The Real Romney (55 page)

269 But by the time: Dolores Kong, “Beacon Hill Reopens Health Care Debate,”
The Boston Globe
, May 1, 2005; interview with Bruce Bullen, 2011.

269 Leading the way: Interviews with Jack Connors, 2011.

270 But he faced an obstacle: Interview with John Sasso, 2011.

270 O’Donnell warned Sasso: Interviews with Joseph O’Donnell and John Sasso, 2011.

270 “I’ve got to admit”: Mitt Romney, “Ted’s Attack for Success,”
The Boston Globe
, January 30, 1995.

270 When the three sat down: Interviews with Joseph O’Donnell and John Sasso, 2011.

270 “This was talking about policy”: Interview with Mitt Romney.

271 On January 14, 2005: Alice Dembner and Rick Klein, “Mass., US Reach Deal on Funding; Averts Major Cut in Medicaid Match,”
The Boston Globe
, January 15, 2005.

271 “I was never absolutely sure”: Interview with Edward Kennedy, 2007.

271 “People kept coming down”: Interview with Stacey Sachs.

271 Neither Kennedy nor his staff: Ibid.

272 “It didn’t go as smooth”: Interview with Mitt Romney.

272 “Romney knew his best chance”: Interview with Alan Macdonald, 2011.

272 In early December 2005: Scott S. Greenberger, “Kennedy Joins Mass. Healthcare Push,”
The Boston Globe
, December 5, 2005.

273 The state missed: Interview with Timothy Murphy, 2011.

273 “The plane is circling”: Ibid.

273 “How often does the governor”: Interview with Robert Travaglini, 2007.

273 About two weeks later: Interview with Salvatore DiMasi, 2007.

273 The group of business leaders: Christopher Rowland, “Health Executives Emerge as State’s New Power Players,”
The Boston Globe
, March 13, 2006.

273 The next night: Interview with Robert Travaglini, 2011.

274 “Today, Massachusetts has set itself apart”: Scott Helman, “Mass. Bill Requires Health Insurance,”
The Boston Globe
, April 4, 2006.

274 “We are where we’d hoped”: Mitt Romney, press conference, March 3, 2006.

275 $45 million was the estimate: Helman, “Mass. Bill Requires Health Insurance.”

276 “It didn’t bother me”: Interview with Robert Travaglini, 2011.

276 An audience of several hundred VIPs: “Signing of an Act Providing Access to Affordable, Quality, Accountable Health Care,” video, City of Boston Cable Office video library.

276 Privately, Romney had been uneasy: Interview with former Romney aide, 2011.

277 “I have to admit”: Mitt Romney, press availability, April 12, 2006.

277 “We carried out an experiment”: Interview with Mitt Romney.

277 “I don’t know”: Interview with Michael Leavitt, 2007.

277 A detailed examination: Brian C. Mooney, “ ‘RomneyCare’—A Revolution That Basically Worked,”
The Boston Globe
, June 26, 2011.

278 Those are the lowest: “Health Insurance Coverage in Massachusetts: Results from 2008–2010 Massachusetts Health Insurance Surveys,” Massachusetts Division of Health Care Finance and Policy, December 2010, http://www.mass.gov/Eeohhs2/docs/dhcfp/r/pubs/10/mhis_report_12-2010.pdf.

278 Recent U.S. Census data: U.S. Census Bureau, Health Insurance Historical Tables, www.census.gov/hhes/www/hlthins/data/historical/HIB_tables.html.

278 Many more businesses: “Massachusetts Employer Survey 2010,” Massachusetts Division of Health Care Finance and Policy, July 2011, http://www.mass.gov/Eeohhs2/docs/dhcfp/r/pubs/11/mes_results_2010.pdf.

278 And support for the requirement: Kay Lazar, “Support for Health Law Rises; Residents Split on Coverage Mandate,”
The Boston Globe
, June 5, 2011.

279 “I was a little concerned”: Mitt Romney, appearance at National Review Institute conference, Washington, D.C., January 27, 2007.

279 (Romney later contended): Interview with Mitt Romney, 2007.

279 He later blamed: David S. Bernstein, “Romney Rewrites, Sampler,”
Boston Phoenix
, February 10, 2011, http://thephoenix.com/Blogs/talkingpolitics.

279 “A lot of pundits”: Matt Viser, “Romney Says He Stands by Mass. Law; Offers a Plan Enabling States on Health Care,”
The Boston Globe
, May 13, 2011.

279 He recounted an instance: Interview with Mitt Romney.

279 “Significant successes”: Interview with Brian Gilmore, 2007.

279 “I’m not naive enough”: Scott Helman, “Romney Exits with Pomp, Ambition; Mixed Legacy: Health Plan, Jobs, Fee Hikes,”
The Boston Globe
, January 4, 2007.

280 “The truth is”: Interview with Mitt Romney, 2007.

280 On the evening of January 3, 2007: Andrea Estes and Scott Helman, “Romney Exits with Pomp, Ambition; Ends Term, Takes 1st Formal Step for White House Bid,”
The Boston Globe
, January 4, 2007.

Chapter 11: A Right Turn on the Presidential Trail

281 “I’m not changing my religion”: Interviews with Doug Gross, Richard Schwarm, and third individual at Ritz-Carlton meeting, 2011.

282 The things that troubled Gross: According to Romney’s spokesman, Eric Fehrnstrom, Romney would not discuss what happened in the failed presidential campaign, saying, “I can’t imagine a more unproductive use of our time.” Interview with Eric Ferhnstrom, 2011.

283 perception—phony: 2006 PowerPoint presentation for Mitt Romney campaign.

