NH Union Leader: Anti-Romney
by Ryan Sager
Tue, 14 Aug 2007 at 10:54 AM
updated Tue, 14 Aug 2007 at 10:56 AM
When it comes to the New Hampshire Republican primary, there's one newspaper endorsement sought above all others: the New Hampshire Union-Leader (despite the fact that it's had limited impact on election results). And lately, the Union-Leader and its staff have been on a tear against Mitt Romney. On August 7, the paper ran an editorial titled, "Romney's assurances, on abortion they fall short." In its harshest segment, it takes the former Massachusetts governor to task for his shifting stories about his abortion conversion:
Romney has given two accounts of his changing views on abortion. One is that he was pro-choice until 2005, when he became pro-life after researching stem cell issues. The other is that he was personally pro-life but refused to impose his views on the people of Massachusetts.
Both cannot be true. Which is it? We are not sure we care. But we do care that Romney has two stories that don't mesh and appears to have inadvertently admitted to taking a position on this issue because it was politically expedient to do so.
If that weren't enough, the Union-Leader's editorial page editor, Andrew Cline, took to the American Spectator's Web site to take another swipe at Mr. Romney.
Yesterday, the Spectator published a satirical piece by Mr. Cline about Mr. Romney having "bought" Iowa:
Corporate "turnaround king" Mitt Romney disclosed on Saturday that earlier this year he purchased the entire state of Iowa for "pennies on the dollar." The venture capitalist, who also is running for the Republican presidential nomination, said that if he could not leverage his purchase into occupation of the Oval Office, he expects to at least "make a killing on all this damned corn."
Neither Romney nor Iowa Gov. Chet Culver would disclose the purchase price, but outside experts estimated it would have been between $20 million and $25 million. The low price is because Romney did not buy the actual farmland, which is worth billions. He just bought the "human capital." That is, the people.
"Iowans are not boastful like New Yorkers or brash like Bostonians," Romney said. "They're just simple, salt-of-the-earth folks. Which is why I could buy them all for less than the price of a good-sized parking garage."
He ended with a section on whether Mr. Romney could, in turn, buy New Hampshire.
Now, the Union-Leader's publisher, Joe McQuaid, decides who gets endorsed. But this sure seems to point in the direction of the Union-Leader not endorsing Mitt. Could this mean a John McCain or Fred Thompson endorsement? The Union-Leader had the chance to endorse Mr. McCain against George W. Bush in 2000; instead, the paper endorsed Steve Forbes. Nonetheless, it seems unlikely the paper would go for Rudy Giuliani.
So, it could be a two-man race for the Union-Leader's endorsement, unless they go for a surprise like Mike Huckabee or another second-tier candidate.
Related Topics: GOP Primary
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