As Mitt Romney heads to the nation’s poorest state Wednesday, his political team is fighting back against perceptions that his wealth could be a political liability if he runs for president again, arguing that Hillary Clinton is no model for modest living, either.
“It’s going to be hard for Hillary Clinton to make Mitt Romney’s wealth a fruitful line of attack, with her multi-million dollar mansions in Georgetown and Chappaqua and her jet-setting lifestyle of the rich and famous,” a Romney aide said Wednesday.
The comment was also included in a new report by the Boston Globe details how Romney purchased or built two new homes after the 2012 Republican presidential nominee’s election loss. The former private equity CEO, whose wealth became an overriding theme for Democratic attacks, has a total of four homes: a mansion in La Jolla, California; a ski chalet in Park City, Utah; a large home in Salt Lake City; and a lake house in Wolfeboro, New Hampshire.
The home in La Jolla, complete with a car elevator, has been undergoing renovations to make it bigger since 2012, and according the Globe, is now being shown to potential buys by a broker.
Correct the Record, the pro-Clinton communications and research PAC, pushed back against Romney’s response Wednesday.
“While Mitt Romney tries in vain to reinvent himself as a friend to those who are struggling, Hillary Clinton is continuing her life-long work to lift up the middle class and level the playing field for all Americans,” said Adrienne Elrod, communications director for the group, said in an email to CNN.
Romney speaks Wednesday night at Mississippi State University in Starkville, where he’s set to expand on the reasons for a potential presidency as well as address some of the mistakes and failures of the past few years, according to the Romney aide. His remarks will be followed by a moderated question and answer session.
His $50,000 honorarium (minus travel costs) is being donated to Charity Vision, a restorative eyesight organization based in Provo, Utah.
While the appearance was announced back in December, weeks before he told donors he was seriously considering a third presidential run, political observers are closely monitoring his every statement as he’s thought to make a decision within the next week and a half.
If he runs again, he’s likely to make anti-poverty policy a key part of his message, the former Massachusetts governor suggested in remarks to the Republican National Committee’s winter meeting in San Diego.
Romney was constantly playing defense against multi-million dollar Democratic campaigns that pilloried his corporate background and painted him as out of touch. He also sought to overcome a string of gaffes?i.e. “I like being able to fire people” and “I have some great friends who are NASCAR team owners”?that Democrats quickly used as fuel for their fire against the then-GOP nominee.
A spokesman for Clinton did not immediately return a request for comment.
The former secretary of state, widely seen as the Democratic frontrunner if she runs for president, has fought her own battle against accusations of being out of touch, in part because of her six-figure speaking fees and because of comments she made last summer in which she argued that her family was “dead broke” after leaving the White House.
