Mitt Romney In 2002: 'My Views Are Progressive'

Mitt Romney described his views as "progressive" at a 2002 campaign stop in Worcester, Mass., while running for governor.

"I think the old standby definitions of who votes for which party have been blown away in this campaign," said Romney to New England Cable News. "I think people recognize that I'm not a partisan Republican; that I'm someone who is moderate; and that my views are progressive," he continued. "They're going to vote for me regardless of the party label," he added.

Andrew Kaczynski, a 22-year-old student, uploaded the video Tuesday to YouTube. Kaczynski has uploaded dozens of archival videos of politicians to YouTube revealing their past positions, sometimes to embarrassment.

Romney has been unable to spark large-scale enthusiasm among GOP voters during his campaign for the 2012 GOP presidential nomination, and faces a strong challenge from former House speaker Newt Gingrich, who says he is more conservative.

As governor of Massachusetts, Romney signed a health care reform law similar to the law President Barack Obama signed. He also supported abortion rights in his 1994 Senate run against Ted Kennedy and supported state-funded abortions through Medicaid in his 2002 campaign for governor. He now describes himself as pro-life and favors repeal of the health care law.

Romney spokesperson Andrea Saul responded to the clip in Politico. "The very last thing the Democrats want to do is run against Mitt Romney. That is why they are focused on his campaign and not on the economy. The Democrats are continuing their campaign of deception in their strategy to 'kill Romney,'" she said. "If anyone has a question of how Mitt Romney will govern as president, take a look at his record of creating jobs, cutting spending, and protecting the sanctity of life and traditional marriage. That was his record as governor and that will be his record as president."

 

 

Comments

[roch20]

08:08 PM on 12/14/2011

I don't know, politicians (especially in this country) are like manure, a little shake and you can see their compost. (Wikipedia: "Compost" is the decomposed remnants of organic materials, usually of plant origin, but often including some animal dung or bedding.) ... total sense, eh?

[floodberg]

12:13 PM on 12/14/2011

PROGRESSIVE???

I don't know what planet Romney thinks he's living on, but I'm sure it's not mine; I live in the real world. 

I'm a longtime Indy Progressive, and this is the most offensive attempt to get the Indy vote I've ever heard.  There's no way to redeem yourself unless you put some serious money and campaign promises where your mouth is...and you're not gonna do it because you're a Capitalist Republican. 

Obama's a Capitalist Democrat, and he's not gonna do it either; I wouldn't trust the Democrats or the Republicans to babysit my cats.

It's protest vote time. Let the chips fall where they may.

[ikereeves]

09:16 AM on 12/14/2011

Part of any aspiring politician's training should be a big red sign that reads: WARNING!! VIDEO AND AUDIO RECORDINGS LAST FOREVER!!
The following excuses are no longer valid: 'I never said that!', 'I was misquoted!', It was taken out of context!'-- well Breitbart is still using that one.

[trconsulting]

09:11 AM on 12/14/2011

Progressive? I think he must have meant regressive. I mean, progress is anathematic to Republican'ts. They want us to regress to the days of cheap child labor and remove a worker's right to labor in an environment free from known hazards. Workers are expendable and easy to replace when the unemployment roles are high (not to mention the downward pressure on wages caused by high unemployment). That is why Republican'ts refuse to pass and purposely block meaningful (for those that will point to the House bills, they are not meaningful to anyone but the rich) measures to put Americans back to work.

[renn724]

07:54 AM on 12/14/2011

And now his own words and attitudes are coming back to bite him in the rear end. Just as Newt's are. The baggage these guys carry is enormous. Mitt is more liberal than Obama, Newt is less trustworthy than Obama (just ask his former wives...and Tiffany's) Ron Paul is more extreme than Obama, Huntsman was an Obama employee, and the rest of the crew who line up for Photo Ops on debate stages have a difficult time standing upright and reciting talking points at the same time. Some of them actually make the former Alaskan Governor (if she ever did more than ribbon cut) look... presentable, since none can be termed bright. And this is the "field of shining lights" the GOP wants us to consider? Seriously? I say, go get us some of the really bright lights that jumped ship during Bush. Choose Tom Daschle by write in vote. He could actually win.

