Would George Romney Vote for Mitt?

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George Was Blunt, Mitt’s Polite

Mitt Romney has developed a reputation as a careful campaigner, almost to a fault. Mitt panders to the audience he’s addressing, always trying to find the magic bullet that will let him win the favor of the people listening to him. It’s the reason that Mitt was able to be a pro-choice, pro-LGBT rights governor in Massachusetts, and an anti-choice, anti-LGBT governor in Massachusetts. He’s not the kind of figure who will stand up for what he believes; he believes in tailoring his message to fit.

George Romney was anything but careful. He had a reputation for bluntness, one that appeared both in public and private. Mitt’s mother, Lenore, had a similarly brash temperament, and the two earned the nickname “The Bickersons” from their family, as neither was willing to back down to the other.

The way the two men have dealt with their religion — Mormonism — is instructive. Mitt has sought to keep his faith relatively quiet; while it’s impossible for people not to know Mitt is a Mormon, he has made few mentions of it. He’s even sought to keep from being seen at church during the campaign. George, on the other hand, invited traveling reporters to church with him, where both he and his wife spoke about their faith and the way it affected their beliefs.

While minor, the comparison speaks volumes about the men. George was who he was, and was unafraid to show it; Mitt is trying to sweep minor inconveniences under the rug and avoid giving offense to anyone if he can avoid it.

Mitt is Pro-War, George was Skeptical

Mitt Romney has maintained a relatively incoherent foreign policy, but one thing that he has been clear on is that he is ready, willing and eager to go to war. Mitt’s reaction to the deaths of four Americans in an attack on the Benghazi, Libya consulate was to call for “strength” and to insinuate that President Barack Obama, by engaging with the Middle East, was being “weak.” Romney supported the war in Iraq and has criticized Obama for creating a timetable for withdrawal from Afghanistan.

This is not surprising. Mitt’s foreign policy advisors are mostly neocons – the folks who brought us the war in Iraq. Mitt has adopted fully the neocon creed: shoot first, aim later.

George Romney was, at one point, in favor of the war of his era, the Vietnam War, at one point comparing the cause to fighting Nazi Germany. By the time he began his run for president, however, George had turned against the war. In an interview, Romney said, “When I came back from Vietnam, I’d just had the greatest brainwashing that anybody can get,” arguing that the generals who he’d met with had misled him about the progress in the war.

Of course, George was running against Richard Nixon for the GOP nomination, and Nixon had no problem ignoring the clear meaning of George’s statement. Nixon turned the statement on its head, using it to insinuate that George was not quite stable.

Again, though, the comparison is instructive. George Romney initially supported a war, but after reflection, he came to oppose it — and was blunt in arguing why he’d been wrong. Mitt has never seen a war he didn’t like (except, briefly, the war in Libya), and when he does change his position — as he has often — he’s rarely as direct as his father.

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Michael T.

10:46AM PDT on Sep 26, 2012

Here is MItt's Mommy pretty much poking holes in everything Mitty stands for.

http://www.upworthy.com/watch-mitt-romneys-own-mother-undermines-his-entire-campaign?c=upw1

September 26
send a green star

Beverly M.

2:38AM PDT on Sep 26, 2012

And I agree with Rob, I doubt Romney senior would be a member of the GOP if he were alive today. He was too good a person.

2:37AM PDT on Sep 26, 2012

I've read several articles on the senior Romney and sometimes find it hard to believe the 2 are related. I can only imagine what he's thinking right now.

Lauren G.

11:50PM PDT on Sep 25, 2012

I don't think George, Sr. would vote for him. George, Sr. actually worked for a living, and (horror of horrors) actually thought for himself), however, if he could see Jr. now, he might warm to the idea of retroactive abortion.

September 25
send a green star

9:41PM PDT on Sep 25, 2012

You know you can breath better and more oxygen gets to your brain if you quit bending over like that.

Jim C.

8:59PM PDT on Sep 25, 2012

A N M.: McCain was born in the Panama Canal Zone, which was U.S. territory. That would make him a U.S. citizen.

Deborah W.

2:30PM PDT on Sep 25, 2012

The truth by Michael G ...

"most of us here"

... any further doubt now about how deep the tilt?

Frances C.

8:04PM PDT on Sep 24, 2012

I am really curious now, what were the names of Nixon's 'two sons? How did he keep them secret for all those years? Perhaps Mittstake took them with him when he went to Bermuda to hide some of his money, and left them there.

September 24
send a green star

Rob K.

7:08PM PDT on Sep 24, 2012

If he were alive would GEORGE Romney even belong to TODAY'S GOP ?

pam w.

3:48PM PDT on Sep 24, 2012

Rose L....I don't know which "history" book you've read but....I'm sure Nixon's DAUGHTERS would be interested to hear of their two non-existent BROTHERS!

You're obviously enamored of Romney...tell us, what attracted you to him? The time he found the cure for cancer? Or the time he discovered electricity?