A number of Palin defenders have argued that Mitt Romney
similarly cut and run from Massachusetts. While there is an
important distinction between resigning office and declining to
run for reelection -- Romney served out the entire term to which
he was elected -- I
basically agree with this criticism. Romney's abandonment of
Massachusetts during a critical juncture in fights over health
care, the budget, and the definition of marriage was the single
greatest factor that shifted me from a
Romney-sympathetic commentator to a critic.
(The spin of Romney's flip-flops by some of his overzealous
supporters played a role too, as did his health care plan.)
It would have admittedly been difficult for Romney to have run
for president after being reelected as governor of Massachusetts.
In fact, given the political climate in 2006, particularly in
blue states, it would have been exceedingly difficult for Romney
to have been reelected at all. And none of this has any bearing
on the merits of Sarah Palin's decision.
But watching Romney exit the field while so many of the issues he
claimed to care about were in play, leaving the commonwealth to
suffer one-party Democratic rule for the first time since the
Dukakis years without any serious check or challenge, was too
much to take. The man who rode back into the Bay State to save
the GOP from a certain disaster at the hands of Jane Swift ended
up merely delaying the inevitable for four years. Whatever his
ambitions, that in my view represented a form of quitting too.
