Wolfeboro, NH, braces for possible "White House North" (Reuters)

WOLFEBORO, New Hampshire (Reuters) – If Mitt Romney gets his wish, the ranks of presidential retreats that include Crawford, Texas, and Rancho del Cielo near Santa Barbara, California, could soon be joined by Wolfeboro, New Hampshire.

Big change could be coming to the rustic but affluent lakeside resort town on Lake Winnipesaukee if front-runner Romney becomes Republican nominee Romney, and ultimately President Romney after the November 2012 election.

Residents are already bracing for the good, the bad and the ugly that could accompany a "Northern White House."

The Romney's summer house on New Hampshire's largest lake is a three-story, six-bedroom, 5,400-square-foot contemporary home set on an 11-acre lot with a wide water frontage and estimated value of about $10 million.

The spread includes a large boathouse and a former stable that has been converted into a guest house. It sits well back from the road up a long driveway, invisible to passers-by.

The Romney clan, which includes five grown children and 16 grandchildren, often congregate in Wolfeboro in the summer. Empty-nesters Mitt and Ann Romney also own a townhouse in Belmont, Massachusetts, and an oceanfront house in La Jolla, California, which is undergoing a fourfold expansion.

Locals describe the Wolfeboro house, within walking distance of town, as tasteful and classy, which is also pretty much how they describe the owners.

Romney, the former chief executive of buyout firm Bain Capital and Massachusetts governor, is estimated to be worth some $200 million. He is the richest man to run for the White House since publisher and businessman Steve Forbes, who was worth about $430 million when he ran in 1996 and 2000.

Unlike Forbes, who made little headway in his quest, Romney is a strong favorite to win Tuesday's New Hampshire Republican primary, kick on to become party's nominee and have a fighting chance to take down President Barack Obama.

"We're already talking about how we might change this business if he is the nominee. We know things would change if he's the president," said Judith Colcord, co-owner of the Downtown Grille and Cafe. That might include adding staff or changing operating hours at the stylish coffee shop, with views of the lake from its back room and seasonal patio.

"I would like to talk to businesses in Kennebunkport about how it changed their community," said Colcord, referring to the coastal town in Maine where George H. W. Bush spent large amounts of time while he served as president and vice president.

Almost everyone in Wolfeboro has a story about the Romneys, many revolving around seeing the former Massachusetts governor cycling around town, helmetless (don't touch the hair!) on an old three-speed bike, or going to the town's popular ice-cream stand with various family members.

"I delivered him a pizza once, about five years ago, when he was governor," said Nick Sackos, 22, who works at Dive Winnipesaukee, an outdoor equipment store.

GEO-CACHING WITH THE ROMNEYS?

A few hundred yards off the Romney property at Clark's Point is a sunken rowboat, the Bumble Bee, used for "geo-caching" -- a treasure-hunting game that involves finding targets, including submerged objects, using GPS coordinates.

"We go scuba diving right outside his house," Sackos added. "We would probably do even more dives if Romney were president."

Wolfeboro residents insist they are not star-struck, given the many celebrities who visit the town each summer.

The roster has included actors Drew Barrymore and Leonardo DiCaprio; talk show host Jimmy Fallon; Duke basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski, recruiting at the elite boarding school Brewster Academy; and many current or former corporate executives who either own or rent properties here.

"We love the waterfront people in Wolfeboro. They pay almost 70 percent of the property taxes and don't put kids in the schools," said realtor Robert Hughes. "They are people who can live anywhere - and this is a very nice 'anywhere.'"

A 2007 vacation in town by French President Nicolas Sarkozy is remembered more critically than interactions with the good-neighbor Romneys. Some locals spoke of an overly aggressive security detail comprised of local law enforcement and private bodyguards while he stayed at a $30,000-a-week rental.

Teachers Joshua and Jennifer Keaton, out walking the family labradoodle, have seen Romney and his wife Ann cycling through town. "One time we saw him at Mise en Place (a local upscale restaurant). Most of the people in town are used to him," Joshua Keaton said.

Driving through downtown takes just a few minutes in the winter, when many stores are shut and summer residents long gone. The town is congested in the summer, and some residents worry about presidential motorcades clogging narrow roads and nosy tourists taking up the good parking spots.

