In a speech Monday, former Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney criticized President Obama's approach to foreign policy and defense spending.

WASHINGTON (CNN) — Former Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney took aim at President Obama's foreign and national security policy Monday, criticizing the commander-in-chief's message abroad as a "tour of apology" and calling plans to trim the missile defense budget a "grave miscalculation" that puts the nation at risk in the face of urgent threats like North Korea's nuclear ambitions.

"Arrogant, delusional tyrants can't be stopped by earnest words and furrowed brows," Romney told a conservative crowd at a speech sponsored by the Heritage Foundation in Washington. "Action — strong, bold action coming from a position of strength and determination — is the only effective deterrent."

Nearly two weeks after former Vice President Dick Cheney took on President Obama's national security policy, Romney delivered the latest in a string of tough critiques of the new administration — including a bruising take on Supreme Court pick Sonia Sotomayor — that have made the former Massachusetts governor a conservative favorite in the first months of the new administration, even as he carefully avoids the kind of incendiary attacks and media overexposure that could threaten mainstream appeal he'd need to reach the Oval Office.

Romney argued Monday that the defense budget had been short-changed, and the nation's military readiness has been endangered, because of the president's call to increase spending on domestic programs.
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Romney will deliver a speech focused on missile defense on Monday.'

WASHINGTON (CNN) — Mitt Romney, eyeing a run at the presidency in 2012, is taking another step in fleshing out his foreign policy portfolio with a Monday speech to the conservative Heritage Foundation on the topic of defense spending.

According to excerpts of the speech provided to CNN, Romney will call the Obama administration's plan to trim more than $1 billion from missile defense programs a "grave miscalculation" that will put America at risk, especially given North Korea's nuclear provocations.

Romney says that Obama should push for "comprehensive, regime-crippling sanctions" against North Korea and "immediately reverse his recent decisions and strongly support completing our ballistic missile defense system."

In the speech, entitled "The Care of Freedom," Romney will also call on the administration to increase the modernization budget by $50 billion per year and to lock in total defense budgets at no less than four percent of GDP. But the military budget has been endangered, Romney argues, by the administration's domestic spending programs.

"Over the last few months, it has passed measures that will add almost $4 trillion to the national debt in the short term and then over $3 trillion over the next ten years," Romney will say. "None of that money was spent on increasing the defense modernization budget — a failure that history will never understand or excuse."

The former Massachusetts governor is urging pro-defense members of Congress to hold firm against further cuts. He plans to say that "depleting the defense budget to fund new social programs, particularly in the face of global turmoil, would put America and Americans at risk."

"At the most fundamental level, our military might depends on the long term strength of our economy," he will say, according to the excerpts. "The President's planned budgets and multi-trillion dollar deficits, financed by a level of borrowing never before attempted by any nation, puts our whole economy in jeopardy."
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WASHINGTON (CNN) — Mitt Romney, disciplined politician, is quick to say he's not a presidential candidate. It's Mitt Romney's schedule that seems to be a bit off-message.

Earlier this year, he got a hero's welcome at the Conservative Political Action Conference, where more than a few attendees attendees insisted his economic credentials might have nabbed him the Oval Office if the economic crisis had hit before the Republican Party had decided on its 2008 standard-bearer.

On Friday, he was the keynote speaker at the Virginia GOP's Commonwealth Gala dinner in Richmond. Yesterday, he weighed in on his party's future on Fox News, Sunday. The former Massachusetts governor's making appearances as a key member of the National Council for a New America — the move, led by House Minority Whip Eric Cantor of Virginia, to re-brand the GOP. Meanwhile, Free and Strong America PAC — Romney's political action committee, dedicated to supporting conservative candidates — is helping him build the national network of party loyalists he'd need to clinch the nomination, if he decides to run again.

And today, nearly two weeks after former vice president Dick Cheney took on President Barack Obama's national security policy before a think-tank crowd in Washington, Romney is scheduled to give his own take — laid out in a speech called "The Care of Freedom" — to a Heritage Foundation audience, assessing the new administration's response on North Korea and other foreign policy challenges.

It's slated to be the latest in a string of tough critiques of President Obama — including a tough take on Supreme Court pick Sonia Sotomayor — that have made him a conservative favorite in the first months of the new administration, even as he carefully avoids the kind of incendiary attacks and media overexposure that could threaten mainstream appeal he'd need to reach the Oval Office.
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Mitt Romney says he finds some of Sonia Sotomayor's past statements 'troubling,' but that he will give her a chance to explain her views.

