Pakistan's Slow-Motion Coup

Initiated by a memo from who?

"Pakistani inquiry said to widen" November 21, 2011|By Associated Press

ISLAMABAD - Pakistan’s powerful army intelligence chief personally intervened to check details surrounding a secret memo asking Washington to rein in Pakistan’s military following the raid that killed Osama bin Laden, the man who made the memo public said yesterday.

Lieutenant General Shuja Pasha, the head of the Inter-Services Intelligence agency, flew to London to meet with Mansoor Ijaz on Oct. 22, less than two weeks after the US businessman of Pakistani origin disclosed the existence of the memo in a Financial Times column.

A senior ISI official said he had no knowledge of the meeting but did not deny it occurred. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he did not have authorization to talk to reporters.

Pasha’s reported involvement shows how seriously the army is taking the scandal, which could cost Pakistan’s ambassador to the US his job and also threatens to engulf the country’s president.

Ijaz has claimed that the ambassador, Husain Haqqani, orchestrated the memo and assured him that Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari had approved it. Both have denied the allegations, although Haqqani has offered his resignation to end the scandal.

The ambassador returned home yesterday to answer questions about the memo, which Ijaz sent in May to Admiral Mike Mullen, the top US military commander at the time. He said he sent it through an intermediary a week after a covert US raid killed bin Laden in a Pakistani garrison town.

The memo has shocked many Pakistanis.

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"Pakistan’s US envoy quits over accusation; Reportedly sought US aid vs. military" November 23, 2011|By Salman Masood, New York Times

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - Husain Haqqani, the embattled Pakistani ambassador to the United States, resigned yesterday following accusations that he had sought US help to rein in the powerful Pakistani military....

The accusations center on a memo that Mansoor Ijaz, a US businessman of Pakistani origin, said Haqqani asked him to have delivered to Admiral Mike Mullen, then the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. According to Ijaz, the memo asked for US help in heading off a possible military-led coup and promised concessions in return.

The accusations, which Haqqani denies, created a political storm in Pakistan, where anti-US feelings run high. Haqqani, a Boston University professor currently on leave, is considered by some to be an apologist for the United States.  

Related: Pakistan's American Face

He has also made enemies among some in the military for his criticisms of the army before he became ambassador. Some analysts believe that the military’s leaders, who wield the real power in the country, pushed for the government to oust Haqqani.

Some US officials yesterday expressed concern that Haqqani’s exit could complicate attempts by the United States and Pakistan to repair badly strained relations.

Political commentators said President Asif Ali Zardari, who considered Haqqani a close aide, appeared to have decided to distance himself from the controversy for political considerations.

Zardari and his party hope to maintain power past elections in 2013, and analysts say he was probably reacting to the military, opposition figures, and the country’s aggressive news media, which had all begun to pummel him for a lack of action on the memo.

“The fact that Mr. Haqqani has been virtually sacked speaks of which way the wind is blowing,’’ said Arif Nizami, editor of the English-language daily newspaper Pakistan Today. “The military had never been in love with Mr. Haqqani and was critical of his role in Washington, D.C.’’

He added that by handing over the investigations to Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani, who is not thought to have a soft spot for Haqqani, Zardari had already indicated that he was not willing to worsen the considerable tensions that exist between the civilian government and the military.  

This "note" is beginning to smell very fishy.

In a text message last evening, Haqqani said he would continue to serve Pakistan and its democracy in whatever way possible....

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"Pakistan restricts envoy’s travel; Investigation of memo is launched" December 02, 2011|By Karin Brulliard, Washington Post

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - Pakistan’s former ambassador to the United States was barred yesterday from traveling abroad while a panel authorized by the Supreme Court investigates a controversial memo, which sought US help with reining in the powerful Pakistani military, that led to his resignation. The memo was probably crafted with the knowledge of President Asif Ali Zardari and amounted to treason.

Husain Haqqani, a Boston University professor on leave, last week stepped down amid accusations that he engineered the memo, a charge he denies.

The scandal exposed the depth of civil-military mistrust in Pakistan, where the military retains firm control of foreign and security policy three years after officially ceding power to Zardari’s civilian government....  

Or it could be a plot by a foreign power to divide the nation's leadership.

The memo’s existence has roiled Pakistani politics. The court-ordered investigation could imperil the government if it reveals that Zardari or other high-level government officials knew about the memo....

The controversy is a “swirl of media allegations initiated by a reckless individual,’’ Haqqani said. He was referring to Mansoor Ijaz, a Pakistani-American businessman who first brought the memo to light in an October column he wrote for the Financial Times. Ijaz said he crafted and passed along the memo on the instructions of Haqqani.

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"Pakistan’s leader spurs worry on health, future; Afghan-bound tankers torched" December 09, 2011|By Karen DeYoung and Simon Denyer, Washington Post

BRUSSELS - The Obama administration has “no reason to speculate’’ about the health or political future of President Asif Ali Zardari of Pakistan, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said yesterday, adding that US officials “expect that he will receive the treatment that he is seeking and then be able to return in full health to his duties.’’

Zardari left Pakistan on Tuesday for Dubai, the United Arab Emirates, where aides said he has been receiving medical care for a heart ailment. His departure sparked rumors that he intends to resign.

The speculation is grounded in strong domestic criticism of the Islamabad government’s ties with the United States after the killing of 24 Pakistani soldiers in a US airstrike near the Afghanistan border almost two weeks ago.

Yeah, what a WEIRD COINCIDENCE that the AIR RAID "mistake" on the Pakistan military outposts came AFTER the SURFACING of MEMO!  I am REALLY STARTING TO SMELL a STINK HERE!!

Since the airstrike, Pakistan has closed supply routes that allow US and coalition military convoys to cross into Afghanistan. Yesterday, more than 20 Afghanistan-bound fuel tankers were torched by assailants near the southwestern Pakistani city of Quetta, the Associated Press reported. 

Just like everything the USraeli empire puts its hand to lately, the provocation turns into a huge backfire. And now they want to attack Iran!!

In an interview this week, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said that new agreements were being negotiated with the Obama administration to ensure that the two countries “respected each other’s red lines’’ regarding sovereignty and rules of engagement along the border.

Pakistan’s demands include a smaller CIA footprint in the country and more information on what US intelligence agents are doing there; more control over and information about drone strikes; and a greater role for Pakistan in Afghanistan’s reconciliation efforts.  

How about NO CIA footprint and NO DRONES!?!!??

In a statement, Pakistan’s cabinet “expressed its full support for the government to press upon the NATO and the US to frame new parameters of engagements based on mutual respect and the national interests ensuring sovereignty of Pakistan.’’

A US official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said that security deals with Pakistan had never included written agreements and that the administration had received no specific new demands.

Whatever. My government lies so I have stopped listening to it.

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"Taliban suicide bomber kills 6 Pakistani soldiers" December 24, 2011|Rasool Dawar and Ishtiaq Mahsud, Associated Press

The attacks came as Pakistan was gripped by tension between the army and the civilian government over a secret memo sent to Washington earlier this year asking for help in reining in the military. Pakistan’s prime minister sought to dial down the conflict Saturday, days after he set off alarm with a warning of a potential coup....

This "memo" is really looking suspicious.

The current political crisis in Pakistan threatens to distract the military from its fight against the militants.  

So the U.S. will just have to move in and help out, huh?

The scandal centers around a memo that was allegedly sent to a senior U.S. military official in May by Pakistan’s ambassador to the U.S. at the time, Husain Haqqani, asking for help in averting a supposed army coup in the wake of the American raid that killed Osama bin Laden.

Haqqani has denied the allegations but resigned in the wake of the scandal. Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari has also denied claims that he was connected to the memo.

Tension spiked this past week when Pakistan’s Supreme Court opened a hearing into the scandal and demanded the president submit a response, which he has so far failed to do. The government has claimed there is no need for a judicial investigation since parliament is looking into the matter.

Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani set pulses racing Thursday when he claimed there was a conspiracy under way to oust the government. He did not specifically point to the military, but he did say the army must be answerable to parliament and cannot act as a “state within a state.’’

Army chief Gen. Pervez Ashfaq Kayani dismissed the prime minister’s allegations Friday, saying the military had no intention of staging a coup and would respect the constitution.

Gilani welcomed Kayani’s comments Saturday, saying “the clarification from the army chief yesterday is extremely well-taken in the democratic circles.’’

“It will certainly improve the situation,’’ Gilani told reporters in Islamabad.

Analysts have speculated that the army may try to force Zardari out of office over the memo scandal, rather than actually stage a coup.

Kayani said Friday that talk of a military takeover was a distraction from “real issues,’’ a comment perceived by some to apply to the president’s alleged role in the scandal.

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Related: Pakistan court to investigate memo on possible coup

"Ex-Pakistan envoy denies link to coup memo" January 10, 2012

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - Husain Haqqani, Pakistan’s former envoy to the United States, formally rejected allegations that he was behind a memo sent to Washington that sought help in preventing a purported army coup....

The powerful army was outraged when news of the memo affair broke last year....

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"Pakistani military issues threat as rift with civil powers widens; Firing escalates political crisis after ‘Memogate’" by Karin Brulliard  |  Washington Post, January 12, 2012

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - An increasingly public battle between the military and the civilian government of this nuclear-armed nation escalated yesterday, as the army warned that Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani’s recent criticism of its chief could have grievous consequences, and Gilani fired his defense secretary.

The developments sent Pakistan’s crisis-prone politics into a new tailspin, hardening a standoff that some analysts say could bring down the unpopular government. The turmoil appears likely to distract from efforts to repair relations between the United States and Pakistan, complicating US hopes of securing Pakistani support as it withdraws from neighboring Afghanistan.

The current civilian-military tensions center on an unsigned memo that was delivered to the Pentagon last May, requesting help in halting a potential military coup and curbing the army’s power.  

EXCUSE ME? 

The DAMN THING was UNSIGNED? 

Then ANYONE COULD HAVE WROTE IT -- including U.S. INTELLIGENCE OFFICIALS!!

Of course, they would NEVER, EVER FORGE ANYTHING!  

Btw, why did it taken the AmeriKan press THAT LONG to mention it?

