Mitt Romney kicks off 2012 White House bid today in New Hampshire

WASHINGTON–Former Mass. Gov. Mitt Romney makes his 2012 presidential bid official on Thursday, kicking off his second White House campaign in the crucial early primary state of New Hampshire.

He’s starting with a blast at President Obama over the economy and the high jobless rate–and trying to ignore the crowded GOP field. Stealing some of Romney’s thunder–former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, is headed to New Hampshire on her bus tour–which may or may not be laying groundwork for her own 2012 bid. The Democratic National Committee tried to flood the political reporting zone on Thursday with web videos and messages about Romney being a flip flopper–especially on health care coverage, since he signed the Massachusetts health care law.

Romney posted on his blog Thursday his Obama slam:

Barack Obama has failed America.

When he took office, the economy was in recession. He made it worse. And he made it last longer. Three years later, over 16 million Americans are out of work or have just quit looking. Millions more are underemployed.

Three years later, unemployment is still above 8%, a figure he said his stimulus would keep from happening.

This is not just a problem–this is a national crisis. And in a time of crisis, we need a President who can lead, a President with the vision and experience to understand what needs to be done, a President who knows how to create jobs and get the economy back on track. Mitt Romney can be that President.

below, from the Democratic National Committee…..

DNC Highlights Flip-Flopping Mitt Romney in New Web Video

WATCH “Romney: Same Candidate, Different Positions”: LINK

Washington, DC -Mitt Romney is going to announce his run for President today but he’s going into this campaign with the same fatal flaws that doomed him the first time around: that he’s seen as a wishy-washy, flip-flopping politician who lacks any core convictions or principles and who you simply can’t trust to shoot straight with you. Just consider the two sides of Mitt Romney just since his last campaign: he’s taken both sides of TARP, the Recovery Act, Health Reform and the auto loan package. That’s all just in the past three years – combined with a decade and a half or more taking one side of a position when running for one office and the other side of it when running for another – Mitt Romney may now be the most notorious flip-flopper in modern political history.

To mark Romney’s announcement, the DNC released the following web video: Romney: Same Candidate, Different Positions. The video’s simple and straight forward – more simple and straight forward than Mitt Romney has been on the issues as a politician.

DNC VIDEO: “Romney: Same Candidate, Different Positions”

PUBLIC YOUTUBE LINK: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rsCmiFcRyIc

SCRIPT:

CHYRON: Mitt Romney on health care

MITT ROMNEY: “When I set out to find a way to get everybody health insurance, I couldn’t have cared less and I don’t care less about how it works politically. In my view it’s the right thing to do. It’s a key issue that faces many many people across this country that don’t have health insurance. We need to find a way to get them insurance so they get better care.” [Fox News, 4/12/2006]

CHYRON: Mitt Romney on health care

ROMNEY: “Obamacare is bad law constitutionally. It’s bad policy. It’s bad for American families.” [Speech to Carroll Country Republican Committee, 3/7/2011]

CHYRON: Mitt Romney on TARP

ROMNEY: “When government is trying… to bail out banks… when have every good reason to be alarmed and to speak our minds.” [Value Voters Summit, 9/12/2009]

CHYRON: Mitt Romney on TARP

ROMNEY: “We were going to be in a free fall that would the collapse of not just a few banks in Wall Street, but banks all over the country, killing not only a few jobs but all jobs in this country. That’s what we were facing, and the TARP program kept that from occurring.” [Fox News, 1/28/2010]

CHYRON: Mitt Romney on the Recovery Act

ROMNEY: “I think a stimulus program is needed. I’d move quickly – these are unusual times.” [CNN, 1/4/2009]

CHYRON: Mitt Romney on the Recovery Act

ROMNEY: “What the President created with his 700 and 80 plus billion dollar stimulus plan was something which grew government, but did not grow the private economy.” [Meet The Press, 12/13/2009]

CHYRON: Mitt Romney on the auto industry

ANCHOR: “Should the federal government bail out the auto industry? Mitt Romney, former Massachusetts Governor and former Republican candidate for President says absolutely not.” [CBS’ Early Show, 11/20/2008]

CHYRON: Mitt Romney on the auto industry

CHRIS MATTHEWS: Has Mitt Romney flip flopped again? He’s now trying to take credit for saving the auto industry after he proposed letting the auto industry die. Boy this guy flip flops like the best in the circus.”

CHYRON: Romney 2012 / Same Candidate. Different Positions. Again.

[DNC Disclaimer]

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