Mitt Romney in The Real Romney, by Kranish & Helman
On Civil Rights:
1994: "I'll be better than Ted Kennedy" on gay rights
Romney's willingness to embrace socially moderate, even liberal, positions--Romney himself preferred the term "socially innovative"--made him an attractive candidate for groups such as the Log Cabin Republicans, a grassroots GOP gay and lesbian
organization. In 1994, as Romney was seeking the group's endorsement, he sat down with Richard Tafel, the group's founder, and received a primer on gay rights issues. Romney was deeply engaged, asked probing questions, and noted that he had gay employees
at Bain. "I'd met with businessmen and politicians, and this felt like a business meeting. It felt much more pragmatic," Tafel said. Romney's approach was "What do I need to do here? How do I get this done?" One Massachusetts Republican who has known
Romney for years summed up his approach this way: "In Mitt's mind, it doesn't matter what my positions are. I'm someone who solves problems." "I'm with you on this stuff," Tafel recalled Romney saying. "I'll be better than Ted Kennedy."
Source: The Real Romney, by Kranish & Helman, p,181-182
Jan 17, 2012
On Abortion:
1994: Supported abortion rights but personally opposed
Abortion burned as a front burner issue in 1994. Romney established himself as a passionate supporter of abortion rights early on in the campaign, despite his personal opposition to abortion. In fact, his professed views would grow more liberal over
the course of the race. Romney initially said he opposed Medicaid funding for abortion. He later softened that position to say he favored leaving the question of coverage up to the states. Romney also endorsed the legalization of
RU-486, the abortion-inducing drug, and appeared in June at a fund-raiser for Planned Parenthood. Ann Romney gave the group $150.Romney asserted that his family had supported a woman's right to a safe, legal abortion ever since the
October 1963 death of his brother-in-law's sister, Ann Hartman Keenan, from complication following an illegal abortion.
Source: The Real Romney, by Kranish & Helman, p,183
Jan 17, 2012
On Principles & Values:
OpEd: Turnaround specialist when nation needs one
Romney's whole demeanor is meant to convey that he is ready. If he could take over now, he would. Just give him the keys to the White House. After all, he's been preparing for this moment--his moment--all his life.
Many politicians say that. Or have it said about them. In Mitt Romney's case, to a remarkable degree, it happens to be true.
He is a turnaround specialist running to lead a nation that desperately needs one. In his narrative, President Barack Obama has steered the country into a ditch, and Mitt Romney is the only one capable of yanking it out.
Mr. Fix-it, reporting for duty. He's already fixed his approach as a candidate, self-assured and savvy where he was often slipshod and self-defeating in 2008.
Source: The Real Romney, by Kranish & Helman, p. 1-2
Jan 17, 2012
On Principles & Values:
As college athlete, learned to pace himself
When Mitt joined a cross-country team for a 2.5-mile race traditionally held during a football game halftime, he failed to pace himself. Everyone except Mitt returned before the 2nd half began. Finally, the spectators noticed Mitt making an agonizingly
slow approach. "Mitt kept falling and getting up, and eventually he just crawled across the line," one classmate recalled. It could have been one of the most humiliating moments of his young life. But then the crowd began to rise to its feet, giving
Mitt a standing ovation for his effort. "It was definitely looked upon as a show of character. Other people would have quit." He had run too fast at the start; unprepared for the distance, he had cramped up.This moment provided a lesson for Mitt which
he would use in his later political life. Mitt had started an endurance race as if it were a dash. "It stayed with him the rest of his life--pace yourself and to run the whole race, and to temper your enthusiasm with judgment," another classmate said.
Source: The Real Romney, by Kranish & Helman, p. 21-22
Jan 17, 2012
On Civil Rights:
1964: George Romney left GOP Convention for civil rights
As a moderate Republican Governor, Mitt's father was fast emerging as a shining light of the Republican Party. George Romney's success in Michigan prompted talk of him as a presidential candidate in 1964. That didn't happen, but he arrived at the
Republican National Convention as a star, inviting Mitt to come orbit around him. The elder Romney would make headlines by walking out on nominee Barry Goldwater because of Goldwater's opposition to civil rights legislation. In a subsequent letter to
Goldwater, Romney wrote, "The rights of some must not be enjoyed by denying the rights of others." Romney refused to endorse Goldwater's candidacy, embittering conservatives within the party and solidifying Romney's reputation as a more liberal
iconoclast.