The memo infuriated the army, and the Supreme Court is now investigating the document’s origin and whether it was approved by President Asif Ali Zardari. The government has denied any involvement.

But as pressure mounts, the elected government, with Gilani in the lead, has repeatedly lashed out at the army, which is viewed as Pakistan’s most potent force. Last month, Gilani denounced what he called a “state within a state’’ and suggested that a military coup plot was in the works. Two days ago, Gilani told a Chinese newspaper that the army chief, General Ashfaq Kayani, and Lieutenant General Ahmed Shuja Pasha, head of Pakistan’s top spy agency, had acted illegally and violated the constitution by submitting affidavits about the memo case to the court.

Yesterday, Gilani fired his defense secretary, retired Lieutenant General Naeem Khalid Lodhi, accusing him of “gross misconduct and illegal action’’ and of “creating misunderstanding between the state institutions’’ by not following government procedures for submitting the Kayani and Pasha affidavits. Lodhi, considered close to the army, embarrassed Gilani last month by submitting a statement to the Supreme Court saying that the government had no operational control over the army or intelligence services. He was replaced by a civilian loyal to Gilani, local media reported.

Hours earlier, the army had issued a statement denying that the affidavits filed by Kayani and Pasha were improper and pointing out they were submitted through government channels. Gilani’s accusation “has very serious ramifications with potentially grievous consequences for the country,’’ the statement said, without elaborating.

Civilian governments and the army have often acted as dueling power centers throughout Pakistan’s 64-year history, and the military has usually been the victor. There have been several military coups, and no elected government has completed a full term. The weak current government has essentially security policy to the army.

Few here say that the army is gearing up for an outright takeover. But it is widely perceived as disgusted with Zardari and a government tainted by graft allegations and unable to control a free-falling economy. Some political analysts contend the military wants to oust Zardari through constitutional means and has influenced the Supreme Court’s aggressive stance in the so-called Memogate case and other alleged government wrongdoing.

The government has summoned Parliament in hopes it will approve a resolution in support of Gilani and Zardari, while the army chief has called a meeting of his top generals.

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"Pakistan to debate democracy plan" by Karin Brulliard  |  Washington Post, January 14, 201

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - Pakistani lawmakers introduced a parliamentary resolution endorsing democracy yesterday as the embattled ruling party sought support from its coalition partners in a civilian-military standoff that is shaking the government.

The resolution, to be debated in Parliament’s lower house Monday, expressed “full confidence and trust’’ in the civilian government and called on state institutions to function within constitutional bounds. The proposal appears intended to bolster the government amid a scandal over an unsigned memo that has sparked rumors of a looming military coup.

“It must be decided whether there will be democracy in the country or dictatorship,’’ Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said yesterday in Parliament.

Gilani’s unpopular government, which has been in office since a 10-year military dictatorship ended in 2008, is enmeshed in a public duel with the army over the memo, which asked the Pentagon for help restraining the powerful military. The document enraged the army, and a Supreme Court panel is investigating whether it came from the government.

As tensions rose this week, Gilani fired the civilian defense secretary, saying he had violated rules in connection with what the prime minister said were unconstitutional affidavits submitted to the court by the army and spy chiefs. The criticism drew a strong rebuke from the army, which warned of potentially “grievous consequences’’ for the nation.

Many of the pressures on the government are expected to come to a head Monday, when, in addition to the parliamentary debate, the court panel will resume its hearings in the memo probe. On the same day, the government is scheduled to appear before a separate Supreme Court body to explain why it has flouted several court orders to reopen old corruption cases involving President Asif Ali Zardari.

Although a military coup is viewed as unlikely, either court probe could eventually bring down the government, which maintains that the investigations are politically motivated.

Yesterday morning, Zardari returned from a one-day trip to Dubai, quelling speculation - for the second time in as many months - that he was fleeing before the military could oust him. Officials with the ruling Pakistan People’s Party, meanwhile, were working to shore up support for the parliamentary resolution, which is expected to pass. There would be no immediate consequence if it fails, but the government’s already feeble mandate would be weakened....

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"Pakistani president and army chief meet amid crisis" January 15, 2012|By Munir Ahmed

ISLAMABAD - Pakistan’s army chief visited to the country’s president yesterday in a meeting that might signal a willingness for reconciliation between the military and the civilian government after a week of escalating tensions and rumors of an impending coup.

General Ashfaq Pervez Kayani and President Asif Ali Zardari discussed the current security situation, according to the state-run news agency.

Friction between the military and the government has spiked after an unsigned memo was sent to Washington last year asking for its help in heading off a supposed coup. The note enraged the army, which was still smarting from the humiliation of last year’s covert US raid that killed Osama bin Laden north of Islamabad.

Zardari’s office welcomed the meeting with Kayani and said it should help relations.

Qamar Zaman Kaira, information secretary for the president’s Pakistan People’s Party, said the meeting was not routine, “given Pakistan’s situation, the heat that is being felt.’’

He told Pakistani television that “certainly this meeting will make things better. . . . It will improve the tense situation.’’

The army has staged at least three coups in Pakistan’s six- decade history and still considers itself the true custodian of the country’s interests.

Analysts say General Kayani has little appetite for a coup, but that the generals might be happy to allow the Supreme Court to dismiss the government by “constitutional means.’’ The court has legitimized earlier coups.

The nuclear-armed country is facing a host of problems, among them near economic collapse, a virulent Al Qaeda- and Taliban-led insurgency, and a crisis in its relations with its key ally, the United States, after NATO airstrikes in November killed 24 Pakistani soldiers on the Afghan border.  

The view here is that this is looking more and more like an AmeriKan-initiated effort to divide Pakistani leadership and occupy some portion of Pakistan per neo-con plan.

A US investigation found that Pakistani forces fired first and that US troops acted in self- defense.

PFFFFFFFFFT!  

Where is the "Al Qaeda" because you can put that self-serving piece of shit right in it. 

US efforts to determine whether there were Pakistani forces in the area were foiled by bad maps, poor coordination, and Islamabad’s failure to provide the locations of its border posts, according to the report.  

Blaming the victim!

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"Pakistan’s prime minister gets time to prepare case" by Washington Post, January 20, 2012

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - Pakistan’s Supreme Court yesterday granted the prime minister two weeks to prepare his defense on contempt of court charges, prolonging a political crisis that has shaken this nuclear-armed nation and set off a frenzy of media coverage.  

Yes, the U.S. must invade to guard and protect those nukes!

Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani appeared in court to explain why he has not pursued longstanding corruption allegations against President Asif Ali Zardari, something the court has repeatedly ordered and the government has repeatedly refused to do. The testimony capped days of speculation about whether Gilani would apologize, agree to the court’s demands, or resign, and about the implications for a civilian government facing collapse amid duels with the military and the judiciary.

Instead, Gilani stuck to the government’s position that Zardari is immune from prosecution, and his recently appointed attorney, Aitzaz Ahsan, pleaded for more time to study the case. The court consented and set the next hearing for Feb. 1....

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"Pakistan lifts restrictions on ex-aide linked to scandal" January 31, 2012|Zarar Khan, Associated Press

ISLAMABAD - Pakistan’s top court yesterday lifted a travel ban imposed on Husain Haqqani, the country’s former ambassador to the United States, during an investigation into a memo sent to Washington that had enraged the army and threatened to bring down the civilian government.

The decision was being viewed as a possible sign that authorities may be losing interest in the scandal, known as Memogate in the Pakistani media.

Haqqani, a former associate professor of international relations at Boston University, resigned as ambassador in November and returned to Islamabad to answer allegations that he was behind the memo. He has denied any link to it.

The unsigned note asked for Washington’s help in curbing the powers of the Pakistani army in exchange for security policies favorable to the United States.

The memo was sent to Washington after the May 2011 American operation that killed Osama bin Laden in a Pakistan army town. It appeared to confirm the army’s worst fears that the country’s elected politicians were conspiring with Washington, a potent charge in a country where anti-Americanism runs deep.

The outrage, whipped up by right-wing, pro-army sections of the media, exposed the apparent fragility of the government in the face of generals who have ruled the country for much of its more-than-60-year existence and still run defense and foreign policy.  

They are simply known as newspapers over here in AmeriKa.

Haqqani said he now intends to travel to United States to join family there.

“Anywhere else, this matter would have been laid to rest long ago,’’ Haqqani said. “The memo had no impact on US policy and was consigned to the dustbin by its recipient.’’  

Which is where a lot of unread Globes will soon be joining them.

The Supreme Court set up a commission to investigate the affair after opposition politicians petitioned for an inquest. Despite the fact he had not been charged with a crime, the commission had banned Haqqani from traveling.

Yesterday, it ruled that Haqqani - who has been living in the prime minister’s residence, reportedly worried about threats to his life - could travel. The court said Haqqani had to return to Pakistan if the commission required it. Haqqani said he would comply with the orders.

Up until a few weeks ago, there was speculation that the scandal could lead to the demise of President Asif Ali Zardari. But last week, the main accuser - a Pakistani-American businessman who claimed to have delivered the note to Admiral Mike Mullen, the top US military officer at the time - said he could not come to Pakistan to testify, citing security fears.

That appears to have dealt a sharp blow to the case, even assuming the accuser, Mansoor Ijaz, had a “smoking gun’’ linking Haqqani and President Zardari to the memo. Many observers have since predicted that the probe is heading nowhere. Some media reports have speculated about a possible agreement between the army and the government to shelve the case.

The slow motion has come to a STOP!

Haqqani has won support from some US lawmakers and prodemocracy activists in Pakistan, who painted him as a victim of army meddling in the democratic process. Although he worked hard in Washington defending Pakistan - a challenging task over the past few years - prior to taking the job he was known as having an antiarmy line.

The scandal has transfixed Pakistan’s media and political class even as the country grapples with more existential threats like Islamist militancy and potential economic collapse.

Yesterday, a suicide bomber killed Haji Akhunzada, a leader of a militant group that has been fighting a rival outfit in northwest Pakistan close to the Afghan border, police said.

Akhunzada was a senior figure in Ansarul Islam, which operates in the Khyber tribal region close to the Afghan border. He was reportedly killed along with his son-in-law while visiting his house close to the city of Peshawar.

