Notes From D.R. | Random Thoughts on the Passing Scene

Let’s face it: Massachusetts Democrats want to make the 2006 gubernatorial contest a referendum on Mitt Romney.

The Bay State left fears the prospect of Romney possibly succeeding George W. Bush as President in 2008, and thus wishes to create the mythology that Romney, a mainstream Republican whom the left has attempted to brand a far-right-winger, was a poor steward of the state. What better way for them to promote this propaganda than to prevent his able lieutenant governor, Kerry Healey, from being elected to replace him?

The Bay State left would love to sell the idea that Romney was so bad that the state, effectively governed by the GOP since 1991, decided to return the corner office to Democratic hands. (They would especially love it if a certain candidate who is Romney’s polar political opposite was elected to replace him.) The state Democratic Party—still fuming over Shannon O’Brien’s November 2002 loss to Romney—wants to see Romney humiliated on a national stage. Think of the glee with which the mainstream press would report a Healey defeat: "Democrats Take A Stand, Beat Romney’s Second-in-Command." The gloating from the left would be nonstop.

Those of us who admire the principled leadership that Romney and Healey have demonstrated since January 2003 should be just as determined to see Healey elected as the other side is to see her defeated. The left is attempting to smear Healey in the
same hostile manner they have smeared Romney. Such disrespectful and disgraceful disparagement is decidedly dumb on the part of the Democrats. Do they think voters won’t realize they’re just throwing trash at a candidate defined by her intelligence and class?

Mitt Romney and Kerry Healey don’t run around talking about their leadership and their ability to get results. No, they do something better: they lead and they get results. This will lead to a positive result for Healey on November 7—and the grieving from the left will be nonstop.