Romney Was for Issue 2 Before He Was Against Saying He Was
by Cynthia McCabe | October 25, 2011
Mitt Romney (Photo by Gage Skidmore)
It can get confusing out on the campaign trail. All those babies to kiss and big corporate donors to keep happy and principled positions to remember. Which may be why Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney headed to an Ohio phone bank today, where the GOP was trying to gin up support for its union-busting Issue 2 ballot initiative and then declined to say whether he even supported Issue 2.
CNN political reporter Peter Hamby tweeted that Romney’s head-scratching decision to come to the call center, but to refuse to endorse Issue 2 (or a GOP-backed measure targeting affordable health care called Issue 3) was one of those “incredible moments in politics.”
Romney’s gone on the record previously as a booster for Ohio Gov. John Kasich’s anti-worker law, (which is also known as Senate Bill 5). The Columbus Dispatch reported that Romney posted a statement on Facebook in June supporting Kasich “and Ohio’s leaders as they take on this important fight to get control of government spending.”
But today, when he left the Terrace Park, Ohio, Republican call center, Romney told Ohio GOP chairman Kevin DeWine:
“I’m not saying anything one way or the other about the two ballot issues. But I am supportive of the Republican Party’s efforts here.”
So he’s not coming out now and saying he’s for Issue 2, but he wouldn’t mind seeing its passage eradicate the American dream. Ohio workers will likely be a little more explicit than Romney about their position on Issue 2 when they hit the polls on Nov. 8.
