noted that his position as stated then—personally opposed to abortion but opposed to any changes in the law that would restrict a woman’s right to obtain one—was almost identical to that of Senator John Kerry. But Kerry called himself pro-choice while Romney called himself pro-life. I asked him to explain the difference. “I can tell you what my position is,” he said, “and it’s in a very narrowly defined sphere, as candidate for governor and as governor of Massachusetts, what I said to people was that I personally did not favor abortion, that I am personally pro-life. However, as governor I would not change the laws of the commonwealth relating to abortion. Now, I don’t try and put a bow around that and say, ‘What does that mean you are—does that mean you’re pro-life or pro-choice?’ Because that whole package—meaning I’m personally pro-life but I won’t change the laws, you could describe that as—well, I don’t think you can describe it in one hyphenated word.” Mycolleague Ruth Marcus then asked, “Do you support making abortion illegal? I’m not talking about what you would do as governor.” Romney replied, “But that’s the furthest I’m going to take you right now. I’m governor of Massachusetts, I’m running for governor of Massachusetts, and I’m telling you exactly what I will do as governor of Massachusetts, but I’m not going to tell you what I’d do as mayor of Boston or a congressman or any of those positions.” Marcus pressed him again: “I just wanted to understand the thinking behind that status quo theory. If the majority of the state has a particular position, is that the position that you have?” she asked. Romney’s concluding response was this: “I’m not going to enter into a philosophical ‘where it comes from.’ I’m just telling you . . . what it is.” It was that kind of slippery language and evasiveness that gave rise to skepticism among conservatives that he was truly one of them.
By the end of his term as governor, Romney’s approval ratings had fallen sharply into negative territory. He chose not to run for reelection, a race he likely would have lost. Instead he ran for president. The once moderate Romney perceived a vacuum on the right in a race where the two best-known candidates—John McCain and New York mayor Rudy Giuliani—were at odds with the party’s conservative base. Romney tried to fill the space by emphasizing social issues rather than running on his strengths as a businessman and problem solver. In late 2006, as the race was just beginning, McCain’s campaign pointed reporters to the tapes of the Kennedy-Romney debates and to other Romney statements from his first campaign. The flip-flop label stuck to him then and stayed with him throughout the campaign. He had some early successes in 2007—he won the Iowa Straw Poll in August of that year—but lost the Iowa caucuses to Mike Huckabee and the New Hampshire primary to McCain.
By February 2008 he was out of the race—a candidate who not only had proved to be an underachiever but whose political identity remained in question. Romney’s response was to start working on a book in the late spring of 2008, a project he hoped would allow him to express his political philosophy and policy ideas more clearly than he had as a candidate. By the time Obama was getting ready to take the oath of office, Romney had retreated to the sidelines. He and Ann Romney, who had just been diagnosed with breast cancer, were at their home in La Jolla. “He was out in California, Ann was undergoing these treatments [for breast cancer], and he was working on his book,” said Beth Myers, his gubernatorial chief of staff and 2008 campaign manager. “That’s where his head was. He was listening to the waves at night. We were certainly not on the phone saying, ‘Okay, we’ve got to get you to New Hampshire four times.’”
• • •
How these two politicians, so different in so many
By the end of his term as governor, Romney’s approval ratings had fallen sharply into negative territory. He chose not to run for reelection, a race he likely would have lost. Instead he ran for president. The once moderate Romney perceived a vacuum on the right in a race where the two best-known candidates—John McCain and New York mayor Rudy Giuliani—were at odds with the party’s conservative base. Romney tried to fill the space by emphasizing social issues rather than running on his strengths as a businessman and problem solver. In late 2006, as the race was just beginning, McCain’s campaign pointed reporters to the tapes of the Kennedy-Romney debates and to other Romney statements from his first campaign. The flip-flop label stuck to him then and stayed with him throughout the campaign. He had some early successes in 2007—he won the Iowa Straw Poll in August of that year—but lost the Iowa caucuses to Mike Huckabee and the New Hampshire primary to McCain.
By February 2008 he was out of the race—a candidate who not only had proved to be an underachiever but whose political identity remained in question. Romney’s response was to start working on a book in the late spring of 2008, a project he hoped would allow him to express his political philosophy and policy ideas more clearly than he had as a candidate. By the time Obama was getting ready to take the oath of office, Romney had retreated to the sidelines. He and Ann Romney, who had just been diagnosed with breast cancer, were at their home in La Jolla. “He was out in California, Ann was undergoing these treatments [for breast cancer], and he was working on his book,” said Beth Myers, his gubernatorial chief of staff and 2008 campaign manager. “That’s where his head was. He was listening to the waves at night. We were certainly not on the phone saying, ‘Okay, we’ve got to get you to New Hampshire four times.’”
• • •
How these two politicians, so different in so many
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