A compilation of what the media and Republican activists are saying about Mitt Romney’s speech in Carroll County over the weekend.
AP’S LIZ SIDOTI: “Specifically, will this argument from the once-failed GOP presidential candidate be strong enough to convince conservatives who dominate the nominating contests that they should overlook their unease about him: his signing of a Massachusetts health care law similar to Obama’s unpopular nationwide one, as well as his reversals on social issues … ?”
BOSTON GLOBE’S GLEN JOHNSON: “Romney Addresses Health care, Not Authenticity.”
SEN. KELLY AYOTTE: “That’s [RomneyCare] the question he has to address … not just in New Hampshire but nationwide.”
UL’S SARA YOUNG-KNOX: “Romney, in NH, Takes Shots at Obama, Defends ‘RomneyCare.’”
ROMNEY BACKER JEB BRADLEY: “Mitt, with his broad experience, in particular his business experience, is exactly what America needs.”
FORMER-GOP CHAIR WAYNE SEMPRINI: “He’s got Romneycare wrapped around his neck. … He’s going to be addressing that nonstop. … It’s going to be a tough issue for him.”
EXECUTIVE COUNCILOR RAY BURTON: “If you can get elected in the state of Massachusetts, you’ve got something going for you.” (Burton has endorsed Romney.)
TEA PARTY ACTIVIST KEVIN MCHUGH: “Right now, it’s ABR — Anyone But Romney. … He’s got a lot of work to do.”
TEA PARTY LEADER JANE AITKEN: “A lot of people don’t care for the fact that he effectively put through ‘Romneycare’ … That’s the big one.”
LIBERTY LEADER JERRY DELEMUS:“He won’t win without them [grassroots conservatives] I guarantee that.”
912-ER LISA GRAVEL:“He doesn’t have our support at all … I do not feel he’s the one that is going to take [ObamaCare] off the books. … He’s establishment. He’s a Democrat-lite.”
RADIO HOST HOWIE CARR: “No Rx for Romney’s Bay State Headache.”
2010 GOP GOV NOMINEE JOHN STEPHEN: “He can absolutely get past this [RomneyCare] … When you’re a governor, you need to do what’s best for your state. And what Governor Romney said was he believed in state flexibility [and] 10th Amendment principles. I think that’s a great start. He will just have to continue to expand on that.”
