Mr. Romney For The GOP
…if you throw him a knotty problem that needs to be solved by Friday, he’s the candidate we’d bet on to have it done by Tuesday.
The Hartford Courant, from the Editors:
Mitt Romney’s record while governor of Massachusetts was much better than he’s given credit for. It’s the record of an achiever.
The Republican governor led the fight to control sprawl and bring more affordable housing to the Bay State with groundbreaking laws and a dramatic reorganization of state agencies. In 2003, he combined transportation, housing, environmental and energy agencies into a super-agency, charged it with stopping runaway suburban growth, then appointed a Democrat environmentalist to run it. By comparison, Connecticut is still nibbling around the edges of smart growth.
The former venture-capital company CEO and rescuer of the 2002 Winter Olympics also worked with the Democratic legislature to stop job losses and reduce a projected $3 billion budget shortfall. He managed to balance his state’s budget without sales or income tax or gas increases. And he streamlined other government agencies — all while maintaining the state’s huge accomplishments from a decade of education reforms that put Massachusetts ahead of Connecticut on many academic achievement scores.
Though some in his party abhorred it as “socialized medicine,” Mr. Romney backed a bold state plan to cover the uninsured that required every Massachusetts citizen to have health insurance but provided aid for those who couldn’t afford it. His business school case-method approach to health care — let states experiment; see who comes up with the best ideas — is the most likely to yield ingenious and flexible solutions to an increasingly worrisome national issue.
Mr. Romney’s shifts on his views on abortion, stem-cell research, same-sex marriage and other issues are indeed troubling: Conservatives as well as liberals are unsure of what to expect from him if elected. But those who have worked with him praise his openness, his easy ability to transcend narrow political ideology to get a job done. And presidential candidates often pay tribute to the traditional wings of their parties at primary time. Mr. Romney’s chief rival, Arizona Sen. John McCain, has pandered as well in, for example, changing his position on the Bush tax cuts, which he once voted against and now wants extended.
We part company with Mr. McCain on his opposition to abortion and his support of the war in Iraq, among other things. But he has earned The Courant’s admiration as a campaign-finance reformer, a voice of decency in the treatment of prisoners of war and a heroic maverick who will cross the aisle to achieve bipartisan compromise on issues such as immigration.
With the economy gaining on the war in Iraq as the leading worry for Americans, however, Mr. Romney’s real-world grasp of economic principles, his real-world successes on both sides of the public/private-sector aisle, are increasingly valuable assets.
Mark Twain said about Wagner that his music “is better than it sounds.” Mr. Romney is a better leader than his perplexing campaign performance makes him out to be. He doesn’t have the smooth-talking populist appeal of Sen. Mike Huckabee or the years of working on public policy that Sen. McCain does. But if you throw him a knotty problem that needs to be solved by Friday, he’s the candidate we’d bet on to have it done by Tuesday.
He’s believable when he promises to bring “innovation and transformation” to Washington. He has done it.
He is The Courant’s choice for the Feb. 5 Republican presidential primary.
January 27th, 2008 at 4:07 pm
“But if you throw him a knotty problem that needs to be solved by Friday, he’s the candidate we’d bet on to have it done by Tuesday.”
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I am a Conservative Republican, but I can also describe my political stance as “the politics of what works.”
That is one of the main reasons I am supporting Mitt Romney — he is a man who brings a team together to ruthlessly analyze problems, then ruthlessly brainstorms solutions, and then puts the solutions to work. AND, if the solution don’t work, has the courage and humility to go back to the drawing board to find a solution that DOES work.
He is a CAN DO and WILL DO kind of guy! That is my kind of guy!
That is the kind of man we need in the Oval Office - NOW!
Go Mitt!
January 27th, 2008 at 6:26 pm
This is THE BIG ONE! Mitt Romney WINS Florida! Maybe by 9 points. Now WE have a REAL front runner! and his name is Willard Mitt Romney!! Romney after this one hastens to California to End all doubt! He will WIN there too! Trust me I’m SURE of this. Mitt just might run the LIAR McCain’s face in it by going to Arizona! My prediction is He WILL! For those LIES! Mitt WINS Arizona and Gramps Retires! Lets have FUN! NOW! Why wait for Tuesday? Bring on the HAG!
January 27th, 2008 at 10:57 pm
Alas, here’s another article that doesn’t quit get the facts straight (love the endorsement, though). So I’m reposting this here (edited for context)…
Unfortunately, Governor Romney has been forced to deal with many misinformation campaigns. As many others may continue to wrestle with these questions, here’s a quick synopsis of the points mentioned in the article above:
1. Governor Romney has NOT changed his position on Gay Marriage. Don’t believe the spin. Not only has he never supported this, he has fought more vehemently against it than any other candidate. The facts are these: in 1994 he supported treating Homosexuals fairly. Back then the “Gay” agenda was simply having the right to visit your significant other in the hospital. But thanks to many years of Clintonian tolerance and acceptance, the gay agenda has drastically expanded to include marriage, adoption, etc. When the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court decided to read something into the Massachusetts constitution and force the state to start performing gay marriages, Governor Romney sprung into action, denouncing the decision, dusting off an obscure law that disallowed couples from other states to come to Massachusetts to avail themselves of this new found “right”, and labored tirelessly to have the state constitution amended to close correct this judicial overstep. He testified before congress in support of a Federal Marriage amendment, and even brought suit against the Massachusetts state legislature to force them to begin the process to amend the state constitution (this has since floundered because the liberal democrats that now control the state have scuttled his efforts). So, no flipping or flopping from Governor Romney on this issue. Times have changed since 1994.
2. There has been no change on his position on embryonic stem cell research either. When this came up (for the first time while he was governor), he studied the issue, saw that it cheapened the value of life, opted to oppose it, and has remained actively opposed. So again, no flip nor flop, and no explanation necessary.
3. Now, about abortion. Governor Romney has been very forthright on this issue. I can’t say it better than he has, so I won’t try. Needless to say, he has admitted that he was effectively pro-choice (even though he was personally opposed to abortion), but has moved over to the pro-life camp. Many find it refreshing to have a candidate who doesn’t hide from their past, but is honest enough to admit his mistake and move on. For the record, when it mattered, he made the right decisions. Every action he took as Governor, every single time he was faced with this issue, was on the side of life. This was not a popular position in Massachusetts, but he held steadfast. You need not doubt his resolve. So here we have a flip, but certainly no flop. The flip flop label is for those who move back and forth on an issue for political expediency (e.g. I was against the war, before I was for it, then against it again. And more recently, I’ve always been for the Bush tax cuts, even though I voted against them, but was for them, but still am proud to have voted against them…)
So you can see the only reason a misplaced Flip Flop label may haunt him is because people don’t bother to do their own research and opt instead to believe the media and the other campaigns. When honest voters do even rudimentary research into these assertions, they find the flip/flop label simply does not apply.
Now, why am I supporting Governor Romney? Because he is the right man for the times and is the only candidate with a credible record of bringing about positive change. He has the experience and extensive track record of success that he needs to tackle the issues we face at home and abroad. He knows what makes this country great, has the vision to lead us to even greater heights, and he knows how to get the job done. This endorsement is profoundly right on that score.