As governor of Massachusetts, Romney was not a moderate. He faced down a legislature that was 85 percent Democratic, and, after failing to secure more seats for Republicans during his term, declared that “from now on, it’ s me-me-me.” It was only then that Romney decided to work with Democrats on his now (in)famous universal health insurance plan, which he now disowns. To drive the point home, NPR reports:
But apart from health care, Romney defined success not with big-picture legislative accomplishments but with confrontation. In a 2008 campaign ad, Romney actually bragged about taking on his Legislature: “I like vetoes; I vetoed hundreds of spending appropriations as governor,” he said.
Romney issued some 800 vetoes, and the Legislature overrode nearly all of them, sometimes unanimously.
And as MA Democrat Ellen Story said about Mitt’s governorship:
He was aloof; he was not approachable. He was very much an outsider, the whole time he was here.