284 “optimistic, conservative leader”: Ibid.

284 “There is a perception”: Harvard Institute of Politics,
Campaign for President: The Campaign Managers Speak
(Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield, 2009), 17. See also “Dole Institute of Politics Post Election Conference,” www.doleinstitute.org/documents/Post-Election08-Transcript1.pdf.

284 A poll:
Los Angeles Times
/Bloomberg Poll, published in
The Hotline
, July 5, 2006; Gallup Poll, October 3, 2006, Gallup News Service. (For comparison, the Gallup Poll said that 40 percent of Americans believed the country was not ready for an African-American president.)

285 “You can’t pay me”: Interview with Mark DeMoss, 2011.

286 “You do understand”: Interview with Richard Land, 2011.

286 Romney promised to think about it: Kennedy’s speech is included as an appendix in a book written by Land, which Land presented to Romney. The book is Richard Land,
The Divided States of America: What Liberals and Conservatives Get Wrong About Faith and Politics
(Nashville, Tenn.: Thomas Nelson, 2011).

286 “There is always”: Interviews with Richard Land and Mark DeMoss.

286 “dive right”: Interview with Romney aide, 2011.

287 “Svengali,” “mastermind,” “alter ego”: Interviews with Romney aides, 2011.

287 It was Murphy who: Brian C. Mooney, “Romney Guru Thrives in Political ‘Show Business,’ ”
The Boston Globe
, June 12, 2005.

288 “sheer brilliance”: Mitt Romney,
Turnaround: Crisis, Leadership, and the Olympic Games
(Washington, D.C.: Regnery Publishing, 2007), 381.

288 “a pro-life Mormon”: John J. Miller, “Matinee Mitt—The Governor of Massachusetts May Soon Be Appearing in a (Political) Theater Near You,”
The National Review
, June 20, 2005.

288 I’m out: Interviews with Romney aide, 2011.

288 “Mike Murphy grew up”: Interview with Doug Gross.

288 “Beth said, ‘I don’t want to be’ ”: Interview with Romney aide, 2011.

289 “Win early”: Interviews with Romney aides. Myers declined comment.

289 Romney ended the day: Scott Helman, “On to a New Campaign Trail—Romney Event Nets More than $6.5M,”
The Boston Globe
, January 9, 2007.

289 “akin to a nightmare”: Michael Levenson, “Top Spender Romney Could Soon Run Short,”
The Boston Globe
, October 15, 2007.

289 “A loan’s a loan”: Scott Helman, “Romney Tops GOP in Race for Funds,”
The Boston Globe
, April 3, 2007.

289 In fact, Romney eventually loaned: Michael Kranish, “Romney Not Getting His $45M Back, Says He Won’t Seek Gifts to Repay Campaign Loans,”
The Boston Globe
, July 17, 2008.

289 Bruce Keough: Interview with Bruce Keough, 2011.

290 “the nation’s second-least-churchgoing state”: Frank Newport, “Mississippians Go to Church the Most; Vermonters, Least,” www.gallup.com/poll/125999/mississippians-go-church-most-vermonters-least.aspx.

291 “That was an argument”: Interview with Richard Schwarm.

291 The memo noted: Romney campaign strategy memo by South Carolina advisers.

291 “didn’t want to deal with it”: Interview with Romney campaign aides, 2011.

292 In his speech he emphasized: Mitt Romney, announcement speech, February 14, 2007.

292 He felt as if everyone: Interview with Romney campaign aide, 2011. ABC-TV/
Washington Post
poll, cited in Associated Press, “National Presidential Preference Poll Results,” February 28, 2007.

293 “effectively prochoice”: Romney-O’Brien gubernatorial debate, October 30, 2002. Romney frequently acknowledged that he had been “effectively prochoice” including during an interview on Fox News Channel on January 6, 2008.

294 An analysis of advertising: Nielsen Co., analysis of 2008 presidential campaign commercials, spreadsheet prepared at request of
The Boston Globe
.

294 “He’s not a very notional leader”: Thomas Beaumont, “ ‘CEO’ Takes Businesslike Approach,”
Des Moines Register
, December 26, 2007.

295 “we had a lot of data”: Interview with Doug Gross; interviews with Huckabee aides, 2011.

295 “Wait, he’s not dead yet”: Harvard Institute of Politics,
Campaign for President
, 65.

295 It showed Romney saying: John Dickerson, “A Sneak Preview of John McCain’s Secret Anti-Romney Ad,”
Slate
, www.slate.com/id/2181005/.

296 “we were bleeding”: interview with Romney aides, 2011; Interview with Alex Castellanos, 2011.

297 “the Bain way”: Interviews with Romney aides, 2011. (Stuart Stevens and Russ Schriefer declined comment.)

297 “he was the turnaround guy”: Interview with Mandy Fletcher, 2011.

297 “The glaring deficiency”: Interview with Warren Tompkins, 2011.

297 “There is definitely a creative dynamic”: Jonathan Martin, “Dissension Hits Romney Campaign,” November 14, 2007, www.politico.com/news/stories/1107/6870.html.

298 But Romney was committed: Lisa Wangsness, “Romney Pulls Out All the Stops for Iowa GOP Straw Poll Today; Top Rivals Opt Out, Casting Doubt on Event Significance,”
The Boston Globe
, August 11, 2007; Thomas Beaumont, “Huckabee Faces Pressure to Lure Voters After Win,”
Des Moines Register
, August 13, 2007. Huckabee actually came in second place, but the
Register
’s reference to his “win” demonstrated how the perception of Huckabee’s result may have meant more than Romney’s actual win.