Romney's record as Massachusetts governor (2003-2006) deserves more attention. We don't hear much about his steady decline in public approval prior to his decision to not seek re-election, but instead to begin a campaign to inflict himself upon the national political scene.
Wikipedia has the story:
Romney had job approval ratings around 50 percent for most of his term,[238] but they began to decline towards the end of his term.
A March 2005 poll found that only 32 percent felt Romney should be re-elected if he ran for a second term as governor (69 percent of Republicans said he should be re-elected, compared to 31 percent of independents and 12 percent of Democrats).[234] Many in Massachusetts grew dissatisfied with Romney's frequent
out-of-state travel and shift toward promoting socially conservative issues as he began to focus increasingly on national rather than state politics.[239][240]
Here's what the approval-disapproval record looked like during his term:
Appr Dis
Feb. 2003 56% 23%
June 2003 56% 36%
Sep. 2003 61% 36%
Nov. 2003 66% 33% Before Supreme Judicial
Court ruling on gay marriage.
April 2004 58% 40%
Sep. 2004 55% 44%
March 2005 50% 37% After rumors of exploring run for presidency.
Aug. 2005 50% 40%
March 2006 46% 47% After announcing not running for re-election.
June 2006 39% 56%
Nov. 2006 34% 65% Lowest approval of
governorship.
Dec. 2006 39% 59% Last full month of
governorship.
Adapted from Wikipedia
So nearly 2/3 of the state disapproved of his performance as governor by the end of his last year.
What caused this dissatisfaction?
The issue of unemployment
Unemployment in Massachusetts rose during Romney’s first year from a rate of 5.6 percent in January 2003, when he took office, to a peak of 6.0 percent in mid 2003.[68] It then steadily declined
over the remainder of his term, ending at 4.6 percent in January 2007,[68] his last month as governor, for a net improvement in unemployment of 1.0 percent.
If unemployment began improving, why the dissatisfaction?
Much of the improvement in unemployment during Romney’s first three years in office reflected the loss of working-age adults from the labor force,[64][69] many of them having left Massachusetts for other states during the period.[70][64] Massachusetts experienced one of the highest levels of net out-migration of any state during Romney's term.
Boldface added
But Romney as president will have a plan to cut unemployment. Will it be to force unemployed workers to hitchhike to Canada to find work?
There were social issues
Romney was the first governor in modern Massachusetts history to deny every request for a pardon or commutation during his four years in office. He denied 100 requests for commutations and 172
requests for pardons, including the request from a soldier serving in Iraq to be pardoned for a conviction at age 13 involving a BB gun.[141]
On abortion, Romney the candidate promised not to alter the state's pro-choice laws, but by late 2005 he changed his views and was acting like a pro-life Mormon. He vetoed an emergency contraception bill (which was then passed over his veto). He criticized Roe vs. Wade.
Stem cell research: He vetoed some stem cell research legislation (which was then passed over his veto).
Minimum wage: In July 2006 he vetoed an increase in the minimum wage to $8 per hour (which was then passed over his veto).
There is more. The entire Wikipedia entry http://en.wikipedia.org/... is worth reading.
It may give an indication that the aspects of his failed governorship, an office for which he evidently decided that he could not be re-elected, after an approval rating as low as 32%, would re-appear in a Romney presidency.
Romney failed as Bain CEO to act fairly and as a good citizen to add value to the nation.
Romney failed to save the Salt Lake City Olympic Games (while on paid leave from Bain) without a massive federal bailout.
Romney failed as governor of Massachusetts.
Romney failed as a credible campaigner for president.
Romney would fail as president, bringing down our democracy in the process.
Romney is an opportunistic personal aggrandizer who moves from one project to another, leaving the last in shambles. The nation cannot risk his taking the role of the world's most politically powerful person.