(CNN) - Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney said Thursday he's keeping an open mind when it comes to Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor, but added he finds some of her past statements "troubling."

"There are some things she said that are troubling for those of us who believe that the job of a justice is to follow the law and the constitution, not to create law," said Romney during a forum with business leaders in Washington, DC. "But let's give her the chance to explain her views, to describe her record, and to be party to a full and complete and fair process. And let's do it in a very civil and respectful manner."

Romney's comments are in line with the majority of Republicans on Capitol Hill, who have expressed reservations about President Obama's pick for the high court but have said they will withhold final judgment until her confirmation hearings before the Senate Judiciary Committee.

"I think our process in giving the justice – or the nominated justice – an opportunity to state her case, to describe her judicial philosophy, to take us through the decisions she's made in the past, and to have a complete and thorough review, should be a process which is carried out in depth," said Romney, who sought the GOP presidential nomination in 2008. "It should be a civil response to her position."

Former Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney issued a statement Tuesday on Sotomayor's nomination:

"The nomination of Judge Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court is troubling. Her public statements make it clear she has an expansive view of the role of the judiciary. Historically, the Court is where judges interpret the Constitution and apply the law. It should never be the place "where policy is made," as Judge Sotomayor has said. Like any nominee, she deserves a fair and thorough hearing. What the American public deserves is a judge who will put the law above her own personal political philosophy."

Steele said Romney lost the GOP nomination because the party's base rejected him.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – In an unusual move for the person tasked with being his party's top cheerleader, Republican National Committee chairman Michael Steele is shining a light on the political vulnerabilities of one of the GOP's top figures and a likely frontrunner for the 2012 Republican nomination — former presidential candidate Mitt Romney.

Now Romney's team is hitting back.

Steele, guest-hosting on Bill Bennett's radio show Friday, cast doubt on Romney's conservative bona fides and blamed the Republican base for rejecting Romney last year because "it had issues with Mormonism" and was unsure of Romney's commitment to opposing to abortion rights. Those comments aren't sitting too well with Romney's political team.

"Sometimes when you shoot from the hip, you miss the target," said Romney spokesman Eric Ferhnstrom. "This is one of those times."

A Romney aide noted that the former Massachusetts governor won the Conservative Political Action Conference's annual straw poll the past three years, won 11 presidential primaries and caucuses, and earned 4.2 million votes by the time he left the race in February of last year.

The RNC chairman made the comments when responding to a caller who claimed that Romney, if he was the nominee, would have been a stronger candidate against Obama than John McCain. The caller argued that Romney never got a chance to be the nominee because "liberals" and the media pushed hard for McCain to win the Republican nomination.

But Steele disagreed.

"Remember, it was the base that rejected Mitt because of his switch on pro-life, from pro-choice to pro-life," Steele told the caller. "It was the base that rejected Mitt because it had issues with Mormonism. It was the base that rejected Mitt because they thought he was back and forth and waffling on those very economic issues you're talking about."

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Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney says Republicans must lead the American Revolution.

ARLINGTON, Virginia (CNN) –  Three prominent GOP leaders kicked off a campaign Saturday to reshape their party's image, gathering at a restaurant in Northern Virginia for the first of a series of town hall meetings.

The goal of the initiative, called the National Council for a New America, is to connect Republican leaders with voters across the country to help get the party's electoral fortunes back on track.

"Certainly our party has taken its licks the last few cycles, but that's why we're here," said House Minority Whip Eric Cantor. "The reality is the prescriptions coming out of Washington right now are not reflective of the mainstream of this country."

"It's time for us to listen a little bit, learn a little bit," said former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, who advised Republicans to work on the party's message and "not be so nostalgic."

"I would say you can't beat something with nothing. The other side has something. I don't like it, but they have it," said Bush, who repeatedly praised President Obama's tactical approach to politics, and commended his 2008 campaign as "forward-looking."

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney compared the GOP to Americans fighting the British during the Revolutionary War. "We are the party of the revolutionaries, they [Democrats] are the party of the monarchists," he told the overwhelmingly Republican crowd, saying the Republicans needed to "once again lead the American Revolution."