Ansarul Islam is fighting with another militant group, Lashkar Islam, for control of the Khyber region, and dozens of people have been killed in the violence.

In a separate development yesterday, President Obama said US drone strikes on terrorism targets have been “very precise” and will remain a key part of the fight against terrorists.  

Then f*** you, you mass-murdering war criminal!!!

Drone strikes on targets inside Pakistan have increased friction between the United States and Pakistani authorities.  

That will be the subject of my next post.

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Also see: Sunday Globe Specials: Up and Down Drones

The Boston Globe's Line of Scrimmage

Offside!

"Super Bowl loyalties divided in Connecticut" January 28, 2012|By David Filipov

PLAINVILLE , Conn. - An invisible line wends its way along the Connecticut River Valley south of Hartford. It divides husbands and wives, parents and their children, business partners and longtime buddies.

It runs right through the two glowing neon signs in the window at the entrance of Sliders Grill & Bar, one depicting the helmet of the New England Patriots, the other that of the New York Giants.

And on a recent night, it bisected a table of five close friends, two who will root for the Giants to win Super Bowl XLVI, two diehard Patriots fans, and one undecided. For this is the DMZ between Boston and New York sports fans, the part of the Constitution State where allegiances are in a constant state of confusion.

“This is your Mason-Dixon line,’’ said Mike Landry, of Plainville, who will be cheering on the Giants on Sunday. His friends, Rob Perrone and Donna Scott glowered with rage, Silvia Rydecki smiled, and his wife, Kara shrugged indifferently....

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Related: Fans rally at Super Bowl sendoff for the New England Patriots 



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Also see: Fans rally at Super Bowl sendoff for the New England Patriots



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• If you are trying to reach a Boston.com page from a bookmark, the address may have changed, or the page may have been eliminated. Please use the sections above to browse for what you're looking for, or visit our home page .
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WTF?  

Third time a charm?

Fans rally at Super Bowl send-off for the New England

First down, I guess. Either way I'm punting this post.

Sunday Globe Special: City of Champions

"After championship drought, a delirious deluge; Since 2001, the exceptional has become the expected in this sports-mad region" by Eric Moskowitz  |  Globe Staff, January 29, 2012

Seven championships, four sports, one town, 10 years.

Who could have seen that coming?

***********************

Now the Patriots are in the Super Bowl again, a bookend to a decade for the ages, touching off waves of nostalgia and reminding of a time when duck boats carried only tourists, not champagne-drenched champions. 

Like last spring when the Bruins won the NHL title?

Winning may never get old, but it can never really be new again....  

Yes it can if your city hasn't won a title for a while.  How quickly the Globe forgets!

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Dominoes in Line For Romney

The first one to fall:

"Domino’s delivered for Bain; Romney’s Bain made big profit from the pizza chain, but left it saddled with debt" by Beth Healy  |  Globe Staff, January 29, 2012

Amid a flash of cameras, Mitt Romney signed the check to buy Domino’s Pizza with a flourish. It was a huge deal for Romney’s Bain Capital back in 1998, worth $1.1 billion.

Thomas Monaghan, the pizza magnate and orphan raised by nuns in the Detroit area, was cashing out all but a small stake. He wanted the proceeds to start a Catholic university. So he handed over control of the company he built from a small pizza shop in Ypsilanti, Mich., in 1960, to Romney and the partners of Bain Capital.

Near the end of Bain’s involvement with Domino’s, the chain’s pizza quality became an issue. Domino’s reworked its pizza in ’09 after ranking last in taste.

I never order from them. If I want a pizza I call into the local shop around the corner and go get it.

Domino’s was not in need of rescue, nor was it a classic turnaround case for Bain. But it was still a bonanza for the Boston leveraged buyout firm, which makes money by buying and selling businesses. Bain reaped a 500 percent return on its investment in the nation’s largest pizza delivery chain over 12 years.

Domino’s grew its revenues and earnings under Bain, but its debt also surged to $1.5 billion, leaving the chain with a higher debt ratio than most of its rivals, and interest payments that eat up half its profit each year.

On the campaign trail, Romney, who left Bain in 1999, counts Domino’s among his corporate success stories, saying it has grown and paid off for investors. But the company also was left with greater risk than before, and must count on its franchisees to deliver a steady stream of cash to cover the debt....

High levels of debt don’t always lead to problems, but they can when the economy slows or the company stumbles. In the classic private equity model, Bain set out to improve Domino’s, with the expectation that it would generate plenty of money to make payments on its debt.

To buy Domino’s, Bain put up a third of the money in cash and borrowed the rest. It took money out in several chunks including: a 2003 refinancing of the company’s debt, a 2004 initial public stock offering, and an $897 million “monster dividend’’ paid to Bain and other investors in 2007. In each instance, the company borrowed money or refinanced old debt to make the payouts.  

No wonder the pizza taste like shit.

Romney’s political rivals have attacked him for a number of deals during his tenure at Bain Capital where the companies went bankrupt, sometimes after Bain cashed out. And while Bain says it makes companies run better, Edith Hotchkiss, a professor of finance at Boston College’s Carroll School of Management who has studied the effects of private equity on businesses says part of that is sheer pressure: Companies with high levels of debt have to generate profits and be careful with costs, or risk bankruptcy.  

Related: Killing Caritas

“The argument for higher leverage in the first place is that it really forces you to run these firms for maximum efficiency,’’ she said. “You can’t make mistakes.’’

The Domino’s debt is due in April. Executives can extend that deadline for two one-year periods, during which they plan to refinance the borrowings. The current interest rate is 5.9 percent, and it will rise a quarter-point with each extension. Domino’s was going to refinance the debt last summer but scrapped the effort when the financial markets turned chaotic.

Lynn Liddle, a company spokeswoman, acknowledged there’s a risk of interest rates rising. But she said the debt is not holding the company back. Domino’s stock soared 113 percent last year.

“In another case, that might restrain a company, but definitely not in the case of Domino’s Pizza,’’ she said.

Domino’s and Bain executives insist the debt is not a problem because the company has strong cash flow from its franchisees, and because theirs is not a capital intensive business requiring large outlays on equipment and other big expenses. The franchisees pay for most capital investments, like store upgrades.

“This is a terrific success story by any standard, and it’s clear the capital structure was never a constraint on the growth of Domino’s,’’ said Bain Capital managing director Mark Nunnelly, who served on the Domino’s board for 12 years. “Domino’s delivered significant value to both private and public shareholders during our ownership,’’ he said, citing growth in profits and sales, market share, and customer satisfaction.

Revenues grew 9 percent during the last five years Bain was an investor in the company, through 2010, while operating income grew 6.3 percent. In 2010 (the last full year reported by Domino’s) nearly half that income, or $97 million, went to pay interest on the debt.

Romney recently cited Domino’s as a place where he had created 7,900 jobs, in a breakdown of the 110,000 jobs he says he helped create at companies he worked with at Bain, along with Staples Inc. and The Sports Authority. But he has since dropped Domino’s from the list, focusing instead on start-ups.

In reality, the job picture is mixed. At the corporate level, Domino’s, based in Ann Arbor, Mich., has actually cut 3,300 jobs, or 24 percent of the 13,500 people it had on the payroll in 2004, the year it went public. That’s partly a result of selling off about 175 company-owned stores to franchisees.

At the same time, the number of people working for the independent franchise owners - not employed by Domino’s corporate - has grown by about 38,000, to 170,000, around the world, according to public filings. Domino’s won’t discuss job numbers, but much of the growth has come from abroad.

Domino’s operates about 9,500 restaurants, all but 400 of them run by franchisees. The company makes its money selling cheese and dough and other ingredients to the stores, and on the royalties the store owners send them from their sales.

Some current and former restaurant owners say they have struggled since the recession hit, as customers spent less and ordered out less.  

We have been told that ended over two years ago. 

They say central decisions, voted on by the franchisees and supported by management, have made life harder, like when they slashed the prices of pizzas roughly in half back in 2009, to $5.99. That boosted business for a while, one franchisee explained, with a blitz of national TV advertising that the franchisees pay for. But it also means they have to sell more pizzas to make money, at the same time prices for the ingredients have been soaring.

“They drove me into the ground,’’ said one former franchisee whose business failed last year. “If I could have sold my pizzas for the price my market could bear, I might have made it.’’ The franchisee spoke on condition that his name not be used, for fear of retaliation by the company.

Other franchisees said it’s true they need to sell more pizzas now, but they attribute that to competing in a tough economy, not to pressure from the front office.

Jeffrey Litman, who with his wife owns 20 Domino’s stores in the Denver area and has been in the business for 37 years, said there was concern back when Monaghan sold the company that the franchisees might suffer. But, he said, “In general they recognize they can’t do anything to weaken the franchise. We drive the sales.’’

Bain says it helped Domino’s raise standards, and that it brought better marketing and new discipline to the company that helped store owners sell more pizza. There were updated uniforms, new computer systems, redesigned stores, and new product rollouts.  

And the pizza still sucks.

At the same time, the company took on some of the trappings of corporate America, with top executives enjoying personal use of the company’s private jet and directors earning fees of $180,000 a year.

Meanwhile, the quality of the pizza itself had become a big problem. In 2009, near the end of Bain’s involvement, the company had to overhaul its core product, after Domino’s pizza ranked last among its competitors in taste.

“You can’t be a pizza delivery company that’s just strong with delivery,’’ the company’s marketing chief, Russell Weiner, said during an investor conference earlier this month.

Domino’s pizza has since received high taste marks. Company executives are counting on growth overseas in places such as Malaysia and India. They also said they have become accustomed to being a company with high leverage.

“We’re comfortable with debt,’’ said Michael Lawton, Domino’s chief financial officer, at the investment conference. He described the 2007 “monster dividend’’ in which investors, led by Bain, received a $897 million payout from the company. The management team is used to living within the constraints of financial leverage, he said. “We can handle this.’’  

Yeah, who cares about a $1 billion dollars in thievery?

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Related: The Bain of Mitt Romney

The leveraged buyout specialists, 'eh? 

