Mitt Romney's "Willie Horton"?

Mitt Romney continues to campaign lustily here in Cow Hampsha, as part of his strategy of building up an insurmountable momentum by taking the early contests in Iowa & the Granite State . On Saturday, November 24th, the handsome and telegenic Mormon marched in a seasonal parade without a hat on (how Kennedyesque!) in the testicle-numbing freezing temperatures afflicting Allentown, which is located halfway between Manchester, the state’s largest city, and Concord, the capital.

Romney enjoys a comfortable lead in the polls over his two nearest rivals, Rudy Giuliani and John McCain. However, the contest is still wide open as the numbers of uncommitted Republicans and independent voters -- who can request the ballot of either party on election day -- remain in the majority among those registered voters likely to go to the polls. With the primary set for January 8, 2008, there is a little over six weeks left to campaign.

In press conference held in Allentown that Fox News and other outlets for some reason referred to as Derry, which is nearby but is NOT Allentwon (my father lived in the area once called Suncook but which as been changed to Hooksett, the nearest large town, for real estate purposes, one supposes; it is across the river from Allentown, and it IS all rather confusing) Romney addressed the question of the judge he had appointed to the Massachusetts Superior Court, who released a convicted mother-killer who subsequently migrated to Washington State, where he slew a couple.

In July 2007, Superior Court Judge Kathe M. Tuttman rejected the request of prosecutors to hold Daniel Tavares, Jr. on $50,000 bail after he was arrested on assault charges. Tavares had been released from prison in June after serving 16 years for murdering his mother, sprung early for “good behavior“ despite his assault on guards and his threats against public officials. According to the Boston Herald, http://bostonherald.com/news/regional/general/view.bg?articleid=1046369&format=text
in February 2006, Tavares had threatened to murder then-Governor Romney and other public officials, including the attorney general of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

Tuttman reversed a lower court and granted Tavares a bail waiver. The convicted momslaughterer then quickly violated the terms of his parole and left Massachusetts for Washington State to go live with a woman he had met online while he was in stir. In Washington State, the irrepresible con shoot to death Brian and Beverly Mauck, who lived near him in the Tacoma suburb of Graham.

Before she was elevated to the bench, Judge Tuttman was a prosecutor from Essex, Massachusetts who then-Governor Romney appointed to the Superior Court in 2006 after meeting with her and reviewed her qualifications. After endorsing her nomination, she was approved by the Governor's Council, a state-level government organ screens and confirms gubernatorial appointees.

To avoid a “Willie Horton” incident, the likes of which helped sink the Presidential aspirations of fellow former Massachusetts Governor Mike Dukakis, Romney was quick to turn on his appointee, calling for her to resign from the bench at the press conference during his stopover in Allentown (Derry).

Never one to avoid licking a gift whore in the mouse, Rudy Giuliani, "America's Mayor", lagging far behind Romney in the polls, siezed upon the issue to question Romney’s bona-fides as a crime fighter.

The media in attendance on at the Derry (Allentown) press conference and at the Allentown (Derry) parade were quick to characterize this as a potential “Willie Horton” issue for Romney that may doom his candidacy like that of fellow former Massachusetts Governor Mike Dukakis in 1988. However, the majority of Allentown citizens who were interviewed by TV news crews said that the issue was unlikely to hurt Romney, as he was human, not perfect, and human beings make mistakes.

It is hard for a wooly-headed (brain wrapped in cotton wool, natch) to understand how the release of a Caucasian killer could turn into a full-blown Willie Horton-class wedge issue, as Mike Dukakis was a liberal Democrat who had a much more progressive attitude towards the administration of justice than does Mitt Romney, Republican. Romney, who ran during the 2001 Massachusetts gubernatorial race as a liberal Republican, revealed himself to be a conservative after assuming office, which obviated his chances for reelection. Romney stepped down rather than be defeated by a Democrat.

Like the true liberal “Rockefeller” Republican Rudy Giuliani, Romney now is running as a conservative, for the Republican nomination. Unlike Giuliani, who is running in conservative drag this time around, Romney truly is a conservative. The judge’s poor judgment in releasing a convicted killer on personal cognizance does not jibe with Romney’s stated position on crime.

The decision by the Romney-appointed judge is not congruent with Romney’s policies on crime and the administration of justice, whereas releasing Willie Horton was in line with Mike Dukakis’ policies. Furthermore, Dukakis defended the furlough program and remained a staunch opponent of the death penalty. Romney faulted his judge, if not his actual choosing of her, and is a strong proponent of the death penalty, which does not exist in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

One could fault Romney’s choice of the judge, but then again, Tuttman was a career prosecutor with a reputation for “law and order."

One could criticize the vetting process under which the judge was selected, but the fact is, Romney did not know the judge personally, and many judges turn out to rule on cases with a philosophy that was unexpected by the person appointing them to the bench. David Souter, the former attorney general of New Hampshire, was recommended to George H.W. Bush by his chief of staff John Sununu, the former governor of New Hampshire, as being reliably moderate-conservative. As an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, David Souter, the assumed moderate, turned out to be a closeted liberal . The great liberal Felix Frankfurter, appointed to the Supreme Court by Franklin D Roosevelt in 1941, turned out to be a conservative on the High Court.

A more logical candidate for nomination to become Mitt Romney’s “Willie Horton” is the tax judge Don Gorton, a Harvard Law School graduate who was essentially fired by Romney and replaced with a real estate agent with a high school diploma and no legal background. Gorton had blown the whistle on irregularities at the court by the Chief Judge.

More importantly, Don Gorton the head of the Bay State’s Gay-Lesbian Transgendered Group, was the head of the Governor’s Task Force on Hate Crimes, which was created by William Weld and funded by Weld, his successor Paul Celucci, and Celucci’s successor. After campaigning for governor as “gay friendly”, Romney eliminated funding for the Task Force after becoming governor, and gutted the Task Force’s anti-bullying initiative. He then apparently retaliated against Gorton for whistle-blowing, an action that may be attributed to homophobia.

According to sources, the Romney campaign in conservative Red States points to the sacking of Gorton to show its bona fides for being against gays.

This then is the true Willie Horton of the Mitt Romney campaign, for just as Willie Horton showed Mike Dukakis to be an unapologetic liberal and “Card-carrying member of the A.C.L.U.”, as he was denounced by then-Vice President George Bush, the sacking of the gay Gorton shows Romney to be intolerant and a hypocrite, as he pleads for tolerance from those who would question his Mormon religion. Like Willie Horton apparently elucidating the weakness of the Dukakis governorship, the sacking of Don Gorton elucidates Romney’s weakness of a penchant for institutionalized homophobia, which he is attempting to use to woo the evangelical Christian vote that has become so critical to the Republican Party.

==Sources==

Romney Calls for Judge Who Released Killer to Resign, as Issue Becomes Political Fodder http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,312683,00.html

Mom killer vowed to take out Romney


http://news.bostonherald.com/news/regional/general/view.bg?articleid=1046369