[votethirdparty]

07:41 AM on 12/14/2011

Back in those days Romney was pro-choice and for gay marriage. Of course he was (is) a progressive or at the very least, a left leaning moderate. He is also the only republican candidate they could beat Obama.

[steven schuttel]

07:33 AM on 12/14/2011

President Romney...........for sure.......
the man-child is in over his head and will be voted out in Nov.

[peyton1776]

06:10 AM on 12/14/2011

Romney says he's progressive which also means that he is a communist

[jplanner]

05:16 AM on 12/14/2011

Romney was born to a privledged family-dad was Gov of Michigan (no one talks about that!), has had a wonderful life by all accounts..wealth,.health, looks, loving wife, beautiful healthy children, financial success, fame, 2 term Governor...
at the same time this new Romney is happy to cut safety net programs that give people peace of mind to get ahead. He's happy to oppose working and middle class people having a guarenteed way of getting healthcare. He's fine with ending Medicare as we know it and letting vulnerable people gamble with their future and their health. He cannot crawl into their (our) shoes, he had no frame of reference with his 10K bets made offhand.

[jplanner]

05:02 AM on 12/14/2011

He ran here in MA as a "Massachusetts" Republican..ie socially liberal or moderate, fiscally moderate to conservative. As you all now can see. When he got into office it became clear that he was just (it seemed) a moderate Republican (ie a bit to the right of what we thought BUT nothing like what we see now on the national stage).
So when we see this guy out there NOW, we from MA, don't know if we should laugh or vomit.
He's a scary guy to change who is, his persona, so much.
Remember he was Pro Gay rights before here in MA. Said in a debate with Ted Kennedy he was "more liberal than you" on that score.
Hypocracy is very difficult to stomach

[x1cness]

04:41 AM on 12/14/2011

How bastardized the English language in the United States has become when people are freely able to use words and twist their meanings to suit their narratives. At such point, many words lose their meaning and become useless.

[DAM TROLL]

03:09 AM on 12/14/2011

"I think people recognize that I'm not a partisan Republican; that I'm someone who is moderate; and that my views are progressive."

Progressive...that's the kiss of death for him.

[stephan67]

03:09 AM on 12/14/2011

Romney is ready to say and do anything just to become president.What a character!

[JazzOrgan626]

02:04 AM on 12/14/2011

I think it is New England that makes politicials flip floppers. John Kerry was the worst of them.

[jplanner]

05:08 AM on 12/14/2011

Kerry didn't flip flop as much as he SOUNDED. His actual values and positions did not change that much.
He's my Senator. Who he is as a person and what he stands for has not changed over the years. He's a policy wonk so he understands issues deeper than the public so has nuanced many shades of grey positions. He has changed his mind but the man himself has been constent in his main beliefs...like them or not.
I think people need to be careful about using "flip flopper". There's the kind where you mispeak, and then your opponents hammer you with it. Then, there is the one where Kerry (I think you remember this one lol) said "I was for the war before I was against it". Kerry's problem is he actually changed his mind on the war when new data became clear. He explained it, in that instance, horribly. He could never explain himself well...all his complicated views really seem like he's muddling the issue. We are so used to that that we see that in Kerry but I promise you he talks that way even when he's not running for anything! He doesn't have to win anyone over in non election years and I still see the same guy.

[JazzOrgan626]

03:52 PM on 12/14/2011

John Kerry had that elitist demeanor where he couldn't help sounding like Thurston Howell III. And the way he came back from Viet Nam and testified against the troops didn't do him any favors.

[ddemos]

01:21 AM on 12/14/2011

oh that was SO 2002...