When Goldwater complained, the governor wrote, "Dogmatic ideological parties tend to splinter the political and social fabric of a nation, lead to governmental crises and deadlocks, and stymie the compromises so often necessary."
Source: The Real Romney, by Kranish & Helman, p. 25
Jan 17, 2012
On Principles & Values:
Wife Ann, from Protestant family, converted to Mormon
Mitt had found at a relatively early age tge girl he wanted to marry. Her name was Ann Davies, and she was beautiful, smart, and independent-minded. The parallels to Mitt's mother were unmistakable. But there was one difference--and a major problem:
Ann was not a Mormon; she came from a mainline Protestant family.Mitt had just turned 18 and Ann was 15 when Mitt asked Ann out for a date in 1965; they saw The Sound of Music. "I caught his eye and he never let me go,"
Ann recalled years later. Other boys pursued her, and she would date them in Mitt's absence, but she said Mitt "stole my heart from the very first."
While Mitt struggled [for 2 years as a missionary] to win converts in
France, his father was having better luck at home. In between his jaunts across the country to test the waters for a presidential bid, George Romney was guiding Ann Davies through her conversion to the Mormon faith.
Source: The Real Romney, by Kranish & Helman, p. 27-31 & 70
Jan 17, 2012
On War & Peace:
1965: Picketed AGAINST Vietnam protestors
In 1965, Vietnam protests came to Stanford U. when it was announced that 850 students would have to take a Selective Service test. Students occupied the office of the university president.Mitt was incensed; he attached a large sign to a pole, "SPEAK
OUT, DON'T SIT IN." The picture ran the next day in the newspaper with a caption, "Governor's son pickets the pickets. Mitt Romney was one of the pickets who supported the Stanford administration today in opposition to sit-in demonstrators." Mitt was at
the forefront of a group of about 350 anti-protestors, who shouted at the antiwar group. "Down with mob rule!" and "Reason, not coercion!" When a university official announced that students participating in the sit-in would be disciplined, Mitt shouted,
"Come out of the office and let school continue!"
Mitt had earned a reputation as an organizer and was becoming a political figure in his own right; the image of him holding the sign at the anti-protest protest would linger in classmates' memories.
Source: The Real Romney, by Kranish & Helman, p. 56-61
Jan 17, 2012
On War & Peace:
1966-68: Missionary deferment; 1969: drew high draft number
By serving as a missionary, Romney ensured that he would not be drafted from 1966 until 1969. Romney's draft record from the time describes him as a "minister of religion or divinity student." As the war escalated, the Mormon exemption drew increasing
fire.Romney has denied that he sought to avoid the draft, saying later, "I was supportive of my country. I longed in many respects to actually be in Vietnam and be representing our country there, and in some ways it was frustrating not to feel like
I was there as part of the troops that were fighting in Vietnam." But on another occasion he seemed to contradict himself, saying, "I was not planning on signing up for the military. It was not my desire to go off and serve in Vietnam, but nor did I take
any actions to remove myself from the pool of young men who were eligible for the draft."
When Romney's deferment ended, his name was put into the lottery; he drew the number 300. He would never serve, voluntarily or otherwise, in the military.
Source: The Real Romney, by Kranish & Helman, p. 62-63
Jan 17, 2012
On Principles & Values:
1966-68: Served as Mormon missionary in France
Like nearly all 19-year-olds of his faith, Mitt would be called to serve for 2 years. Mitt learned he would be going to France. It sounded like one of the easier assignments, but heavily Catholic France was a society mostly hostile to Mormons (in a
country that takes its wine seriously, Mormonism prohibited alcohol).For 2-1/2 years, Romney lived under the strict missionary regime. Romney said he converted 10 to 20 people during his time as a missionary, but even that small-sounding number stood
out among missionaries. Years later, Romney bluntly assessed the experience: "As you can imagine, it's quite an experience to go to Bordeaux and say, 'Give up your wine! I've got a great religion for you!' It was a good training for how life works.
