Why Does Romney Lie? (II)
Last night at the debate, Romney recycled his lame explanation for why he supported Paul Tsongas in the ’92 Democratic presidential primary in Massachusetts (he said he wanted to be able to vote against Bill Clinton). Steve Kornacki reviews the real reasons Romney voted for him and why his ’94 Senate campaign used it as a talking point in his defense:
In other words, it was perfectly natural for someone like Romney, a venture capitalist who back then described himself as passionately pro-choice and pro-gay rights and stressed his distance from Reagan-style conservatism, to vote for Tsongas in 1992. Which is the point that Romney and his allies tried to make in 1994, when Democrats tried to paint him as far-right ideologue. Romney had to be careful — among die-hards within the Massachusetts GOP, the Tsongas vote was a sensitive subject — but he and his allies quietly used his ’92 vote to counter the Democrats’ caricaturing.
There was even some hope among Romney’s team that Tsongas might endorse him. Tsongas had built his name as a critic of Kennedy’s old-school labor-friendly liberalism and had even helped launch an anti-deficit group (the Concord Coalition) that in ’94 gave Kennedy a failing grade.
I’m not sure why Romney ever felt compelled to come up with such a poor explanation for his Tsongas vote. It might not sit well with primary voters, but he could have made a perfectly reasonable argument for his decision. Since he was an independent at the time, he shouldn’t have been expected to vote for a Republican candidate every time. He could have said that voting in the more competitive election was the best way to use his vote that year, or he could have simply said that Tsongas’ views were closest to his at the time, but that he wouldn’t agree with Tsongas on a lot of things now. He could have just declared an interest in backing a home state politician. Instead he concocts an implausible story that anyone could see through in a minute just so he can maintain the fiction that he has always been a down-the-line partisan throughout his life when everyone knows he hasn’t been. This is what is so bizarre about Romney’s habit of lying: he lies about things that don’t really matter, and there doesn’t seem to be any discernible reason why he does it.
I don’t understand understand what you and Kornacki are on about. In the midst of his odd musings, Kornacki admits that Romney gave the same explanation then as now. He preferred Tsongas to Clinton.
Romney and Tsongas had a lot in common. They were both unprincipled, opportunistic, and full of themselves.
“I don’t understand what you and Kornacki are on about. In the midst of his odd musings, Kornacki admits that Romney gave the same explanation then as now. He preferred Tsongas to Clinton.”
David Tomlin, you have to understand that Daniel has a thing against Romney or Mormons, probably based on the fact that Marriott did not honor his room reservation years ago. (Keep in mind that Mitt Romney’s first name is actually “Willard,” not after the horror movie but after J. Willard Marriott of Marriot Corporation fame, who was a close friend of his fellow Mormon, Mitt Romney’s father George.) The irony is that Daniel, an acknowledged Democrat (albeit conservative) and an Orthodox Christian, is berating Romney for voting in a Democratic primary for Paul Tsongas, not only a Democrat but a Greek Orthodox Christian. The irony is rich indeed, but, as a nonbelieving Christian, I do forgive Daniel.
BTW, as a registered Independent (like me), Romney had the choice in Mass. to vote in either the Republican or Democratic primary. The Republican primary pitted George H.W. Bush against TAC’s own Pat Buchanan, and GHWB trounced Pat by 73% to 23%. If I had been living in Mass., I probably would have chosen to vote in the Democratic primary too. In Florida, I can’t vote either primary.
I’m not a Democrat, and I’ve never said that I was. What a dumb thing to say. I have never been registered as a member of either major party, and I hope I never will be.
Romney has a record of things that he is embarrassed about now that he wants conservative and Republican votes. Romney spins his Tsongas vote as an anti-Clinton vote now because Clinton is hated by Republicans. I guess that’s the explanation for why he defends his vote this way, but it’s just silly. When it comes to his public statements as a presidential candidate, Romney lies as a matter of course. Just look at most of the things he says about foreign policy for starters. His sympathizers don’t see it or they don’t care.
Chait summed things up nicely in a recent post: ” But I don’t see how you can paint Romney the candidate as in any way scrupulous about the truth in any form.”
Yes, there is an abundance of real examples of Romney lying. This isn’t one of them.
Of course it is. It’s a trivial, stupid lie, but that doesn’t change anything.
Romney has been telling some version of this story for over four years. Last time, it went like this:
His answer at the debate the other night wasn’t quite this bad, but he was still trying to mislead the audience.