Fact check from AP’s education writer: “When Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney decried President Barack Obama as beholden to the nation's teachers' unions and unable to stand up for reform, he glossed over four years of a relationship that has been anything but cozy. Obama has promoted initiatives that encourage districts to tie teacher evaluations to student performance and to expand the number of charter schools -- actions the teacher unions have long been against, and which Romney himself promoted Wednesday in a speech in Washington outlining his education platform.”
NPR’s Claudio Sanchez: “Romney's argument that President Obama's beholden to teachers unions will be a stretch, in large part because unions are no fans of the administration's support for charter school, merit pay, and evaluation schemes that tie teachers' performance to students' test results. Still, Mr. Romney's plan for K through 12 education is different than the president's plan in a basic way, says Andy Rotherham, a former advisor to the Obama administration.”
The L.A. Times’ Paul West makes the point that Romney’s rare trip to the inner city “probably had more to do with outreach to suburban moderates than to African Americans, who are strongly behind President Obama.”
Here’s the Philadelphia Inquirer’s first-hand take.
“A day after Mitt Romney addressed the Latino Coalition , the presumptive Republican nominee released a second Spanish-language ad outlining the agenda for his first day in office,” the Boston Globe writes. “But Romney’s attempts to court Latino voters -- with whom he is unpopular -- appear half-hearted, according to some observers. The ads indicate Romney’s early to-do list does not include immigration reform, a subject he also ignored Wednesday when speaking to Latino business owners at the US Chamber of Commerce in Washington.”
Similarly, National Journal’s Beth Reinhard writes, “The stage is set for an epic battle over the Hispanic vote in the presidential election, but so far, President Obama is crushing the competition… While Obama’s ads are specifically targeted at a Hispanic audience, Romney’s Spanish-language ads are exactly the same as his ads in English, only translated into Spanish.” One Democrat described Romney’s strategy as “watering the desert.”
Peggy Noonan interviewed Romney. Note that Romney is keeping notes on his presidential campaign, writing every two or three days. Sounds like a memoir coming. He also claims: “[V]ictory is still a thrill, but I don't feel agony in loss."
Romney notes that he gets upset with himself for verbal mistakes, like saying, “I like to be able to fire people." And then he goes on to criticize the media: “‘I have to think not only about what I say in a full sentence but what I say in a phrase.’ In the current media environment, ‘you will be taken out of context, you'll be clipped, and you'll be battered with things you said.’ He says it is interesting that ‘the media always says, 'Gosh, we just want you to be spontaneous,' but at the same time if you say anything in the wrong order, you're gonna be sorry!’”
And he claimed: “If Barack Obama is re-elected, ‘it will be very difficult to get off that path. If I'm elected, I will usher in a period of economic vitality,’ that will leave the world ‘surprised.’ Not only the world: ‘America is going to see a vitality we had not expected.’”
He raised money last night in Boston at the home of a former Bain employee.
Romney will be raising money Tuesday with Newt Gingrich and Donald Trump. “For a mere $3 donation to help elect Mitt Romney, donors could find themselves dining with real estate mogul Donald Trump,” USA Today writes. “The fundraising ask, sponsored by Romney Victory Fund, the joint fundraising effort by Romney and the Republican National Committee, features a sketch of Trump pointing, with the words ‘I want you’ and ‘Dine with the Donald’ under the picture. A cursive (+ Mitt) is next to Trump's name.”
Trump yesterday had a suggestion for Romney’s VP – him. "Probably the best choice of all would be Donald Trump," he said, per the New York Daily News. And, the always-humble Trump apparently wants to speak at the Republican National Convention. He tweeted Tuesday: “Hmmm...can you imagine me speaking at the RNC Convention in Tampa? That's a speech everyone would watch."
The Daily News reports: “Republican insiders have confirmed that Trump’s name has been floated as a possible speaker for the August convention, but no decisions have been made.”
