Former Gov. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts is the target of the Log Cabin Republicans in a series of ads airing on Fox. The gay group says the Republican presidential hopeful’s record should be known to voters. (Photo by Elko Daily Free Press, Ross Andreson/AP)
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JOSHUA LYNSEN
Friday, October 12, 2007
Once an ally of gay Republicans, GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney is now their target.
New TV commercials sponsored by the gay partisan group Log Cabin Republicans highlight the former Massachusetts governor’s varied takes on key Republican issues, including abortion rights and gun control.
Romney, who the ad says once “opposed the gun lobby” and favored “safe and legal” abortions, now presents himself as opposed to gun control and abortion.
The commercials, airing nationally on Fox News and in Iowa on all Fox Broadcasting affiliates, also resurrect comments in which Romney distanced himself from former presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush.
During a 1994 campaign that pitted Romney against Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.), the Republican said he was “independent during the time of Reagan-Bush” and “not trying to return to Reagan-Bush.”
Scott Tucker, a Log Cabin spokesperson, said the ads were designed to educate primary voters.
“As a Republican organization, we feel pretty strongly about the fact that we need strong leadership going into the next election,” he said. “Given the number of flip-flops from Gov. Romney — really more than any other candidate, he’s been all over the map on so many issues — we felt the need to talk to Republican voters and educate them about his record.”
In response, Romney’s campaign noted the candidate now clearly aligns with Republican values and wants to return to Reagan’s principles.
“Gov. Romney has said he was wrong and hopes he never stops learning from his mistakes or trying to do what’s right,” Kevin Madden, a campaign spokesperson, told the Associated Press.
Madden accused Log Cabin of favoring fellow GOP candidate Rudy Giuliani, the former mayor of New York, who supports some gay rights.
But Tucker said Log Cabin has made no primary endorsement and is trying to stop the GOP from making the same mistake Democrats made in nominating Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) in 2004.
“John Kerry ran into a lot of trouble as sort of being perceived as having flip-flopped on a number of issues,” Tucker said. “If it didn’t work for the Democrats, it’s not going to work for the Republicans, either. We really need to head into this election realizing that.”
Log Cabin members, including one of the group’s founders, strongly support the anti-Romney campaign.
Frank Ricchiazzi, who helped found the organization three decades ago, described Romney as an opportunist who has shifted his position on many issues.
“There’s one candidate who has double-talked, flip-flopped and backstabbed,” Frank said. “And we feel that should be exposed.”
Log Cabin’s campaign, which is funded by its members and debuted earlier this month, comes weeks after Romney launched a radio ad touting the strength of his opposition to gay marriage.
The radio ad, broadcast across Iowa, features Romney saying that he would “defend traditional marriage: one man, one woman” because that “is the right thing to do.”
Broc Dobervich, a Log Cabin member in Minnesota, said he wasn’t surprised by Romney’s radio ad.
“I just hate it,” he said. “I don’t know how much lower he could go.”
Dobervich said it is necessary for Log Cabin to counter Romney nationally and in Iowa, where the candidate maintains a commanding lead over all other GOP contenders.
A poll released Sunday by the Des Moines Register shows Romney with support from 29 percent of Iowa Republicans. Fred Thompson, the actor and former U.S. senator from Tennessee, is in second place with 18 percent.
Nationally, Romney almost always places fourth among Republicans, behind Thompson, Giuliani and Sen. John McCain of Arizona. But he leads in early primary states, including Iowa, New Hampshire and Nevada.
Dobervich said Log Cabin’s commercials are crucial to educating primary voters.
“I think the advertisement does a pretty good job of just saying, ‘Look, I think you need to made aware of this,’” he said. “I think it’s totally fair and totally appropriate and totally necessary.”
Although placed by a gay organization, the commercial is silent on Romney’s views of gay rights and protections. He once supported and now opposes many such initiatives.
Tucker said Log Cabin chose to omit gay issues partly because Romney’s stances on abortion, gun control and the Reagan era resonate better with Republican voters.
“Really what’s most compelling in that ad is the whole issue of whether he’s a Reagan conservative,” he said. “I think that’s really going to resonate with voters.”
Tucker said Log Cabin also faced time constraints with the 30-second spot. He noted an exhaustive listing of Romney’s political shifts would require a “30-minute infomercial.”
“The bottom line is that he’s certainly flip-flopped on gay issues and that’s been well documented,” he said. ”But that’s only one of countless issues that he’s flip-flopped on.”
This is not the first time Log Cabin has campaigned against a GOP presidential contender.
In March 2000, Log Cabin ran radio ads accusing then-candidate George W. Bush of hurting the party’s chances of winning the presidency by “pandering to the far right.”
The 60-second ads, which aired in California, New York and Massachusetts, touted Bush’s ties to Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell. The spots also noted Bush “would not meet with gay Republicans, and worse, he wouldn’t hire them.”
“I’m sorry, that doesn’t build the kind of Republican Party that wins elections,” says that ad’s narrator. “Do we have to lose our third presidential election in a row because our candidate has pandered to the far right?”
Although that ad soured relations between Bush and Log Cabin, Tucker said the organization felt secure in waging the new campaign against Romney.
“Any action that you take in a primary campaign is certainly a risk,” Tucker said. “We go into this fully recognizing the risks. And we weighed that with what might come if we did nothing … but we feel we have to educate people about what kind of opportunist this guy is.”
Ricchiazzi said the Log Cabin commercial, while good, could have been more effectively concentrated in other markets.
“Speaking as a political strategist, I wish that the ads would have gone not on Fox, because it’s national,” he said. “I wish they would have gone to New Hampshire and Michigan only, because if Romney loses in those two states, he can close up shop.”
Romney leads in New Hampshire, but recently fell behind Giuliani in Michigan to land in second place there, according to polls. Recent polls by Insider Advantage and Marketing Research Group show Giuliani leading by an average of eight points.
“There’s not as much of an impact [in Iowa] because it’s a caucus state,” Ricchiazzi said. “It’s not average voters — it’s caucus voters.”
But Tucker said Log Cabin chose to focus on Iowa because the state hosts the first major electoral event in the presidential nomination process. The event, set for Jan. 14, is often a make-or-break moment for campaigns.
“If you take a look at a lot of the polls, Gov. Mitt Romney is doing well in Iowa, and one of the reasons for that is he’s literally poured millions into that state trying to reinvent himself,” Tucker said. “So we wanted to highlight what his record is.”
The ad campaign has spurred some mainstream media discussion. On Sunday’s “Meet the Press,” David Brody of the Christian Broadcasting Network said it’s incumbent upon Romney to change the campaign narrative.
“The question is, has the flip-flop narrative that’s been so prevalent over the last six months, will that continue?” he said. “He wants to make it on the competent CEO narrative. You know, the guy that can come into Washington and change things. That will be very important as we go forward in Iowa.”
It could also be important elsewhere. Tucker, who declined to reveal how much Log Cabin has spent to air the commercials, said the campaign could yet grow.
“It could play in New Hampshire or any number of places,” Tucker said. “But the focus is on Iowa because it’s really going to be an important contest and it’s one that Romney is currently winning.”
Joshua Lynsen can be reached at jlynsen@washblade.com.
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