Romney Tracker

Romney Picks up Endorsement, Assesses GOP Chances in Va.

By LARRY O'DELL
Associated Press Writer

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney dismissed the Democratic resurgence in last November's elections as an aberration but suggested Tuesday that the GOP still should not take Virginia for granted.

Virginia has not backed a Democratic presidential candidate since Lyndon Johnson in 1966, but recent electoral successes have boosted the party's 2008 hopes. Jim Webb's upset of Republican incumbent George Allen in November switched control of the U.S. Senate to the Democrats, who also have won back-to-back gubernatorial elections in Virginia.

Romney attributed last fall's Democratic takeover to anger over the war in Iraq.

"People were upset with the lack of progress in Iraq, and since they couldn't fire the coach they fired the team," the former Massachusetts governor told reporters after a private get-acquainted session with about 200 invited guests at a Richmond hotel.

He said Democrats have misread the meaning of last year's election results. Nevertheless, Romney said, the GOP should resist complacency in Virginia.

"My view is it is very much in play," he said.

Romney was joined at the news conference by Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling, who endorsed Romney's candidacy for the GOP nomination.

Bolling said Republicans "would be kidding ourselves" if they didn't acknowledge the increasingly competitive political landscape in Virginia. He said most Virginians are independents who look for leaders who can work with both parties.

Romney is such a candidate, Bolling said, citing the former governor's work with Democratic legislative majorities to "turn around a mess in Massachusetts."

Romney said his Mormon faith was not an impediment in his Roman Catholic-dominated home state. His religion has been an issue with some in the GOP's evangelical Christian component.

"People don't care where you go to church," Romney said, adding that he believes America will support him as "a person of faith."

Latest Romney Ad Hones in on Immigration

By GLEN JOHNSON
AP Political Writer

With a big month in Iowa looming, Republican Mitt Romney is airing a commercial focused on one of the state's hot-button issues: immigration.

Five days before the latest GOP presidential debate, and 11 days before the state's straw poll, Romney trimmed a May television ad into a 30-second spot in which he reiterates his support for legal immigration, but opposition to illegal immigration.

"We should put in place an employment verification system," Romney tells an audience member in a scene from one of his "Ask Mitt Anything" town hall meetings. "And then, when an employer is thinking of hiring someone, the federal database immediately tells them whether they're available to be working or not. If they're not, you can't hire them."

Romney assailed the immigration compromise negotiated between President Bush and Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., another presidential candidate. The former Massachusetts governor said the deal would create amnesty for illegals already in the country. Congress subsequently killed the measure.

He also pounded the issue during a mid-July visit to Iowa, criticizing GOP rival and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani for making the city "a sanctuary city for illegal aliens" by failing to enforce the immigration laws on the books. Romney noted he that deputized state police to enforce immigration laws and denied driver's licenses to illegal immigrants.

The theme plays well in Iowa, where the federal government has raided meat processing plants employing illegals, and where some longtime residents feel their pay is being undercut by cheaper-working immigrants.

All the GOP candidates will be in Des Moines on Aug. 5 for a debate, while Romney is making a bid to win the Aug. 11 straw poll in Ames.

Religion of Presidential Candidates, Especially Mormon Romney

By TOM RAUM
Associated Press Writer

When Michigan Gov. George Romney ran for the 1968 Republican presidential nomination, his Mormon heritage was mostly a footnote. It was scarcely mentioned in news accounts of the day. But for son Mitt Romney, the family religion presents a formidable political hurdle.

The younger Romney repeatedly is called on to defend his membership in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and its teachings, encountering skepticism particularly from Christian conservatives, a key component of the GOP base.

"I believe that there are some pundits out there that are hoping I'll distance myself from my church so that'll help me politically. And that's not going to happen," Romney asserts.

Religion has not played so prominent a role in a U.S. national election since 1960, when John F. Kennedy became the first Catholic to be elected president.

And it's not only Romney under scrutiny. All the Democratic and Republican presidential hopefuls have been grilled on their religious beliefs. Most seem eager to talk publicly about their faith as they actively court religious voters.

Democratic Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton emphasizes her Methodist upbringing and says her faith helped her repair her marriage.

