Mackinac Island, Mich. — Courting party faithful Saturday, Republican Mitt Romney promised to return a wayward GOP to its core principles, while rival John McCain portrayed himself as the most qualified to take charge of the country amid dangerous times ahead.
“Change must begin with us,” Romney, a former Massachusetts governor, told activists as he challenged a GOP reeling from excessive spending and embarrassing scandals to “put our own house in order.”
Taking a broader view, McCain, an Arizona senator, lamented “a perilous time for our party but, far more important, a perilous time for our country” as he gave a sobering assessment of worldwide threats.
Fred Thompson, the actor-
politician, gave his usual low-key stump speech filled with general conservative themes.
Rudy Giuliani made his pitch a day earlier as the four top Republican presidential hopefuls and a few underdogs descended on a picturesque island in Lake Huron to cozy up to 1,500 activists. Michigan just became an early player in the nomination race by leapfrogging other states to move its primaries to Jan. 15.
Trying to stand out from the crowded field, Romney is bluntly confronting problems plaguing the GOP in his new stump speech, fresh television ads and an open letter to party leaders. He is seeking to tap into anger among Republicans about the country’s direction even as President Bush sits in the White House.
Romney argued that Republicans share the blame with Democrats for the nation’s woes.
He bemoaned excessive spending, insecure borders and ethical lapses.
“When Republicans act like Democrats, America loses,” he said.
In his remarks Saturday, McCain sought to underscore the security threats the United States faces and assailed the national security positions of leading Democratic presidential candidates.
Thompson emphasized his commitment to federalism and renewed his call for a return to so-called first principles of fiscal restraint, free markets, personal liberties and smaller government.
“Not every solution to every problem comes from Washington, D.C.,” the former Tennessee senator said, despite his long ties to Capitol Hill.
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9/11 changed view on gun control Rudy Giuliani on Friday sought to persuade members of the National Rifle Association to look past his lengthy record of pushing for tougher gun control by saying that his views on the issue had been changed by the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
The attacks on New York and the Pentagon put “a whole different emphasis on the things America needs to do to protect itself, and maybe even a renewed emphasis on the Second Amendment,” Giuliani told the roughly 500 NRA members gathered at a Washington hotel.
Edwards unveils plan for pupils Presidential candidate John Edwards rolled out a program for reforming primary education, proposing to pay teachers up to $15,000 more in high-poverty areas and initiating universal preschool.
The Democrat detailed the proposals, which include longer school years and overhauling the No Child Left Behind law, at a Des Moines school Friday.
He said assessments that measure higher-order thinking must be developed, including open-ended essays, oral exams, projects and experiments.
