it in a setting where there are two parties. Governors know how to do that." (M.E. Sprengelmeyer, "Back Roads Interview With Mitt Romney," Rocky Mountain News, 8/2/07)

Gov. Romney Talks Proudly About His Record Of Working With Democrats In Massachusetts. ROMNEY: "Now, I'm proud of my record. Not just of the words, but of the record of the governor of Massachusetts. Like Mayor Giuliani I had a tough state to be running in. I was a conservative Republican in a very Democrat state. My legislature, 85 percent Democrat. We faced a $3 billion budget gap. We solved it without raising taxes, without adding debt. We solved the problem in health care in our state not by having government take it over, the way Hillary Clinton would -- with private free-enterprise approaches." (Fox News, Republican Presidential Candidate Debate, Orlando, FL, 10/21/07)

Gov. Romney Successfully Passed Health Care Reform Legislation In Massachusetts:

Gov. Romney's Success At Reforming Health Care In Massachusetts Works As One Possible Model For Other States. "As Governor of Massachusetts, Governor Romney successfully led the effort for comprehensive health care reform, and he recognizes that the federal government must do what it can to facilitate effective change at the state level. His reforms will give states greater flexibility. But Governor Romney's conservative reforms also make the states true partners in the effort to expand access to affordable, quality health insurance." (Romney For President, "Expanding Access To Affordable Health Care," Press Release, 8/24/07)

Gov. Romney Worked With Republicans And Democrats To Pass Health Care Reform In Massachusetts. GOV. ROMNEY: "I'm delighted with the fact that we in our state worked together across the aisle, Republicans and Democrats, to find a way to get health care for all of our citizens that's affordable and that's portable. ... The Heritage Foundation worked on it with us. We had people on both sides of the aisle." (MSNBC, Republican Presidential Candidate Debate, Simi Valley, CA, 5/3/07)

- Massachusetts Republicans And Democrats Passed Health Care Reform 191-2. "Lawmakers overwhelmingly approved the bill Tuesday. The plan hailed as a national model would dramatically expand access to health care over the next three years. ... The House approved the bill on a 154-2 vote. The Senate endorsed it 37-0." (Steve LeBlanc, "Romney Set To Sign Bill To Require Health Insurance For All," The Associated Press, 4/5/06)

Gov. Romney Believes In Private, Market-Based Health Insurance And Encouraging Personal Responsibility:

Gov. Romney's Plan In Massachusetts Stressed Personal Responsibility. ROMNEY: "This is fundamentally a plan, which is based on individuals being helped to get their own private health insurance policy." (Fox News' "Journal Editorial Report," 6/3/06)

- Gov. Romney: "[M]y plan calls for a personal responsibility principle: Everyone must either become insured or maintain adequate savings to cover their medical expenses." (Gov. Mitt Romney, Op-Ed, "Health-Care Reform Gets A Fair Shake," Boston Herald, 6/21/05)

SEN. HILLARY CLINTON: DIVISIVE, PARTISAN POLITICS

Sen. Clinton Has A New Ad Attacking Governor Romney And Republicans, Using Tired Language And The Politics Of Division:

Sen. Clinton's New Ad, "Machine," Attempts To Portray Gov. Romney And Republicans As Part Of An "Attack Machine." "Hillary Clinton is attempting a form of political jujitsu with this ad, portraying herself as the victim of unfair Republican criticism without specifying what that criticism is. ... The commercial, airing in New Hampshire and Massachusetts, also evokes the years of GOP assaults during her tenure as first lady, ranging from the Whitewater investigation to the Monica Lewinsky controversy, which Clinton initially blamed on a 'vast right-wing conspiracy.'" (Howard Kurtz, "Clinton Hits Back at Republican 'Machine'," The Washington Post, 11/20/07)

- Sen. Clinton's New Ad: "Here they go again. The same old Republican attack machine is back." (Sen. Hillary Clinton YouTube Website, http://www.youtube.com/user/hillaryclintondotcom, Accessed 11/20/07)

FLASHBACK – Sen. Clinton Has A Habit Of Attacking And Vilifying The Republican Party:

In 1998, Sen. Clinton Attacked The Republican Party, Calling It A "Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy." HILLARY CLINTON: 'But I do believe that this is a battle. I mean, look at the very people who are involved in this, they have popped up in other settings. This is the great story here, for anybody willing to find it and write about it and explain it, is this vast right-wing conspiracy that has been conspiring against my husband since the day he announced for president. A few journalists have kind of caught onto it and explained it, but it has not yet been fully revealed to the American public. And, actually, you know, in a bizarre sort of way, this may do it.' (NBC's 'Today,' 1/27/98)

Even After Being Elected To The U.S. Senate, Sen. Clinton Still Believed That There Was A Conspiracy Against Her. SEN. HILLARY CLINTON (D), NEW YORK: 'It has been clear for a number of years that there really is a vast right wing conspiracy. And that, you know, my only regret was using the word conspiracy, because there is absolutely nothing secret about it. It is a network with an agenda that truly is intent upon turning the clock back. What the administration has set out to do is not only to reward its far right by nominating people who are sure to provoke a reaction by the Democrats, but picking those who they wish to provoke that reaction to try to create other questions, as well. You know, that perhaps Democrats aren't sympathetic to women or Hispanics or others.' (Fox News' 'Hannity & Colmes,' 8/1/03)

FLASHBACK – Sen. Clinton's Failed 1993 Health Care Plan Was Deemed "Socialized Medicine":

The Heritage Foundation: Today's "Universal Healthcare" Is Just A Rehash Of The Failed HillaryCare Of The Early 1990s. "But in the longer term, it's a just one more step on the road to 'HillaryCare' - the program of government-run, universal health-care that Americans rejected so decisively in the early Clinton years. The problem, as the Clinton plan foretold, is that eventually bureaucrats will decide which medical procedures are covered and which aren't, with patients forced to see a government-approved doctor instead of choosing their own, and health-care services rationed (again, by bureaucrats) to hold down costs." (The Heritage Foundation Website, http://www.heritage.org/, Accessed 8/14/07)

USA Today: HillaryCare "The Biggest Policy Failure Of Bill Clinton's Presidency." "Wives can be crucial factors in presidential triumphs - and fiascos. The biggest policy failure of Bill Clinton's presidency, his health care reform plan, has been blamed in large part on Hillary Clinton, who headed the task force that drafted the proposal." (Editorial, "Behind The Scenes, First Ladies Are First Advisers," USA Today, 6/14/04)

Las Vegas Review-Journal: HillaryCare Is "Socialized Medicine." "'I have never advocated socialized medicine,' the former first lady replied. 'That has been a right-wing attack on me for 15 years.' Unfortunately, some of us still have copies of the 1,300-page proposed 'Health Security Act' crafted by Mrs. Clinton's secret committee in 1993. Under it, a patient who 'stepped out of line' and offered to pay cash for a doctor's services would have been subject to criminal penalties. ... That's socialized medicine." (Editorial, "Left-Wing Lies," Las Vegas Review-Journal, 8/13/07)