: do not give in to evil but proceed ever more boldly against it :

Romney, Press Darling Du Jour

Ears are pricking up. After landing not only a Weekly Review feature and cover, but also finding himself plastered on the cover of National Review (with another feature story to boot), the under-the-radarness of Romney is starting to be replaced by front-and-center media attention.

The question underlying all the chatter was expressed by Weekly Review - “Can a Republican governor of a Democratic state become America’s first Mormon president?”

Here are a handful of articles I thought important to understand Romney and his chances in an ‘08 Presidential election.

The early “controversy” and opposition is coming from the home quarter where people from the home state question whether Romney was a straight shooter about his abortion beliefs during the Massachusetts gubernatorial election cycle. (He can thank his adviser, Mike Murphy, for the attention . . . more on Murphy below).

I wouldn’t worry about those Massachusetts wind-bags. I’d worry more about conservatives who are suspicious of any Republican who could be elected Governer of such a state and still be a purebred. The rationale might go, “If he’s such a good Republican, then why would the people in Massachusetts like him enough to elect him Governer?” There are already some in the blogosphere who question whether he has sincerity issues. (I like this blogger’s metaphor, that we are not “slouching” [Gracias Bork] but are “bobsledding towards Gomorrah,” but I disagree with his conclusions.)

Back to Mike Murphy. This article focuses on Mike Murphy, the political advisor to Romney who recently got him some unwanted attention when he said Romney is a ”a pro-life Mormon faking it as pro-choice friendly.” He’s never guided a candidate to the White House, but so long as Bob Shrum is advising the candidate on the other side, you’d have to like his chances. You need to read this if you want to start to learn the mind of the man who will be behind Romney if he decides to run (and if McCain decides not to . . . read the article to understand why . . . )

At a recent high-school reunion, it’s apparent his freinds seem to like him . . . even if one said, ”You’d swear he’s dying his hair, though.”

The article notes that while in High School Romney won an award, the George G. Booth citation, given to students ”whose contributions to school life are often not fully recognized through already existing channels.” Basically, the article suggests it was a dubious award, akin to, “You’re great! We’re just not sure what you’re great at!”

Let me tell you one reason I like this guy so much. Recently, about 80,000 Massachusetts investors learned that a recent Supreme Judicial Court ruling declared that they owed additional Massachusetts capital gains taxes from 2002. About it, Romney said the following:

”We as a government made a mistake. By virtue of our mistake, we are now in a setting where certain people may have to go back and retroactively be expected to pay taxes at a rate that did not exist at the time they carried out a transaction. That’s just not fair.”

It’s a complex issue, one in which the Legislature has to decide whether to refund taxpayers at the expense of a budget shortfall, or go out and collect back tax based on the ruling. Romney, in essence, says that the government, not the people, should “suffer” the consequences of the decision.

What’s not to like about that?

June 16, 2005 | Filed Under Politics, Romney Watch 

comments

3 Responses to “Romney, Press Darling Du Jour”

  1. mckane on June 17th, 2005

    Great blog. Here’s to hoping.

  2. Porter on June 18th, 2005

    So, what really IS his stance on abortion. Because he’s mormon, I would assume pro-life. I would also think that he would get rid of his advisor or rip into him for creating a foundation of uncertainty among those republicans who don’t know him all that well. Politics suck. Always having to try and please people you don’t agree with to keep the votes. Hardly any strait shooters anymore. Here’s to hoping Romney is.

  3. Drex Davis on June 24th, 2005

    He’s pro-life, but in order not to alarm liberal-leaning Massachussetts, he pledged to “protect a woman’s right to choose” (or words to that effect). He has said that so long as he’s the Mass governer, he won’t challenge that . . . but some took that statement to mean he was pro-choice.

    It’s tough to be a hard-liner when you’re a representative. You represent a whole group of people, all of them different, so do you represent their interests or your own? It’s hard to say. What is a politician’s personal feeling? And what are their constituents feelings that they are mirroring because they represent them? It’s a tough line to walk. Plus, when you throw in the fact that campaign contributions often come from special interest groups, politicians often feel beholden to them.

    I’m going to blog soon about how the democratic party has been bought by special interest groups, like NARAL, and that it’s tough to say anymore whether the politician or the constituent even has a voice anymore in that party.