Politics Etc.

Romney explains it away

Speaking to a receptive audience of more than 100 Republican candidates and party officials at the Chatham Bars Inn in March 2004, then-Gov. Mitt Romney described good advice he'd gotten from another politician.

It came by way of Senator Bob Bennett, R-Utah, whom Romney befriended while running the 2002 Winter Olympics. 

 "Never explain," Bennett told Romney.  "When you explain, you're losing."

As an example, Romney cited the difficulties of Democratic state senate candidate Angus McQuilken, a former chief of staff running to fill the vacancy left by the departure of his boss, Cheryl Jacques. A special election was held shortly before the "Spring Training 2004" conference in Chatham organized by the state GOP.

In an attempt to show how he differed from Republican opponent Scott Brown, McQuilken had said that unlike Brown, he did not oppose state funding of sex change operations for prison inmates.

"This is what is known as a gift," Romney told the audience, setting off gales of laughter. McQuilken compounded "that gift with another gift," Romney added, "which is he always explained what he meant by that."

 McQuilken lost the special election to Brown and it was announced at the dinner where Romney spoke that McQuilken had decided against seeking a recount (the photo shows Romney with then-state representative Tom George of Yarmouth at the Chatham Bars Inn on the opening night of the conference).

Optimism ran high that evening in Chatham, but things did not go well for the state GOP in the fall. The Republicans lost ground from an already meager presence on Beacon Hill. It soon became apparent that Romney was unlikely to seek a second term. Sure enough, little more than a year after the 2004 election, Romney announced he would not run for reelection. He left office in January 2007 and began campaigning in earnest for the presidency.

And it wasn't long after Romney began running for president that he began ignoring the advice from Bennett.

Things went well for a few months, mainly due to Romney's wealth, favorable press coverage and impressive poll numbers - all of which combined to make Romney the foremost target of his GOP opponents well into the fall of 2007.

It didn't take long for his critics to seize upon Romney's Achille's heel - the considerable distance his views on abortion, gay rights, Ronald Reagan, etc., had taken since he ran for governor in 2002 and against Ted Kennedy eight years earlier. Romney's repeated attempts to explain what he meant by his earlier statements did more to compound than clarify. Anyone who doubts this, or who seeks confirmation, need only google "Romney flip flop" for abundant fodder.

Many of the same criticisms were leveled against Romney when he ran for governor against Democrat Shannon O'Brien in 2002. But by the time Romney ran for president five years later, a technological innovation was changing the way voters responded to politicians - YouTube.

Many of the same criticisms were leveled against Romney when he ran for governor against Democrat Shannon O'Brien in 2002. But by the time Romney ran for president five years later, a technological innovation was changing the way voters responded to politicians - YouTube.It's one thing to read how a politician's views have morphed over the years, it's another to see it, in a readily accessible format, especially when the earlier views are juxtaposed next to those that eventually followed. The effect can be devastating, as Romney supporters learned. Beauty killed the beast, the man said at the end of "King Kong." YouTube probably doomed whatever chances Romney had of becoming president.

In fairness to Romney, he is hardly the only person whose views have changed since 1994, particularly on abortion. Mine began shifting at some point after I witnessed the birth of my two children, and I doubt I'm alone in that regard.

Another claim made by Romney in 1994 that came back to haunt him, as stated during a debate with Kennedy and reported by the Boston Herald - "I was an independent during the time of Reagan-Bush. I'm not trying to return to Reagan-Bush." 

Just as the easiest way to anger a liberal is to praise Joe McCarthy, few things irritate conservatives more than disdain for Reagan. But hearing Romney criticized for this during the campaign, I was struck by the timing of his remark - late October, 1994.

How many people remember that when Reagan publicly disclosed he was suffering from Alzheimer's, he waited until a day after the 1994 election, lest it affect the outcome if announced earlier? An election, not incidentally, that was tantamount to a fourth Reagan term, with its GOP landslide in Congress, along the lines of Bush Sr. getting elected in 1988 a fair approximation of the electorate re-electing Reagan to a third term.

My point is, Reagan did not possess nearly the stature in 1994, before an election his legacy helped decide, as he's acquired since.  And the unforgettable sight of Mikhail Gorbachev sitting next to Maggie Thatcher at Reagan's funeral probably has something to do with that.

In retrospect, Romney's bid for the presidency was probably hobbled from the start for a single reason - his Mormon faith. I remember an early poll in which a high percentage of respondents, between 15 and 20 percent, said they would not vote for Romney because of this alone. To many evangelical Christians, Mormonism isn't a faith, it's a cult. Once again, Romney felt compelled to explain, and it did little to reverse his campaign's decline. By then, his opponents had successfully tagged him as an inveterate flip-flopper, a man willing to say anything to get elected.

But I wonder if the Romney we saw on the campaign over the last year was close to the genuine article - it's the earlier versions who weren't. I'm reminded of an anecdote I read about President Bush attending a class reunion at Yale.

One of Bush's classmates had undergone a sex change operation since their days as students in New Haven (not sure if it was one of those taxpayer-funded-while-incarcerated versions). Shaking hands with Bush, the person said, you may not remember me, I used to be so-and-so, and mentioned the earlier name.

To which Bush responded - and now you've returned as yourself.

(photo credit, Pat Brooks)