Mitt continues to kick up dirt as he veers right:
Governor Mitt Romney yesterday endorsed a grass-roots effort to pass aconstitutional ban on same-sex marriage in Massachusetts in 2008,abandoning his support for what he called a ”muddied" compromisemeasure that would also ban gay marriages but allow gays to enter intocivil unions.
… Reflecting the uneasiness among politicians over same-sex marriage,last spring the Legislature passed the Travaglini-Lees amendment to bangay marriage but allow civil unions. It cleared by just five votes. Atthe time, Romney urged Republicans to back the measure because it wasthe only one put forth by lawmakers that had a chance of passing.
Everybody clear on our Gov’s position? Clear as … mud?
And since all politics is local, we can see that Mitt’s new calculation will play well with the locals … of Spartanburg, SC:
Yesterday, Rick Beltram, who heads the Spartanburg County, S.C.,Republican Party, said Romney’s decision to back the new amendmentwould play well with crucial GOP voters in his state, some of whom areskeptical of a Massachusetts Republican. ”This will continue toreinforce in potential voters down here that he’s a real conservative,"Beltram said.
Luckily, Massachusetts folks have displayed their big, juicy brains in polls:
In March, a Boston Globe poll indicated that 56 percent of those surveyed supported same-sex marriage.
And in other (old) polling:
Do you approve or disapprove of the job Mitt Romney is doing as governor?
41% Approve 51% Disapprove 7% Not Sure
And on the Democratic side, we had Tom Reilly’s response:
‘‘I’m opposed to any effort to take away the rights of gay and lesbiancouples to marry," Reilly said in a statement. ”It is unfortunate thatthe Governor’s preoccupation with matters outside of Massachusettsdictate that he play politics with an issue that has been resolved andis working well." [My emphasis.]
As a pro-marriage guy, I’m satisfied with that. As for the primaries, you don’t have to vote for Reilly, you don’t have to pound the pavement for him, you don’t have to buy him a beer, he doesn’t have to be your best friend. But I think it’s long past time to call off the dogs on Reilly about the marriage issue. I think his statement is another clear indication of what he would do as governor — in this case, nothing. Fine with me.
Let’s be clear about something here: Reilly’s position, heartfelt or not, is practical. There are thousands of marriage licenses that have been issued to gay couples. It’s been the law of the Commonwealth for over a year. So let’s get real: these are real people we’re talking about. Mitt is running for something other than their governor — or ours, for that matter. But since he can’t get a national profile by touting his meager accomplishments, he feels it necessary to step all over us on his way out. Thanks for that, Your Excellency.
(… And that brings up another thing: Can someone explain Kerry Healey magic to me? Is anyone in the least bit concerned about her matching up with Reilly or Patrick? Am I missing something?)
Much more on this at the Fray, .08 Acres, and Marry in Massachusetts.
In my opinion, Healey is an overly wonkish Republican party hack with deep pockets who’s never won an election on her own.The only reason I see to be worried about Healey is that the Democrats need to win the female vote. I haven’t seen any poll numbers, though, so until then I’m not too concerned. Could she win? Hey, anything’s possible, but she has not demonstrated in my eyes any sort of political savvy in the past two plus years that makes me think she can pull off an election as the marquee candidate.
I don’t think the “female vote” is a factor here — I doubt anyone would vote for Healey just because she’s a woman. (Unless maybe she pulls a Mitt and does a shirtless commercial.)
Kerry Healey is out of her league – as sco says, a Republican hack who ran twice for state rep in her home town of Beverly and got creamed both times. She is unlikely to win a Republican primary, IMHO. Someone else, maybe Charlie Baker, maybe not, will be the Republican candidate for Governor if/when Romney bows out.