Count me in as someone who was a huge fan of former Massachsetts Gov. Mitt Romney — in the incarnation he seems to be running away from…the Mitt Romney who was a moderate governor. I watch him now with sadness as he tries to redefine himself. But this latest quote that is making the rounds is a Godsend for Democrats if he can survive the entry of Texas Gov. Rick Perry into the race and get the Republican nomination: Romney is unloved in many GOP quarters.
This is the kind of response that you could see an MSNBC host saying Romney would say. And you’d say, “Nah, he wouldn’t give his opponents a sound byte like that.” But whether his statement is true or not…yes he would and did:
FOOTNOTE: I still think out of all the candidate he is the one who’d give Barack Obama the toughest race — someone who could attract independent voters.
Advice to Romney: don’t get stuck on “my friend” like John McCain. One Presidential campaign hearing the phrase nonstop was enough. TRUST ME.
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.