Mitt Romney was born and raised in Michigan, which technically makes it his “home state”. He was Governor of Massachusetts and he and his wife still maintain a condo there. The Romneys also have a “compound” in New Hampshire, and a beach house in California.
It would be reasonable to think that at least one of the four states he has a connection to would be behind him as a candidate – think again.
Currently, President Obama is ahead of Romney in the polls in all four states where the Romneys have ties. According to Real Clear Politics
Obama’s leads are:
- Michigan: +8.5
- Massachusetts: +21
- California: +23.5
- New Hampshire: +6.4
Trailing in Michigan is understandable, after all Romney has bungled and re-bungled the issue of the bailout for the major automakers – they should go bankrupt, the bailout was my idea, etc., etc. Then there was the idiot move where, as the New York Times reported, he told several thousand Wisconsin voters:
“…one of the most humorous” connections he had to the state came when his father, George Romney, closed an auto plant in Michigan and moved it to Wisconsin. When the elder Mr. Romney later ran for governor of Michigan, the son recalled, the plant closure became a rather sensitive subject, especially when a school band played the Wisconsin fight song at a parade…”
Hardly an amusing anecdote.
“The plant in question produced cars for Hudson Motors, which at its peak in 1950 employed more than 25,000 workers in Detroit. The company was absorbed into the newly formed American Motors in 1954, which struggled against the Big 3 automakers and soon began merging plants and laying off workers. Under Mr. Romney, Hudson production was moved toKenosha, Wisc., beginning in 1954, one of the first companies to walk out on Detroit.
The plant was closed a few years later after being converted to military contracts, but the thousands of people who lost their jobs didn’t forget.”
So Michigan’s understandably not in the Romney camp; as for California and New Hampshire- he just resides in those states part time, so there’s not much of a connection to either one, thus no real voter allegiance.
Perhaps the state that is most telling for Romney’s campaign is Massachusetts, the one place he has actually governed, but whose voters aren’t exactly singing his praises either.
According to Fox News, some Massachusetts residents feel
“…Romney used the state as a springboard for his national political ambitions. Some seem to resent him for it.
“He doesn’t know where he lives,” said Mike Egan, a retired independent
Egan and others say Romney seemed to have his eye on the White House as soon as he arrived at the Massachusetts State House in 2003.
He would visit Iowa three times in 2005 and nine times in 2006. That year, Romney spent 212 days outside of Massachusetts. One trip included a visit to Iraq and Afghanistan to enhance his international credentials, just as his state grappled with a devastating flood.”
As the New York Times put it,
“These are the voters who know Mitt Romney best — the ones who chose him as their governor a decade ago, embracing his promise to shake things up as a newcomer to elected office and positioning him for a future on the national stage.”
And some Massachusetts primary voters described Romney this way:
“…he is a flip-flopper who held moderate positions as the governor of this Democratic-leaning state but became more conservative when he decided to run for president.”
On top of that, Mitt Romney’s current claims of accomplishment during his governorship are hardly backed up by the facts. From Veracity Stew, here’s Mitt Romney’s BIG Lie on Job Creation in One Chart:
In addition, Governor Romney’s poll numbers went from a 66% approval rating in November of 2003 to disapproval rating of 65% in just three years.
Now I could point out all of the aspects of Romney’s dismal performance in governance, but here are a few tidbits pointed out by a Conservative:
- Under Romney, Massachusetts was in the BOTTOM THREE OF THE NATION FOR JOB CREATION, only above post-Katrina Louisiana and Michigan
- According to the National Association of State Budget Officers (NASBO), under Romney, spending in the Bay State rose 20.7 percent
- As Governor, Romney raised taxes and fees seven times by multi-millions of dollars to the tax payer…
- Romney also, during a fiscal crisis in his state, imposed a 2 cent per-gallon gasoline fee, imposed an Internet sales tax and legislated to facilitate the local governments within his state to raise business property taxes…
“He is counting on the American electorate to ignore his record, flip flops and insatiable quest for the presidency that began with his father.”
And that my friends is from a member of his own party. Remind me again why they nominated him.
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