The latest in line:

"Mitt Romney rolls in Florida" by Michael Levenson and Matt Viser  |  Globe Staff, February 01, 2012

TAMPA - Mitt Romney, backed by relentless attack ads, vocal support from the Republican establishment, and his own willingness to adopt a more aggressive tone, trounced Newt Gingrich in the Florida primary last night, gaining the upper hand as the race scatters to the seven states that vote over the next month.

Rolling up wide margins among women, the affluent, moderates, and Hispanics, Romney last night won 46 percent of the vote, to 32 percent for Gingrich, 13 percent for Rick Santorum, and 7 percent for Ron Paul.

Ten days after his crushing loss in the South Carolina primary raised fresh doubts about his candidacy, Romney’s resounding victory in the biggest and most diverse of the early primary states gives him the opportunity to consolidate restive factions of the party and emerge, finally, as the consensus choice for the Republican nomination....

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"A drawn-out negative race could imperil Republicans" by Christopher Rowland  |  Globe Staff, February 01, 2012

TAMPA - Mitt Romney presented a potent case in Florida yesterday that he is the strongest Republican candidate to challenge President Obama by clobbering Newt Gingrich in a third swing state.

First came Iowa, where Romney almost won and Gingrich placed a distant fourth. Then Romney trounced the field in New Hampshire. Gingrich did not break 10 percent in the Granite State. Now Florida.

All three states are more consequential in the general election than redder-than-red South Carolina, the scene of Gingrich’s only victory, because they represent the real prize: the political center.

Obama captured each of them in 2008. Romney’s appeal to mainstream Republicans, moderates, and independents makes him far more likely than Gingrich to compete strongly for these and other battleground states, such as Ohio and Pennsylvania, in 2012.

But unless Gingrich suddenly capitulates, Romney will continue to wrestle for weeks if not months with the ideological and emotional forces tearing at the Republican Party.

The staunch conservatives who have powered Gingrich’s candidacy demand a vehicle for their anger over federal power and spending....

Romney, in contrast, has taken to reciting the many verses of “America the Beautiful.’’ It intertwines nostalgia with patriotism in a pitch to conservatives, but also seems rather quaint in the face of the incendiary talk emanating from Gingrich and his allies....

Perceived as the Romney alternative, Gingrich has strong motivation to stay in the race as it enters the February caucus states and heads toward Super Tuesday. Yet, prolonging the primary process all spring, as Gingrich threatens to do, risks marginalizing the issues while magnifying the negative ads and personal attacks.

I feel that is what the media have done.

Such a campaign alienates the critical voice in the general election - independents - and allows Obama to skate unchecked.

Gingrich’s attacks also reinforce the very points that Obama will hammer against Romney: ties to Goldman Sachs and Wall Street, vast wealth, favorable tax rates.

Florida voters repeatedly stated in interviews that they wanted to hear answers to the nation’s housing and foreclosure crisis, the deficit, and the instability of Social Security and Medicare. Instead, the tactical politics of the establishment-vs.-insurgent civil war gave them only personal attacks, both in debates and on the airwaves....  

I object to the word insurgent being used in a political context -- although I admit that the gung-ho, pro-war candidates are by sending U.S. troops to their deaths in needless wars based on unholy lies.   

Of course, what other context would I expect a war paper to give?

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Related: Mitt Romney debate coach cited as potential game-changer  

Yeah, everything is a war or a f***ing game.

"Newt Gingrich to fight on but faces a tough road" by Bobby Caina Calvan and Michael Kranish  |  Globe Staff, February 01, 2012

ORLANDO - Newt Gingrich defiantly vowed last night to take his bid for the presidency to all corners of the country and return victorious to the GOP national convention in Florida.

As his campaign team laid out a strategy to win Southern states and do well enough in other contests to survive, Gingrich took a more ambitious and combative approach that belies growing doubts over his candidacy.

“We’re going to have people-power defeat money-power in the next six months,’’ he said, alluding to Mitt Romney’s deep pockets. Notably, Gingrich did not congratulate his rival for his victory.  

Then Ron Paul will be the nominee.

Analysts said the road ahead will be tough for Gingrich, beginning with Saturday’s caucuses in Nevada, where Romney has a head start in money and organization. With the next debate not until Feb. 22 and Deep South states not voting until March, Gingrich must hold on through a month of contests that favor Romney.

A string of losses would only intensify calls from the Republican establishment for Gingrich to quit.

Gingrich’s campaign is focusing on the Super Tuesday primaries March 6, which include his home state of Georgia and Tennessee, as well as states that he could do well in, such as Alaska, Idaho, and Oklahoma.

Republicans should know better than to count him out, said Merle Black, a professor of politics at Emory University who has long monitored the former House speaker.

“Gingrich’s career is a search for power and he sees opportunity where most people see a dead end,’’ Black said, noting that Gingrich lost in his first two attempts to be elected to the House before winning.

Besides counting on a Southern strategy, Gingrich must win support from Tea Party activists and others unhappy with Romney. Black said that could be difficult if such voters conclude Romney has a better chance of beating President Obama.

While Gingrich went directly from Florida to Nevada, one of his top campaign aides said winning that state, which has a heavy Tea Party presence, was considered a “lost cause.’’ Still, Gingrich is making the effort because Nevada awards its delegates proportionally and he could pick up a handful with a better-than-expected performance, said the aide, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not a spokesman.

Nevada is also the home state of Sheldon and Miriam Adelson, who have contributed $10 million to a pro-Gingrich super PAC....

The wild cards in the upcoming contests could be former senator Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania, the favorite of many evangelical Christians, and Representative Ron Paul, the libertarian with a devoted following. Both have said they, too, plan to stay in the race, and could pull votes away from Gingrich....

As if Gingrich were entitled to them. 

Did I mention how sick I was of the elitism inherent in my newspaper by reporters who have internalized those values?

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Who were those last two guys?

"Santorum, Paul campaign out West as Florida votes" February 01, 2012|By Kristen Wyatt and Philip Elliott

LONE TREE, Colo. (AP) -- Ron Paul completely ignored Florida’s primary Tuesday as he spoke to more than 1,000 supporters in Fort Collins, many of them students at Colorado State University. Instead, the libertarian-leaning Texas congressman focused on his bedrock issues: cutting spending and upholding the Constitution.

‘‘All we have to do is return to our constitutional form of government, and we can get out of this mess in no time,’’ said Paul, garnering loud cheers for a blast at U.S. foreign policy. ‘‘We need to keep America safe, but not to be the policeman of the world.’’

--more--"   

That's what the people's president is up to, dear readers.

The feeling here from my spot at the bottom of the hill is the election process in AmeriKa has been hijacked, the machines have been rigged, and corporate money and media create the script.

Choo$e Your $uper PAC

"Major GOP ‘super PAC’ raised $51 million in 2011; Other groups’ disclosures signal impact of ruling" by Jack Gillum  |  Associated Press, February 01, 2012

WASHINGTON - American Crossroads, the Republican “super’’ political committee that plans to play a major role in this year’s presidential campaign, raised more than $51 million along with its nonprofit arm last year, the Associated Press has learned.

The figures from Crossroads - the group backed by former George W. Bush adviser Karl Rove - were among the first financial reports being made public yesterday, the deadline for super PACs and presidential candidates to file financial reports with federal election officials.

While most recent public attention has focused on groups spending major sums for negative TV ads assailing GOP presidential primary rivals Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich, yesterday’s figures are a sign of even greater spending to come in the general election battle between the Republican nominee and President Obama, a Democrat.

Other super PACs required to disclose their donors yesterday include Restore Our Future, the Romney-leaning PAC that has contributed to a deluge of ads hammering Gingrich, and Winning Our Future, the Gingrich-supportive group that has been critical of Romney’s time at a venture capital firm. Both super PACs are run in part by former advisers to the candidates.

The American Crossroads PAC has about $15.6 million cash on hand, according to its recent report from October through December 2011, representing only part of the money it has in the bank to spend on defeating Obama. Financial details from Crossroads GPS - the nonprofit arm - are unclear because it doesn’t have to disclose its donors under IRS rules, although Crossroads GPS was responsible for most of the groups’ fund-raising haul.

The Crossroads war chests underscore the extraordinary impact super PACs could have on this year’s race for the White House. In GOP primaries so far, groups working for or against presidential candidates have spent roughly $25 million on TV ads - about half the nearly $53 million spent on advertising so far to influence voters in the early weeks of the race....   

All that money wasted on politics and bolstering the bottom line of media conglomerates.

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Related: We Love You Super PAC

Mitt's Money Man

"Steady hand on holdings of ex-governor" January 30, 2012|Todd Wallack, Globe Staff

R. Bradford Malt is best known in legal circles as the chairman of Boston’s largest law firm, Ropes & Gray LLP. But last week, Malt burst into the national spotlight as the trustee responsible for overseeing Mitt Romney’s vast fortune and making controversial decisions to invest some of it in a Swiss bank account and funds based in exotic locales like the Cayman Islands. 

Good places to avoid paying taxes, or so I've read.

Since then, the corporate attorney has spent marathon days explaining the intricacies of Romney’s holdings to reporters across the country, and seen his defense of the Swiss account turned into a Democratic attack ad on YouTube....

Malt, a lanky 57-year-old with a penchant for pulling office pranks, has been at Romney’s side at pivotal moments in his career for the past two decades - whether it was saving Romney’s old consulting firm from bankruptcy, helping him stay on the state election ballot in 2002, or defending his investments in his current run for president. Malt has made investment decisions for Romney since 2003, when Romney became governor and put his money into a blind trust to avoid conflicts of interest.

It’s a job that requires Malt to look out for Romney’s political as well as financial well-being.
In 2007, as Romney prepared his first run for president, Malt sold stock in dozens of potentially controversial companies, including casino operators, tobacco growers, and firms with ties to Iran. Last year, after Romney pushed for tougher trade sanctions against China, Malt dumped a number of Chinese holdings. He recently shed a money market mutual fund that had invested in government-backed mortgage companies, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which are blamed for exacerbating the housing bust.  

Related: The House That George Romney Built 

His dad is the one that came up with the mortgage-backed security idea that Wall Street used to destroy the world economy?  

Also related: Mitt Romney Profited From Mortgage Lenders Foreclosing On Thousands Of Floridians 

And yet they voted for him anyway(?).

