His Excellency Governor Romney’s effort to split the baby (so to speak) when it comes to stem cell research — by allowing research on unused frozen embryos at fertility clinics but not on embryos created for the purpose of harvesting stem cells — seems to have badly backfired. Romney, who had previously been more or less unconditionally supportive of stem cell research, announced his new position yesterday in the New York Times. This was very likely an attempt to burnish his right-wing credentials in a national newspaper so as to ease the fears of non-Massachusetts Republicans who will decide whether he gets to run for President in 2008 and who are leery of his supposedly "moderate" views.
But Romney’s halfway, half-baked, half-assed position has pleased no one. The research community is outraged, because Romney’s position would bar very promising avenues of research and would give states that are actively supporting stem-cell research, like California and New Jersey, a huge advantage, potentially leading to a Massachusetts brain drain (just what our economy needs). And the "pro-life" community is outraged, because in their view research on frozen embryos is indistinguishable from creating embryos for research purposes. Three cheers for Senate President Robert Travaglini and the rest of the state legislature, who appear to be prepared to run roughshod over Romney’s silly posturing.
This is what happens when you take opportunistic positions not rooted in deeply-held beliefs but rather in political expediency. People see right through you. Serves you right, Your Excellency.
Not only that, but even Romney managed to piss off the Herald to the point where they broke out their ultimate insult: They compared him to Kerry!