Chief rival Sen. Barack Obama frequently uses the language of religion and proclaims a "personal relationship" with Jesus Christ. The Illinois Democrat -- whose middle name is "Hussein" -- scoffs at suggestions of Muslim leanings because he spent part of his childhood in Indonesia. He is a member of the United Church of Christ.

In the most recent Democratic debate, a pastor in a YouTube video asked Democrat John Edwards to defend his use of religion to deny gay marriage. The former North Carolina senator -- a Methodist -- talked about his faith and his "enormous conflict" over the issue

Republican Sen. John McCain, an Episcopalian, says, "I do believe that we are unique and that God loves us." Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, an ordained Baptist minister, emphasizes his belief that "God created the heavens and the earth. To me, it's pretty simple."

Unlike the others, former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, a divorced Roman Catholic who favors abortion rights, sidesteps such questions, claiming one's relationship with God is a private matter. But he attended Catholic schools and at one point considered being a priest.

Clearly, the religious issue is the most problematic for Romney. Polls suggest he faces continued misgivings over his faith. An ABC News-Washington Post poll conducted July 18-21 showed that 32 percent of those who said they leaned Republican described themselves as "uncomfortable" with the idea of a Mormon president.

An earlier poll by the Pew Research Center said 30 percent of respondents said they would be less likely to vote for a candidate that was Mormon. The negative sentiment rose to 46 percent for Muslim candidates and to 63 percent for a candidate who "doesn't believe in God."

Pollster Andrew Kohut, Pew's director, said that between the late 1960s, when Romney's father ran, and now there has been "one of the great transformations of our era. There is more mixing of religion and politics than there was then. As a consequence, people scrutinize Mormonism -- or any other religion -- more closely than back then."

He cites the growing influence of the Christian right, the political activism of tele-evangelists and a trend that has seen a steady migration of Christian conservatives into the GOP fold, particularly in the South.

"When the South changed, it brought the evangelicals with it," Kohut said.

The links between religion and governance intensified with the presidency of George W. Bush, said Joan Konner, former dean of the Columbia Journalism School. "He brought it up when he ran for office and he said his favorite philosopher, in answer to a question in a debate, was Jesus.

"And then he followed up on that by faith-based public funding and various other actions that started to erode what Americans took for granted as the separation between church and state," said Konner, who has studied the interaction between religion and politics and is the author of "The Atheist's Bible."

Scant mention was made of George W. Romney's Mormonism in news accounts when he sought the 1968 GOP presidential nomination, and it appeared to be a non-issue in the race.

Polls showed him as the front-runner until he stumbled by complaining to an interviewer that when he had visited Vietnam, he had been "brainwashed" by military briefers there into supporting the war. That remark generated enough controversy to cost him the nomination.

Some historians suggest more attention might have been paid to Romney's Mormonism if he hadn't torpedoed his own candidacy so early. And in those days, many Christian conservatives were southern Democrats and less interested in GOP primary contests.

Mitt Romney supporters point to Kennedy, who overcame questions about his religion to become the first Catholic elected president. He did that, in part, by speaking before Protestant clergymen in Houston in 1960 to dispel fears that, as a Catholic president, he would be subject to direction from the pope.

Can Romney neutralize the religion issue the same way Kennedy did -- by giving a major speech explaining the role his Mormon faith plays in his political life?

In an interview in Iowa with The Associated Press, Romney said he's considering dealing with the issue in a comprehensive manner, although "it's probably too early for something like that."

"At some point it's more likely than not, but we'll see how things develop," Romney said.

Kennedy had one advantage that Romney doesn't. When he ran, Catholics made up roughly 28 percent of the U.S. population. Although one of the fastest growing faiths in the world, Mormons represent less than 2 percent of the U.S. population with 5.5 million members across the country.

"The differences between Kennedy and Romney are in the nose count," said political historian Stephen Hess. "The religion issue may have hurt Kennedy, but it sure helped him at the same time" as Catholics threw their support behind him.

"There is no way that capturing the Mormon vote is going to win Romney anything," Hess said.

Romney Appeals to Hispanics

By LAURA WIDES-MUNOZ
Associated Press Writer

Free trade is key to ending Latin American poverty, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney said Saturday while courting support from the Cuban-American and growing Venezuelan-American communities.

