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Liberal Romney

By John DeSio

With all the commotion over the money raised for 2008 between Senators Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, the money raised on the Republican side by former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney has largely flown under the radar. Sure, Clinton set a new record with $26 million raised in the first quarter while Obama came in just underneath her with $25 million. But Romney’s $23 million was just as impressive, especially since he has lagged behind both former Mayor Rudy Giuliani and Sen. John McCain in just about every poll to this point.

Of course, Romney is thrilled with the numbers, a feeling he made clear last week during an appearance on CBS’s “The Early Show.” “I’ve been very heartened by the fact that people who have heard me and heard the message get on board, provide funding for me and support my effort,” said Romney. Though Giuliani and McCain have held strong at one and two, Romney has the funds to make the important push forward. And with conservatives less than elated over the two Republican frontrunners, Romney is starting to look like a better alternative every day.

But some Republicans are not sold on Romney at all. In March, two Republican strategists from Romney’s home state, Ron Vining and Holly Robichaud, launched the website Massachusetts Republicans for Truth (Massachusettsrepublicansfortruth.com), as a warehouse of apparently contradictory statements and actions that Romney took while serving as steward of the Bay State, actions that fail to mesh with his current status as the GOP’s only hope for a true conservative to take their party’s nomination.

“We’ve gotten so many different quotes about his record, what we’re doing is putting out as much of that record as possible,” said Robichaud, urging voters to make up their minds about Romney after checking out the site. An old Republican adage, made famous by former President Ronald Reagan, said that no Republican should do anything to harm a fellow traveler. Robichaud is not concerned with that, only with alerting the general public to Romney’s more liberal past. “We’re leaving it up to the voters to make up their own mind.”

The main complaint they have about Romney is that while he now presents himself as the top of the conservative candidate pyramid, he was actually very liberal on many issues while he served as Massachusetts’ governor. For example, Robichaud notes that in 2002 Romney refused to sign a pledge not to raise taxes in his state even though previous Republican governors, including former New York State Senate candidate William Weld, had been willing to sign up. In 2007, with a presidential campaign on the horizon, Romney signed the pledge.

The contrast on other issues is just as harsh. Romney has been a supporter of domestic partnerships for same-sex couples when he first took office, but has since signed on in support for the Federal Marriage Amendment banning gay marriage. At one point Romney was openly pro-choice and even backed the funding of abortions with government money. Romney was even a supporter of the assault weapons ban, and he is now a member of the National Rifle Association. “It’s really hard to reconcile these positions,” said Robichaud.

All this and more is chronicled on Vining and Robichaud’s website, and in great detail. The response from the Republican establishment has not been one of acceptance. Right-leaning blogs were quick to trash the duo, and the Massachusetts branch of the Republican Party, made up of Romney loyalists, has moved to prevent them from using the word “Republican” in their name. But outside of that, Robichaud says that the response has been positive. “People who are not bought and paid for have been very supportive,” said Robichaud.

Robichaud and Vining are not supporting any other candidate, and are strictly sticking to taking on Romney. Romney should have stuck to his guns, said Robichaud, since his attempt to please the Republican-conservative base is not working. Giuliani is anything but a conservative, and reiterated his support for government-funded abortions just days ago. And McCain has continued his own support for the war in Iraq, even though opinion polls show that war to be anything but popular.

“It speaks a lot for our party that we’re not looking for people who are going to pander to us, tell us what we want to hear,” said Robichaud, adding that it takes real courage to remain strong in one’s beliefs even though they might damage your future potential within the Republican Party. “That’s real leadership. I think voters respect that.”
For Robichaud and Vining, Romney has lost that respect. 
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