Breaking: Romney apologizes for high-school pranks

Hotair ^ | 05/10/2012 | Ed Morrissey

[SeekAndFind]

Thankfully, our long national nightmare is over:

Mitt Romney apologized on Thursday morning for pranks he helped orchestrate in high school that he said “might have gone too far,” including an incident in which he pinned down a fellow student and cut his hair.

The presumptive Republican presidential nominee was responding to an article published a few hours earlier by The Washington Post documenting the episode with first-hand accounts from Romney’s classmates.

“Back in high school, I did some dumb things and if anybody was hurt by that or offended, obviously I apologize for that,” Romney said in a live radio interview with Fox News Channel personality Brian Kilmeade. Romney added: “I participated in a lot of hijinks and pranks during high school and some might have gone too far and for that, I apologize.”

Romney’s campaign hastily scheduled the radio interview for the candidate to call in from Omaha, where he is holding a campaign event later Wednesday, to respond to The Post’s report.

Politically speaking, this was the smart thing to do. Other campaigns would have tried challenging the veracity of the stories and/or the motives of the witnesses, but that’s a losing proposition. The more a campaign debates those points, the longer the story goes, and the more legitimacy it has in the media. Instead, the Romney campaign made it an old story before it began to grow legs by just expressing remorse over any cruelty that may have taken place in high school.

I eagerly await the next set of stories about how in middle school Romney refused to give cuts in line to kids from low-income families, or how he shamelessly violated the “exies-no-erasies” rule in elementary school with his female classmates.

[sickoflibs]

RE :”“Matthews wasnt buying it.”....
Broken clock and all that.”

Matthews is plenty liberal but he is also much more pragmatic then the liberal (progressive) zealots on the other shows. He has consistently looked at the big picture, that losing congress and the White House would be worse for them then holding out on a principle.

For example, during the Obama-care bill progression he was lecturing House Dems to drop demands for a public plan because they just would never be able to get it passed in the Senate, and failure to pass something called Health reform would destroy Obama more than any crappy passed bill could.

The lib zealots always cherry-pick polls then extrapolate to argue that most of America is on their side on each issue, they were doing the same with the public plan.

[NE Cons]

The next President will likely choose 2-3 SCOTUS replacements

To those sitting this out, think about that... Even with a GOP majority in the House and Senate... Once Obama puts über-liberal Afr-American minorities up there... Who will stop him??

The GOP will try based on policy views, but will be called racist and discriminatory.. The media will force them to cower... And Obama's radical appointments will be confirmed

if that's not reason enough to oust Obama, don't know what is

[ScottinVA]

Romney is rumored to have cheated at Tic-Tac-Toe at age 6.

Cue the Huge Manatee.

[drpix]

Squat: "So when will we hear the dirt on O’suckyObummer?"

Torchy: "Don't hold your breath. If Hillary didn't find it four years ago, it's not there to be found."

"Not to be found" my @SS!

You only joined FR 3 days ago. If you had read just a few of the thousands of threads that have been and still are posted on FR - exposing Obama's dirt - before so willingly joining in the whitewash of Obama you would not post such NONSENSE!

Americans should rely on Alinsky disciple Hillary to expose Alinsky disciple Obama to save the US from Marxism!? Can an idea be more foolish or duplicitous?

[sickoflibs]

RE :”Yeah, apparently it's “courageous” for Obama to take this position 4 years into his term, while running for re-election, after gay-rights activists in his liberal base threatened to withhold donations to him if he doesn't do their bidding. ....I was arguing with a liberal friend and asked if he thought it was “courageous” when Newt Gingrich promised his voters that he'd build a base on Mars if he's elected President. “

Better one to use is ask them if it would have been brave if after the the No Child left Behind bill was signed conservatives cut off all 2004 campaign donations until GWB promised to call for the Department of Education to be closed, and GWB caved under our pressure and did in an interview.
That would have been politically risky for his re-election, would liberals have called it ‘brave’ ?? No way!

