Posted on 01/12/2007 4:09:16 AM PST by indcons
BOSTON - Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney's political record is relatively brief — four years as Massachusetts governor and a failed campaign for the U.S. Senate. That's enough, however, for Brian Camenker, a conservative gadfly and longtime thorn in Romney's side, to write a 28-page report that portrays Romney as sympathetic to gay rights and sexual behavior that clashes with his burnished image as a defender of traditional values.
Camenker's report, which has been making the rounds of conservative blogs and Web sites, threatens to undermine Romney's carefully crafted image, portraying him as far more liberal on social issues, particularly gay rights.
Detailed in the report, which includes five pages of footnotes and sources, are several mostly obscure incidents during Romney's four-year tenure as governor: a news release by a state advisory commission on gay youth, a proclamation hailing a gay pride parade, and distribution of a safe sex pamphlet, among others.
Romney's record on such touchstone social issues as homosexuality is crucial as he pitches himself to conservative Republican voters as a bulwark against gay marriage in the only state that allows same-sex marriage.
"The biggest problem is that Romney is so clearly and blatantly faking this. He's a fraud," Camenker said.
Romney's spokesman Eric Fehrnstrom dismissed Camenker's report, saying Romney governed as a "mainstream conservative."
"Politics has always had a fringe element," Fehrnstrom said. "We can't be distracted by those who scream and shout their opinion with a total disregard for the facts."
In a radio interview Wednesday, Romney said he was "wrong on some issues back then," and added: "If you want to know where I stand, by the way, you don't just have to listen to my words, you can go to look at my record as governor."
Camenker agrees, but he offers a different take on that record. As an example, he points to a question on the Boy Scouts and gays that got minimal notice in a 1994 Senate debate between Romney and Democratic incumbent Edward M. Kennedy.
When asked about the Boy Scouts' ban on gays as scoutmasters, Romney — then a member of the group's executive board — initially defended the right of the Boy Scouts to set a tough policy. But he added: "I feel that all people should be allowed to participate in the Boy Scouts regardless of their sexual orientation."
Last April, Camenker's group MassResistance pressured Romney to end a state advisory commission on gay youth after showing administration officials a news release on an annual parade featuring a cross-dressing master of ceremonies and embracing transgender teens.
The release included Romney's name but wasn't vetted by the administration.
Romney, who had signed a proclamation hailing the same parade in 2003, moved to kill the commission. The head of the commission said she received a call from Romney's chief of staff saying he had issued an executive order revoking the commission. Fehrnstrom later confirmed Romney considered the move but "thought that was too harsh."
Instead, Romney ordered the commission to focus on its original mission of suicide prevention among gay and lesbian teens. He eventually abolished it after state lawmakers created a similar commission out of his reach.
Camenker's report also takes Romney to task for not firing any state workers after a pamphlet called "The Little Black Book: Queer in the 21st Century" was distributed at a high school conference on gay and lesbian issues.
The pamphlet, produced by the nonprofit AIDS Action Committee and discovered by Camenker's group, goes into graphic detail about safer sex practices. The pamphlet acknowledged the help of the state Department of Public Health, which was under Romney's control.
School officials said the pamphlet was intended for adults and was mistakenly made available at the event.
"We're not saying he wrote it or anything like that, but you would like to think that there would be a little more to get to the bottom of it and find out who had a hand in publishing something as horrible as that," Camenker said.
At the time, Romney distanced himself from the incident, saying that the state did not directly fund the booklet, and denounced the distribution of "graphic pornographic material on the gay lifestyle" in schools.
Another section of the report criticizes Romney for naming as his Transportation Secretary Daniel Grabauskas, who is gay and had previously been registrar of motor vehicles.
"Grabauskas, for example ... instituted a policy of placing a sex-change checkoff box on drivers license renewal forms," the report reads.
Amy Breton, a spokeswoman for the registrar, said the box was added over the objections of gay rights advocates as a law enforcement tool to help police verify gender when making arrests.
For his part, Romney has defended statements he's made in the past in support of gay rights.
"I don't think there's any conflict between feeling that all people deserve respect and tolerance and that discrimination is wrong and a belief that marriage is between a man and a woman," he said recently.
Romney's defenders say his conservative bona fides are unshakable.
"He's been rock solid on the issue of marriage," said Kris Mineau of the Massachusetts Family Institute, which pushed a proposed constitutional amendment outlawing gay marriage.
But Camenker's report and other reports of pro-gay statements by Romney have struck a nerve with some conservatives.
"He does need to address better the comments he made in the past if he truly wants to court social conservatives," said Tom McClusky, spokesman for the conservative Family Research Council. "Too many people are going to be cynical and wonder if his actions are politically motivated."
No, No, they think he will run for the senate
2008 Race for the White House: Mitt Romney's Rightward Shift Raises Questions
...In the 1994 campaign, Romney also proudly labeled himself a moderate. "I'm not a partisan politician," he said in an interview with The Post that fall. "My hope is that, after this election, it will be the moderates of both parties who will control the Senate, not the Jesse Helmses."
Still waiting for you to explain your epiphany, Mitt....
And AP wouldn't mind. Better a RINO than a conservative.
If the MSM thinks Romney might govern as a Conservative, you will see a lot of negative stories about him. If they think he won't, you will see a lot of puff pieces. Stories about what snack foods he eats or what pets he has.
There is no Conservative who gets positive treatment. It's an infallible litmus test.
Mitt is NOT a conservative. If elected, he will NOT govern as a conservative. He is a highly successful, well-liked NE liberal Republican. Why else did he get elected in Massachusetts? Look at the record of 'successful' Republicans elected to the Massachuesett's governors office. Where is Weld? What has he done since leaving office? Can anyone even remember the names of the 3 most recent Republican governors?
Mitt was a disaster for the party in Massachesetts. He spent 4 years and did NOTHING that helped to build-up or support the STATE Republican party. The Mass. Republican party and representation in state offices is MUCH worse after his 4 years in office than it was before he dropped in from Michigan or Utah. If Mitt does manage to get elected as President, his impact on the NATIONAL Republican party and its fortunes will be exactly the same as, unfortunately, W's has been. A more fractured, weakened, and politically neutered laughing stock.
Mitt Romney is a "mainstream conservative" according to a spokesman. That's a codeword for being a "moderate" in my book and a "moderate" is a liberal. The "moderate" party bosses in my county changed their name to "mainstream conservative" in recent years.
He has. Read his interview with NRO.
He's still a member of "the Main Street Republicans" and they are all RINOS extraordinaire. Having said that, I like Mitt. I just don't know if he has the cojones that it takes to be POTUS.
Eventually the truth about RINOs Romney, JulieAnnie and McCain will surface, Republicans will come to their senses and back a genuine candidate like Hunter.
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