Rejection of one kind or another is going to be important part of everyone's life. Here I'd grown up as the son of a governor, and now I was on the street." Having begun his mission with what he called thin ties to the faith, he became a stalwart believe
Source: The Real Romney, by Kranish & Helman, p. 63-69
Jan 17, 2012
On Principles & Values:
Near-fatal accident at age 21; in coma for 3 days
In 1968 in France, a man had smashed into a tree and been thrown from his vehicle. Police were still on the scene. Romney stopped to remove a roof rack lying in the middle of the two-lane highway, then continued on. At that moment, a Mercedes passed a
truck at high speed, and smashed nearly head-on into their car. The collision collapsed the front of the Citroen, thrusting the engine into the front seat. Romney was pinned between the steering column and the driver's door.Romney's injuries appeared
so severe that a police officer who responded to the scene made a grave notation in the young man's passport: "Il est mort"--"He is dead." In fact, Romney was unconscious in a coma for 3 days. One passenger died. Romney recovered quickly and without
surgery.
By all accounts, Romney himself was driving cautiously that day and deserved no blame. For Mitt, the fatal accident was a turning point. He was still a young man, 21 years old, with a young man's sense of his own invincibility.
Source: The Real Romney, by Kranish & Helman, p. 80-83
Jan 17, 2012
On Principles & Values:
At age 24, two kids while grad student at Harvard
Mitt Romney was already, at 24, married and the father of two young sons--their second boy, Matthew, was born in October 1971--as he threw himself into graduate work at Harvard.The Romneys' Mormon faith, as they began building a life together, formed
a deep foundation. The Romney's family-centric lifestyle was a choice; Mitt and Ann plainly cherished time at home with the boys more than anything. But it was also a duty. Belonging to the Mormon church meant accepting a code of conduct that placed
supreme value on strong families. The Romneys have longed cited a well-known Mormon credo: "No other success can compensate for failure in the home."
When the Romneys arrived in the Boston area in 1971, they established a home in
Belmont, a well-to-do suburb that was fast becoming a magnet for Mormon families. Over the next decade, they would have three more boys in addition to Tagg and Matt. Joshua was born in 1975, Benjamin in 1978, and then Craig in 1981.
Source: The Real Romney, by Kranish & Helman, p. 96&101
Jan 17, 2012
On Crime:
1981: Arrested for fishing without a license
In June 1981, Romney went to Lake Cochituate, about half an hour west of Boston, intending to do some boating with their families. A park ranger told him he couldn't put his boat into the lake because the license number was too difficult to read,
Romney would later say. Romney then asked what the fine was, and the ranger told him: fifty bucks. To Romney, it was a no-brainer--he'd easily pay that in exchange for a day of fun.
But when he began to lower his boat into the water, the ranger became incensed, "The ranger took it as a personal attack." The ranger pulled out a pair of handcuffs and took Romney, dripping wet in his bathing suit, into custody for disorderly conduct.
The case was soon dismissed after Romney and his lawyer pushed back hard. But that day, the lake outing was over before it had begun.
Source: The Real Romney, by Kranish & Helman, p.105-106
Jan 17, 2012
On Civil Rights:
1993: As church leader, granted women's equality requests
In 1993, Helen Sievers performed shuttle diplomacy to resolve a thorny problem confronting church leaders in Boston: resentment among progressive Mormon women at their subservient status within the church. So Sievers went to Romney, who was stake
president, with a proposal.About 250 women filled the pews of the Belmont chapel. Women began proposing changes that would include them more in the life of the church. In the end, the group came up with some 70 suggestions--from letting women speak
after men in church to putting changing tables in men's bathrooms.
Romney was essentially willing to grant any request he couldn't see a reason to reject, Sievers said. "Pretty much, he said yes to everything that I would have said yes to, and I'm kind
of a liberal Mormon," she said. A year later, right before Romney left the stake presidency, he was amazed at how many of the women's suggestions had been implemented. Many were small, procedural matters, but they added up to a significant concession.