In early 2010, as Romney advanced toward a second presidential campaign, Malt decided to close the $3 million UBS account he set up in Switzerland seven years earlier, realizing it could become a political issue. In 2009, the US government sued UBS to obtain the names of thousands of Americans who secretly held billions of dollars in Swiss accounts.

Malt said he opened the Swiss account not to hide assets, but to diversify Romney’s investments into foreign currencies.  

Can you pass me that salt shaker so I can take a grain.

If the value of the dollar declined, for example, a rise in the Swiss franc might offset it.  

Gee, that has in fact happened because Bernanke needed to print money to buyback all the fraudulent mortgage-backed securities, and I have a problem with a presidential candidate bailing on the buck.  

The account, Malt stressed, was listed on Romney’s 2010 tax return and Romney paid taxes on the interest, just as he pays taxes on all the earnings from other foreign investments.

“It’s actually kind of crazy,’’ Malt said of the controversy. “This is a fully legitimate, fully reported account that pays every penny of taxes.’’

Defending offshore accounts wasn’t exactly the way Malt envisioned his legal career....

--more--" 

Related: Romney paid just 10.7% in 2010 taxes, lawyer estimates

 Un-flipping-real!

FLASHBACKS:

"Romney reveals his income tax burden: about 15%" January 18, 2012|By Matt Viser, Globe Staff

FLORENCE, S.C. - Mitt Romney said yesterday that he has been paying close to a 15 percent tax rate on his income in recent years, a rate that is lower than what many Americans pay and one that fueled further attempts by his Republican rivals to cast the former Massachusetts governor - the wealthiest candidate in the race - as out of touch.

With just four days left before the primary in South Carolina, which is beset by high unemployment and typically ranks among the nation’s poorest states, Romney faced intensifying scrutiny of his wealth, how he earned it, and how he talks about it.

He also is being placed at the center of a national debate over taxes and wealth that is likely to escalate as the campaign marches closer to the general election. The battle has been highlighted by the Occupy Wall Street movement, as well as by business magnate Warren Buffett, who has argued that, as a billionaire, he should not be taxed at a lower rate than his secretary....

“I get speaker’s fees from time to time, but not very much,’’ he added.

According to his most recent financial disclosure statement, he earned nearly $375,000 for nine speaking engagements from February 2010 to February 2011. The fees ranged from $11,475 to $68,000. Those statements also show his assets total $190 million to $250 million....  

He REALLY IS A PSYCHOPATHIC CORPORATE PUKE!

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And he is HIDING ASSETS OFFSHORE?

"Heat rises as S.C. vote nears; Gingrich gaining in poll, Romney steps up attacks" by Matt Viser  |  Globe Staff, January 18, 2012

SPARTANBURG, S.C. - Last night, ABC News reported Romney is storing a portion of his fortune in offshore accounts.

Romney has as much as $8 million invested in at least 12 funds listed on a Cayman Islands registry, according to the ABC report. He also has an investment valued at between $5 million and $25 million that securities records list as having been housed offshore in the Caymans, which is notorious as a tax haven....

A Romney spokeswoman disputed the ABC report and said the candidate was paying the same amount of US taxes on the offshore accounts. His campaign also said his money is held in a blind trust that he does not control....

--more--"

Related: Romney's 'Blind Trust' Was Not Very Blind

Romney Rebounds in Florida

And he's being smug about it!

"Romney flexing his strength in Florida" January 30, 2012|By Michael Levenson and Matt Viser

HIALEAH, Fla. - Mitt Romney barreled through South Florida yesterday, bolstered by impressive poll numbers and a strengthening sense he will withstand a backlash from conservatives and Tea Party supporters to win the important Florida primary tomorrow.

Polls indicated that Romney has increased his lead in Florida to double digits, despite rival Newt Gingrich’s last-minute assists from former candidate Herman Cain and former vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin.

Just days ago the race was considered a dead heat; Romney’s surge follows his recent shift in strategy toward personally attacking Gingrich and calling in a roster of establishment figures to rattle his rival.

Yesterday, an increasingly confident Romney openly mocked Gingrich, saying he saw him on television “describing his excuses, and why he wasn’t doing so well here in Florida.’’

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"Mitt Romney would get major boost from win today in Florida" by Michael Levenson and Matt Viser   |  Globe Staff, January 31, 2012

DUNEDIN, Fla. - A confident Mitt Romney switched from scorn to pity yesterday, telling voters it was pathetic to see Newt Gingrich on the verge of a humiliating loss in today’s Florida primary. Voters began heading to the polls at 7 a.m. today.

“It’s sad,’’ Romney told a crowd of hundreds gathered under a relentless sun in a park in this coastal city 25 miles west of Tampa. “He’s been flailing around a bit trying to go after me for one thing or the other. You just watch it and you shake your head. It’s been kind of painfully revealing to watch.’’

Vastly outspent and buried under an avalanche of attack ads, Gingrich denounced Romney as a truth-twisting liberal as he sought to rally conservatives and Tea Party supporters in his final appeal to Florida voters.

“With your help, we’re going to win a great victory tomorrow,’’ Gingrich told a small but boisterous crowd in a Tampa airport hangar. “And when we win a great victory tomorrow, we’ll have sent a signal to [the liberal billionaire] George Soros, to Goldman Sachs, and to the entire New York and Washington establishment: Money power can’t buy people power.’’

But Gingrich’s prospects do not look bright.

A Quinnipiac University poll released yesterday showed Romney with a 14-point lead in Florida, up from 9 points three days earlier. Romney had the support of 43 percent of the state’s likely Republican voters, to Gingrich’s 29 percent, while Ron Paul and Rick Santorum had 11 percent each, the poll found. Only 7 percent were undecided, although 24 percent said they could change their minds.

The survey also indicated that Romney has wooed a broad swath of the Republican electorate, including groups that had been cool to him. According to the poll, he now leads Gingrich among conservatives, white evangelical Christians, and Tea Party movement members.

A win today would give Romney a major boost as the race scatters to the seven states that vote over the next month. Florida’s haul - 50 winner-take-all delegates - is more than any candidate has accumulated in the first three contests....

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Also see: Fight For Florida

Update: Romney wins Florida

Romney's Reminisce

"Much unsaid as Mitt Romney cites his tie to Mexico" by Michael Kranish  |  Globe Staff, January 31, 2012

MIAMI - Mitt Romney, who rarely discusses his ancestry, has repeated a striking comment in Florida in recent days to soften his rhetoric about immigration and woo the crucial Hispanic voting bloc.

“My dad was born in Mexico,’’ Romney says at many campaign stops, as he expresses empathy and solidarity with immigrant families. It follows sharp rhetoric in places such as Iowa, where he decried what he called efforts to provide “amnesty’’ to the nation’s 12 million illegal immigrants.  

Then why was he allowed to run for president?

The story of Romney’s father, George, is one that many Cuban-Americans can relate to in this city of immigrants: A revolution sweeps through the homeland, prompting an exodus of people who, in many cases, left behind everything to come to the United States. But in this case, George Romney’s country of birth was Mexico, not Fidel Castro’s Cuba.

The issue of immigration is especially sensitive in Florida, where Hispanics make up 11 percent of the Republican primary electorate, and could provide the key to victory in today’s primary. Romney’s chief challenger, Newt Gingrich, has called Romney anti-immigrant; Romney said the charge was repulsive.

It is in this context that Romney has mentioned that he is the child of a born-in-Mexico father. But he usually ends the story there, failing to explain the circumstances or, even more strikingly, why it might be relevant to those he is trying to win over.

Were he to tell the rest of the story, it doubtless would resonate with many here: George Romney was born in Mexico and was 5 years old when a revolution forced his family members in 1912 to flee their Mormon colony and seek refuge in the United States. The Mormon exiles lost their homes, farms, and most of their belongings, were welcomed by the United States, and benefited from a $100,000 refugee fund established by Congress.

But there are other elements to the Romney story that may explain why he doesn’t tell the full tale on the campaign trail. The reason that George was born in Mexico is that his grandfather - Mitt’s great-grandfather - had taken refuge there in order to escape US laws against polygamy. It was this family patriarch, Miles Park Romney, who established the colony and lived there with four wives.

Mitt Romney has decried what he has called the “awful’’ practice of polygamy and has never visited the colony, even though several dozen of his cousins continue to live there.

Romney’s new emphasis on his father’s roots drew the attention yesterday of a host on “Fox and Friends,’’ who said during an interview with Romney that it was the first time he had heard the former Massachusetts governor discuss that aspect of his ancestry....

Romney’s discussion of his father’s Mexican birth has prompted rounds of discussion in online forums about how his father, when he ran for president in 1968, could have met the constitutional requirement that a president be a “natural-born citizen.’’

In George Romney’s case, representatives of his 1968 presidential campaign argued that he fit the constitutional requirement because George’s parents, who had gone back and forth from the United States to Mexico, were US citizens.

Accounts published during the campaign indicate that questions were beginning to be raised, but the matter became moot when George Romney dropped out of the race.

A Congressional Research Report published last November that explores the issue said the Constitution did not define what it means to be a “natural-born citizen,’’ and notes that competing views were expressed when George Romney declared his candidacy.

Seth Lipsky, the author of “The Citizen’s Constitution: An Annotated Guide,’’ said that “in most past cases, Congress and the courts have been reluctant to open up doubts raised about candidates, and I think this reluctance is wise.’’

Yeah, the hell with what the governing document of the country says.   

Don't get me wrong, readers; I'm not a birther regarding Obama (his real father is Frank Davis), and am aware that McCain was born in Panama.

What bothers me about the citizenship requirement is that the founders had a good reason for putting that in there, and I agree. No foreign-born citizen should be president of the United States.  Back then it was because of the houses of royalty within Europe; now the threat comes from dual-national Israelis.

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Related: Breaking News: Mitt Romney Was Born in Mexico

Then he's ineligible!

Romney Remembers the 2000 Campaign

He just doesn't remember for whom he voted.

"Romney attacks on Gingrich similar to Bush-McCain 2000" by Glen Johnson  |  Globe Staff, January 31, 2012

MIAMI - Newt Gingrich complains Mitt Romney has waged the nastiest, most untruthful campaign he can recall after he upset the heretofore GOP presidential front-runner in South Carolina.