The candidate was introduced to the Wolfeboro area by members of the Marriott hotel clan - not surprising since Willard Mitt Romney was named after J. Willard Marriott, the devout Mormon businessman who founded the company.

Romney bought the property in 1997 from Butch Cash, another hotel executive, for less than $3 million.

In 2004, realtor Hughes sold Romney, then Massachusetts governor, a small parcel of land abutting the main property. Hughes told him in an overnight letter the piece was available and being keenly sought by developers.

Romney quickly called back. "I dealt with him directly. I had his office phone, his private phone, his cell phone," Hughes recalled from his comfortable Main Street office.

"The residents here take pride in not bothering him. He's not a showy person. He's just a neighbor."

(Reporting By Ros Krasny; editing by Todd Eastham)

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White House taunts GOP opponents over recess appointments (Daily Caller)

White House spokesman Jay Carney refused Thursday to explain the administration’s legal justification for President Barack Obama’s attempted recess appointment on Wednesday of three Democratic allies to government positions, but instead dared Republicans — including former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney — to campaign against the president’s decision.

The GOP may try to argue that the appointments violate the Constitution, said Carney, but “they seem to believe that after all we went through in 2007 and 2008 … Wall Street should go back to the way it was; the financial institutions should regulate themselves,” he said during the Thursday midday press conference.

“They can take that on the road and try and sell it, but I don’t think there are going to be many buyers,” he said to the reporters.

Carney had a receptive audience. Most reporters’ questions characterized the dispute as caused by GOP political anger, not by a potentially illegal presidential maneuver intended to help him and his allies could portray the GOP as defenders of Wall Street excess.

GOP officials and lawyers agree the president can make temporary “recess appointments” when the Senate is in recess. But they emphasize a longstanding precedent, one previously backed by Obama’s own Justice Department, requiring at least three days of recess before the president may act.

Since December, the Senate has not been in recess that long because the House has been using its constitutional authority to keep the Senate open, even though nearly all the senators have left town for Christmas.

By “circumventing Congress to appoint a new administrator,” said a Dec. 4 statement from Romney’s campaign, Obama’s decision “represents Chicago-style politics at its worst.”

Former Sen. Rick Santorum slammed the appointments Dec. 5, saying “[W]e are a country of laws … [and] this president routinely runs roughshod over the law.”

Carney repeatedly refused to provide a legal counter to the GOP’s constitutional arguments.

“Our assessment is that Congress has been in recess and has made every indication that it will be in recess for a sustained period of time, and that gaveling in and gaveling out for seven seconds does not constitute a recess with regard to the President’s constitutional authority,” Carney said.

The GOP “can make a lot of [legal] process arguments about it [but] we feel very strongly that the Constitution and the legal case is strongly on our side.”

Carney’s emphasis on the political payoffs of the legal dispute matched Obama’s emphasis Dec. 5 when he announced his appointment of former Ohio attorney general Richard Cordray to run the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

Cordray “is the right man for the job,” he told an enthusiastic crowd of high-schoolers in Cordray’s home state, which has 18 must-win electoral votes up for grabs in the November election.

“When Congress refuses to act and as a result hurts our economy and puts people at risk, I have an obligation as President to do what I can without them,” Obama declared. “I have an obligation. … I will not stand by while a minority in the Senate puts party ideology ahead of the people they were elected to serve.”

Carney also pitched that political message at Romney, who is widely regarded by Democrats as the strongest GOP candidate, and who condemned on Thursday Obama’s claim to have lawfully appointed Cordray.

“I find it a little rich that … the former governor of Massachusetts decided to take a position … against the security and protection of working and middle-class Americans,” Carney said.

Carney made the same political argument against Romney’s opposition to the president’s attempt to appoint two Democratic labor lawyers, and one required GOP-affiliated labor lawyer, to the NLRB.

“The president acted because Congress wouldn’t, and it was clear that Congress wouldn’t — and numerous senators have made clear they won’t” approve his nominees, Carney said. The board “is important to protect workers’ rights,” said Carney, adding that disputes over the legality of the appointments are an “esoteric conversation.”:

Reporters did little to challenge Carney’s claim that the president’s appointments were legal, and instead treated GOP objections as political or personal.

