Michigan Politics
Mitt Calls Self 'Shadow of the Real Deal,' George
By George Weeks

There are some similarities and stark contrasts among the factors in last week's demise of Mitt Romney's presidential campaign and that of his father's bid four decades ago.

Both men were success stories in the private sector before becoming governors, and both had political battles with Arizona senators.

For both, wars of the day were at play - shooting wars overseas and ideological wars within the GOP - as each Romney made an abrupt and surprise withdrawal from quest for the White House.

Group-think of journalists who do the first drafts of history was that Michigan Governor George Romney was done in by blurting out in a Detroit TV interview, "I just had the greatest brainwashing that anybody can get" during U.S briefings in Vietnam. But there was more to it than that.

While Romney acknowledged in a 1987 interview with this scribe that he was "cut to pieces" after his comment, he insisted there were other reasons, including "dirty tricks" the Richard Nixon camp used to spread "distortions" about Romney spending increases as governor.

In the latest issue of the Michigan Historical Review, Associate Vice- President Chris Bachelder of Hillsdale College documents a convincing case "that Romney's chances of winning the Republican nomination had become fairly remote by the time of his famous gaffe.

"When he said that he had been brainwashed, his status as the front-runner in public opinion polls, which he had enjoyed at the end of 1966, had already evaporated."

By the same token, the front-runner status of Mitt Romney had already evaporated when the former Massachusetts governor dropped out rather than, as he spun it, damage by a prolonged fight the chance of Senator John McCain, the post-Super Tuesday frontrunner who last summer was counted out by the media herd.

Said Romney: "I feel I have to now stand aside for our party and for our country. If I fight on in my campaign, all the way to the convention, I'd forestall the launch of a national campaign, and, frankly I'd make it easier for Sen. [Hillary] Clinton or [Barack] Obama to win. Frankly, in this time of war, I simply cannot let my campaign be a part of aiding a surrender to terror."

It was a noble declaration from a Michigan native who impressively won our January 15 GOP primary over McCain, victor over now-President George W. Bush here in 2000.

But there was more to it than that. The numbers just would not add up for Romney, especially as long as ex-Governor Mike Huckabee of Arkansas stays in the battle, drawing votes of the religious right.

In his Michigan travels, including in Traverse City, and in numerous national media interviews, the son suggested that his campaign, in a sense, was an extension of the father's.

Last December, in a New York Times interview, he said: "Like a baton has passed, like a relay team where the baton passed from generation to generation, I am a shadow of the real deal."

Last week, in reporting that Romney advisers acknowledged an array of tactical missteps and miscalculations, the same paper said: "Perhaps most significantly, they conceded that they had failed to overcome doubts about Mr. Romney's authenticity as they sought to position him as the most electable conservative in the race, a jarring contrast to his more moderate record as governor of Massachusetts."

The true blue moderate father fought "extremism" of conservatives, and was hurt in his 1968 presidential quest for refusing to endorse Arizona Senator Barry Goldwater's bid as the 1964 GOP nominee. (The son won't have that hang-up if Arizona Senator McCain is the 2008 nominee.)

Mitt Romney proclaimed himself "a conservative's conservative" in his presidential campaign after evolving from more moderate positions as governor and 1994 Senate candidate.

How about Mormonism? As noted by Bachelder in the Michigan Historical Review, it had little electoral impact for the father.

Despite media hype, it did not severely hamper the son.

There's talk of Mitt Romney being in a good position to seek the presidential nomination in 2012 if there is not an incumbent.

Writes Republican State Chairman Saul Anuzis: "I wish we could make it Senator Romney or even Governor Romney-- again…from Michigan!?!"

George Weeks retired in 2006 after 22 years as political columnist for The Detroit News. His weekly Michigan Politics column is syndicated by Superior Features.