Ask Mitt Anything

Milford is a quintessential New England town. Winding roads going by small streams and lakes, village stores, families celebrating the pumpkin festival with friends and family, hills in the background all come together to form the pretty little town. Fall has begun in earnest, adding to the beauty of the town.

The “Ask Mitt Anything” forum was at the Milford middle school. I was late, and the meeting was in full swing when I arrived – I think Romney was on time. (Rare on the presidential campaign trail!). This was the first event where there were a couple of police officers. Inside the room was well-organized, including lights to shine on Romney as he stood in front of the crowd and took questions.

This was the first Republican event I attended which had a serious discussion. Thompson’s event was poorly attended and there was barely any discussion while Tancredo’s event was too much on the fringe. This event had about 200 people, and the discussion was lively. A number of hands shot up every time. The questions gave me some insight into the Republican way of thinking.

One thing that came through was the belief in taking personal responsibility. One person asked, “How could you as governor of Massachusetts sign a bill that forced health insurance on people?”, referring to what was considered a landmark bill in healthcare. Everyone in Massachusetts had to buy insurance or pay a fine. Romney replied, “My goal was to ensure that people would either buy health insurance, or if they chose not to do so, pay for services when they needed health care. I wanted a change in the system that allowed people without health insurance to use emergency room services for free, which is paid for by your taxes. People could choose between paying or health insurance, but should not be allowed to make use of services for free”. The room spontaneously broke into applause. The idea of taking personal responsibility resonated with the crowd here.

Another similar discussion was on the notion of ‘fair tax’. Fair tax is a flat tax on consumption – like a sales tax. The idea is that when people bought things they would pay tax, so their consumption dictated their taxes, and that it is unfair to tax someone’s income, an income they had worked hard for. Again the idea is that people should pay for things they do, rather than pay an income tax even though they might not use much of the government’s services.

Security and illegal immigration, more so the latter, came up repeatedly in questions. Illegal immigrants were seen as people who “broke the law” and used up resources in the US that they were not entitled to because they broke the law. “We believe in the rule of law”, said Romney. (Never mind the laws the US government breaks when it invades other countries.)

Social issues of course came up for discussion. One man asked, “I am honored to be in the same room with you. But two days ago in Boston I heard a rumor that you supported Planned Parenthood. It was perhaps just a rumor, what is your comment?” Romney responded that indeed a few years ago there was a check in his wife’s name for $150 for Planned Parenthood. They had found it recently, and were not sure how it had come about – perhaps they had done something for a friend or something. (!! I guess this check was public knowledge now, and he was ready with an explanation). He went on to say, “Look at my record. Whenever there was legislation related to this issue I have always come on the side of life”, and went on to give some examples. Interesting way to present some prior actions.

He essentially presents himself as a businessman. In response to a question on how much he would allocate in the budget for an issue, he responded that he could not give a clear number until he saw all the figures and could use hard facts to come up with a plan. He projects that a businessman is a better problem-solver than a politician. Hmmm...... that sounds similar to saying a non-profit can be run like a company.

Another popular question was, “How do we stop the Clinton juggernaut?” :-) They seem to be as worried about it in the Republican camp as democrats are in the primaries :-) He responded that he would fight hard in the ‘purple’ states.

All in all, it was an interesting insight into how Republicans look at issues. I may not agree with them, but I can see their point of view when its not rooted in idealogy.