"Trade lifts all nations that participate," Romney said when asked how he would end poverty and other conditions that have given rise to leaders such as Venezuela's president, Hugo Chavez, who has been a close ally of Cuba's Fidel Castro.

Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, noted that the Bush administration had sought free trade agreements with Colombia, Panama and Peru, but the Democratic-controlled Congress failed to approve them.

"We'd like to see more agreements, not fewer, to improve the economic well-being of our neighborhood," he said.

Later, Romney criticized Democrat Barack Obama for saying last week that he would meet with the leaders of Iran, Venezuela, Syria and Cuba.

Romney told 350 people at a Seminole County GOP fundraiser Saturday that the next president should meet with friendly nations first.

"Surely the next American president would want to reach out to our friends around the world, particular here in our own hemisphere," he said, specifically mentioning Colombia and Mexico. "We want to reach out to these people, re-establish our relationships and trust."

Obama was asked during a debate last week if he would meet -- without precondition -- with the leaders of Cuba, North Korea, Syria, Iran and Venezuela. The Illinois senator said he would.

Romney said he would not restore relations with Cuba until it had free elections, political prisoners were freed and individual rights were restored.

South Florida's Venezuelan-American community holds far fewer votes than its Cuban-American counterpart. But it is growing, has cash and has a strong influence in South Florida's Spanish-language airwaves. More than 80,000 Venezuelans live in Florida, roughly half of all Venezuelans in this country, according to the U.S. Census.

Romney said Chavez's push to nationalize some Venezuelan industries has cooled international interest in Latin American investment, and the U.S. must show its commitment to the region.

"Following 9/11, we understandably focused our attention on the Middle East and have not paid enough attention to our interests in the region, our own hemisphere," he said.

Romney also spoke to veterans of the ill-fated 1961 Bay of Pigs invasion at their small museum in Miami's Little Havana neighborhood and promised to seek out their intelligence expertise on Cuba if elected president.

But it wasn't his foreign policy as much as his opposition to abortion and emphasis on family that supporters said they found attractive.

"Everyone talks about family values, but Romney has demonstrated them with his five sons and his long marriage," said Adam Roig, 51, who works in medical technology.

Romney Criticizes Obama for Diplomacy Remarks During Fla. Event

By BRENDAN FARRINGTON
AP Political Writer

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney criticized Democrat Barack Obama for saying last week that he would meet with the leaders of Iran, Venezuela, Syria and Cuba, telling a crowd Saturday that the next president should meet with friendly nations first.

"Surely the next American president would want to reach out to our friends around the world, particular here in our own hemisphere," Romney said, specifically mentioning Colombia and Mexico. "We want to reach out to these people, re-establish our relationships and trust."

The former Massachusetts governor then told 350 people at a Seminole County GOP fundraiser that he would do the same in Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia.

"And what's he going to do during his first year? He's going to meet with the world's worst tyrants," Romney said. "He's going to in his first year be meeting with (Cuban President Fidel) Castro, (Venezuelan President Hugo) Chavez, (Iranian President Mahmoud) Ahmadinejad, (Syrian President Bashar) Assad. Think of that. Those are his priorities."

Obama was asked during last weeks' CNN-YouTube debate if he would meet with -- without precondition -- the leaders of Cuba, North Korea, Syria, Iran and Venezuela. The Illinois senator said he would.

"Unlike Gov. Romney, Barack Obama does not believe we can delay in dealing with emerging threats like Iran -- which is pushing forward its nuclear program -- and North Korea -- which has seen its nuclear arsenal grow dramatically," Obama spokeswoman Jen Psaki said. "He has been crystal clear he will change the failed foreign policy of the last seven years."

During a press conference after the dinner, Romney said he would not restore relations with Cuba until there were free elections, political prisoners were freed and individual rights were restored. He said he would not sit down with Ahmadinejad.

"There are some people who are so beyond the pale," Romney said. "Like Ahmadinejad, someone who denies the Holocaust, someone who is speaking words that are reminiscent of genocide, someone who is seeking a nuclear weapon. Negotiation by the president with Ahmadinejad is not the right course."

Romney also criticized Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., for advising Democrats to stop confirming Supreme Court justices during the remainder of President Bush's term.