Source: The Real Romney, by Kranish & Helman, p.122-123
Jan 17, 2012
On Families & Children:
1983: Urged single mom to put up baby for adoption
In 1983, Peggie Hayes got divorced; and at 23 was back in the Boston area, raising a 3-year-old daughter on he own and working as a nurse's aide. Then she got pregnant again. Single motherhood was no picnic, but Hayes said she had wanted a second child
and wasn't upset at the news. By that point Mitt Romney, the man whose kids Hayes used to watch, was, as bishop of her ward, her church leader. Romney called Hayes one winter day and said he wanted to come over and talk. Romney said something about the
church's adoption agency. Romney's intent became apparent: He was urging her to give up the soon-to-be-born son for adoption, saying that this was what the church wanted. Indeed, he church encourages adoption in cases where "a successful marriage is
unlikely."Hayes was deeply insulted. She told him she would never surrender her child. Romney would later deny that he had threatened Hayes with excommunication, but Hayes said his message was crystal clear: "Give up your son, or give up your God."
Source: The Real Romney, by Kranish & Helman, p.124-125
Jan 17, 2012
On Abortion:
1990: As church leader, urged at-risk mom against abortion
In the fall of 1990, a married woman who, having already borne 5 children, had found herself some years earlier facing an unplanned 6th pregnancy. She contemplated abortion. But the Mormon Church makes few exceptions & the woman feared excommunication.
Then her doctors discovered she had a serious blood clot in her pelvis. She thought initially that this would be her way out--of course she would have to get an abortion.Romney paid her a visit. He told her about his nephew who had
Down syndrome and what a blessing it had turned out to be for their family. "As your bishop," she said he told her, "my concern is with the child."
Romney would later contend that he couldn't recall the incident, saying, "I don't have any memory of
what she is referring to, although I certainly can't say it could not have been me." Romney acknowledged having counseled Mormon women not to have abortions except in exceptional cases, in accordance with church rules.
Source: The Real Romney, by Kranish & Helman, p.126
Jan 17, 2012
On Corporations:
The Bain Way: data-driven analysis
By the time Mitt Romney walked into the offices of his mentor and boss, Bill Bain, in 1983, the 36-year-old was already a business consulting star. Bain had a stunning proposition: he was prepared to entrust an entirely new venture to Romney.The Bain
Way, as it became known, was intensely analytical and data-driven, a quality it shared with other firms' methods. But Bill Bain had come up with the idea of working for just one client per industry and devoting Bain & Company entirely to that company,
with a strict vow of confidentiality. As a result, the companies shared more information, and consultants could plow to greater depth. It doesn't sound like a revolutionary notion, but in many ways it was.
From the start Romney was perfectly adapted to
the Bain Way and became a devoted disciple. Patient analysis and attention to nuance were what drove him. It took a healthy ego to go into a business and tell an owner how to run his firm better, and most clients lauded Romney's efforts.
Source: The Real Romney, by Kranish & Helman, p.130-132
Jan 17, 2012
On Corporations:
At Bain Capital, made money on 35 out of 68 projects
Romney had a 15-year odyssey at Bain Capital. Boasting about those years when running for senator, governor, or president, Romney would usually talk about how he had helped create jobs at new or underperforming companies and say that he learned how jobs
and business come and go. He'd typically mention a few well-known companies in which he and his partners had invested, such as Staples. But the full story of his years at Bain Capital is far more complicated.Romney was involved in about 100 deals.
The Wall Street firm Deutsche Bank examined 68 major deals that had taken place on Romney's watch. Of those, Bain had lost money or broken even on 33. Overall, though, the numbers were stunning: Bain was nearly doubling its investors'
money annually, achieving one of the best track records in the business, Most of that success came from a handful of little-known but incredibly successful investments. But the venture had begun with plenty of failures--and lessons.
