Romney

Re "And the veep choice is…," Opinion, April 26 Among the criteria Doyle McManus lists for potential vice president picks is that the ideal candidate needs to avoid gaffes. His example is Sarah Palin, the 2008 nominee, but when mentioning Vice President Joe Biden all McManus refers to is Biden's securing the Pennsylvania vote. Biden is to gaffes as Thomas Edison was to electricity. The frequency and outrageousness of Biden's gaffes would make professional comedy writers insecure.

Days after the deadly bombings that turned the Boston Marathon into a scene of triage and tears, President Obama and the first lady were due to attend an interfaith service for the victims.  Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney also planned to be at Cathedral of the Holy Cross for the service, scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. Thursday.  “The service is an opportunity for the community to come together in the wake of the tragic events at...

When the issue of contraception came up in tonight's Republican debate, it offered the front-runners an attempt to finesse their positions on social issues to address seeming weaknesses. For Mitt Romney, that meant taking a hard line against President Obama and his administration's decision to mandate that all employer insurance plans cover contraception -- even those that are offered by religious institutions like Catholic hospitals and universities. Needing to make up ground among those conservatives who have of late turned to Rick Santorum, Romney accused Obama of undermining religious freedom.

As he explores his new roles within the Republican party and the business world after last year's presidential campaign, Mitt Romney plans this summer to bring together “experts and enthusiasts” in both spheres for a gathering in Park City that is expected to include potential 2016 contenders Chris Christie and Paul D. Ryan. In an email to guests obtained by the Times, Romney said he hoped to unite “political, business and other thought leaders” at the conference. The 2012 Republican nominee said in the email that Solamere, the investment firm cofounded by his son Tagg and his campaign finance chairman Spencer Zwick, would be among the sponsors of the gathering.

A Massachusetts-based building firm gave $25,000 to pro-Romney "super PAC" Restore Our Future, even though its chief executive is a major backer of President Obama . John Fish's company, Suffolk Construction, made the donation on Jan. 4. The company also donated to the super PAC twice in 2011, giving a total of $35,000 last year. At the same time, Fish raised between $100,000 and $200,000 this year for the president's 2012 bid, according to Open Secrets, and Federal Election Commission filings show that Fish gave $2,300 to the Obama campaign in 2007.

As Mitt Romney ramped up his attacks on Newt Gingrich, the former House speaker responded dismissively, saying Romney is displaying his frustration at losing handily in South Carolina and seeing his numbers slip in recent Florida polling. “I've been told by a variety of people that Gov. Romney has been saying unkind things. I personally prefer not to believe it,” he told about 150 voters gathered under a blazing sun outside the River Church. “But on the other hand, if you've been campaigning for six years, and you begin to see it slip away, you get desperate, and when you get desperate you say almost anything.” Gingrich said he expects the former Massachusetts governor to go further at Monday night's debate, a critical face-off for the two men. “I've been memorizing old phrases like 'There you go again,' ” Gingrich said, repeating a line that then-candidate Ronald Reagan used repeatedly in a debate against President Carter.

Among Mitt Romney's recent attempts to appear a more moderate candidate than his rhetoric had previously indicated is a difficult-to-parse line about abortion. In an interview with the Des Moines Register, the GOP candidate responded to a question about whether he had plans for any abortion bills should he be elected: "There's no legislation with regards to abortion that I'm familiar with that would become part of my agenda. " It's not Romney's fault that this has been widely reported as his saying that he has no plans for legislation to restrict abortion access.

TAMPA, Fla. - As Mitt Romney released more misleading claims about President Obama and the auto bailout on Tuesday, officials at GM and Chrysler weighed in and said the statements put forward by Romney about job losses and the offshoring of jobs were false - an unusual move for corporations, which tend to avoid entering the fray of partisan politics. Romney released a new radio ad in Ohio that continued to imply that Chrysler, the parent company of Jeep, had outsourced production to China, and in a new accusation, claimed that GM was moving 15,000 American jobs to China.

After months of enjoying strong leads over their Republican challengers in battleground Pennsylvania, President Obama and Sen. Bob Casey are edging their opponents by only a few points three weeks before Election Day. Obama is up over Mitt Romney 49% to 45% when factoring in likely voters leaning toward one candidate, according to a new survey released Monday by the Morning Call/Muhlenberg College. Speculation had recently suggested that Romney had all but given up on winning the state , and had redirected campaign resources to the pivotal swing state of Ohio, but the new poll places him within the margin of error of 5%. While the presidential race tightening was somewhat expected given recent polling across the country that shows Romney's continued post-debate surge , more stunning is the Senate matchup.

