Romney News Roundup

McCain edges Huckabee in SC; Clinton, Romney capture Nevada
Boston Globe - United States
LAS VEGAS - Senator John McCain of Arizona and former governor Mitt Romney of Massachusetts moved to the front of the Republican presidential pack yesterday ...

Romney turns focus to fight for Fla.
Boston Globe - United States
Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney learned of his Nevada victory yesterday as he flew from Las Vegas to Jacksonville, Fla. ...

Primary preview: Mitt Romney has polish, but is he for real?
San Jose Mercury News - CA, USA
By Frank Davies Mitt Romney showed that you can go home again. After disappointing losses in Iowa and New Hampshire, Romney's turning point came in a ...

How Clinton, Romney emerged victorious in Nevada
Dallas Morning News - Dallas,TX,USA
RELIGION COUNTS: Mitt Romney's Mormon religion has been a problem for some Republicans in other states, but not in Nevada. A quarter of the voters Saturday ...

Romney Gains Easy Victory in Nevada’s GOP Contest
New York Times - United States
Mitt Romney campaigned at a high school caucus site in Nevada on Saturday morning. More Photos > By JEFF ZELENY and MICHAEL LUO LAS VEGAS — Mitt Romney ...

Romney walks Nevada caucas
Euronews.net - Lyon,France
Mitt Romney pulled off a convincing win in the Republican caucas in Nevada. Romney's huge victory in the state followed his breakthrough win in Michigan ...

Romney flourishes in Nevada, flails in SC
Kansas City Star - MO,USA
Mitt Romney had it all - money, looks, organization, endorsements and a seasoned staff. But he still couldn't crack South Carolina. ...

McCain wins SC; Romney takes Nevada
SunHerald.com - Biloxi,MS,USA
Mitt Romney handily won the other event on Saturday's political calendar, the lightly contested Nevada caucuses, building upon his lead in terms of total ...

Help from above for Romney?
Reuters - USA
JACKSONVILLE, Florida - Republican presidential contender Mitt Romney felt he may have had a little extra help when answering a reporter’s question on one ...

Romney Unveils Stimulus Package
The Associated Press - (AP) — Mitt Romney, who has pledged to bring his business sense to the White House, outlined an economic stimulus package Saturday far bigger than anything ...

ELKO DAILY FREE PRESS ENDORSES GOVERNOR MITT ROMNEY

"Free Press Endorses Romney, Obama"
Elko Daily Free Press
Editorial
January 18, 2008

"Voting in early caucus and primary races has shown that Americans have different opinions about who our next president should be. Even a small group like the Elko Daily Free Press editorial board had vastly different opinions about whom to endorse.

"Our discussions resembled the mixed volley of results from the few presidential primary/caucus states that have voted so far.

"We finally concluded former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and Illinois Sen. Barack Obama are the most likely to be successful at solving Nevada's major issues that have been festering under a dysfunctionally divided Congress.

"On the Republican side, we support Romney because of his strong executive background and his ability to achieve results in a state that is dominated by members of the opposite party.
"His 'strategy for a stronger America' promises to lower taxes while improving education and making our nation more competitive in the global marketplace. He also understands the threat America faces from jihadists in the Middle East, and proposes a 'Marshall Plan' to unify moderate Muslims against terrorism at its source." …

To read the full endorsement, please see:
http://www.elkodaily.com/articles/2008/01/18/opinion/editorial/edit1.txt

Ron Paul: Nevada GOP Caucus in Chaos

Today, the Ron Paul 2008 campaign is calling on the Nevada State Republican Party to re-examine multiple inconsistencies in the Nevada Caucus process, and to consider postponing the caucus, which is scheduled for Saturday, January 19.

“The inconsistencies, errors and multiple changes in the rules reek of playing politics with what should be a neutral process,” said Ron Paul 2008 campaign manager Lew Moore. “The people of Nevada deserve to know exactly what the rules are and to know that those rules are being fairly enforced. This has not happened up to this point, and the caucus appears to be in chaos.”

The problem of multiple rule changes is being compounded by other inconsistencies and errors in the process. Many Nevada Republicans have received postcards with incorrect information about their caucus location, and the Nevada GOP website had incorrect caucus locations listed as late as Wednesday, January 16.

Additionally, one or more county chairs have expressed concerns over an insufficient number of ballots, and the Ron Paul campaign has heard reports that rural counties are short of ballots, while Clark County precincts were given what is regarded as far too many ballots.

The Ron Paul campaign has learned that the Nevada Republican Party has changed the rules for eligibility requirements for caucusing three times since January 9. Last summer when the January 19 caucus was set, the Nevada GOP announced that caucus would be closed and only for Republicans who had registered by December 19.

On January 10, 2008, a caucus director for the Nevada Republican Party reversed the earlier policy and announced a new standard by stating that any person who asserts that they are a registered Republican in the precinct but cannot be found in the voter rolls that the Republican party has, would be able to participate if they signed an affidavit attesting to the fact that they were a registered Republican. Then, on January 15 the Ron Paul campaign received communication from the state party that the affidavits would not be used.

However, on January 17 the policy was changed for a third time, as the state party announced that affidavits would be in use throughout the state, subject to the discretion of county central committees and chairs.

The Nevada Republican Party is changing the rules from week to week, and currently the rules will not even be uniform across the state, as eligibility rules may differ from county to county.

Given the caucus location confusion – with potential caucus participants not knowing where to go – and the new rule effectively allowing anyone to get a ballot, the Ron Paul campaign is concerned that the confusion surrounding the caucus will both disenfranchise voters and make the election particularly susceptible to vote fraud.