[BigEdLB]

Went to public high school. The Senior Class President, elected by FELLOW SENIORS, was in retrospect, somewhat effeminate, turns out he was gay, moved to SAN FRANCISCO contracted AIDS and died ... I am about 7-8 years younger than Romney... don’t think gay or not gay came to mind. Probably the weird hair was the cause... And High School kids do STOOPID stuff... When I hear a full expose of Barry-O’s High School and College transactions, then this is relevant as a comparison. Otherwise the Compost (I like Levin’s name) is full of pre-compost.

[torchy]

Hillary is a lot tougher than any of the perfumed princes leading the GOP at the moment. Whatever else one might say about her, she was willing and able to play hardball.

[netmilsmom]

>>GOOD!!!!! I would so much rather have a bully running this country than an apologetic wimp! This should work to Romney’s advantage. Who would you rather have dealing with Putin (who just so happens to be a bully) Romney or Wimpy?
<<

Thank you!

[GOPsterinMA]

The discussions going on here are FAR, FAR superior to 99% of talk radio bilge.

Keep it up!

[drpix]

BS! Leftist defer to party discipline and fall in line willingly. The Clintons folded to the Obama-Acorn-Soros machine like loyal comrades.

Educate yourself before you preach on FR about Obama having a clean history - your before the wrong audience. Only fools and moles even try!

[wideminded]

I went to a private school and witnessed a similar case where a particular individual led others in sadistic pranks. And like Romney he later made a large fortune in the financial world. (Maybe these things often go together.) Unless there has been a major change in his character this person should not hold public office.

[RitaOK]

This story unveils the first and only example of Romney posessing any measure of testosterone for any reason, and certainly for any conservative social principle, religious tenant, ideology, ever.

One could wonder if Romney leaked this singular example, himself.

[Osage Orange]

I went to a private school and witnessed a similar case where a particular individual led others in sadistic pranks. And like Romney he later made a large fortune in the financial world. (Maybe these things often go together.) Unless there has been a major change in his character this person should not hold public office.

Maybe these things go together?????? Are you kidding me?

I'm no fan of Romney...but you are going to deem a person unfit for office...based on some stupid action/prank they took when they were in their teens????

[Osage Orange]

BTW....you need to re-name yourself "narrowminded".

Of course....it's just my opinion.

[kevcol]

You'll find that helpful advice misplaced in this case. As I learned the other day Torchy would rather the "crackpots" who pronounce those MSM-ignored truths "slapped down".

[CatherineofAragon]

"And you wonder why there is no enthusiasm for Mitt."

LOL, I don't.

[sickoflibs]

RE :”The discussions going on here are FAR, FAR superior to 99% of talk radio bilge.”

What are they selling now?

Talk radio is a business, much like MSNBC they create a world the the listener or viewer wants to live in that doesn't exist relative to general elections.

In that world everyone always agrees with the listener/viewer in the NEXT election, until that day.

[BillyBoy]

>> The next President will likely choose 2-3 SCOTUS replacements <<

Yeah, we hear this every election cycle, if it were up to me the voters would be allowed to vote out federal judges so we wouldn't have so much risk with Presidential judicial appointments, oh well...

>> To those sitting this out, think about that... <<

As I just said, I will certainly be voting in November, and it certainly won't be for Obama (I haven't decided who I'll be supporting yet, though), so I don't know why the "sitting it out" comment was directed to me. There are many important candidates on the ballot that deserve my support.

>> if that's not reason enough to oust Obama, don't know what is <<

I would love to oust Obama and will vote against him in November. However, since I live in Illinois, I think we both know where my state's electoral votes will go, and it won't be a guy named "Mitt Romney"

[Utah Girl]

And, the student who got the unwanted haircut died in 2004. Amazing how it all comes together.

[GOPsterinMA]

No so much “selling”, just that “we” have a great unfiltered back and forth here that's refreshing.