Mitt Romney

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Mitt Romney

Governor Willard Mitt Romney, JD, MBA, BA (b. March 12, 1947) is an American Republican politician from Massachusetts, who has served as Governor of Massachusetts since 2003.

Contents

1 Biography

2 Governor

3 Presidential ambitions

4 External links

Biography

Born in Detroit as the son of Michigan Governor George Romney, Mitt Romney graduated from the Cranbrook Kingswood School, received his B.A. from Brigham Young University in 1971, then an M.B.A. and J.D. from Harvard University in 1975. He is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Prior to being elected Governor, Romney was a cofounder and managing partner of Bain Capital, a Boston private equity firm; the 1994 Republican U.S. Senate nominee, winning 41% of the vote versus Senator Ted Kennedy in the closest election of Kennedy's long Senate career; and from 1999 to 2002 the CEO of the Salt Lake Organizing Committee in charge of planning the 2002 Winter Olympics, taking charge after the bribery scandal. He has also sat on the board of office supply giant Staples, Inc..

Romney was elected Governor of Massachusetts in November 2002, and is among those speculated as interested in seeking the Republican nomination for President in 2008.

Governor

Before the 2002 Republican primary for governor, the Republican incumbent, Jane Swift, was expected to run for governor. However, due to events under her tenure as acting governor she was seen by many Republicans as a liability who would be unable to win a general election against a Democrat. One poll taken at this time showed that Republicans favored Romney over Swift by a margin of more that 50 percentage points. With growing speculation that Romney would challenge Swift in what would be a bruising primary battle, Jane Swift decided not to seek her party's nomination.

During the general election Romney ran on a reform platform, as a major issue in the election was a serious state budget crisis. Supporters of Romney hailed his business record, especially his success with the 2002 Olympics, as that of one who would be able to bring in a new era of efficiency into Massachusetts politics. His detractors, on the other hand, cited his lack of government experience and claimed that he was ineligible to run for governor (See: Mitt Romney Residency Issue), as the state constitution requires 7 consecutive years of residency before a run and Romney had claimed residency in Utah as recently as 2000.

After much spirited debating Romney was elected Governor in November 2002 over Democrat Shannon O'Brien, Green Party candidate Jill Stein, and Libertarian Carla Howell (50%, 45%, 4%, 1% respectively).

As Romney is still in the middle of his first term, his success as governor is still a subject of active debate. Proponents of the governor say that he has been effective in reducing government waste and moving towards a balanced budget, while opponents say that he has supported the interests of big business over his constituents and been more interested in traveling the country to promote his political ambitions than in being governor. The governor is also frequently accused of ignoring predominantly-Democratic portions of the commonwealth when it comes to major transportation projects and approvals of funding.

Romney was heavily involved in national and statewide attempts to block the Massachusetts' Supreme Court's November 2003 ruling which legalized same-sex marriage. He implored the state legislature to pass an amendment banning gay marriage (the amendment passed the first round and has to pass again in the 2005-2006 session to be put on the ballot) and unsuccessfully went to court to try to have the marriages put on hold until the amendment's fate was decided. He did succeed in his enforcement of a 1913 law which prohibits non-residents from marrying in Massachusetts if the marriage would be void in their home state; a decision many decried since the original purpose of the law was to block interracial marriages. Romney also testified in front of Congress, urging them to pass the Federal Marriage Amendment. In 2004, the Massachusetts House and Senate approved a constitutional amendment that would ban gay marriage but allow for Vermont-style civil unions. If approved a second time in the 2005 session, it would go before voters in 2006. In June 2005, Romney endorsed the “Coalition for Marriage and Family,” a coalition of Catholics and conservative organizations, including local organizations like the Black Ministerial Alliance and Massachusetts Family Institute as well as high-profile national groups like Focus on the Family and the Family Research Council. The Coalition states that it was founded was a result of the “Massachusetts’ activist court [that] redefined marriage without the citizens ever having their say.” Romney threw his support behind the Coalition’s citizen petition effort -- dubbed VoteOnMarriage.org -- that would encourage a vote against the existing ballot amendment and replace it with another streamlined question that bans gay marriage and makes no provisions for civil unions[1] (http://www.seacoastonline.com/news/06182005/south_of/48340.htm) [2] (http://www.sentinelandenterprise.com/local/ci_2808675). Romney claimed that the existing ballot question confused voters who oppose both gay marriage and civil unions.

