The Inauthenticity of Mitt Romney

December 11, 2006

Voters give great weight to a person's authenticity when deciding who to pick for president. Authenticity trumps just about everything else about a candidate, including details of policy positions and proposals.

To voters it's an issue about character.Inauthenticity is a loser in American politics. Consider the recent examples:John Kerry loses to George W. Bush when he appears to be on both sides of the Iraq War issue. Also, "swift-boating" succeeded because he said he was "pro-soldier" but also seemed to be their harshest critic.

Al Gore lost to GWB, in part, because he sought advice from Naomi Wolf on portraying an Alpha male.Voters went with Bill Clinton's genuine eagerness for the presidency over George H.W. Bush's plodding and unconvincing pleas.Earlier, a more focused HW made mincemeat of Michael Dukakis when it became clear that the Massachusetts liberal hoped to win by hiding and then ignoring his liberalism (and some would say his humanity when he went robotic in response to CNN's Bernie Sanders' question on rape).

And the public chose Ronald Reagan's resolute and commanding presence for Commander-in-Chief over the agonizing Jimmy Carter.All of this to say that Mitt Romney is thisclose to joining history's parade of inauthentic presidential wannbe losers.

A strong supporter of gay rights in 1994, Romney is now telling social conservatives in his quest to become their preferred candidate that he opposes the gay rights agenda.

Three thoughts:

1) Even if he somehow manages to win the GOP nomination against a weak or moderate field, general election voters will not embrace a politician with adaptive views on defining issues such as gay rights.

2) Republican governors of super blue states such as Massachusetts, New York, Connecticut, Illinois and others are either liberal or, at best, moderate. They are never true conservatives--even if they're painted as such by in-state opponents. It is plain silly, therefore, for the Romneys and Patakis of the world to pretend that they're otherwise.

3) Massachusetts has been fairly quiet on the immigration front. Boston, Worcester, Springfield, Fall River and other Massachusetts cities and towns have absorbed any number of immigrants over the decades. It's a state in which diversity is applauded.

But Romney last week, in an obvious play to social conservative outside of Massachusetts, decided that the best thing to do in his remaining three weeks as governor was to send troopers to arrest the state's small number of undocumented workers.Romney's ploy strikes me as pathetic, inauthentic and insulting to both liberals and conservatives alike. And it's another reason why Romney should be dumped.

Posted by USTaino at