Romney Campaign Press Release - In Case You Missed It: David Keene On His Support For Governor Romney

David Keene

"The Laura Ingraham Show"

11/29/07

David Keene On His Endorsement Of Governor Mitt Romney:

Laura Ingraham: "David, I know you made an announcement. I didn't reveal it to the listeners because I wanted you to tell us when you came on the show about who you were endorsing for the Republican nomination."

David Keene: "Well, I decided earlier this week and announced this morning that I'm supporting Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts governor. I came to that decision after a lot of thought. Early on in this process, I thought I'd stay neutral for a number of reasons. None of the candidates seemed to be capable early on of reaching across the conservative spectrum and getting economic conservatives and social conservatives and national defense conservatives together in the way, for example, that Ronald Reagan could.

"And in addition to that, frankly I have a lot of friends among the various candidates. I had coffee at the airport this morning with Duncan Hunter, who's been a good personal friend of mine for many years and continues to be a friend. I thought I'd stay out. But it's become clear in the last few months and particularly in the last few weeks that the only candidate who really has a plan that could get him the nomination other than Rudy Giuliani is Mitt Romney. Therefore, it has come down to a choice between Mitt Romney on one hand and Rudy Giuliani on the other. And I frankly don't find Rudy Giuliani all that attractive a candidate and I'm convinced that Romney has been developing the appeal that he needs to appeal across the conservative spectrum."

To listen to David Keene, please see: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yb_g1gJCjL0

David Keene On The Need To Maintain The Conservative Coalition:


Ingraham: "David, I want to get into this idea of the old collation, that old Reagan coalition, and from 1980 forward, we managed to keep together the traditional conservatives under one umbrella. The social conservatives, the fiscal hawks and the foreign policy hawks, all together and fairly happy. There was always an undercurrent of disagreement and probably distrust, but kept together."

Keene: "We're a fractious bunch, Laura."

Ingraham: "We're never happy."

Keene: "I've never been together with three conservatives without getting into an argument, but I've never left the room without us being together."

Ingraham: "Exactly. So, in my thinking about this, I always thought, 'Who is the best person to unite those groups?' And it was always a bit strange to me that so many people immediately, and again, I like all the candidates, but everybody immediately said the only person who can win is the one candidate who is liberal on these core social issues that frankly made the difference in 1980 for the Republican Party and made the difference in governors' races and state house races and Congressional races over the last twenty plus years. That's what I don't understand."

Keene: "And it requires a suspension of disbelief, as Hillary Clinton would say, to think that a candidate who is overtly divisive of the coalition can hold it together and win an election. I happen to think, and there are some things that are admirable about Rudy Giuliani, but I happen to think that he would fracture that coalition in ways that would lead not only to his defeat, but would make it very difficult to pick up the pieces after it's over."

To listen to David Keene, please see: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5N5S4ei2Fz0