DAY 988 - A.B.B.

I watched a bit of the NBA All-Star game last night. There hasn't been that lack of defense since Poland in 1939. Or last year's NBA All-Star Game.

Today we have a Wiki-peek at Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney. Willard Mitt Romney was born March 12, 1947 in Detroit, Michigan. He is the son of former Michigan Governor George Romney. He graduated from Cranbrook School in Bloomfield Hills, MI, where he met his wife, Ann Davies, then received a B.A. from Brigham Young University, and MBA from Harvard Business School, and a JD from Harvard Law School. So, basically, he's way over-qualified to run the government. But he still wants to, so we press on.

After his considerable schooling, Romney co-founded Bain & Company, a leading venture capital firm. Among it's investments are Staples, Brookstones, Sealy, and The Sports Authority. Romney was a Vice-President there until 1984, and then later became CEO. Romney ran for the U.S. Senate in Massachusetts in 1994, losing to Ted Kennedy. He went on to head the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympic Organizing Committee, helping salvage those games from the throes of a bribery scandal. In 2002, Romney ran for Governor of Massachusetts, and after incumbent interim Governor Jane Swift declined to challenge him in the Republican primary, Romney went on to defeat Democrat Shannon O'Brien to win the statehouse. In that race, there was a great deal of turmoil regarding Romney's residency status. Romney had original filed his federal income taxes as a Utah resident for the years 2000-2002, while he was working on the Salt Lake committee, but later amended those returns to show his Belmont, MA home as his primary residence. Massachusetts requires a seven-year residency before a person can run for Governor. A Republican-led ballot commission ended the debate by declaring him eligible. So there.

Romney is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the Mormons to you and me). He holds conservative views on nearly all social issues, and is very strongly pro-life personally, although he has stated that he will protect a woman's right to choose as Governor. During his term as Governor, which he has already stated will be his first and last, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled that laws discriminating against same-sex marriage were unconstitutional, and demanded that the state devise a remedy for same-sex couples within 180 days. Massachusetts has yet to agree on a same-sex marriage statute, and Romney has been fighting the court's ruling ever since it was handed down, immediately proposing an amendment to the state constitution to define marriage as "between one man and one woman." Romney has also vetoed a bill to fund stem-cell research, a veto which was overridden by the legislature.

In fiscal matters, Romney appears to have a bit of a magic touch. In addition to his business acumen and his success with the 2002 Salt Lake Olympics, Romney has helped turn Massachusetts' 2003 deficit of $500 million into a $700 million surplus for 2005. As always, it's impossible to tell what part of that was Romney, and what part of that was just a booming local economy, but none it was from raising taxes, to which he is adamantly opposed.

On other domestic issues, Romney is no gun nut; he supports the Brady Bill and the assault weapons ban. He's also in favor of the death penalty and three strikes legislation.

Romney has never had to face any foreign policy issues in his political life, but like any good conservative, he is in favor of a strong national defense. Also like many other good conservatives, Romney did not fight in the Vietnam War, instead serving as a missionary for the Mormon Church in that squalid hellhole we call...France. I'd like to see that Swift Boat campaign.

Romney received a great deal of campaign cash for his 2002 gubernatorial run from something called the Commonwealth PAC, which Romney's friends and supporters formed. Some of this cash comes from his Bain investment partners, such as Staples, and Bain employees. Romney also contributed $6 million of his own funds.

Mitt has been married to Ann for 36 years. They have five sons.

Romney, like Bayh, appeals to people who mostly hate what he stands for, which is a neat trick for a politician. "The Mormon thing", as I'm calling it, may be a deal-killer for many people, however. It will certainly get a lot of attention from the mainstream press if he decides to run. Though Mormons are as conservative and Christian as they come, many other conservative Christian evangelicals consider the Mormons to have an odd aura of mysticism and secrecy and will need a lot of convincing to give Romney the nomination. His prospects for the general election seem to not be as bad, given his strong business background and record of turning messes around, which most voters will surely appreciate in 2008.