"That suggests a new level of dysfunctionality in Washington. It communicates again to the American people that Washington is stuck, that it's broken," Romney said. "The partisanship and the divide is counterproductive."

Romney Says Free Trade Needed to Combat Latin American Poverty

By LAURA WIDES-MUNOZ
AP Hispanic Affairs Writer

Free trade is key to ending Latin American poverty, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney said Saturday as he sought to woo the region's Cuban-American and growing Venezuelan-American communities.

"Trade lifts all nations that participate," Romney replied when asked how he would end poverty and other conditions that give rise to leaders such as Venezuela's Hugo Chavez.

The former Massachusetts governor noted the Bush administration sought free trade agreements with Colombia, Panama and Peru and blamed the Democratic-controlled Congress for not approving the agreements. "We'd like to see more agreements, not fewer, to improve the economic well-being of our neighborhood," he said.

But Romney stopped short of endorsing a proposal by a member of his own National Hispanic Steering Committee -- Isilio Arriaga -- to lower subsidies on U.S. ethanol. Such a move would help boost Brazil's production of sugar cane-based ethanol and reduce its competition. And it would keep left-leaning Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva as a key U.S. ally against Chavez, said Arriaga, a Venezuelan-American consultant and former state official.

Romney said the U.S. must look at a variety of energy options as it seeks to become more self-reliant -- including ethanol, liquid coal, and solar and wind energy.

South Florida's Venezuelan-American community holds far fewer votes than its Cuban-American counterpart. But it is growing, has cash and has a strong influence in South Florida's Spanish-language airwaves. More than 80,000 Venezuelans live in Florida, roughly half of all Venezuelans in this country, according to the U.S. Census.

Romney said Chavez's push to nationalize several Venezuelan industries has cooled international interest in Latin American investment, and that the U.S. must show its commitment to the region.

"Following 9/11, we understandably focused our attention on the Middle East and have not paid enough attention to our interests in the region, our own hemisphere," he said.

Romney said it was beneath the dignity of the presidency to meet with Chavez or Cuban President Fidel Castro and his brother Raul. He criticized Democratic candidate Barack Obama, who has said he would meet with them.

On Saturday, Obama defended his position before supporters in Iowa.

"I am confident we can go before the world and talk to the worst dictators and tell them we don't believe in your values, we don't believe in your human rights violations, we don't believe in you exporting terrorism, but if you are willing to work with us in a better direction then we're willing to talk," the Illinois senator said.

Romney also spoke to veterans of the ill-fated 1961 Bay of Pigs invasion at their small museum in Miami's Little Havana neighborhood and promised to seek out their intelligence expertise on Cuba if elected president.

Bay of Pigs Museum and Library Directory William Muir Celorio said he was impressed by Romney but remained undecided.

"My ideal combination would be a (Rudy) Giuliani-Romney ticket," he said.

Most of those who heard Romney speak Saturday said they supported him not so much for his foreign policy, which was similar to that of other top Republican candidates, but because of his stance against abortion and his emphasis on his family.

"Everyone talks about family values, but Romney has demonstrated them with his five sons and his long marriage," said Adam Roig, 51, who works in medical technology.

Romney has sought to mend ties with the Cuban exile community in South Florida since he alienated some earlier this year by inadvertently uttering one of Fidel Castro's favorite lines during a speech.

He has made strides. A Cuban-American and former chair of the state's Republican Party leads his Florida campaign. His youngest son, Craig, who is fluent in Spanish, has repeatedly offered interviews on Spanish-language radio stations.

Edwards, Romney Top Iowa Poll

THE RACE: The presidential race for Democrats, Republicans in Iowa.

