Yesterday, Romney was pilloried for saying his sons are serving their country by working for his campaign. Today hasn't been much better.
First, The Boston Globe ran an column calling him a liar. The nut graphs;
"He's been a pro-life Mormon faking it as a pro-choice friendly," Romney adviser Mike Murphy told the National Review in 2006.
Politicians always listen for the beat of the constituency they seek to represent, and waltz to it as best they can. They routinely tap dance around tough issues. They cha-cha-cha, reversing course when necessary. But they don't all do what Romney did on abortion rights. He engaged in a full-body tango with Massachusetts voters, doing everything he could to convince them he was pro-choice. He used his mother and another dead relative as props in a cold political calculation. But, this "pro-life Mormon," to quote Murphy, was "faking it" big time.
That's more than a mistake. That's dishonest.
You'd think that would be enough of adowner for Romney, but no, he wasn't done. He went on to expose himself as a thorough race-baiter and a hypocrite.
According to ABC News, Romney is attacking Giuliani for allowing New York to be a haven for illegal immigrants:
In one of the strongest conflicts yet between Republican presidential front-runners, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney attacked rival Rudy Giuliani Wednesday, implying that Giuliani supported illegal immigration when he was mayor of New York.
"If you look at lists compiled on Web sites of sanctuary cities, New York is at the top of the list when Mayor Giuliani was mayor," Romney said at the Abbey Hotel here. "He instructed city workers not to provide information to the federal government that would allow them to enforce the law. New York City was the poster child for sanctuary cities in the country."
Gotta love how Romney tries to ingratiate himself with the anti-immigrant forces of the GOP. Only one problem - Mitt Romney has a long history with illegal immigrants. For instance, it is know that Romney's lawn was a "sanctuary" for illegal immigrants:
A top aide to Gov. Mitt Romney said Friday the Republican was unaware that several of the workers employed by a lawn care company hired to take care of the grounds at his suburban home were illegal immigrants.
The Boston Globe said it interviewed in Spanish four current and former employees of Community Lawn Service with a Heart who worked on Romney's property. All but one said they were in the United States illegally.
The New Bedford manufacturer raided by federal agents last month for allegedly employing illegal immigrants won approval for $111,150 in state grants over the last four years to hire and train employees, as part of the company's expansion.
(snip)
A spokesman for Mitt Romney, the former governor whose administration awarded the 2003 grant, said Patrick should seek to get the money back if it was used to train illegal workers.
"Mitt Romney's view is if that grant was not used for legitimate purposes -- if it was used to train illegal aliens, for instance -- then that money should be refunded to the taxpayers of Massachusetts," said spokesman, Eric Fehrnstrom .
And, of course, Romney has flip-flopped on McCain's immigration bill and amnesty:
"McCain-Kennedy isn't the answer," Romney said in a well-received speech to conservatives in Washington this month, describing it as an amnesty plan that would reward people for breaking the law and cost taxpayers millions to provide them benefits.
But that is markedly different from how Romney once characterized McCain's bill, elements of which are receiving new attention in Congress and from President Bush. Indeed, Romney's past comments on illegal immigration suggest his views have hardened as he has ramped up his campaign for the 2008 Republican presidential nomination.
In a November 2005 interview with the Globe, Romney described immigration proposals by McCain and others as "quite different" from amnesty, because they required illegal immigrants to register with the government, work for years, pay taxes, not take public benefits, and pay a fine before applying for citizenship.
"That's very different than amnesty, where you literally say, 'OK, everybody here gets to stay,' " Romney said in the interview. "It's saying you could work your way into becoming a legal resident of the country by working here without taking benefits and then applying and then paying a fine."
Romney did not specifically endorse McCain's bill, saying he had not yet formulated a full position on immigration. But he did speak approvingly of efforts by McCain and Bush to solve the nation's immigration crisis, calling them "reasonable proposals."
Romney also said in the interview that it was not "practical or economic for the country" to deport the estimated 12 million immigrants living in the US illegally. "These people contribute in many cases to our economy and to our society," he said. "In some cases, they do not. But that's a whole group we're going to have to determine how to deal with."
Asked about the discrepancy between Romney's comments in 2005 and now, spokesman Eric Fehrnstrom said: "Over the past year and a half, as the American people have learned all the details of the McCain-Kennedy approach, they have arrived at the same conclusion as Governor Romney: It rewards people who are here illegally."
So what does all of this mean? It confirms what we already knew - Mitt Romney will say anything or do anything to get elected. No truth is universal, no principle unbreakable. Mitt Romney cares only about obtaining more power for power's sake. He is truly Bush's heir.
