As a lifelong Massachusetts resident, I’ve been amused by the national perception of Mitt Romney. We Massholes know him as a carpetbagger governor that only needed the Governor job so he could launch his presidential campaign with the theme that he heroically tamed the Liberal giants of Massachusetts. His chameleon-like changes in positions are nothing new to us. But I’m even more amused with the recent re-emergence of former Governor Jane "Not Too" Swift. Hearing her name on the national stage is shocking to us Massachusetts residents that know her as a very unpopular and inconsequential politician.
It’s ironic that Jane Swift is the person the GOP is trotting out to defend Sarah Palin. She seems to be a kindred spirit when it comes to balancing governing and family life.
Last week, Jane Swift got caught with her head too far in the public trough. It was learned she used her staff to run errands and even asked them to babysit. She asked staffers to take vacation days in order to help her move. And she used a State Police helicopter to fly home to Western Massachusetts for Thanksgiving, rather than crawl with her constituents along the Massachusetts Turnpike on one of the busiest travel days of the year.
At one point, Swift's approval ratings sank into the single digits. She was an extremely ineffective and unpopular governor - and this in a state where the residents like to balance the power of a Democratically domoinated legislature with a Republican Governor. She was a laughingstock. She only had the job because then Governor Paul Celluci was appointed Ambassador to Canada. She never lost the "Acting Governor" title.
It's also ironic that Jane is now crying sexism. After all, she was forced to bow out of the Republican race for Governor in 2002 by that man's man, Mitt Romney. Where were the cries of sexism then? If she is who the Republicans are counting on to defend Sarah Palin they are truly in sorry shape.