Source: The Real Romney, by Kranish & Helman, p.135-138
Jan 17, 2012
On Corporations:
1980s: Leveraged buyout profit from increased corporate debt
Billions were being made in the field of leveraged buyouts in the roaring 80s, and Romney was fully in the game. In 2011, Romney said his work had "led me to become very deeply involved in helping other businesses that were going through tough times.
Sometimes I was successful and we were able to help create jobs, other times I wasn't." It was a vague summary of what was a very controversial type of business.In his 2004 autobiography, "Turnaround", Romney put it more bluntly: "I never actually ran
one of our investments; that was left to management." He explained that his strategy was to "invest in these underperforming companies, using the equivalent of a mortgage to leverage up our investment. Then we would go to work to help management make
their business more successful." Romney's phrase "leverage up" meant, while putting relatively little money on the table, Bain could strike a deal using largely debt. That generally meant that the company being acquired had to borrow huge sums.
Source: The Real Romney, by Kranish & Helman, p.143
Jan 17, 2012
On Families & Children:
1996: Staff searched full-time to find runaway teenage girl
One day in July 1996, Romney's partner Bob Gay sent an urgent message. Gay's 14-year-old daughter, Melissa, was missing. Romney went into high gear. He shut down the Boston office and sent fifty-six employees to New York City to help find Melissa.
The quest became big news. "Investment Firm Shuts to Help Find Girl," said a headline in "The Boston Globe." "Shortly thereafter, through a traced telephone call asking if there was a reward, my daughter was safely secured," said Gay.
Romney later said that the search had changed his perspective on life. When Bain Capital ranked its annual accomplishments, the search for Melissa was number one. He said he would never forget talking with runaways in an effort to learn about
Melissa's whereabouts. "It was a shocker," said Romney, who had rarely walked into the urban underbelly of America. "The number of lost souls was astounding." The search had put Bain into the public eye in a way that was unusual for the private firm.
Source: The Real Romney, by Kranish & Helman, p.158-159
Jan 17, 2012
On Gun Control:
1994: backed 5-day waiting period on gun sales
In 1994 Romney pushed some reliably Republican themes, including requiring welfare recipients to work, cracking down on crime, and creating private-sector jobs. But he often strayed from the party plank as he sought to broaden his base of support.
He backed two gun-control measures that were strongly opposed by the National Rifle Association: the Brady Law, which imposed a five-day waiting period on gun sales, and a ban on certain assault weapons, saying, "I think they will help."
Source: The Real Romney, by Kranish & Helman, p.185
Jan 17, 2012
On Principles & Values:
1994: donated milk for years to Shelter for Homeless Vets
In 1994, Romney courted voters at the New England Shelter for Homeless Veterans. After giving his pitch, Romney asked the center's director, Ken Smith, what his biggest problem was. Smith said that the high price of milk was killing their budget. And
they went through a lot of milk, some 1,000 pints a day. Romney attempted a joke: why don't you just teach the veteran's how to milk cows? Then he was out the door. Smith was stunned.But several days later, Smith got a phone call from Romney, who told
Smith he wanted to cover part of the shelter's milk costs, and he didn't want any publicity for it. Smith didn't know exactly how Romney had done it--he figured Romney had arranged something with one of the shelter's milk suppliers. But now, instead of
paying for 1,000 pints a day, the shelter was paying for just 500. And it wasn't just some political stratagem. "It happened for a long period of time." Smith said he understood that Romney was still supporting the shelter when Smith left in 1996.
Source: The Real Romney, by Kranish & Helman, p.189-190
Jan 17, 2012
On Principles & Values:
Wife Ann effectively treats her chronic Multiple Sclerosis
The more tests the doctor did, the further their hearts sank. She couldn't feel pinpricks in her foot. She couldn't keep her balance. Something was seriously wrong with Ann Romney, and she and Mitt were scared.Ann, fit and not yet 50 years old, had
first noticed the symptoms in 1997, and they had gotten progressively worse. Numbness in her right leg. A hard time climbing stairs. Difficulty swallowing. Initially they'd thought that maybe she had a virus or a pinched nerve.
