AP News, May 31st, 2007
Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney on Thursday criticized Democratic rival Hillary Rodham Clinton as a European caricature who would turn the United States into a welfare state.
Speaking to about 200 people in Sioux City, Romney said he wanted to highlight the differences between himself and Clinton, the front-runner for her party's presidential nomination.
"Her view is the old, classic, European caricature that we describe of big government, big taxation, welfare state," said the former Massachusetts governor.
"She gave a speech a couple of days ago and laid out her vision for America. And as I listened to her I figured her platform wouldn't even get her elected in France," Romney, who was a missionary in France, said to chuckles and applause.
In recent French elections, conservative Nicolas Sarkozy captured the presidency, defeating Segolene Royal in her bid to become France's first female president.
Romney criticized Clinton's effort as first lady to enact universal health care and touted his success in passing a plan in Massachusetts. Although Romney won bipartisan praise for his state effort, he hasn't mentioned it much in his bid for president.
"The first difference is mine got passed and hers didn't," he said.
Romney said the election of Clinton as president would force the country to veer off course economically, militarily and socially.
"I'm convinced if Hillary were president ... that we would see instead of a stronger military and a stronger economy and stronger families, we'd see a weaker military because she would ... be able to spend money on the social programs that she favors," he said. "We'd see a weaker economy because she'd raise taxes and we'd have less money going into the private sector and creating new jobs. We'd see weaker families as well."
Contrasting himself with Clinton, Romney also reiterated his support for a constitutional amendment against gay marriage. Clinton has said she wouldn't support such an amendment.
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NEW YORK (AP) _ Republican presidential contender Rudy Giuliani was endorsed Thursday by former FBI director Louis Freeh, whom he has known for three decades.
Freeh's endorsement is viewed by supporters as a boost to Giuliani's image as a strong leader against terrorism and crime in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. On the campaign trail, Giuliani has asserted that he and his fellow Republicans have the best approach to deterring terrorism.
"Rudy Giuliani's optimistic leadership is responsible for making the city of New York what it is today, one of the safest largest cities in the country and a place where the world feels safe to visit," Freeh said in a statement prior to a news conference.
"No one knows better than Louie Freeh what it takes to fight crime," said Giuliani.
Freeh, whose eight year-tenure as FBI director was marked by a long-running feud with President Clinton, also will serve as senior homeland security adviser for Giuliani's campaign and will head the candidate's Delaware campaign. Freeh lives in Wilmington, Del.
The two have known each other since the 1970s; Freeh prosecuted New York mafia cases under Giuliani, who was then the U.S. attorney in Manhattan.
Freeh has long pushed to expand U.S. intelligence gathering overseas and was responsible for positioning FBI agents as liaison in key countries around the globe.
Clinton appointed Freeh, a former federal judge, to become the nation's top lawman in 1993. But the relationship between the two men soured over the White House scandal investigations and what Freeh later claimed was Clinton's soft stance on terrorism.
Freeh resigned as FBI director in June 2001, and is now president of Freeh Group International, a legal affairs consulting firm.
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WASHINGTON (AP) _ In Sen. Christopher Dodd's new television ad, he is now the good cop. No more portraying Democratic rivals Hillary Rodham Clinton or Barack Obama as followers, not leaders.
The new 30-second television began running Thursday in Iowa and New Hampshire. It touts Dodd's energy plan _ and its corporate carbon tax _ as a solution to global warming.
"All the Earth's creatures are threatened by global warming," an announcer says as children toss and twirl Earth globes and sing "We've Got the Whole World In Our Hands."
"One candidate for president is doing something to stop it _Chris Dodd," the voice says. "He's the only with an energy plan that has a courageous corporate carbon tax to transform American industry."
Dodd's ad is similar in cost to a relatively modest $120,000 purchase of television time for his ads three weeks ago.
But this commercial lacks the confrontational tone of his last two ads, which challenged Obama and Clinton on the war and on energy.
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Associated Press writers Pat Milton in New York and Jim Kuhnhenn in Washington contributed to this report.
