WASHINGTON ? Mitt Romney is planning to visit the White House on Thursday, just not in the capacity he had hoped 23 days ago before he lost the election to President Obama.
The White House announced on Wednesday morning that Romney will have lunch with Obama on Thursday in the private dining room at the White House, a room that is just off the Oval Office. It will be their first extended conversation since the election.
Romney is also planning to meet with his former running mate, Representative Paul Ryan, tomorrow morning before his trip to the White House.
The Washington visit will mark the first time Romney has deliberately stepped back into the political spotlight since his defeat. In the days and weeks after Nov. 6, many in the party distanced themselves from the former Massachusetts governor, especially after a conference call with donors in which he said Obama won the election because of ?gifts? he bestowed on constituencies like Hispanics, young voters, and African Americans.
Other than that episode, Romney has mostly faded from public view. He took in the movie ?Twilight? with his wife, Ann, and dined on pizza afterward, according to the gossip website TMZ. He went to Disneyland, and was photographed on roller coasters with some of his sons and grandchildren.
He was also photographed by a bystander while he was pumping gas in California, shown with unkempt hair and a weary facial expression.
?Mitt Romney at my local gas station,? wrote a user named mkb95, who posted the photo of Romney pumping gas on the social media site Reddit. ?He looks tired and washed up.?
Romney posted a warmer photo of himself on his Facebook page, with his arms draped around Ann as he smiles broadly and wears a blue-t-shirt and khakis. ?Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! [sic]? he wrote. ?Much to be thankful for this year.?
Obama first raised the prospects of meeting with Romney on election night, saying he wanted to get together with his Republican rival. In a press conference a week later, he said that there are certain aspects of Romney?s record and his ideas that could be ?very helpful.?
?To give you one example, I do think he did a terrific job running the Olympics,? Obama said. ?And you know, that skill set of trying to figure out how do we make something work better applies to the federal government.?
Obama said that he wanted to hear some of Romney?s ideas about making the federal government more customer-friendly, and how to eliminate additional waste. He said that he didn?t have ?some specific assignment? for Romney but wanted to ?see if there are some ways that we can potentially work together.?
?He presented some ideas during the course of the campaign that I actually agree with,? Obama said. ?And so it?d be interesting to talk to him about something like that. There may be ideas that he has with respect to jobs and growth that can help middle-class families that I want to hear.?
Matt Viser can be reached at maviser@globe.com.Source: http://feeds.boston.com/click.phdo?i=21eecea134d262fd1f7e387d32bfc57e
orange bowl tim howard goal ben gibbard nfl playoff schedule tim howard scores nick cannon kidney failure consumer financial protection bureau
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.