ROMNEY DEFENDS MLK MARCH REMARK

MSNBC ^ | 12/20/2007 | Carrie Dann

[JRochelle]

Romney says that it depends on what the definition of "saw" is.

A defensive Romney was peppered with questions today on exactly what he meant when he said -- most recently on Meet the Press -- that he "saw" his father march with Martin Luther King Jr. Recent articles have indicated that his father, the late Michigan Gov. George Romney, didn't march with the civil-rights leader.

Admitting that he didn't see the march with his own eyes, he said, "I 'saw' him in the figurative sense."

"The reference of seeing my father lead in civil rights," he said, "and seeing my father march with Martin Luther King is in the sense of this figurative awareness of and recognition of his leadership."

"I've tried to be as accurate as I can be," he continued, smiling firmly. "If you look at the literature or look at the dictionary, the term 'saw' includes being aware of -- in the sense I've described."

The questioning did not relent. "I'm an English literature major," he insisted at one point. "When we say I saw the Patriots win the World Series, it doesn't necessarily mean you were there." (He meant the Super Bowl, of course.)

The back-and-forth continued to go south for Romney, who had intended for the story of the day to be about his slams on Mike Huckabee for easing penalties for meth users. Romney had to correct an earlier statement that he had himself "gotten tough on methamphetamine" (His proposed legislation as governor never made it through the Massachusetts House.)

"I'm making sure that that's correct as quickly as I possibly can," he said. "If there's any confusion there I'm sorry for any confusion."

Romney was increasingly exasperated with the questioning, especially when a reporter tied in these instances of word-parsing

[JRochelle]

Before you Mittbots throw a fit, this one has some new news in it.

"I'm an English literature major," he insisted at one point. "When we say I saw the Patriots win the World Series, it doesn't necessarily mean you were there."

Who knew?

[tobyhill]

Depends on what the meaning of “is” is?

[the gillman@blacklagoon.com]

I SAW myself voting for someone else, Mittens.

And I still do.

[period end of story]

It was a weak response on Mitt’s part. However, everyone is going to have to correct mistakes along the campaign trail, and in the end this won’t hurt him.

He has a knack for smoothing things over rather well.

[rhombus]

Haha, that's funny. It ranks up there with John Kerry's Manny Ortiz statement. Yeah, I agree though (He meant the Super Bowl, of course.) as the article says but it is funny.

[iowamark]

I saw the Patriots win the World Series

That would actually be pretty entertaining. I would like to see the Red Sox in the Super Bowl.

[Teacher317]

Well put. Ditto.

[tiger-one]

"I'm an English literature major," he insisted at one point. "When we say I saw the Patriots win the World Series, it doesn't necessarily mean you were there."

He never saw the Patriots win the WS, because no one has. The Patriots never played in a world series. In fact the never played baseball.

[headsonpikes]

"I'm an English literature major,"

If Mitt can survive this confession, he can see himself becomiong #44!

[UCFRoadWarrior]

Maybe the Tom Tancredo endorsement was just a “figurative” one?

[ontap]

One wonders what Mitt Romney though he was going to gain from this statement assuming it was true let alone it turns out to be his imagination gone wild. Either he was out there winging it or his advisers need to be shook up.

[rhombus]

"I'm an English literature major," If Mitt can survive this confession, he can see himself becomiong #44!

Ha, it's a good thing he didn't have to try and make a living with that degree.

[TomGuy]

he said, "I 'saw' him in the figurative sense."

Figurative?

That is sort of like the virtual fence Chertoff is constructing along the southern border.



If nothing else, all these wannabes (both parties) are providing loads of entertainment at their foibles.

In 04 all we had was Kerry and Dean. This time, we have nearly a dozen clowns.

[ClearCase_guy]

I'm not much of a Mitt fan, but this seems very overblown. As Mitt says, many Bostonians would say "I never I'd live to see the day when the Red Sox would win two World Series." That's a perfectly good use of the world and does not necessarily imply literally witnessing the event happening twice in one day.

I also understand that David Broder wrote a book in 1967 which claims that George Romney marched with MLK.

We're in the realm of "proving a negative" here, and the principals are all dead. The essential point is that Mitt comes from a family that has a long history of taking decent stands on civil rights. There's not much need for controversy on this point.

[kevkrom]

ROMNEY DEFENDS SPINS MLK MARCH REMARK

Fixed MSNBC's headline for them.

[Brad from Tennessee]

George Romney did attend Martin Luther King Jr.’s funeral in Atlanta along with Nixon, RFK and 50,000 other people. The mourners walked behind a mule-drawn wagon bearing King’s casket forming a huge procession. If Mitt was there, watching on TV, or saw a newsreel of the event, then he saw his father accompany King on his “last march.”

[laotzu]

"I 'saw' him in the figurative sense."

This morning, while showering; I 'saw' Jill St John giving me a Lewinsky.
Now, there's no more hot water.

[TomGuy]

He never saw the Patriots win the WS, because no one has. The Patriots never played in a world series. In fact the never played baseball.

Maybe it happened in that other America that John Edwards is always talking about.

==

Maybe Mitt was channelling some spirit from an alternative universe.

[Leisler]

A la the other flipper, Jon Kerry’s “Manny Ortiz”.

Clueless. Not popular, as in not of the people.

[George W. Bush]

I wish you and the others hadn't posted these. Now the Ron-Paul-takes-photos-with-Nazis-because-he's-Dr.-Mengele thread got pushed down.

I suppose I can't ask all of you to keep these articles out of Front Page. Well, maybe I can request the mods to put that other thread in Breaking News for the next few weeks.

Mitt bump. George Romney was a decent man, an early civil rights supporter, and even more remarkable considering the official position of his church in the early Sixties on certain race issues. He was way out in front in leading on this. Mitt is right to admire him, as a man and as a leader.