After an MRI, Ann Romney
had multiple sclerosis, a life-changing, chronic disease of the central nervous system whose course is difficult to predict. Ann's diagnosis changed everything. Now the love of Mitt's life was facing a potentially crippling disease. Their future was in
doubt.
Eventually, Ann hit upon an effective assortment of treatments, including yoga, Pilates, reflexology, acupuncture, and a controlled diet. Perhaps most important, she rekindled her childhood love of horses, improving both her mobility and spirit.
Source: The Real Romney, by Kranish & Helman, p.201-203
Jan 17, 2012
On Principles & Values:
Took on 2000 Olympics because it was a big mess
Romney knew the perils of squandering the Salt Lake opportunity. Failure would scar US pride, further embarrass Utah and the Mormon church, an derail Romney's effort to position himself as a leader for the new millennium. "If this doesn't work," Romney
said, "I can come back to private life, but I won't be anything anymore in public life."One advisor thought the damage could extend to Romney's business career, rooted as it was in his reputation for high competence and probity. The advisor said. "If
he failed to put on a quality Olympic Games, his reputation as a private-equity guy would have been significantly damaged. I think he took it because he felt that the Mormons were in trouble. He never said that, but I think he saw the scandal as a stain
on his religion. He knew a calamity when he saw one."
And that was the appeal. "He loves emergencies and catastrophes," Ann Romney said they day her husband took the reins. "He would never have considered doing it if it wasn't a big mess."
Source: The Real Romney, by Kranish & Helman, p.207
Jan 17, 2012
On Abortion:
2002: No to new abortion law; yes to emergency contraception
In his 2001 letter to the editor in the Utah newspaper, Romney said he no longer wanted to be considered prochoice. Mitt said that when he's asked whether he will "preserve and protect" a woman's right to abortion, "I make an unequivocal answer: yes."
His answers to an April 2002 questionnaire from the local NARAL chapter were similarly unequivocal. Romney said he would oppose attempts to change state laws, either by adding new restrictions on abortion or by easing existing ones.
He expressed support for Medicaid finding for the procedure, efforts to expand access to emergency contraception, and the restoration of state funding for family-planning and teen pregnancy prevention programs. He also said he supported comprehensive sex
education in public schools and would oppose "'abstinence-only' sexuality education programs." "The truth is, no candidate in the governor's race in either party would deny women abortion rights," he wrote. "So let's end an argument that does not exist."
Source: The Real Romney, by Kranish & Helman, p.229
Jan 17, 2012
On Civil Rights:
2002: domestic partnership benefits instead of civil unions
The political landscape had shifted following Vermont's pioneering decision in 2000 to legalize civil unions. The decision spooked gay marriage opponents in Massachusetts, who organized a push for a constitutional amendment restricting marriage to
heterosexual unions. But Romney said he did not support the proposed ban.Romney did not support same-sex marriage, declaring in a 2002 questionnaire for "Bay Windows,"
New England's leading gay and lesbian newspaper, "I believe that marriage is a union between a man and a woman." He also said he opposed civil unions, believing they were too close to marriage. But at the same time, he was assuring
gays and lesbians--publicly and privately--that he would not crusade against them. Plus he was voicing support for domestic partner benefits that sounded an awful lot like civil unions.
Source: The Real Romney, by Kranish & Helman, p.230
Jan 17, 2012
On Crime:
2002: Supported death penalty although it was long abolished
In an echo of his 1994 platform, Romney positioned himself as an agent of change, vowing to "clean up the mess on Beacon Hill," the seat of state government. And there was plenty to clean up: government was still rife with patronage and waste.
Romney debuted a sophisticated "microtargeting" program to drill deep into voter behavior, seeking to identify supporters through their coting history and other personal information.
He pitched himself squarely to independents, who made up half the Massachusetts electorate.
Unlike O'Brien, he supported the death penalty, which had long been abolished, and an initiative petition on that year's ballot to replace bilingual education with English immersion.