He blamed Washington for setting in motion policies that led to the collapse of the housing market, and painted his party's current minority status as a boon.

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(CNN) – Mitt Romney went on the offensive Tuesday, slamming President Obama's foreign policy initiatives and calling the president a "timid advocate of freedom."

In an op-ed in the National Review, the former Massachusetts governor accused Obama of going easy on dictators and passing blame for the actions and policies of former administrations.

"As American soldiers sacrificed blood in Afghanistan and Iraq to defend liberty, President Obama shrank from defending liberty here in the Americas," Romney wrote. "Vice President Biden was right that the new president would be tested early in his administration. What the world learned was not good news for freedom and democracy. The leader of the free world has been a timid advocate of freedom at best. And bold action to blunt the advances of tyrants has been wholly lacking."

The former candidate for the 2008 Republican presidential nomination said Obama may have failed in his early foreign-policy tests, but that he hopes the president will offer more than "silence, smiles, and a handshake" when dealing with foreign nations and leaders in the future.

"We are still very early in the Obama years – the president will have ample opportunity to defend America and freedom, and to deter nuclear brinkmanship. I am hoping for change," he wrote.

Michael Steele is one of several Republicans criticizing the Iowa Supreme Court ruling.

(CNN) – Republicans are sharply criticizing the Iowa Supreme Court ruling Friday that reverses the state's 11-year-old ban on same-sex marriage.

RNC Chairman Michael Steele:

"The Iowa Supreme Court's decision today to reverse an 11 year old state law outlawing same-sex marriage is sadly another example of judicial activism currently threatening family values in America. While I respect an individual's right to live his or her life as they see fit, decisions like this are better left in the hands of legislators and governors."

"I firmly believe that marriage should be between one man and one woman. A state's autonomous nature allows it to change its laws as the citizenry sees fit, but it should be done by the people, not through judicial decree."

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney:

"I believe marriage is a relationship between a man and a woman and the definition of marriage should be left to the people and not to activist courts."

Former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee (via Twitter):

"Iowa Sup. Court dec. to allow same sex marriage is disappointing. All Iowans should have a say in this matter, not legislative judges … must fight to preserve family and amend the Constitution of the United States to define marriage as one man and one woman."

South Carolina governor Mark Sanford:

Joel Sawyer, a spokesman for Sanford, did not react to the Iowa ruling specifically, but said the governor is "against same-sex marriage." Sawyer pointed out that "South Carolina passed a same-sex marriage ban last year, and the governor was supportive of it."

Alaska governor Sarah Palin:

Bill McAllister, a spokesman for Palin, said that as of this morning, "we haven't discussed it." Palin has said she opposes defining marriage as anything but between a man and a woman.

Romney is a possible 2012 contender.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney is “keeping active politically,” according to an aide, and on Wednesday his busy travel schedule brought him to Washington to help raise money for Senate Republicans hoping to gain leverage against President Obama in the 2010 mid-term elections.

But in a speech to a fundraising dinner for the National Republican Senatorial Committee that raised over $2 million, Romney often struck a bipartisan tone in front a crowd that might have been expecting a heavy dose of rally-the-troops conservatism.

“I also think its important for us to nod to the president when he’s right,” Romney said, after chiding the president’s budget. “He will not always be wrong, and he’s done some things I agree with.”

Romney said he’s pleased with the president’s plans to “finish the job” in Iraq and Afghanistan – lines that drew cheers from the GOP audience — and he applauded the president for standing up to the auto industry.

“I hope he continues to be tough and shows some backbone because that industry is not going to make it unless we have real backbone and get those guys to fundamentally restructure all of their obligations,” said Romney, who could challenge Obama for the presidency in 2012.

The former businessman even offered some faint praise for Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, saying that after a series of initial missteps, “I think he’s finally getting close to the right answer.”

Romney, speaking without notes or teleprompter, ultimately drew a familiar line in the sand between Democrats, who he said favor heavy-handed government, and Republicans, who prefer individual freedom and free enterprise. The language was reminiscent of his campaign stump speech from 2007 and 2008.

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(CNN) — Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney — still among the most visible faces in the Republican Party — isn't ruling out another White House run in 2012.

