Romney regrets running in Massachusetts; "I would have chosen Michigan"

[Joe Republic]

I know he's not running for re-election, but this seemed like the most appropriate board to post this in.


Source

Mitt: I should have run for Mich. gov

By Kimberly Atkins
Thursday, December 22, 2005 - Updated: 02:42 AM EST

Gov. Mitt Romney said he didn’t plan for a life in politics — and if he had, he would have never come to Massachusetts.

“I would have chosen Michigan,” Romney, a Detroit native, told the Herald yesterday.

“Think about it — my dad and mom both had extraordinary reputations, and did great things in that state,” said Romney, whose father, George W. Romney, was a three-term Michigan governor before running for president in 1968 and whose mother, Lenore, ran for U.S. Senate in 1970.

“Running as a Romney in Michigan is golden for a politician. I would have never thought about Massachusetts had I anticipated that politics was going to be in my future,” he said.

Romney, who settled in Massachusetts after earning law and business degrees at Harvard, said he ran for governor after being frustrated with lawmakers while in the private sector.

But Democrats said they wish Romney had chosen Michigan over the Bay State, a place they say Romney continues to insult as he mulls a White House run.

“I think it’s clear he’s never liked Massachusetts very much,” said state Democratic Party Chairman Phil Johnston. “It’s bizarre that he ever ran for governor here in the first place. I think the voters who elected him would perhaps now rue the day they did so.”

Romney has made several trips to his native state, one of several early primary states he’s frequented, to raise money for Republicans and position himself nationally.

“Michigan (voters) would have been receptive to a Mitt Romney candidacy,” said Michigan GOP spokesman Nate Bailey. “It’s a state that knew and respected his father as governor.”

Romney also gave his strongest hint yet that he will seek an Oval Office bid, saying he decided not to run for re-election in part because it would “mislead the public” knowing a presidential bid would follow months later.

“I think it would be disingenuous to run a state campaign, to run for governor, and then in January or February, after your inauguration, to say ‘Now I’m going to start running for president,’ ” Romney said. “That’s not something I was willing to do.”

National GOP spokesman Danny Diaz brushed aside the notion that Romney’s comment could be seen as a jab to President George W. Bush, who took heat in Texas after launching his presidential campaign on the heels of his election to a second term as governor.

“This is a personal decision made by candidates at every level and I don’t think it’s useful to read too much into it,” Diaz said.

Romney said he would not seek office in another state, nor would he again run against U.S. Sen. Edward M. Kennedy.

But residents could get a chance to elect him for a second term on Beacon Hill after his quest for higher office, he said. “Who knows? Maybe after another 10 or 12 years I’d get angry enough to run for office in this state,” Romney said.

[Q]

Openly insulting the state that elected him, and then boasting the ease with which he would have won in Michigan.  This leaves me with just one question: Could this man be more arrogant?

[YRABNNRM]

Could he be more arrogant?

Sure he could...

"I WAS THE BEST GUVNA EVA AND WILL BE TEH BEST PRESDNT EVA IN 2008!"

[Joe Republic]

I guess he's realized that he effectively has no home state advantage for 2008.  So now he's trying to adopt Michigan as his home state instead.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

LMAO@anyone who believes this man will be the next president.

[Q]

LMAO@anyone who believes this man will be the next president.

I think it's even more hilarious how at the end of the article he speculates on how he might get elected in Mass again.

[WalterMitty]

ive been saying for quite some time that this man is a horrible, horrible person.

i miss governor jane swift.

[Cubby]

ive been saying for quite some time that this man is a horrible, horrible person.

i miss governor jane swift.

I agree completely

[Bleeding heart conservative, HTMLdon]

Does anyone think making fun of Mass. would hurt him in a GOP primary?

[Kevin]

I think he is going to do a Bill Weld if he doesn't get the Republican nomantion.

[WalterMitty]

Does anyone think making fun of Mass. would hurt him in a GOP primary?

he also makes fun of cambridge, don.  which is a great place!

you probably wouldnt like it if a democrat governor running for prersident made fun of tennessee.

nor would you appreciate a republican governor poking fun of memphis.

[dazzleman]

He does have a very strange strategy.  He seems to base his strategy for his presidential run on dissing the state that elected him governor.

While trashing Massachusetts surely won't cost him too much support among hard-core Republican voters, it still begs the question of why he ran there in the first place, and makes it difficult to tout his record as governor there.