He should dial the time machine back to 2000 and talk to John McCain.

George W. Bush, stunned by an 18-point New Hampshire primary loss to McCain, waged a scorched-earth campaign that year against him in, of all places, South Carolina. Now Romney, employing a campaign with striking parallels, is on the cusp of the same kind of agenda-setting win in Florida today that Bush scored 12 years ago.

Bush viewed South Carolina as his political firewall, much as Romney has viewed Florida in his quest for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination.

With such make-or-break stakes, the then-governor of Texas abandoned all sense of decorum and accused McCain of flouting his own campaign finance rules. He also stood idly by while a surrogate speaker suggested the former Vietnam prisoner of war had abandoned fellow veterans.

During the past 10 days, Romney has taken on Gingrich with equal zeal, accusing him of being an “influence-peddler’’ and of lacking the temperament to be president. And the former Massachusetts governor, too, has stood by while surrogates have bird-dogged the former House speaker at his campaign events.

In 2000, the turn of events was enough to prompt the famously maverick McCain to complain: “All of the establishment is against me, and I’m proud of it. If you want business as usual, you don’t want me as president.’’

Gingrich has said virtually the same thing in Florida.

“There’s so many tomahawks in the air that you don’t have time to deal with them all,’’ said John Weaver, who was a top McCain adviser in 2000 and recently ran the campaign of Republican candidate Jon Huntsman.

“I think the mistake we made, and Newt is making, is you start talking about process and what the other guys are doing, and not talking about the positive vision that made people like you in the first place,’’ said Weaver.

Former Bush adviser Stuart Stevens, now plotting Romney’s campaign, did not return a call seeking comment. But another Bush adviser, Mark McKinnon, who is unaligned in the current campaign, said: “They both learned that the only way to win is pedal to the metal around the clock. Any time you let up, inevitably you pay for it.’’

Bush had won the 2000 Iowa caucuses and headed to New Hampshire confident of a back-to-back victories.

While McCain worked voters with his anti-Washington message and courted reporters aboard his “Straight Talk Express,’’ Bush kept an almost indifferent campaign schedule, complete with a sledding excursion.

Then, on Feb. 1, political adviser Karl Rove gave Bush the results of the first New Hampshire primary exit polls: He was headed for a big loss.

Plans for a campaign sea change began.

Bush flew the next day to Greenville, S.C., a conservative bastion and home of Bob Jones University.

There, in front of 5,500 people assembled in a cavernous hall, he quipped that it “feels a lot warmer here.’’ He then proceeded to underscore his new emphasis by focusing on morality and the military - and by using the word “conservative’’ six times in one minute.

A day later, Bush was flanked by an array of veterans as he attacked McCain’s most distinguishing biographical element - his military service - during a rally on the steps of a courthouse in Sumter.

Bush said there is “a big difference between being somebody who had a distinguished military career and someone who’s trying to lead the country.’’

Then he stood mute as Thomas Burch Jr., chairman of the National Vietnam and Gulf War Veterans Coalition, said of McCain: “He came home and forgot us.’’

Foreshadowing the current campaign, McCain and Bush went on to exchange allegations over attack ads.

And similar to Romney’s attacks on Gingrich’s work representing Freddie Mac, Bush accused McCain of betraying his campaign finance credentials by raising money from lobbyists.

Both campaigns also accused the other of “push-polling,’’ trying to seed doubts by asking leading questions that are negative in tone. McCain also railed against phone calls accusing his wife of being a drug addict, of him having an illegitimate daughter, and of him fathering a black child - an allusion to the daughter he adopted from Bangladesh.

The confrontation reached a crescendo in a Columbia, S.C., debate before the primary....

Bush avenged his New Hampshire loss with an 11-point win in South Carolina, won the GOP nomination, and the presidency....  

And the rest, as they say, is history.

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Related: Nominating Romney Means Return of Bush 


Yeah, all his future advisers are the same PNAC crowd of W's.

And the old man is behind him, too.

How Gingrich Won South Carolina

The agenda-setting, script-writing string-pullers awarded it to him. 

Here is your MSM narrative:

"In Bible Belt win, Newt Gingrich’s sins were salvation" by Sarah Schweitzer  |  Globe Staff, January 31, 2012

South Carolina’s Greenville County is among the most socially conservative in the country. Home to Bob Jones University, it’s known as the buckle in the Bible Belt.

But in the recent Republican presidential primary, Greenville voters, like the rest of the state, bypassed three long-married candidates and handed votes to Newt Gingrich, confessor of two mistresses, both of whom he eventually took as brides.

“He was a dirtbag before when he was doing those things,’’ said Fletcher Mulnix, a 20-year-old senior at Bob Jones University who grew up in Travelers Rest, 11 miles north. “But he said he went to God and asked for forgiveness and I have to take his word on it.’’

Besides, he added, echoing a common refrain heard in Greenville in the lead-up to the primary, “we’re not electing a pastor.’’

As the presidential contest reaches a critical juncture with the Florida primary today, one question will be whether Gingrich can hold on to social conservative support, with evangelical voters expected to make up as much as a third of the electorate.

Interviews with South Carolina voters suggest that Gingrich’s infidelities and personal issues were, paradoxical as it might seem, dismissed. While evangelical Gingrich-backers found his indiscretions distasteful, they said their faith teaches that to sin is human and what matters most is that man seek forgiveness from God. Gingrich, they said, had shown sincere repentance, clearing the way for them to consider his political strengths.

“There is nothing an evangelical likes more than a penitent sinner and Newt’s been pretty penitent,’’ said Oran Smith, president and chief executive of Palmetto Family, a South Carolina-based evangelical organization that studies public-policy issues.

In this political climate, forgiveness was abundant for the candidate seen as most likely to beat President Obama, he said.

“There is a sense that we are pinned down at the beach in Normandy and we are going to find out if we are going to live or die and the personal characteristics of the general are just not that important right now,’’ Smith said.

Indeed, exit polls in South Carolina showed that evangelical voters backed Gingrich at a higher rate than nonevangelicals, delivering 44 percent of their vote to him. Statewide, Gingrich won 40 percent of the vote.

In South Carolina’s evangelical pockets, some observers said Gingrich’s sins might have boosted him and hurt Mitt Romney.

“Evangelicals recognize brokenness in people and they like it because that means a person is in need of God,’’ said Alan Wolfe, director of the Boisi Center for Religion and American Public Life at Boston College.

By contrast, he said, Mitt Romney’s image of moral perfection makes some evangelicals uncomfortable. “Mitt Romney is too perfect.’’

Steve Prothero, a Boston University religion professor put it this way: “The repentant sinner fits their story more closely than some guy who has been a goody two-shoes all his life.’’

Gingrich himself echoed that theme. In an interview last week with David Brody of the Christian Broadcasting Network, Gingrich said, “I have not hidden from the facts of my life, that I have confessed my weaknesses, and that I have had to go to God for forgiveness and for reconciliation. . . . So, I think in that sense, it may make me more normal than somebody who wanders around seeming perfect and maybe not understanding the human condition.’’

Political observers note an equally remarkable factor in the contest was Gingrich’s win occurred with few mentions of his Catholicism - a religion that prompted evangelical leaders to oppose John F. Kennedy in 1960.

Indeed, Gingrich drew roughly the same amount of support from evangelicals as did Mike Huckabee, a Baptist preacher, four years earlier.

To be sure, there were some for whom Gingrich’s indiscretions were too much - a justifiable position, according to Michael Hamlet, pastor at First Baptist North Spartanburg....

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Foggy Florida Highway

"Florida highway pileup kills at least 10 people; Interstate 75 was shrouded in haze, smoke" by Mike Schneider  |  Associated Press, January 30, 2012

GAINESVILLE, Fla. - A long line of cars and trucks collided one after another early yesterday on a dark highway so shrouded in haze and smoke that drivers were instantly unable to see the road. At least 10 people were killed.

When rescuers first arrived, they could only listen for screams and moans because the poor visibility made it difficult to find victims in wreckage that was strewn for nearly a mile, police said.

Authorities were still trying to determine what caused the pileup south of Gainesville on Interstate 75, which had been closed for a time because of the mixture of fog and heavy smoke from a brush fire that may have been intentionally set. At least five cars and six tractor-trailers were involved; some burst into flame.

Steven R. Camps of Gainesville said he and some friends were driving home several hours before dawn when they were drawn into the pileup.

“You could hear cars hitting each other. People were crying. People were screaming. It was crazy,’’ he said. “If I could give you an idea of what it looked like, I would say it looked like the end of world.’’

*******************************

Ludie Bond, a spokeswoman for the Florida Forest Service said the fire had burned 62 acres and was contained but still burning yesterday. A similar fire nearby has been burning since mid-November because the dried vegetation is so thick and deep. No homes are threatened....

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Related: Fla. highway reopened minutes before deadly crash


Also see: Florida Fire Spreads to Alabama

"Alabama police find 5 dead in home" Associated Press, January 30, 2012

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Police found five people dead inside a Birmingham home when they arrived early yesterday morning to investigate a possible robbery, authorities said....

Doreatha Moss lived in the house, a white building with green trim now surrounded by police tape, until late 2010. “I don’t know anything about it now other than that there’s all the time a bunch of young guys hanging around there,’’ said Moss, who still returns to visit friends. “That’s not good.’’

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Fight For Florida

"Ron Paul, though he did not get as much airtime as the two front-runners, scolded both for their Latin American policy, saying ‘‘this usually means that we impose ourselves, go and pick the dictators, undermine certain governments, also sending them a lot of money.’’  

He's right, of course, so he's ignored.

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"Romney money edge washed away in Fla." January 26, 2012|Brian C. Mooney, Globe Staff

Fueled by the Adelson family’s second $5 million donation to assist Newt Gingrich, spending in the final week of presidential primary campaigning in Florida is expected to top $16 million.

Virtually overnight, the contribution from Miriam Adelson wiped out much of the money edge that Mitt Romney enjoyed in Florida just days ago. Like an earlier $5 million donation from her husband Sheldon, a casino magnate, the latest infusion went to a super PAC supporting Gingrich.

