Candidate: Mitt RomneyParty: Republican
Age: 60
Birthplace: Detroit, Michigan
Education: B.A. Brigham Young University, JD/MBA Harvard University
Resume: Boston Consulting Group 1974-1978; Vice President Bain & Company 1978-1984; co-founder of venture capital and leveraged buyout firm Bain Capital 1984-1998; CEO Bain & Company 1990-1991; President of the U.S. Olympic Winter Games 1999-2002; Governor of Massachusetts 2003-2007
Lazy Media Narrative: Can a Mormon be elected president?
Websites: MittRomney.com, The Five Brothers (his sons' blog)
Best Known For: Looking plastic; flip-flopping; being a Mormon; winning the Iowa Straw Poll; his favorite book being Battlefield Earth by L. Ron Hubbard; being the richest candidate in the Presidential race
With sinking gubernatorial approval ratings, Romney announced in late 2005 that he would not seek a second term as Massachusetts governor and decided he should run for President instead. Romney officially entered the race in February 2007. Despite concerns over his religion and his ever-changing political views, Romney had an impressive early showing and raised large amounts of money, but it turned out that his appeal was mainly that Republicans really didn't like any of the other candidates at the time. Now that this role has been taken over by Fred Thompson, Romney's campaign is sinking fast. Romney won the recent Iowa Straw Poll, although front runners Giuliani, Thompson, and fourth place John McCain all skipped the event. When asked about the absence of the other front runners, Romney stated: "If they'd thought they could be successful here, they would have been here. Their decision not to compete here was not a decision based on a position of strength." Sure Mitt, either that or maybe it was because the Iowa Straw Poll is a meaningless, non-binding contest won by the candidate who buses the most Iowans to Ames.
Like most of the other Republican front runners, Romney spends most of his time making crazy right-wing pronouncements in order to distract people from his moderate past. For example, during a May Presidential debate (clip below), Mitt responded to a question about the detention of suspected terrorists by saying "I don't want [suspected terrorists] on our soil, I want them in Guantanamo where they don't get access to lawyers... some people have said we outta close Guantanamo, my view is we outta double Guantanamo."
In August, Romney was asked why none of his sons had enlisted in the military, Romney said (clip below): "It’s remarkable how we can show our support for our nation, and one of the ways my sons are showing support for our nation is helping to get me elected, because they think I’d be a great president," which most people interpreted as equating driving around Iowa on a campaign bus to military service.
Romney's stances on most issues is pretty typical for a Republican (pro-death penalty, against the estate tax, etc.). He is pro-life, although he has previously pledged to uphold Roe vs. Wade (he was referred to as "multiple choice" by Ted Kennedy). He has supported a Constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage and has rescinded his support for domestic partnership benefits (I won't mention his letter to Log Cabin Republicans that stated he would be more supportive of gay rights than Ted Kennedy and that "we must make equality for gays and lesbians a mainstream concern").
Romney is pro-gun and stated that "I've been a hunter pretty much all my life." After it was revealed that he had only been hunting twice in his life, he clarified: "I'm not a big-game hunter. I've made that very clear. I've always been a rodent and rabbit hunter. Small varmints, if you will. I began when I was 15 or so and I have hunted those kinds of varmints since then. More than two times."
3 comments:
I was hoping you'd explain why his parents named him "Mitt" - what the hell??
His first name is actually Willard. Mitt is his middle name and his namesake was a family friend.
Great post.
My site :: car insurance companies list
Post a Comment