Friday, July 13, 2012

Friday the 13th: A Good Day for Mitt Romney


By now, everyone knows that Mitt Romney filed papers with the Securities and Exchange Commision (SEC) in which he claimed that from 1999 to 2002, not only was he the sole owner, president and CEO of Bain Capital, but he received a salary of over $100,000 for the services he denies rendering. When he returned from the Olympics to run for Governor of Massachusetts, he was challenged on the basis of his residency and he testified that he was involved in Bain to show his connection to the state. Having had such success at changing his opinions, he is now expanding into the field of changing his facts.

The airwaves are abuzz about it, and in a desperate attempt to change the subject, someone from the Romney campaign leaked to the Drudge Report that Condoleeza Rice was at the top of the short  list of veep picks. The trick fooled nobody, and the effort is just one more sign that the Romney folk are flailing around trying to overshadow a story they know is hurting them.

So how is this possibly good news for Willard? It’s simple, really. Every day that we spend talking about Bain capital is one day less to examine his record as Governor of Massachusetts.

In November 2006, four years after he had been elected Governor, Mitt Romney’s approval rating was at 34% compared to 65% disapproval. Why? Some say it is because he was out of state on 212 days of his last year in office. As an Alaskan, I know a thing or two about Governors who skip out on their constituents. 

Others say his rejection by residents of the Bay State was because in his eagerness to campaign for President, he went around the state apologizing for (or at least making jokes at the expense of) Massachusetts.  Whatever the reason, the fact is that the experience in Massachusetts is another example of what we have seen so many times: the more people get to know Mitt Romney, the less they like him.

Just ask anyone in Massachusetts

“… and tell ’em Big Mitch sent ya!”

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