The donation - massive even by today’s inflated standards - provides the most graphic example of how wealthy individuals can have an outsized influence on political campaigns under the new rules since the US Supreme Court decision allowed unlimited donations to political action committees not officially affiliated with a candidate.

It’s not just wealthy GOP donors who have Romney in an unexpectedly close contest. Two labor groups and a pro-Obama super PAC have poured in more than $1 million to attack Romney. The two-front assault has the onetime front-runner from Massachusetts fighting to stave off a devastating defeat in next week’s Florida primary.

“For Romney, if he doesn’t win Florida, his campaign may pretty much be over, and Gingrich is looking for a knockout punch,’’ said Darryl Paulson, professor emeritus of government at the University of South Florida. “They will do whatever it takes to win.’’

The Adelsons’ $10 million to the pro-Gingrich super PAC is, while generous, not a record contribution from one family. It is, for example, far short of the $23.7 million billionaire hedge fund manager George Soros contributed in the 2004 election cycle to Democratic and liberal organizations. But those groups, known as 527s after the section of the tax code under which they operated, had restrictions on the timing and content of their electioneering messages. Those constraints were eliminated by the recent US Supreme Court ruling.

The Adelsons’ contributions to the pro-Gingrich super PAC have kept him in the ad war in Florida, an expensive venture by any campaign standard.

Winning Our Future, the super PAC backing Gingrich, says it will spend $6 million before next Tuesday in Florida, though as of yesterday the organization had purchased less than $3 million in broadcast, cable, radio, and Internet ads. A flight of ads mixing spots critical of Romney and promoting Gingrich was scheduled to start running today.

Rick Tyler, a spokesman for the super PAC, said that the total spending of $6 million would be on a variety of media, including Internet and social media, and that reports would be filed with the Federal Election Commission as early as today.

Gingrich and the Adelsons have been friends for many years and share a passion for the security of Israel. Last September, Forbes magazine rated Adelson the eighth-wealthiest American, with an estimated net worth of $21.5 billion built from casinos in Las Vegas, Singapore, and the Macao district of China.

Until now, the Romney campaign and an allied super PAC, Restore Our Future, had dominated the Florida airwaves, outspending the Gingrich campaign and its friendly super PAC by a more than 20-to-1 ratio dating back to December....

The Romney campaign may be getting some help in Florida from an unlikely source, a super PAC supporting Ron Paul, who is basically bypassing Florida. Endorse Liberty announced it will spend $1.4 million in Florida with what appears to be a mix of ads boosting Paul and attacking Gingrich, initial reports filed with the Federal Election Commission indicate.

Paul’s campaign is concentrating on caucus states and open primaries where independents can vote. Only Republicans may vote in the upcoming Florida contest....

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"GOP rivals make cases to Hispanics in Florida" January 28, 2012|By Glen Johnson

DORAL, Fla. - Hispanics, especially Cuban-Americans and Puerto Ricans, are being wooed by all four GOP candidates heading into Tuesday’s Florida primary....

Gingrich, repeating some of the promises he made earlier to a Latin Builders Association meeting in Miami, told the crowd he would reorient the US vision from the Middle East to points south.  

Talk about pandering!

He not only urged the US military to move supervision of Mexico from its Northern Command headquarters in Nebraska to Southern Command in Miami, but he also called for rallying opposition to Fidel Castro in Cuba and Hugo Chavez in Venezuela....

Earlier, during his appearance before the Latin Builders Association, Gingrich called on Congress to immediately pass a part of the Dream Act that would put the children of illegal immigrants on a special path to becoming US citizens if they serve in the nation’s armed forces.

“I think there is no opposition to that part of the Dream Act,’’ he said. “I think it should go through immediately.’’

Those are the troops that will be marching south!

The Florida-based trade association is heavily populated by Cuban-Americans....

Cubans would be less affected than other Hispanics by either Dream Act change because they get special residency status if they flee the island and reach US shores.

The builders later endorsed Rick Santorum, who spoke after Gingrich....
 
Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!!

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Also see:

Romney's returns open a window on the wealthy

Romney aides explain trusts

"Romney leads in Fla., but obstacles loom large; Campaign heeds lessons learned in 2008 failure" by Michael Kranish,  |  Globe Staff, January 29, 2012

MIAMI - Florida’s voters effectively ended Mitt Romney’s presidential dream four years ago. He won in only about one-third of the 67 counties, gained the support of only 9 percent of Cuban Americans, rejected advice from local advisers, and misplayed the ideological landscape.

 Now the political battlefield, the issues, and the competition are different - but the stakes in Tuesday’s vote are even higher as the one-time front-runner battles to regain his primacy against the candidate who has emerged as his chief challenger, Newt Gingrich. After Romney was sent reeling by Gingrich’s victory a week ago in South Carolina, he has used a barrage of attacks in debates and television commercials to pull ahead in several recent Florida polls.

In order to win, analysts said, Romney must find a way to pick up support in what are considered several states within the state. There are swaths of traditionally conservative areas that may be most hospitable to Gingrich; condos filled with snowbirds from the north and Midwest that could be tilted to Romney; economically distressed suburbs and cities along the state’s midsection that are up for grabs; and a Hispanic community that is diverse and divided.

Until just a few weeks ago, Romney’s team thought it had everything in its favor in Florida. Romney had spent millions of dollars on television campaign ads, versus nearly nothing from Gingrich. But Gingrich’s 11th-hour support from a pro-Gingrich super PAC and his own recent fund-raising success may have cut into that advantage....

The result is that Romney and Gingrich go into Tuesday’s primary on a more even playing field than either anticipated, with Rick Santorum striving to hang on and Ron Paul mostly focusing elsewhere. Romney now hopes his early advantage in organization and money, an expected edge among absentee ballots cast before Gingrich won South Carolina, and his forceful debate performance Thursday will give him an advantage.

Brett Doster, the senior adviser of Romney’s Florida operation, said in an interview that the campaign has worked for months to gear messages to the diverse constituencies of the state. “We have the right message and the right kind of organization to take Mitt Romney’s message to every corner of Florida,’’ Doster said in an interview.

Yet Romney’s second-place finish in Florida in 2008 demonstrates how large his challenge may be. Romney lost by a 36-to-31-percent margin to Senator John McCain of Arizona and dropped out of the race after a lackluster showing in primaries held a week later. His top Florida advisers complained later that they had been ordered by Boston strategists to write seven campaign plans and that their suggestions on how to spend money had been rejected by the Boston team. Romney’s strongest areas then were around Jacksonville, in counties north of Orlando, and along affluent sections of the Gulf coast. But he lost by nearly 2-to-1 margins in much of southern Florida and trailed even farther behind in some counties bordering Georgia, where his state team had wanted more money to be spent. He picked up only 14 percent of the Hispanic vote, including just 9 percent of the Cuban-American vote, according to exit polls.

For Gingrich, the political landscape presents some unique opportunities. Gingrich hopes to win easily in rural areas and in the Panhandle that borders Georgia and Alabama, as well as among Tea Party movement members and working-class voters in cities and suburbs that have been hard hit economically.

Unlike four years ago, when the focus was on foreign policy, terrorism, and social issues, this election is mostly about economic concerns in a state with a 9.9 percent unemployment rate and a high number of home foreclosures.  

Focus was on that? Not the way I remember it.

Much of the pro-Gingrich super PAC’s money is being spent to convince Floridians that Gingrich is the true conservative in the race while trying to persuade the Republican Party base that Romney is too moderate. That is the inverse of the challenge Romney faced in 2008. In that campaign, Romney’s strategy was to win over conservatives and hope that two key rivals, Senator John McCain and Rudy Giuliani, the former New York City mayor, split the more moderate vote. The strategy failed when Giuliani’s campaign disintegrated and Mike Huckabee drew away some of the conservative vote that Romney was counting on.

“In 2008, Romney faced two moderate Republicans, and this time he is facing a real conservative,’’ Rick Tyler, a former Gingrich spokesman who is overseeing the pro-Gingrich super PAC, said in an interview.

At the same time, analysts said, the Gingrich campaign has positioned itself slightly to the left of Romney on issues that are important to key groups of Floridians, including Medicare and immigration. On other issues, such as Gingrich’s proposal to build a colony on the moon, Romney has accused him of pandering to state interests.

“Gingrich has been extremely attentive to the push-button issues among various groups,’’ said Susan MacManus, professor of political science at the University of South Florida in Tampa. Tyler put it more bluntly: “You would have to be an idiot if you are running for president and not be aware of the state’s concerns.’’

For example, Gingrich courted senior citizens in the debate last Monday when he boasted about his role pushing for passage of a Medicare program that helped senior citizens buy prescription drugs, known as Part D. “I’ll say this in Florida: I’m proud of the fact that I publicly, openly advocated Medicare Part D. It has saved lives,’’ Gingrich said. About 3.3 million of Florida’s 18.5 million residents are enrolled in Medicare.

But some conservatives have said the prescription drug program was a mistake, in part because Congress didn’t provide for a way to pay for it and it has bloated the deficit. Romney called Gingrich’s support of the prescription plan “influence peddling’’ because he was working for health companies at the time, and Romney has been critical of the cost of the program.

Romney and Gingrich are also vying for the votes of Hispanics, who make up about 11 percent of registered Republicans. A poll by Latino Decisions released last week showed that Romney is making progress compared to four years ago; he led among Hispanic Republicans by a 49-to-26-percent margin over Gingrich.

Romney also must convince voters he is a true conservative. In 2008, he was the winner among Florida voters who said in polls that they were “very conservative.’’ But this time, Gingrich, Santorum, and Paul all seek such votes. A potential problem for Romney is that independents, who typically are more moderate than registered Republicans, cannot vote under Florida’s rules.

The contest could be determined by a factor that didn’t exist in 2008: the Tea Party movement. Romney, who has run as a Washington outsider even though he is embraced by much of the Republican establishment, has kept a wary eye on the antiestablishment Tea Party. Gingrich, even though he was an insider as speaker of the House and consultant to Freddie Mac, has run as an outsider who embraces the Tea Party message.

