Play Muskie For Me
Ken Doll indicates he doesn’t have a plastic heart. Boston Herald:
In a rare show of emotion, former Bay State Gov. Mitt Romney got teary-eyed on NBC’s “Meet the Press” yesterday as he recounted how he stopped his car and cried when he learned in 1978 that his Mormon church would finally fully accept blacks.
“I can remember when I heard about the change being made,” the GOP presidential hopeful said. “I was driving home from, I think it was law school, but I was driving home - going through the Fresh Pond rotary in Cambridge, Mass. I heard it on the radio and I pulled over and literally wept.”
While Romney was admittedly uncertain about being in law school at the time, a review of history shows that Romney graduated Harvard Law School in 1975. By 1978, Romney was a vice president of Bain & Company Inc.
Romney’s camp acknowledged the error.
“As Gov. Romney indicated, he was unsure where he was coming from at the time,” said spokesman Eric Fehrnstrom. “He was living in Belmont. To get to his house, he would have to take Fresh Pond Parkway, which is where he remembers hearing the news on his car radio.”
With questions still swirling about his Mormon faith and less than three weeks until the Iowa caucus, “Meet the Press” moderator Tim Russert, armed with meticulous research, pressed Romney on his well-publicized position changes on abortion and gay rights. Russert even held up a pair of flip-flops like those distributed by the Massachusetts Democratic Party in a recent jab at Romney.
“If you’re looking for someone who’s never changed any positions on any policies, then I’m not your guy,” Romney said.
Tears have always been viewed as non-presidential. Historical deal-killer. Some people say this candidate can benefit from a display of remarkably human-like emotion. Herald again:
“For those who were watching, it will humanize him because he often comes across as an automaton,” said Larry Sabato, director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia.
“I don’t think it will hurt him. It could even help him a little.”
Professor Joseph Quin Monson, assistant director for the Center of the Study of Elections and Democracy at Brigham Young University, a Mormon school, said the 1978 decision was a “huge moment” for the church.
“It was something that many church members had hoped and prayed for and I think that is the category Mitt Romney falls under.
“When he had to catch his emotions with Tim Russert, it was real. He felt those emotions coming back. It was a window into his mind and soul,” he added.
But political analyst Michael Goldman believes Romney’s history of flip-flopping on major issues, not a show of emotion, will play a bigger part in the former Massachusetts’ governor’s future.
“He is not losing in Iowa because voters think he isn’t emotional enough, they are not supporting him because they don’t believe what he says,” said Goldman, a Democratic strategist and senior consultant for the Government Insight Group.
Also true, though he seems to be trying to take that issue head-on along with the Mormonism thing, and is doing a pretty good job of it, though whether it’s enough to make a difference is another issue.
Althouse is liking the warmth. Via Instapundit, along questions about Romney and the NRA.
Topics: pols
Posted by Jules Crittenden at 9:55 am on Monday, December 17, 2007
7 Responses to “Play Muskie For Me”
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December 17th, 2007 at 11:57 am
he recounted how he stopped his car and cried when he learned in 1978 that his Mormon church would finally fully accept blacks.
Maybe he is sincere, and maybe I’m too cynical, but this comes across as almost Clintonesque to me. And I have to ask, was he crying because his church was finally coming into the 20th century, or because it was overturning what had been a basic belief? He should make that clear, because it wasn’t.
December 17th, 2007 at 3:43 pm
Are these mooks all gonna start bawling in public now? Have some dignity, fer chrissakes…
December 17th, 2007 at 4:11 pm
I would rather see a display of actual reasoning for his positions than emotional outbursts.
December 17th, 2007 at 6:48 pm
I really like cheese.
*WAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH*
I only cried so you would know I meant it.
December 17th, 2007 at 8:02 pm
Thanks blogagog, without the tears we might have doubted your sincerity.
“Always be sincere, whether you mean it or not.” Michael Flanders in the song “The Reluctant Cannibal”.
We’re looking for the President of the USA in this campaign, who will become the most powerful leader in the world (at least potentially; cf Jimmy Carter). The President is someone who is subjected to stresses no one else is and that most of us can barely imagine. That’s no job to give to a blubbering pantywaist.
December 17th, 2007 at 10:18 pm
Amen, Michael Lonie, amen.
December 18th, 2007 at 1:59 am
Yeah, he’d be a hell of a lot easier to take if he were Catholic.