"I love what Yogi Berra said — I can't get it exactly right, but it's something like this: 'I don't like forecasting, particularly if the future is involved,'" said Romney on CNN's American Morning.

Romney's continued fundraising prowess, active political action committee, and presence on the cable news circuit have led many political observers to speculate he is laying the groundwork for another presidential run.

Romney has been lending his support to Republicans around the country.'

WASHINGTON (CNN) – Mitt Romney will headline a gala at the Virginia Republican State Convention in May, state GOP officials said Friday.

Romney becomes the latest big-name Republican to join in the effort to help Bob McDonnell take back the Virginia governor's mansion from Democrats. The visit will also give Romney a chance to build support among party members in a battleground state as he moves towards a possible second run at the White House in 2012.

The former Massachusetts governor has been keeping a packed schedule of late, along with making TV appearances and writing op-eds about the economy.

Next week, he will headline a fundraiser in Chicago for Illinois state senator Dan Rutherford. Romney then travels to Washington on April 1 to speak to the National Republican Senatorial Committee annual fundraising dinner, followed by a trip to New York City the next day to raise cash for the New York County Republican Party.

"He is staying active politically and doing what he can to help Republican party organizations and individual candidates as we head into the critical 2010 elections," said Romney spokesman Eric Fehrnstrom. "His visit to Virginia is on behalf of the entire Republican ticket there, including the Republican gubernatorial candidate, Bob McDonnell, and Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling."

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Mitt Romney said President Obama's 'Tonight Show' appearance wasn't the right timing.

(CNN)– Mitt Romney, the former governor of Massachusetts, ran for the Republican presidential nomination in 2008, but John McCain snagged the nomination.

This businessman and politician is keeping a critical eye on how things are shaping up in the presidency he wanted, and he shared his views on Thursday night's "Larry King Live." He gave a sharp critique of President Obama's performance and shared his thoughts on Rush Limbaugh, Sarah Palin and stem-cell research.

The following transcript is edited for brevity and clarity:

Larry King: Some are seeing a problem with the president doing the "Tonight Show," the first sitting president ever to do a late-evening [talk] show. Do you have a problem with it?

Mitt Romney: Well, this probably isn't the right time for it. I line up with Warren Buffett on this. I prefer to see the president focusing all of his time and energy on the economy.

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Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney won the straw poll for the third year in a row.

(CNN) — One day after delivering a forceful campaign-style speech to the conference of conservative activists, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney won his third straight CPAC Straw Poll on Saturday, earning 20 percent of the vote on a ballot that included nine other Republicans who could seek the party’s presidential nomination in 2012.

Romney’s straw poll win at the 2007 Conservative Political Action Conference helped to elevate Romney from a little-known governor to a bona fide presidential frontrunner, and his narrow victory in last year’s straw poll reaffirmed his support among conservative voters. But Romney failed to win the Republican nomination, which was eventually won by Arizona Sen. John McCain.

In the 2009 poll, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal came in second with 14 percent of the vote, while Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and Texas Rep. Ron Paul tied at 13 percent. Jindal and Palin did not attend the conference.

Rounding out the straw poll results were former House speaker Newt Gingrich at 10 percent, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee at seven percent, South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford at four percent, former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani at three percent, Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty at two percent, and Florida Gov. Charlie Crist at one percent. Nine percent of poll participants were undecided.

The straw poll was conducted over two days and surveyed 1,757 of the party activists who descended on Washington for the annual conference. More than half of the conference attendees this year were college students, and nearly 60 percent of the straw poll participants were between the ages of 18 and 25.

Romney ended his presidential bid at CPAC last year.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – Mitt Romney may not officially be running for any office right now, but the former Massachusetts governor returned to the Conservative Political Action Conference on Friday and sounded an awful lot like the presidential candidate who ended his campaign here last February.

Romney delivered a speech that resembled, in both style and substance, his campaign stump speech of 2007 and early 2008, detailing his opposition to liberal judges, jihadists and higher taxes.

And in criticizing President Obama and House Democrats on a number of issues, Romney — often interrupted by standing ovations — made clear that he intends to remain a player in Republican politics as he eyes a potential presidential bid in 2012.

He opened his speech with a cheeky nod to one potential rival who didn't make the trip to the annual gathering of conservative activists — Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.

"There's a rumor that she has been offered an 11 million dollar book contract," Romney said. "My publisher has been talking to me about an 11 millon dollar deal as well. I'm just not sure I can come up with that kind of money."

