Mitt Romney's 2003 endorsement of Democratic Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson
Rocky Anderson may not be accusing Mitt Romney of sexually harassing him in 2003, but he is another reminder of two of Romney's weakest points: that the Republican base doesn't trust Mitt Romney is a real conservative and that Mitt Romney is a known flip-flopper.
Why? Because Rocky Anderson is a liberal Democrat who led protests against the Iraq war, called for George W. Bush's impeachment, opposed the death penalty, supported abortion rights, and favored gay marriage. And in 2003, Mitt Romney endorsed his bid for reelection as Mayor of Salt Lake City.
The beautiful thing about this is that Mitt Romney can't say he didn't know about Anderson's liberal politics. Via NEXIS, here's a report published on October 7, 2003 in the Boston Globe on Romney's endorsement:
Governor Mitt Romney, whose first foray into national politics ended in a minor political fiasco last week, is endorsing another out-of-state political figure, but this time, it's a Democrat with left-leaning social positions who is a strong critic of the Iraq war.
Romney has made an ad praising Rocky Anderson, the liberal Salt Lake City mayor who is seeking a second term. He praises Anderson's work with him on the 2002 Winter Olympics and gives the mayor credit for playing a big role in saving the once-troubled games.
As he tries to build up the GOP in Massachusetts, Romney has endorsed a candidate whose politics are far to the left of him and the Republican Party on key social issues. While Romney is pushing for a death penalty, Anderson opposes it. The Massachusetts governor opposes gay marriages, but Anderson supports the idea. Romney supports President Bush on the Iraq war, but Anderson last winter issued a proclamation condemning President Bush's push to wage war.
Anderson also endorsed Romney's 2002 campaign for Massachusetts governor, but now says Romney has sold out to the right wing of the Republican Party. But the important thing here is that Romney endorsed Anderson. And if Romney's opponents ever get their act together and figure that out, he'll have just two options for handling it: defending his endorsement of a liberal Democrat running against a Republican, or flip-flopping. Either scenario is trouble for him.