“Why would [the president] choose to start the new year by angering Republicans on Capitol Hill?” asked one reporter. “How concerned at all is the President that the Republicans could retaliate by withholding or by resisting compromise on things like extending the payroll tax cuts for the full year, or perhaps even harden their opposition, their resistance to further nominations?” asked another.

White House taunts GOP opponents over recess appointments

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White House adviser: Can Romney make tough calls? (AP)

WASHINGTON – A White House adviser say Mitt Romney has "moved all over the place" on issues from abortion to gay marriage over his career and might not have firm enough convictions to make the tough decisions as president.

David Plouffe (pluhf) jokes that if Romney thought "it was good to say the sky was green and the grass was blue to win an election, he'd say it."

Plouffe, who was Barack Obama's 2008 campaign manager, notes a new Iowa poll showing Herman Cain leading with 23 percent support, and Romney next at 22 percent.

Plouffe tells NBC's "Meet the Press" that Cain "seems to have tapped into something." Plouffe says lots of voters still are "looking somewhere else" beyond Romney and he wonders whether the early front-runner can turn that around.

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Romney raises $18 million for White House bid (Reuters)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney raised more than $18 million over the last three months, a total that dwarfed his Republican rivals but lagged some predictions.

Romney's second-quarter fundraising reinforced the former Massachusetts governor's role as early Republican front-runner. But it also raised questions about voter enthusiasm for the party's current field of White House hopefuls.

The Romney campaign said on Wednesday the $18.25 million came from all 50 states and the District of Columbia and represented primary donations, not funds for a prospective general election battle against Democratic incumbent President Barack Obama.

Some advisers and analysts had speculated that Romney could raise $30 million or more in the second quarter. Republicans said the sputtering economic recovery may be dampening giving.

"Part of it is the economy. People have less money to give on things like this," said Romney fundraiser Lee Cowen.

A pillar of Romney's support comes from those on Wall Street, Cowen noted, many of whom he said feel "betrayed" by some of Obama's policies.

More Republican establishment figures are giving to the former governor this election season, he said.

Romney, who mounted an unsuccessful presidential bid in 2008, raised more money -- $23 million -- in the first fundraising quarter of 2007, according to Federal Election Commission records. Four years ago, he was less well known.

Still, those figures included some of his own funds. He did not contribute to his campaign for the second quarter of 2011.

The Romney campaign also said it ended the second quarter with $12.6 million in cash on hand.

The sum was at least four times larger than second-quarter fundraising totals for Romney's closest money race rivals, some of whom have only just entered the contest.

Former Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty reported raising $4.2 million last week, while Texas congressman Ron Paul's campaign said he collected about $4.5 million.

Jon Huntsman, the former Utah governor and U.S. ambassador to China, formally entered the race on June 21 and has taken in $4.1 million, according to aides. But just under half of that is his own money.

Both Romney and Huntsman have large personal fortunes.

Minnesota congresswoman Michele Bachmann, a Tea Party favorite and formidable fundraiser, has yet to report her second-quarter takings.

Meanwhile, the Obama campaign's second-quarter goal is to raise $60 million including money from a joint account with the Democratic National Committee.

(Editing by Doina Chiacu)

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Illegal Immigration Will See No Action with White House Up for Grabs (ContributorNetwork)

COMMENTARY | Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) set off a firestorm last week with his comments connecting the devastating Arizona wildfires to illegal immigration. According to the Huffington Post, McCain, the 2008 Republican nominee for president, said, "There is substantial evidence that some of these fires are caused by people who have crossed our border illegally." In light of McCain's comments, illegal immigration is once again dominating national headlines.

A Frustrated Electorate

A Pew Hispanic Center study found in 2010 there were 11.2 million illegal immigrants living in the United States. Poll after poll shows an anxiety-ridden nation frustrated by the government's inability to stop the influx of illegal crossings from Mexico. A Rasmussen poll indicates that only 30 percent of Americans believe the border is secure, while 64 percent say it is not. An overwhelming 84 percent of Americans are concerned that illegal immigrants could be an unfair burden on schools, hospitals and government services, according to Gallup. These poll numbers have forced politicians at the state and federal level to address illegal immigration, but a solution has proved elusive.

Legislative Action or Inaction?

Thus far in 2011, state legislatures have introduced 52 bills dealing with illegal immigration. Most of these bills replicate elements of Arizona's controversial SB 1070, which gave law enforcement officers broad powers in deciphering the immigration status of an individual.