Source: The Real Romney, by Kranish & Helman, p.232
Jan 17, 2012
On Environment:
Restored public confidence after 2006 Big Dig tragedy
One of Romney's longest-running battles was over the Big Dig. Then a tragedy changed everything. On the night of July 10, 2006, heavy concrete ceiling panels fell onto a car driving through a Big Dig tunnel. Milena Del Valle, a 38-year-old mother of
three from Boston, was killed.For years, the public had been troubled by cost overruns and design problems on the megaproject. Now the abstractions turned into a real threat: commuters were, for a time, afraid to venture into the warren of tunnels
underneath the city. Romney had public opinion on his side. Three days after the accident, the legislature handed him emergency powers over the tunnel project. Immediately, Romney became a commanding and reassuring presence, demonstrating a stunning
mastery of complicated engineering details. He unveiled plans for inspections and repairs. He vowed to restore public confidence. This, even many critics had to admit, was the take-charge CEO Massachusetts voters had elected in 2002.
Source: The Real Romney, by Kranish & Helman, p.243-244
Jan 17, 2012
On Abortion:
Stem-cell cloning breaches an ethical boundary
In 2004, Romney met with a renowned Harvard stem cell researcher named Douglas Melton. Melton coolly explained how his work relied on cloning human embryos, and explained that "my work focuses on improving the lives of those suffering from debilitating
diseases."But for Romney it was a seminal day, triggering what he describes as an awakening on "life" issues after he had spent his entire political career espousing very different views. In the official account of Romney's rebirth as a social
conservative, the meeting with Melton would become the Genesis story. Romney came out strongly against the cloning technique, saying that the method breached an "ethical boundary." He vowed to press for legislation to criminalize the work. Romney's
opposition stunned scientists, lawmakers, and observers because of his past statements endorsing, in general terms, embryonic stem cell research. His wife Ann had publicly expressed hope that stem cells would hold a cure for her multiple sclerosis.
Source: The Real Romney, by Kranish & Helman, p.253-254
Jan 17, 2012
On Abortion:
Scientifically, life begins at conception
Romney has rejected suggestions that politics motivated his change of heart on abortion & embryonic stem cell research. "Everybody's entitled to their own view," he said. "Some people who look at the issue of the beginning of life from the lens of their
faith say, 'When does the spirit enter the body?' That is not the lens that I think a secular leader should use. I look from a scientific standpoint. Romney said he arrived at his moral answer after pressing scientists on the cloning process. "When you
create this clone, when you take the nucleus of a skin cell of a male and put it in an egg of the female, do you at that point have life?" Romney recalled asking. "And they said, 'No question, it is life. Once you put these together, you have life.'
That's all I need to know for when the definition of when human life begins."The extent of Romney's shift became clear in July 2005 when he vetoed a bill for the morning-after pill and to require hospitals to make it available to rape victims.
Source: The Real Romney, by Kranish & Helman, p.254-255
Jan 17, 2012
On Families & Children:
Abstinence-only education for 12-to-14 year olds
As his term went on, Romney would make a series of shifts--in some cases wholesale reversals of past positions, in others significant changes in emphasis. After saying he opposed abstinence-only education,
Romney adopted just such a program for twelve- to fourteen-year-olds, primarily in Hispanic and black communities.
Source: The Real Romney, by Kranish & Helman, p.256-258
Jan 17, 2012
On Health Care:
Official portrait had 2 symbols: his wife, & healthcare
In 2008, for Romney's official portrait, he had been clear about the image he wanted to convey for posterity. He would be sitting on his desk in front of an American flag, next to symbols of two things he held dear. The first was a photo of his wife,
the center of his personal universe. The second was the Massachusetts health care law, represented by an official-looking document with a caduceus--often used as a symbol of the medical profession--embossed in gold on the cover.
Romney was deeply proud of the law and felt strongly that it should figure prominently in the portrait, which would hang alongside others dating back to the Colonial era. He wanted to be remembered for that.Romney hoped the revolution in health
care that he, more than anyone, had driven in to law would redound to his benefit as a presidential candidate. Who else on the Republican side had tried to do anything as difficult or ambitious--much less gotten it done?
Source: The Real Romney, by Kranish & Helman, p.261-262
Jan 17, 2012
Page last updated: Feb 21, 2019