Thanks for the info sannity.

- Bang

Fans of a Mitt Romney presidential campaign should keep in mind that Gov. Romney appointed the genius running DSS who still insists that his department did nothing wrong and as “nothing to be ashamed of.”

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Alot more can be read about the case at Michelle Malkin’s place.

In January, Gov. Mitt Romney appointed a three-member commission to investigate the department’s handling of the case, and the Post-Audit and Oversight Committee launched a larger probe into the state’s child-welfare system. Those probes are ongoing.

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Mitt Romney on the ISSUES.

Mitt Romney had a successful career in management consulting and capital management, culminating with a stint as CEO of Bain & Co. In 1994 he made his first political run, challenging Sen. Ted Kennedy. Even that year’s Republican tide was not enough to drown Mr. Kennedy, who won 58% to 41%. Yet Mr. Romney’s showing remains the best of any challenger Mr. Kennedy has faced. Mr. Romney got high marks for turning around the debt- and scandal-plagued organizing committee for Salt Lake City’s 2002 Winter Olympics, and in 2002 he defeated Democrat Shannon O’Brien to become the Bay State’s fourth consecutive GOP governor.

Mr. Romney could be an attractive presidential candidate. His sunny disposition puts one in mind of Ronald Reagan–he laughs easily and smiles almost continuously. He is a governor, as four of the past five presidents were; but he can claim more international experience than most state executives. In addition to his work on the Olympics, he has served on the federal Homeland Security Advisory Council, chairing its working group on intelligence and information sharing.

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Not Mr. Romney, whose views put him well within the mainstream of GOP conservatism. A self-described “fiscal hawk,” he takes credit for staving off tax increases, no mean feat given that the Democrats have a veto-proof legislative majority. When he took office, the state had a $3 billion budget deficit. “We held the line on taxes, we did not borrow more money, and instead we cut back on state programs,” closing the gap. He hopes next year to persuade the Legislature to cut the top income tax rate to 5% from 5.3%.

He praises George W. Bush on the war: “The president is right to point to an international jihadist movement aimed at the collapse of the United States,” he says. “He has gone after that threat in the right way and with great energy and vigor, and I applaud the fact that he has taken it on very seriously and has not considered it just a criminal action but instead a war action, which requires a military . . . response.”

Asked if he disagrees with prospective rival John McCain’s proposal to ban “cruel, inhuman and degrading” interrogation of terrorists in U.S. custody, he demurs: “I’m not a senator; [I] haven’t looked at his act.” When I persist, he says, “Would you like me to do an analysis of that for you?”–a rare flash of sarcasm, albeit delivered with a smile.

His views on social issues–about which more in a moment–seem ill-suited to this ultraliberal state. But his ability to win election in Massachusetts may give him a crossover appeal in blue states, just as Bill Clinton was able to carry some half a dozen states where John Kerry wasn’t even competitive.

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Mr. Romney says his business experience helped prepare him to deal with an opposition legislature. “People imagine that when you’re a chief executive officer, you snap your fingers, and everybody bows.” In fact, a CEO has to appeal to multiple constituencies: boards, shareholders, customers, subordinates who covet the corner office. “You’re in a position of give-and-take that is more akin to public life than you might imagine. I’m in a state where my legislature is 85% Democratic. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to recognize that that means if I’m going to get anything done, it’s going to have to be done on a collaborative basis.” This may be a refreshing message to voters weary of the bitter partisanship of Washington politics during the Clinton and Bush presidencies.

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A crucial question will be whether Mr. Romney’s religion is a handicap. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is indigenous to America, but many Americans view it with suspicion. In a 1999 Gallup poll, 17% of those surveyed said they would not vote for a Mormon for president, far more than said the same of a Jew (6%) or a Catholic (4%).

In 1994 Sen. Kennedy made an issue of the LDS Church’s tardy embrace of racial equality (it did not allow the ordination of blacks until 1978). “I don’t think that’s the reason I lost to Ted Kennedy,” says Mr. Romney, and he’s surely right. In any case, Mr. Kennedy doesn’t seem to have any problem today answering to a Mormon Senate leader, Harry Reid.

Mr. Romney also says religion wasn’t a problem for his father: “When he was running for president . . . he was the front-runner. His faith just didn’t factor in. . . . His statement on Vietnam–that put him under, but certainly not his faith.”

The trouble is that much of today’s anti-Mormon sentiment is found on the religious right, a constituency that looms much larger in the GOP now than it did in 1968, or than it ever has in Massachusetts. Ask a conservative Christian what he thinks of Mormonism, and there’s a good chance he’ll call it a “cult” or say Mormons “aren’t Christian.”

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Hope that helps.

I posted this elsewhere looking for feedback so here it is again:

Hey, I know this isn’t on topic…But I was wondering what everybody thought of Mitt Romney in ‘08. Any problems with the Mormon background? (I just ask that last part ’cause I come from a mormon family…not due to bias.)

Comment by CB Howell @ 3/5/2006 – 7:44 pm

No I was not a woman in a previous life.