Florida voters in 2010 rejected a moderate Republican candidate for governor, Bill McCollum, and elected Tea Party favorite Rick Scott of the GOP. But Scott’s success provides a mixed message for the Republican presidential candidates. He is both a very wealthy former businessman, like Romney, and a fiery grass-roots candidate, like Gingrich. Scott - like other key players such as Marco Rubio and Jeb Bush, former governor - has remained neutral in the race, underscoring the uncertainty that voters must resolve on Tuesday.

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"Rivals keep sniping as Florida vote nears; Surrogates on attack as well in 2-man fight" by Matt Viser and Michael Levenson  |  Globe Staff, January 29, 2012

PANAMA CITY, Fla. - Newt Gingrich launched a frontal attack on Mitt Romney’s integrity yesterday as the former Massachusetts governor, content to let a barrage of ads and a growing cadre of Republican lawmakers blast away at Gingrich, reached out to voters to help him reestablish the primacy of his candidacy with a win Tuesday in Florida.

“You cannot debate somebody who is dishonest,’’ Gingrich told reporters, in explaining his lackluster performance in Thursday’s debate. “I can’t debate somebody who won’t tell the truth.’’

Then stop debating yourself.

Gingrich’s attempt to splatter the core of Romney’s image echoes his most recent ad, which refers to him as untrustworthy, and is expected to be a focus of his efforts to regain his footing in Florida after a pair of weak debate performances and sagging poll numbers. With its winner-take-all 50 delegates at stake, the primary probably will determine whether Romney regains an aura of invincibility or whether the race to the nomination becomes a drawn-out battle of attrition.

The primary has become a two-man contest between Romney and Gingrich, with several prominent former and current Republican lawmakers continuing to pummel the former House speaker as an erratic leader who would undercut the party’s chances to unseat President Obama in the fall.

That effort has spawned a backlash by anti-Washington Tea Party supporters, including former vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin, who last night said in an online post that the GOP establishment were cannibals seeking to “kneecap’’ Gingrich.

Also last night, former rival Herman Cain, who dropped out late last year amid several accusations of unwanted sexual advances, endorsed Gingrich. The former Godfather’s Pizza executive said Gingrich was the right person to address the “crisis of leadership in the White House.’’ 

Of the other two candidates, former senator Rick Santorum returned to his home in Pennsylvania and Representative Ron Paul is focusing on caucus states that vote next month, a strategy that plays to his strength of passionate supporters and a strong organization....

Romney was joined at the Fish House restaurant in military-rich Pensacola by an unusual trio of actor Jon Voight, Senator John McCain, and Governor Bob McDonnell of Virginia. Both Voight, a noted conservative, and McCain, the 2008 GOP presidential nominee, were unsparing in their assessment of Gingrich.

“I do not understand - do you? - why anyone would attack a person who’s successful in business, in the free enterprise system!’’ McCain said, alluding to Gingrich’s criticism of Romney’s career at Bain Capital....

Meanwhile, the campaign by many Republicans to paint Gingrich as alarmingly ill-suited to be president continued. At one of Gingrich’s events, at a putting green at the PGA Museum of Golf in Port St. Lucie, Romney sent three Republican members of the US House - Charlie Bass of New Hampshire, Connie Mack of Florida, and Mack’s wife, Mary Bono Mack of California - to serve as his own “truth squad.’’

“He’s a great thinker and a great historian,’’ said Bass, who served when Gingrich was speaker. “But the president is an administrator, not a philosopher. And a lot of times, he has to make decisions about hiring and firing. And Newt is a thinker, and it isn’t a fit.’’

R.C. Hammond, Gingrich’s spokesman, confronted both Bass and Connie Mack, sparring with them as reporters held out their audio recorders.

“Congressman, did you regret asking Newt for his endorsement earlier this year?’’ Hammond asked Bass. “He wrote a very nice op-ed in one of your papers asking that you be reelected.’’

Bass just smiled and said it was good to see Hammond, who is from New Hampshire.

Asked about the members of Congress bird-dogging his events, Gingrich said it does not reflect well on Romney....  

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"Gingrich shows strength in conservative North Florida" by Michael Levenson  |  Globe Staff, January 29, 2012

MACCLENNY, Fla. - Far from the Cuban cafes and Art Deco nightspots of Miami sits this rural county seat named for a Confederate senator, where locals like bass fishing and dirt-track auto racing and identify more as Southerners than as Floridians.

“This isn’t Florida,’’ said Travis Barton, who owns Trav’s Barber Shop, a spacious strip-mall establishment where the mounted head of a deer that he shot greets patrons and the television is tuned to Fox News. “This is south Georgia.’’

Mitt Romney won deeply conservative Baker County in the 2008 Republican primary. But back then, he was running to the right of John McCain. Now, it is Newt Gingrich who may have the upper hand here, thanks to his Georgia roots and fiercely populist pitch. Romney’s Mormonism also concerns many in the heavily Baptist and Pentecostal county.

Like South Carolina, which Gingrich won, North Florida is a conservative proving ground and a barometer of the party’s passions. Winning the region is considered crucial if Gingrich is to carry the state on Tuesday and overtake Romney in the race for the nomination.

Stretching from the Gulf Coast city of Pensacola in the panhandle to Jacksonville on the Atlantic, the area includes liberal Tallahassee yet is still one of the most Republican regions of the state, where Tea Party movement activists and Christian conservatives play an outsized role in elections.

In Macclenny, the seat of Baker County, 30 miles west of Jacksonville, Gingrich is the talk of the town. Lois Adcock, who works at Studio One salon, estimated that 8 out of 10 of her customers - who include cattle ranchers, corrections officers at nearby Florida State Prison, and laborers at Northeast Florida State Hospital - are voting for the former House speaker.

“I would say Newt Gingrich would have the pull in Baker County, based on what I see and what I hear,’’ Adcock said during a cigarette break.

Unlike Romney, she said, “Newt can talk on both levels, because in Baker County, you don’t have a lot of wealth. You’ve got a few, but we’re more just everyday workers, middle-class people. And I think he cares about the middle class.’’

The county’s unemployment rate is 10.4 percent, compared to 9.9 percent in the state as a whole and 8.5 percent nationally. This month, the Food Lion grocery store announced it was closing, forcing 38 employees to scramble for new work. Downtown, some shops are plastered with “For Rent’’ signs.

“Nobody in Washington cares about the poor people!’’ said Lou Webber Sr., 78, pounding his fist on the counter in his auto shop, Webber Tire, where business is down 35 percent since last year.

Many worry that an effort by state lawmakers to privatize Northeast Florida State Hospital, the county’s largest employer, could lead to job cuts there. The Baker County Chamber of Commerce has been fighting the effort, despite its probusiness inclinations....

Ringed by fast food outlets and chain stores, Macclenny’s streets rumble with pickup trucks, and its small downtown includes a Christian thrift store, a Dixie Outfitters shop selling camouflage hats and Confederate flag T-shirts, and a Bargain Channel radio station where listeners can buy giant cans of boiled peanuts and discounted jewelry.

In 2008, Romney won Baker County, easily beating McCain, Mike Huckabee, and Rudy Giuliani. In the general election, McCain carried the county with a whopping 78 percent of the vote, compared to 21 percent for Barack Obama. Of Florida’s 67 counties, only two others gave McCain a larger margin of victory.

These days, Romney has not stirred much interest in the city of 14,000.

“There’s something about him that just doesn’t pan out,’’ Adcock said. “I don’t know if it’s his faith that worries me, because I don’t know anything about the Mormons. But he just doesn’t interest me, even when I listen to him. Newt does.’’

Barton said his customers don’t care that Romney has a stable family while Gingrich has a history of marital infidelity.

“They’d rather forgive a Christian for all his dishonest relationships than go with a Mormon,’’ he said. “North Florida is the Bible Belt.’’

******************************************

Romney’s strength in the area lies in Jacksonville, the financial heart of the region, and St. Augustine, a resort haven, which have more “Chamber of Commerce Republicans’’ than the rural communities of North Florida, said Matthew T. Corrigan, chairman of the political science department at the University of North Florida in Jacksonville.

Romney, he said, has tapped into former governor Jeb Bush’s fund-raising networks in the area, rounding up prominent backers such as John D. Rood, a wealthy Jacksonville investor and former ambassador to the Bahamas.

“Romney has financial connections here, in terms of fund-raising, he has an electoral history here, and if he doesn’t win here, I think it’s going to be a tough day for him,’’ Corrigan said of North Florida.

One Romney supporter in Macclenny, Tom Rumsey, an 82-year-old retired activities director at Northeast Florida State Hospital, said he likes the former Massachusetts governor’s combination of business and government experience.

He said he was dismayed, but not surprised, that Romney’s Mormonism is a stumbling block in the community.

A Pennsylvania native, Rumsey recalled that when he started working at the hospital more than two decades ago, two employees threatened to “take me out’’ because he was not from the area.

“There is prejudice here - it’s all over the country - but here it’s just more blatant,’’ he said. “It’s changing, but it’s a slow process.’’

Like a lot of small communities in North Florida that vote Republican in presidential elections, registered Democrats outnumber Republicans in Macclenny. That is a vestige of the era before Civil Rights, when conservative Democrats ruled the South. Since the 1980s, when the Democratic Party began embracing abortion rights and gay rights, Republicans have been gaining here.

************************************

“Historically, the rural South has been registered Democrat, and it’s taken people a while to get around and change their registration,’’ said Donald Marshall, chairman of the Baker County Republican Party. “For the most part, the people that live in Baker County are extremely conservative, and that’s the way they vote.’’

As the primary draws near, interest in the race is rising. About 100 voters a day have been streaming into the local elections office, in a former bank, to cast early ballots. On Wednesday, Dorothy Horton, 64, cast her vote for Gingrich. She made up her mind during the last debate in South Carolina, when Gingrich blasted CNN host John King for asking about his marital history.

Gingrich “got a little bit angry,’’ and showed “he’s somebody who’s going to fight for us,’’ Horton said.

“I was in the living room with my husband,’’ she said, “and I said, ‘I got my man.’ ’’

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Related: Mitt Romney jumps ahead in Florida

The Republican presidential candidate has a double-digit lead in Florida with the primary just two days away, new polls show.

Also see: Romney could have edge with Fla.'s early, absentee voters