Though Romney said he would support President Obama when the two men agreed on an issue, he disparaged as "awfully vague" some of the plans the president outlined in his address to the nation this week and in his new budget, and said that proposals for universal healthcare and universal pre-school would lead to "universal government."

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Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin leads in a new CNN/Opinion Research Corp. poll released Friday.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – As the the first unofficial ballots are cast in the next race for the White House, a new national survey of Republicans indicates that the GOP doesn't have a clear presidential frontrunner — but does have a clear gender gap.

Twenty-nine percent of Republicans questioned in a new CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey released Friday say they are most likely to support Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin for the GOP presidential nomination in 2012. Right behind the 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee, and well within the poll's 4.5 percent sampling error, is former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee. Twenty-six percent of those questioned say they are most likely backing the former, and possibly future, Republican presidential candidate.

Twenty-one percent of Republicans polled say they most likely would support former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, another GOP hopeful from the last campaign who may put his hat into the ring again.

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More than a dozen pieces of jewelry were stolen from former Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney’s Deer Valley, Utah home last week.'

(CNN) — More than a dozen pieces of jewelry were stolen from former Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney’s Deer Valley, Utah home last week, according to the Salt Lake Tribune.

Park City police told the paper that the thief was likely someone who had access to the house. There was no sign of forced entry.

The $5 million home is currently up for sale, along with another Romney residence in Massachusetts.

The former Massachusetts governor will address activists at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington Friday, as he aims for his third win in the annual gathering’s presidential preference straw poll.

More than a dozen pieces of jewelry were stolen from former Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney’s Deer Valley, Utah home last week.'

(CNN) — More than a dozen pieces of jewelry were stolen from former Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney’s Deer Valley, Utah home last week, according to the Salt Lake Tribune.

Park City police told the paper that the thief was likely someone who had access to the house. There was no sign of forced entry.

The $5 million home is currently up for sale, along with another Romney residence in Massachusetts.

The former Massachusetts governor will address activists at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington Friday, as he aims for his third win in the annual gathering’s presidential preference straw poll.

Mitt Romney's PAC announced Monday that it is donating money to nearly all of a group of House Republicans who are being targeted by a Democratic campaign because of their opposition to the stimulus bill.

(CNN) – Former Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney is lending a financial hand to a group of House Republicans who have become targets of a new Democratic campaign over their opposition to the $787 billion stimulus bill.

In recorded telephone messages, text messages, and e-mails set to be sent out this week, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee plans to highlight the opposition of 12 House Republicans to stimulus package.

“What Republicans wanted was a bill to strengthen the economy,” Romney said in a statement announcing the $1000 donations by his Free and Strong America PAC. “What the Democrats passed was a bill to stimulate government. We are committed to helping these courageous Republicans defend their position and fend off political attacks.”

The “Undaunted Dozen,” as Romney calls them, “[stood] up for fiscal responsibility and [said] no to spending abuse.”

Although the former GOP presidential hopeful referred to the dozen members targeted by the DCCC, Rep. Adam Putnam of Florida was not sent a donation because he has announced that he is not seeking re-election in 2010, according to the PAC’s statement.

The Romneys are selling their ski retreat in Utah, as well as their home in Belmont, Massachusetts.

(CNN) — He has been estimated to be worth in excess of $250 million, but former Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney may just be belt-tightening along with the majority of Americans.

Romney, the former business whiz and governor of Massachusetts, is looking to unload two of his four mansions, collectively valued in the currently-sour real estate market at close to $10 million.

The more expensive of the two homes is a 9,500 square foot cabin on 11 acres in Deer Valley, Utah, listed at $5.25 million. The property comes complete with 9.5 bathrooms and is entirely furnished with custom-made furniture. The real-estate Web site Zillow.com describes the 10-year-old ski cabin as the "perfect retreat" with "several gathering areas [that] provide enough space for lots of family and/or guests."

Also on the market is the Romneys' chief residence in the posh suburban Boston neighborhood of Belmont, where most home prices run well into the millions. The Romney house, which comes with a tennis court and 2.5 acres of land, has yet to be listed, though the Boston Globe estimates the price will be set at $3 million — $1 million less than what the home was worth 2 years ago.

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