NEW
HAMPSHIRE’S
SEASONED
and
no-nonsense
voters
have
become
a
challenge
to
Mitt
Romney’s
presidential
aspirations.
First,
the
obvious:
His
poll
numbers
have
flat-lined
and
there
is
a
substantial
lack
of
traction
around
the
former
Republican
governor
from
neighboring
Massachusetts.
Compare
this
to
the
conservative
man-crush
that
has
engulfed
fellow
has-been
(and
official
non-candidate)
Fred
Thompson.
Second
—
and
this
is
key
—
Romney’s
anti-gay
credentials
have
gained
some
currency
among
so-called
“values
voters”
outside
of
New
England.
Unfortunately
for
the
airbrushed
gazillionaire,
the
timing
couldn’t
be
worse
in
New
Hampshire,
which
recently
became
the
first
state
to
approve
same-sex
civil
unions
without
the
threat
of
a
court
order.
Case
in
point:
Cynthia
Fishi.
Last
week,
when
almost
everyone
else
was
transfixed
by
the
Paris
Hilton
three-ring
circus,
the
New
Hampshire
mother
confronted
Romney
on
the
campaign
trail.
“I
am
a
gay
woman
and
I
have
children,”
the
mother
of
a
6-
and
8-year-old
tearfully
explained.
“Your
comment
sort
of
invalidates
my
family.
Why,
if
we
are
sending
our
troops
over
to
fight
for
liberty
and
justice
for
all
throughout
this
country,
why
not
for
me?
Why
not
for
my
family?”
Romney
flashed
his
trademark
game-show
host
grin
and
meandered
across
the
ideological
landscape.
He
congratulated
the
mom
but
cautioned
marriage
is
for
a
man
and
woman
“to
raise
a
child,”
but
explained
“there
are
other
ways
to
raise
kids,
that’s
fine.
Single
moms,
grandparents
raising
kids,
gay
couples
raising
kids.
That’s
the
American
way.”
That
circuitous
logic
illustrates
the
underlying
hypocrisy
of
Multiple
Choice
Mitt
Romney’s
anti-gay
positions.
He
was
born
into
a
wealthy,
conservative
political
family
(his
dad
ran
American
Motors
and
was
the
governor
of
Michigan),
headed
east,
embraced
liberal
Republican
politics
and
nowadays,
who
knows?
He
even
contradicts
himself.
TAKE
A
MOMENT
and
gauge
the
anti-gay
positions
of
the
many
other
bland,
middle-aged
white
guys
competing
for
the
GOP
presidential
nomination:
Mike
Huckabee,
former
Arkansas
governor,
is
a
Southern
Baptist
minister
and
most
likely
a
true
believer.
Kansas
Sen.
Sam
Brownback
has
turned
his
hatred
of
gays
into
a
cottage
industry.
Reps.
Duncan
Hunter
and
Tom
Tancredo
are
single
issue
(immigration)
politicians
and
apparently
hate
any
family
that
doesn’t
resemble
a
Norman
Rockwell
painting.
And
John
McCain?
Never
consistent
on
anything,
much
less
his
gay
positions.
He
opposed
the
Federal
Marriage
Amendment
but
vigorously
campaigned
for
the
only
state
marriage
amendment
that
lost
in
Arizona.
Rudy
Giuliani
has
a
strong
gay
rights
history
but
neutralizes
this
by
criticizing
New
Hampshire’s
civil
union
legislation
and
flashing
his
circumspect
anti-terrorism
credentials.
Romney’s
opposition
to
marriage
equality
in
Massachusetts
has
become
the
trademark
of
his
campaign.
To
differentiate
himself
from
gay
marriage
opponents
who
have
made
inroads
with
gay
audiences
—
think
Calif.
Gov.
Arnold
Schwarzenegger
and
New
York
Mayor
Michael
Bloomberg
—
Romney
gains
his
street
cred
by
opposing
even
basic
protections
such
as
the
Employment
Non
Discrimination
Act
and
federal
hate
crimes
laws.
ROMNEY’S
ANTI-GAY
BRANDING
is
a
revisionist
coat
of
varnish
on
a
once
close
partnership
with
the
gay
community:
He
opposed
“Don’t
Ask,
Don’t
Tell,”
supported
domestic
partnerships
and
non-discrimination
laws.
He
even
courted
the
support
of
the
Log
Cabin
Republicans,
won
their
blessing
and
at
least
two
Log
Cabin
members
joined
his
staff,
according
to
Mass
Resistance,
one
of
his
fiercest
conservative
critics.
The
piece
de
resistance:
Romney’s
record
on
gay
rights
was
once
so
strong
that
Human
Events,
the
weekly
social
conservative
magazine,
declared
Romney
the
nation’s
most
pro-gay
rights
Republican.
That
history
makes
his
new
anti-gay
platform
all
the
more
disturbing
—
even
Ray
Charles
could
see
Romney’s
multiple-choice
positions
are
those
of
expediency,
not
conviction
or
ideology.
Multiple
Choice
Mitt
has
even
presented
a
revisionist
veneer
on
his
Mormonism
to
court
evangelicals.
He’s
the
worst
kind
of
enemy,
soulless
and
without
ideology.
The
unfortunate
by-product
of
this
schizophrenic
branding
is
a
failure
to
recognize
the
truth.
“I
am
not
anti-gay,”
Romney
recently
declared
in
an
interview.
“I
know
there
are
some
Republicans,
or
some
people
in
the
country
who
are
looking
for
someone
who
is
anti-gay
and
that’s
not
me.”
With
friends
like
Mitt
Romney,
who
needs
enemies?