PAINESVILLE, Ohio -- It was the sort of moment that tests a presidential campaign. A rocky flight. Pouring rain. Gusty winds. A sodden crowd. But Mitt Romney managed to rally a couple of thousand people in this bellwether region of northeast Ohio on Friday, delivering a speech that focused heavily on the message that he is best equipped to rebuild the American economy. "We were promised a recovery and we haven't seen that recovery," Romney said in the speech at Lake Erie College, reciting a litany of statistics about the grim economy: 23 million people out of work or underemployed; more people added to U.S. food stamp rolls over four years than the population of Ohio; middle-income families "treading water at best, drowning at worst.

OXON HILL, Md.--Returning to a public stage for the first time since losing the presidential election, Mitt Romney called on Republicans Friday to put a powerful U.S. military at the top of their agenda. The 2012 Republican nominee had a distrustful relationship with some conservatives during his presidential run, but he was warmly received by hundreds of activists at the Conservative Political Action Conference, the annual meeting of activists from that wing of the party. Romney's call echoed his 2012 campaign promise to expand the Pentagon budget.

Re "Romney criticizes Obama," March 4 So Mitt Romney still believes the president won reelection by giving "gifts. " The very people who are so against government social programs are the reason much of this spending exists. Wages buy less than they did decades ago. The federal minimum wage is stuck at an outdated level. Companies have replaced their better-paid full-time workers with cheaper, part-time employees. Benefits like health insurance and retirement are more rare.

On the surface, Dennis Rodman and Mitt Romney would seem to be polar opposites: One's an infamous bad boy with a taste for flashy clothing and body piercings; the other's a straitlaced Mormon whose guiltiest pleasure is chocolate milk . But on “The Daily Show” Monday night, Jon Stewart remarked on the similarities between the two men, who each made high-profile appearances on Sunday - Rodman on “This Week” on ABC, fresh off...

Stepping back into the spotlight for the first time Sunday, Mitt Romney offered a blunt critique of President Obama - accusing his former rival of playing politics rather than finding a resolution to across-the-board spending cuts now being enacted. The former Massachusetts governor and Republican presidential nominee acknowledged a handful of mistakes in his first post-campaign interview with "Fox News Sunday," during which he also said he did not envision a future in politics. He called his failure to engage minorities in 2012 "a real mistake" and admitted that he had suffered "real damage" from the fallout of his now-infamous comments that 47% of Americans were dependent on government assistance and unlikely to vote for him. But he did not back away from his controversial assertion that Obama won the election by securing the loyalty of key groups such as Latinos and African Americans with programs like his healthcare plan.

For Mitt Romney, there will be no next chapter in politics - at least no third run for the presidency. But in his first post-campaign interview, the former Massachusetts governor did not shy away Sunday from his criticism of President Obama and said he hoped to help the Republican Party regain its footing - from a distance. “I recognize that as the guy who lost the election, I'm not in a position to tell everybody else how to win,” Romney told "Fox News Sunday" host Chris Wallace.

Customized TV Listings are available here: www.latimes.com/tvtimes Click here to download TV listings for the week of March 3 - 9, 2013 in PDF format This week's TV Movies   SERIES "The Graham Norton Show" Richard Gere, John Malkovich, Saoirse Ronan are guests and Taylor Swift performs in this new episode. 7:15 and 10:15 p.m. BBC America "The Surrogate" Cameron Mathison and Amy Scott star in this new TV movie about a couple who seek help in having a baby.

As Mitt Romney launched his Wisconsin primary campaign on Friday in the Republican-rich Fox Valley, he was taking pains to be seen as the party's inevitable presidential nominee, starting with an endorsement by a controversial native son, Rep. Paul Ryan. What's more striking in Wisconsin is the endorsement that Romney has not received -- that of Gov. Scott Walker. The Republican governor, who surveys indicate is extremely popular with GOP primary voters, is facing a recall election, most likely in June.

WASHINGTON -- Almost four months after his presidential election defeat, Mitt Romney is planning a return to the national political stage. The 2012 Republican nominee will appear, with his wife Ann, on Fox News Sunday next weekend, Chris Wallace, the program's host, announced Sunday. It will be his first televised interview since the November election. Romney also plans to speak next month at the Conservative Political Action Conference, a high-profile forum for conservative politicians.