Utah's HB497, Georgia's HB87 and Indiana's HB56 all hold provisions allowing law enforcement to check perpetrators' immigration status during an arrest, although the conditions in each state vary. However, states have tried to learn from what happened in Arizona. For example, Utah passed three immigration laws and established a guest worker program that would allow illegal immigrants to work, with one stipulation being that they learn English. Small concessions such as these have done little to quiet critics who take issue with the intrusiveness of the laws.

On the federal level, President Obama has made the DREAM Act the focal point of his immigration reform. The act died last year in the Senate thanks to a Republican filibuster. Under the DREAM Act, "qualifying undocumented youth would be eligible for a six year long conditional path to citizenship that requires completion of a college degree or two years of military service."

At all levels, immigration legislation has run into problems. State laws are continually challenged in courts for violating civil liberties. At the federal level, the DREAM Act has yet to become law despite its reintroduction in May of this year.

Ratings Galore

The media have cashed in on illegal immigration by fueling partisanship. Illegal immigration provides the perfect backdrop for screaming pundits on the left and right. The media have the keen ability to simplify complicated issues into basic arguments. Republicans are portrayed as nativists who desire the expulsion of illegal immigrants because they drain the country's resources and take jobs. Democrats want to continue entitlement programs for illegal immigrants while regular Americans struggle to find work.

For proof, look to Ann Coulter, who has made a living off of chastising liberals. According to the Los Angeles Times, Coulter said, "Then, the Democrats latched on to blacks as another mob to be led - just like women, gays, Hispanics, illegal immigrants, government workers, etc., etc." Representing the left is Keith Olbermann, who once called immigration laws "xenophobic" on one of his "Worst Person in the World" segments, according to the Washington Post. The media continue to paint both sides as "fringe" elements incapable of coming to an agreement.

Playing Both Sides

Sen. McCain's comments simply reminded a country in the economic wilderness that illegal immigration is still an issue. Despite all the political wheeling and dealing, the nation lacks a comprehensive plan for illegal immigration. According to the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials, Latinos now make up 16.3 percent of America's total population. Pew Hispanic Center points out that in 2008, Hispanics represented 9 percent of the vote. With so much influence, both parties are hesitant to alienate Hispanics. But they also need to create the illusion immigration reform is on the horizon. In reality, heated rhetoric pertaining to illegal immigration will continue yet little will be done on the legislative front. A significant bloc of voters could be lost if either party makes the wrong move before the 2012 elections. Neither party will be moving on illegal immigration with the White House in play.

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Texas Governor Perry stokes White House run talk (AFP)

NEW ORLEANS (AFP) – Sounding every bit like a candidate for the White House, Republican Texas Governor Rick Perry thrilled party activists here Saturday as he ripped President Barack Obama's "arrogance and audacity."

Perry did not announce a presidential bid at the Republican Leadership Conference, but enthusiastically heaped rhetorical fuel on the flames of speculation that he will join the crowded field of Republican candidates.

"I stand before you today a disciplined, conservative Texan, a committed Republican and a proud American, united with you in the desire to restore our nation and revive the American dream," the governor told his cheering audience.

Perry cast his conservative faith in free markets, low taxes, and limited regulation as the antidote to what he portrayed as Obama's excessive belief in government solutions at a time of historically high unemployment.

"That mix of arrogance and audacity that guides the Obama administration is an affront to every freedom-loving American and a threat to every private sector job," he thundered to a cheering, rapturous crowd in a hotel ballroom.

Perry, who succeeded George W. Bush as governor of Texas, delighted the crowd by denouncing abortion rights and assailing Obama's landmark health law and bailouts of big banks in the wake of the 2008 economic meltdown.

And he blasted the president's handling of the economy, which he contrasted to Texas's first-in-the-nation job growth, and the swollen US national debt, which he compared to his state's balanced books.

"Americans voted for hope and got nothing but greater economic misery," he said, stressing "November 2012 is not very far away and we've got to be ready to elect Republican leaders up and down that ballot."

"Let's stop this American downward spiral!"

Polls show Perry far behind the Republican presidential frontrunner, former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, and some Republicans in Washington express skepticism that the Texan could get a campaign in gear quickly enough.