He's right in one sense -- he would have been far better off had he run for governor from a nice swing state like Michigan, rather than a hard-core liberal state like Massachusetts.  I don't see how his strategy can work, but who knows?  Stranger things have happened.

[WalterMitty]

He does have a very strange strategy.  He seems to base his strategy for his presidential run on dissing the state that elected him governor.

While trashing Massachusetts surely won't cost him too much support among hard-core Republican voters, it still begs the question of why he ran there in the first place, and makes it difficult to tout his record as governor there.

He's right in one sense -- he would have been far better off had he run for governor from a nice swing state like Michigan, rather than a hard-core liberal state like Massachusetts.  I don't see how his strategy can work, but who knows?  Stranger things have happened.

i think his strategy is two-fold:

1. he is telling the republican primary voters that he is 'electable'.  after all, he is a conservative mormon and was elected in the liberal wastelands of massachusetts.  he has a point there.

2.  he is also saying that if he can turn around massachusetts (with no tax increrases), he can do wonders for the country.  that point is very debatable.

[dazzleman]

He does have a very strange strategy.  He seems to base his strategy for his presidential run on dissing the state that elected him governor.

While trashing Massachusetts surely won't cost him too much support among hard-core Republican voters, it still begs the question of why he ran there in the first place, and makes it difficult to tout his record as governor there.

He's right in one sense -- he would have been far better off had he run for governor from a nice swing state like Michigan, rather than a hard-core liberal state like Massachusetts.  I don't see how his strategy can work, but who knows?  Stranger things have happened.

i think his strategy is two-fold:

1. he is telling the republican primary voters that he is 'electable'.  after all, he is a conservative mormon and was elected in the liberal wastelands of massachusetts.  he has a point there.

2.  he is also saying that if he can turn around massachusetts (with no tax increrases), he can do wonders for the country.  that point is very debatable.

It's definitely an unusual strategy.  The danger is the primary voters saying, "if those Massholes elected him, then we sure don't want him."  So that's where the need to diss Massachusetts comes in.  Still, it's a risky strategy to try to pick up a new woman while openly dissing the one you have.  Even if the intended new chick doesn't like the current chick, she probably likes the fact that you rank on your women even less.

[WalterMitty]

it should also be noted that he didnt really 'choose' massachusetts.

he was living in utah when the mass gop came courting him after jane swift fell out of favor.

romney jumped at the opportunity,

[The Duke]

His problem is the Joe Biden problem.  Both of them are too frank about their ambitions.

[Dave from Michigan]

He should have ran here, he would have won, and would have beat Granholm in 2002

[Flying Dog]

Michigan doesnt want him.

[MaC]

He should have ran here, he would have won, and would have beat Granholm in 2002

^^

Although I wouldn't have liked him, he would've fared better, possibly beating the Cali-immigrant

[Alcon]

No matter how true this may be, what a profoundly stupid thing to say.

[tarheel-leftist85]

It was said in hopes of causing an uproar among Democrats and Bay Staters to rally the right wing around him (think of the radio guy Bill Bennett's remarks, etc.).  If they can say something to get us in a tizzy, that's how they coalesce.  Better to ignore irrelevant Romney.

[GOP = Terrorists]

it should also be noted that he didnt really 'choose' massachusetts.
he was living in utah when the mass gop came courting him after jane swift fell out of favor.
romney jumped at the opportunity,

Bah yes he did.  He was living in Utah.  He should have ran in Utah.  Running for office should be about representing your home not getting elected. =(

[WalterMitty]

it should also be noted that he didnt really 'choose' massachusetts.
he was living in utah when the mass gop came courting him after jane swift fell out of favor.
romney jumped at the opportunity,

Bah yes he did.  He was living in Utah.  He should have ran in Utah.  Running for office should be about representing your home not getting elected. =(

in fairness, he certainly had more ties to massachusetts than hillary had to ny.

[Keystone Phil]

Disgusting. It is now very, very unlikely that I'll even consider supporting this man in 2008.

[Bleeding heart conservative, HTMLdon]

it should also be noted that he didnt really 'choose' massachusetts.
he was living in utah when the mass gop came courting him after jane swift fell out of favor.
romney jumped at the opportunity,

Bah yes he did.  He was living in Utah.  He should have ran in Utah.  Running for office should be about representing your home not getting elected. =(

Then tell Hillary to go back to Arkansas or Illinois and tell Granholm to go back to Vancouver.