By Kevin Foley
When did the Moderate from Mass become Barry Goldwater with a $300 hairdo?
The scion of a wealthy Michigan family, Mitt Romney earned millions in venture capital before turning to politics. He gave Teddy Kennedy a run for his money in 1994. Later he was CEO of the Salt Lake Olympic Organizing Committee. In 2002, he won the Massachusetts gubernatorial race, to date his first and only political victory.
In his four years as governor there, Romney racked up a series of fairly progressive accomplishments. Most notable among these was the state’s healthcare law which requires all residents to buy health insurance. It served as the model for President Obama’s own initiative.
Since Romney left office in 2006, the economy nearly went over the edge and America elected its first African-American president to try to clean up the mess. The left’s ascendance triggered a tsunami of far right wing outrage.
Through all of this, Mitt Romney stayed true to his convictions.
Not.
When Hurricane Tea Party started blowing, Weathervane Romney spun hard to the right.
On September 28, 2011, according to the Washington Post’s Fact Checker, Romney declared, “I have never supported the President’s…stimulus, no time, nowhere, no how.”
But when the economy was tanking in early 2009, Romney said, “I think there is need for economic stimulus...”
In 2002 while running for governor, Romney was adamant: “I will preserve and protect a woman’s right to choose.” But only five years later he about-faced on this crucial social issue: “The right next step in…the fight to preserve the sanctity of life is to see Roe v. Wade overturned.”
In June, 2009, Romney deservedly took credit for universal healthcare in Massachusetts. “…what we did in Massachusetts… we put together an exchange, and the president’s copying that idea.” This year Romney reversed 180 degrees. “Obamacare is bad news ... and if I’m president of the United States I will repeal it.”
“I believe the world is getting warmer...I believe that humans contribute to that,” remarked Romney just last June. About 120 days later: “My view is that we don’t know what’s causing climate change on this planet.”
In his home state of Michigan, where his father once saved American Motors from bankruptcy, Romney stood firm in 2008: “I’m not willing to sit back and say too bad for Michigan...too bad for the car industry.” But under the glare of the Tea Party spotlight, he sang a different tune in 2011: “That’s exactly what I said.... ‘let Detroit go bankrupt.’”
For more than two years, Romney has avoided examination by the network Sunday morning news programs, where he could help voters understand his conflicting positions on key national issues. His reticence is understandable.
When he sat for a recent interview with Bret Baier, Romney was no doubt counting on the same softballs tossed to other GOP candidates appearing on Fox News. As Baier attempted to reconcile Mitt Yesterday with Mitt Today, Romney became agitated.
“This is an unusual interview!” he blurted during the grilling.
Smart fellows who rise as high as Romney often develop an overblown sense of infallibility. Their public relations people eventually become unwilling or unable to confront or advise the boss on messaging. Inevitably, the boss says or does something he or she can’t walk back.
In Romney’s case, it’s a lot of somethings. Small wonder the Obama White House is praying he’ll be the GOP nominee for president.
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Kevin
Foley is president of KEF
Media Associates, an Atlanta-based producer and distributor
of sponsored news content to television and radio media. |