THE NUMBERS -- DEMOCRATS

John Edwards, 27 percent

Hillary Rodham Clinton, 22 percent

Barack Obama, 16 percent

Bill Richardson, 11 percent

Joe Biden, 3 percent

Chris Dodd, 2 percent

Dennis Kucinich, 2 percent

Mike Gravel, 1 percent

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THE NUMBERS -- REPUBLICANS

Mitt Romney, 25 percent

Fred Thompson, 14 percent

Rudy Giuliani, 13 percent

John McCain, 10 percent

Newt Gingrich, 6 percent

Sam Brownback, 2 percent

Mike Huckabee, 2 percent

Tom Tancredo, 2 percent

Tommy Thompson, 2 percent

Duncan Hunter, 1 percent

Ron Paul, 1 percent

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OF INTEREST:

The candidate matchups indicated that even the top Republican candidates could not beat a Democrat. In head-to-head matchups, Democrats Edwards and Obama fared best against the leading Republicans. Edwards led Romney by 11 percentage points, Fred Thompson by 17 and Giuliani by 6. Obama led Giuliani by 9 percentage points.

----

The poll for KCCI-TV in Des Moines by Olny, Md.-based Research 2000, questioned 600 likely voters from July 23 to 25. The poll has a sampling margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.

Romney: Americans Angry With Iraq War

By AMY LORENTZEN
Associated Press Writer

Presidential hopeful Mitt Romney said Friday that the country is angry over the lack of progress in the Iraq war, a stinging assessment of the Bush administration's handling of the conflict from a Republican candidate.

Campaigning in Iowa, the former Massachusetts governor also argued that despite the nation's frustration over the war, voters aren't ready to replace President Bush with a Democrat.

"I know the Democrats are getting all ready, they are measuring the drapes and getting the carpet all ready for how they are going to take over the White House, and I think they are going to get a big surprise," Romney told a crowd gathered at a golf course. "America is not happy with how the war in Iraq is going, and is angry. But America is not about to take a sharp left turn and put somebody in the White House who would turn America into a European-type state."

While Romney supported the March 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq and backs Bush's current troop increase, he has repeatedly said the post-invasion period was "mismanaged" with a lack of preparation for the insurgency and adequate planning for a government handover.

Before various New Hampshire audiences on Wednesday, Romney said he would wait until a mid-September report from U.S. generals in Iraq before deciding the next course of action that he would support. He said if the surge succeeds, he believes it will allow U.S. troop withdrawals. He had refused to detail alternate scenarios should insurgent violence continue unabated.

On immigration, Romney adopted a hardline stance.

"I ... don't think it makes sense to have an immigration policy that says that if an illegal couple -- a couple that comes across the border illegally -- has a child here, that child becomes a U.S. citizen, that then the whole family gets to come in, if you will, through 'chain migration,'" he said.

Romney Weighing Speech on Religion

By MIKE GLOVER
Associated Press Writer

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney said Thursday he'll probably deliver a speech explaining the role his Mormon faith plays in his political life, but he argued he's made strong gains among evangelicals despite questions about his religion.

"I have thought about that," said Romney, in an interview with The Associated Press. "I haven't made a final decision, but it's probably more likely than not."

During an appearance on the campaign trail earlier in the day, Romney was asked about his views on appointing a "God-fearing Mormon" to the Supreme Court. Romney has been asked about such matters frequently in question-and-answer sessions he holds almost daily.

"I'd go after people who will follow the law and I wouldn't apply a religious test either," Romney said.

In the interview, Romney acknowledged the issue crops up often enough that he's pondering dealing with it in a comprehensive manner.

"It's probably too early for something like that," Romney said. "At some point it's more likely than not, but we'll see how things develop."

There is precedent for such a step. When John F. Kennedy sought the presidency in 1960, there was a whispering campaign about his Catholicism, and he largely put the issue to rest by going to Texas to deliver a speech about the role that religion played in his life.

Romney said it's too early to decide what he would say in such a speech, largely because he hasn't made a final decision to deliver such a talk.

Romney has come under fire from some conservatives -- primarily GOP rival Sam Brownback -- for switching positions on issues such as abortion and gay rights. Romney said those charges haven't hurt his standing as he competes for the backing of social conservatives, who play a crucial role in Iowa Republican politics.

And Romney was dismissive of the criticism.

"I expect that evangelical Christians who believe in life and family values are going to vote for someone who shares their views and has a real prospect of being nominated by our party and becoming president," Romney told the AP. "The difference between me and Sam Brownback is he has run a uniformly negative campaign."

Romney, McCain Lash Out at Democrats

By GLEN JOHNSON
Associated Press Writer

Mitt Romney and John McCain sought to enhance their stature in a field of Republican presidential contenders that Newt Gingrich derisively called "pygmies," criticizing their Democratic rivals as too liberal and ill-prepared for the nation's top job.

Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, singled out Democratic front-runner Hillary Rodham Clinton, telling senior citizens in central New Hampshire, "I don't think Hillary Clinton could get elected president of France with her platform. France is moving toward us."

Romney did not spare others, though, saying, "I'm convinced that America is going to change course and the question is which way it is going to go: Are we going to take a sharp left turn represented by Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama and John Edwards, or are we going to march forth with the American values that have always helped us be the strongest nation on earth. And I believe we'll do the latter."

The Republicans' criticism of their Democratic counterparts comes amid national polls that show the White House race is far more volatile on the GOP side than on the Democratic side. The latest Associated Press-Ipsos poll found that nearly a quarter of Republicans are unwilling to back top-tier hopefuls Rudy Giuliani, Fred Thompson, McCain or Romney.

In sharp contrast, the Democratic race remains static, with Clinton holding a sizable lead over Obama.

Criticizing Democrats is one way for Republican candidates to appeal to the party's core voters.

Romney, meanwhile, was in Bedford, N.H., talking up his support for a ban on assault-style weapons. He said he sees no problem with a Manchester City Republican Party's fundraiser next month where guests will fire Uzis and M-16 rifles.

"No one is suggesting that automatic weapons be made available to the public," Romney said at a town hall meeting in a school gym. I support the Second Amendment."

Romney said using a weapon is different from owning one.

"I've held the stick on an F-16 fighter jet," he said. "That doesn't mean I think the public ought to be flying F-16 fighter jets. Let the Manchester Republican Party do as it likes."

McCain took exception to remarks in which Obama asserted his foreign policy judgment was superior to any of the candidates in the race, Republican or Democrat, partly because he has lived overseas and had a multicultural upbringing.

"Well, I also think I'm the most qualified to run the decathlon because I watch sports on television all the time," the Arizona senator said with a degree of sarcasm between stops in this leadoff primary state.

"I think that Senator Obama showed a degree of naivete when he advocated direct talks with the leader of North Korea and the president to Iran and of all these other people who are sponsoring terror all over the world," McCain told The Associated Press.

The Democrats turned on themselves this week, after Obama said at a debate on Monday that, as president, he would be willing to meet with certain world leaders perceived as hostile to the United States without preconditions.

Clinton was more cautious, saying she didn't want the prestige of the presidency used for foreign propaganda purposes. She, as did McCain later, called Obama's response naive.

"One thing I'm very confident about is my judgment in foreign policy is, I believe, better than any other candidate in this race, Republican or Democrat," Obama said at a private event in New York City Tuesday, according to his campaign.

"And I don't base that simply on the fact that I was right on the war in Iraq. ... What I was drawing on was a set of experiences that come from a life of living overseas, having family overseas, being able to see the world through the eyes of people outside our borders," Obama said. "The notion that somehow from Washington you get this vast foreign policy experience is illusory."

Responding to the GOP criticism, Kate Bedingfield, a spokeswoman for Edwards, said of Romney, "No candidate is more out of step with the nation than Governor Romney, who supports President Bush's stay-the-course strategy in Iraq while the vast majority of Americans are demanding a new plan that brings our troops home safely and swiftly."

Both Romney and McCain had active campaign days, with Romney making seven stops across central New Hampshire and McCain holding three events across the central and southern part of the state.

The normally secretive Romney let slip a few details about his upcoming campaign agenda, saying he will outline his national health care plans, and that he and his staff have been studying abuse in the federal Earned Income Tax Credit program.

Romney also shrugged off Gingrich's remark this week that the GOP field is a "pathetic" bunch of "pygmies." Gingrich is a potential GOP candidate.

"I consider it an exceptionally strong field and think they're good people that folks will be able to choose from. And if Speaker Gingrich wants to get in, he would enhance the field," Romney said.

McCain was less charitable when asked about Gingrich's comment on Tuesday.

"If Mr. Gingrich decides he wants to get into the presidential campaign for the nomination of our party, then I would take some of his comments more seriously," the senator said.

Associated Press writer Philip Elliott in Manchester, N.H., contributed to this report.