In December 2004, Romney announced plans to file a death penalty bill in early 2005. [3] (http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/nation/wire/sns-ap-death-penalty,0,1321605.story?coll=sns-ap-nation-headlines) The bill, filed April 28, 2005, seeks to reinstate the death penalty in cases that include terrorism, the assassination of law enforcement officials and multiple killings. The legislation would require corroborating scientific evidence, multiple layers of review and a new "no doubt" standard of proof.

In May 2005 Romney claimed his stance on abortion had changed (http://www.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2005/5/25/211338.shtml) (in 2002 he said he wanted to keep abortion "safe and legal in this country"). That same month he vetoed a stem-cell research bill he had once supported, claiming he objected to the use of human embryos (the legislature overrode his veto). The next month, a controversy erupted over comments chief Romney political adviser Michael Murphy made to conservative National Review magazine: "He's been a pro-life Mormon faking it as a pro-choice friendly." Murphy claimed he was discussing the way that Romney's critics described him, while Romney said he had kept his campaign promises regarding abortion.

Presidential ambitions

In what many viewed as efforts to kickstart his 2008 campaign for President of the United States, Romney campaigned for Bush in New Hampshire and Michigan and had a prime speaking slot at the 2004 Republican National Convention. However, the speech, in spite of Republicans telling the press to "keep an eye on Romney", generated little interest, and New Hampshire and Michigan both went to John Kerry in the 2004 Presidential election. Romney's own popularity in Massachusetts slid possibly due to the public's unease over his frequent trips out of state as well as his harsh personal attacks against John Kerry. Perhaps more troubling for Romney were his efforts to gain enough seats in the Democratic-controlled state legislature to be able to override their vetoes. Romney and Republican leaders threw an estimated $4 million dollars into the elections, outspending many Democrats by a 5 or 6-to-1 margin. Romney concentrated on suburban areas where he won in 2002, and personally campaigned for many of the candidates. Some also believed that the Massachusetts voters would have a backlash against the state's recent court ruling legalizing same-sex marriage, as had happened with civil unions in Vermont 4 years earlier. But instead of Democrats losing their supermajority, they managed to gain 3 seats. Romney announced on December 23 he would run for a second term.

Polls taken after the 2004 election showed a large majority of Massachusetts voters would not support Romney if he ran for President.

Recently, WFXT, a Boston FOX affiliate, reports that Romney supporters have been quietly laying the groundwork for a presidential campaign. On February 21, 2005 he spoke before South Carolina Republicans; the winner of the South Carolina primary has gone on to be the Republican nominee in every election since 1980 [4] (http://www.cnn.com/2005/ALLPOLITICS/02/22/gop.romney.ap/index.html). Bob Novak, in a column on May 7, 2005, writes that Romney, "in a recent secret Washington meeting with national political operatives signaled he probably will forego seeking re-election in 2006 in order to pursue the 2008 Republican presidential nomination [5] (http://www.townhall.com/columnists/robertnovak/rn20050507.shtml)."

External links

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Official Website (http://www.mass.gov/gov)
Speech at the Republican National Convention, 2004 (http://www.c-span.org/Search/basic.asp?ResultStart=1&ResultCount=10&BasicQueryText=gov.+mitt+romney) (RealPlayer (http://www.real.com) required)
Gov. Mitt Romney - 2008 Presidential Wire (http://www.patrickruffini.com/2008wire/index.php?c=Romney)