The Other Side of Romney
By Tim Donner | Monday, February 6th, 2012 | Catch-All, PoliticsIt is now conventional wisdom that if Mitt Romney wins the Republican presidential nomination, the Obama campaign will attempt to depict him as an out-of-touch elitist/financier/1%’er born with a silver spoon in his mouth and unable to relate to average Americans. But much like his entirely defensible stewardship at Bain Capital and 15% tax rate, the following story about Romney, as reported in the Boston Globe, illustrates that his problem is less with his personality and record than it is with his ability to not only defend himself, but go on the offense and sell himself.
In July 1996, the 14-year-old daughter of Robert Gay, a partner at Bain Capital, had disappeared. She had attended a rave party in New York City and gotten high on ecstasy. Three days later, her distraught father had no idea where she was. Romney took immediate action. He closed down the entire firm and asked all 30 partners and employees to fly to New York to help find Gay’s daughter. Romney set up a command center at the LaGuardia Marriott and hired a private detective firm to assist with the search. He established a toll-free number for tips, coordinating the effort with the NYPD, and went through his Rolodex and called everyone Bain did business with in New York, and asked them to help find his friend’s missing daughter. Romney’s accountants at Price Waterhouse Cooper put up posters on street poles, while cashiers at a pharmacy owned by Bain put fliers in the bag of every shopper. Romney and the other Bain employees scoured every part of New York and talked with everyone they could – prostitutes, drug addicts – anyone.
That day, their hunt made the evening news, which featured photos of the girl and the Bain employees searching for her. As a result, a teenage boy phoned in, asked if there was a reward, and then hung up abruptly. The NYPD traced the call to a home in New Jersey, where they found the girl in the basement, shivering and experiencing withdrawal symptoms from a massive ecstasy dose. Doctors later said the girl might not have survived another day. Romney’s former partner credits Mitt Romney with saving his daughter’s life, saying, “It was the most amazing thing, and I’ll never forget this to the day I die.
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About the author
Too radical for the establishment and too establishment for the radicals, Tim is a former candidate for the US Senate and longtime entrepreneur, conservative public policy advocate and broadcast journalist. He founded One Generation Away, an educational and public policy organization, and Horizons Television, which specializes in documentary, educational and promotional video production.
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6 Responses to "The Other Side of Romney"
As always, it’s not how much or how little you have, it’s what you do with it that counts. I am reminded of the cartoon in last week’s RTD “Mitt Romney – we find you guilty of flagrantly obeying the tax code and donating excessively to charities.”
That is an amazing story Tim.. Thanks for posting it. Reminds me of Perot..
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125383680753339477.html
Thanks for sharing, Tim. I believe Romney could win over some of his detractors if America got to see more of “Mitt the Man” and not just “Mitt the Candidate.” This anecdote is just one such example. Hopefully as the race progresses, we’ll get to hear many more.
What was a 14 year old girl doing at a rave party in the first place?
Jason, we saw Mitt the governor..
http://www.wnd.com/2012/01/romney-judicial-record-liberals-running-wild/
He misled conservatives before so why should I beleive he will not do it again? Fool me once shame on you ala George Allen..
It is a good story. I, like many others, have little doubt Mitt Romney is anything less than a gentleman in his personal life.
Tim’s assessment of how the Obama team plans to run against him is spot on.
Unfortunately, (for him and us) neither of those things changes the simple fact that Gov. Romney is a liberal. If he ever committed an act of conservatism, it was as a last resort. His core beliefs, as reflected by his political career, are simply incompatible with conservatism of any stripe.
Better than Obama? Well, sure! At least Mitt Romney is not a committed Marxist. I don’t see how you can put that on a bumper sticker though.
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