But a recent public opinion survey found Republicans split evenly at 45 percent on whether or not they are happy with their current White House options.

"I'm hoping that Rick Perry makes a bid," said Regina Wilson, a Louisiana resident. "He can be strong when he needs to be strong, I think he has good thoughts, and I think he has the strength we need."

"I think recently he's done a real good job with the state of Texas," said Ditch, 73.

"I was enthused about him, about the potential for him jumping in because I know he's a good friend of the governor's," referring to former Alaska governor Sarah Palin.

"So if she thinks he's a good guy, I think he's a good guy," said Ditch. "If she doesn't run."

Palin, who has not said whether she will run, was on the straw poll ballot that delegates were to use to indicate their preference for the best candidate to take on Obama.

Critics of Perry point out that his state has high rates of poverty, and he would likely face fire over telling an anti-tax "Tea Party" rally in April 2009 that Texas might be better off seceding from United States.

"We've got a great union. There's absolutely no reason to dissolve it," he said. "But if Washington continues to thumb their nose at the American people, you know, who knows what might come out of that."

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Perry: Still time to decide on a White House run (AP)

NEW YORK – Texas Gov. Rick Perry stirred speculation Tuesday that he would seek the 2012 Republican presidential nomination, championing his state's economy before a packed GOP gathering in New York and telling a television interviewer he would engage in a "thought process" before deciding whether to join the field.

Perry traveled to New York to address the Lincoln Dinner, an annual fundraising event for the New York GOP. He replaced celebrity real estate developer Donald Trump, who cancelled his appearance after deciding against a presidential bid.

"I find it ironic to be filling in for Donald Trump tonight," Perry said. "He's known for saying `You're fired.' We're known for saying `You're hired.' That's what we do in Texas."

Perry, a three-term governor popular with tea party activists, used the speech to touch on several of his longstanding state campaign themes. He promoted his state's jobs record and economic climate, which he said were a reflection of conservative principles. He urged Republicans to stand firm in opposition to abortion rights and criticized the federal government for excessive regulation and interfering in states' decisions.

"Washington isn't supposed to be the all-powerful, all-knowing, all-spending Oz, pulling the levers behind the curtain while limiting the freedom of our citizens. Instead, the states are supposed to lead the way," he said.

Earlier, Perry told Fox News that was still considering a presidential bid and didn't have to jump into the field yet.

"We have some time," he said. "I'm not sure you have to make a decision in a month."

Perry's closest advisers say he has no intention of running, but last month he said he was "going to think about it."

Perry would bring conservative bona fides, a proven fundraising record and a fresh voice to a field in which many conservatives are looking for an alternative to front-runner Mitt Romney. The former Massachusetts governor is making his second bid for the GOP nomination.

Perry didn't address the presidential speculation directly at the New York gathering. But he urged supporters to send a text message to his political team to receive updates on his efforts to battle federal incursion into state activities.

Perry was joined in New York by his wife, Anita, and by his longtime political adviser, Dave Carney, who recently resigned from former House Speaker Newt Gingrich's presidential campaign.

Perry, the Republican Governors Association chairman, is doing several political events around the country this week. He is attending a private RGA event in North Carolina on Wednesday and will travel to New Orleans for the Republican Leadership Conference on Saturday. He is scheduled to go to St. Louis for another RGA event next week.

On Fox News, Perry took a swipe at the sexting scandal rocking congressional Democrats in which Rep. Anthony Weiner of New York sent lewd photos of himself and messages to several women.

Asked if Weiner should resign, Perry called him a "sick fella who made some really bad decisions."

Perry said politicians and public officials should be held to higher standards than others and that if he were elected president and one of his Cabinet members did the same thing, he would "most likely" ask that person to resign.

"We have moral rules we live with every day. We have rules of conduct every day," he said. "It's like that definition of pornography: I know it when I see it."

Perry also was asked whether Republicans should reach out to Hispanics on immigration enforcement issues.

"I think the Hispanic population in the country is no different from the Anglo population or the Asian population," he said. "They want to live in a state where they can be free from overtaxation (and) overlitigation. They want to be able to have good schools for their kids and have a wide-open future. That's what the Republican Party is all about."

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Associated Press writers April Castro and Jim Vertuno in Austin, Texas, contributed to this report.

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