Original editorial: "A modicum of respect needed"
Candidates forgo common courtesy at their own risk
...But then a Democratic activist, who managed to get himself a front-row seat, stood up and asked about a photo he had seen where Romney is standing and smiling with a woman holding a sign that read: “No to Osama, Obama and Chelsea’s Moma.”
The activist said he was concerned that Romney would compare two highly respected senators with the mastermind of the attacks of Sept. 11.
And that’s when a surprising thing happened.
Instead of simply repeating his earlier statements about Clinton and Obama being good Americans with whom he politically disagreed, Romney dug in his heels.
Instead of saying that, of course, he didn’t endorse the sentiment comparing Obama and Clinton to a hated terrorist, he told the activist to “lighten up.”
Somehow, in that unscripted instant, Romney’s political calculations told him that it was more important to appeal to Republican extremists (and only extremists could possibly endorse the message in this sign) than to appeal to reason.
We know Romney doesn’t believe Clinton and Obama are in any way comparable to Osama bin Laden, but for some reason Romney felt the need to stand with those who see the political battle ahead in these stark terms.
Clearly, we disagree with Romney’s choice, but all candidates have made, and will again make, dumb choices at some point during this endless campaign season.
But we think there is a threshold of decency that candidates cross at their own peril. We simply do not believe this sort of hate-mongering is going to serve candidates well in the long run....
http://www.seacoastonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070729/OPINION/70729005/-1/OPINION======
LTTE: Mitt Romney's true colors shineTo the Editor:
Kudos to your editorial in the Sunday, June 29, edition, "Modicum of respect needed."
In regards to Mitt Romney, you hit the nail on the head. As a former Massachusetts native, I am only all too familiar with the Romney "heel digging" ways and delighted in seeing him lose his cool with so many watching.
I am desperately hopeful that America will not make the mistake that Massachusetts made in falling for his slick, sappy, calculated campaign images — manipulated date recollections of picking up his future wife in his '57 Ford. I shudder when I think of that campaign commercial all these years later — ick.
It has to be said that a literal chill runs up my spine every time I see a picture of him and his pompadour hair — really — I can only assume it's some form of a Pavlovian reaction. Kidding aside, what it really boils down to for me and what I perceive from the majority of the country, (see Bush's approval ratings) as a whole are sick to death of the cowboy regime whose "my way or the highway" skewed vision has led us well on our way down the wrong path. I have no desire to swap out one for another and repeat this current nightmare in the Oval Office.
Don't be fooled by Romney's "family man" show that he so consistently puts forth before his campaign steps, parading grandkids out for all to see. Another ick.
Mitt Romney is no diplomat as he so candidly showed us at the Exeter Town Hall. I don't know about you, but I am not willing to give a second glance to anyone who cannot handle gracefully a simple question by a person possibly 30 years his junior.
Watching the footage of him forcefully telling the man to "lighten up," I was caught somewhere between a sickening, disgusted feeling and one of complete joy. Keep showing us your true colors, Mitt — much more interesting to me than how you wooed your wife.
Andrea Ardito
Portsmouth