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Romney Touts Himself As Successful Consensus Builder [Says He Knows "How To Get Along"]
Washington Post ^ | December 23, 2011 | Philip Rucker

Posted on 12/23/2011 9:12:57 PM PST by Steelfish

Romney Touts Himself As Successful Consensus Builder

Philip Rucker December 23

When Mitt Romney was governor, he had a routine: Every Monday afternoon at 3, he would meet with the two Democrats who controlled the Massachusetts legislature. They rotated offices each week and, over cheese, juice and popcorn, the three negotiated the budget, taxes and health care. Sometimes they just chitchatted about movies, leaving Romney to wonder whether he had just wasted an hour.

This was how Romney governed as a Republican here on Beacon Hill, where the legislature was 85 percent Democratic. He was practical, not ideological. He was polite and formal, even in his Cabinet meetings, and kept his guard up with those outside his tight circle of loyalists. He forged relationships based on respect, but rarely trust. He sought compromise whenever possible, knowing that he would accomplish nothing if he didn’t win support from the other side.

Romney achieved results with this approach, and he thinks he can do the same in Washington. On the campaign trail, he touts himself as a consensus builder — a leader in ways that he charges President Obama is not. Romney said he could have broken the stalemate in Congress over extending the payroll tax cut by summoning both parties’ leaders to the White House. And if they didn’t show up, he said, he would have ventured down Pennsylvania Avenue to their offices.

“A leader listens to the people who are one’s opponents — and you find ways of bringing people together,” Romney said this week while campaigning in New Hampshire. Being a GOP governor in Democratic Massachusetts, he added, “taught me I had to get along. I couldn’t attack the speaker of the House or the Senate president because I had to work with those guys to get anything done.”

(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...


TOPICS: News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: cowardromney; flipflopromney; gutlessromney; panderingromney; pussyromney; rino; rinoromney; romney; romneyunderskirts; yellowromney
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To: Steelfish

I’ll bet the gay robot votes for him...


21 posted on 12/23/2011 10:45:45 PM PST by Tex-Con-Man (T. Coddington Van Voorhees VII 2012 - "Together, I Shall Ride You To Victory")
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To: Steelfish

Not interested in getting along. We need a LEADER.


22 posted on 12/23/2011 11:11:47 PM PST by SECURE AMERICA (Where can I sign up for the New American Revolution and the Crusades 2012?)
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To: Steelfish

Translation of the term consensus builder=a politician unable to say yes or no. A man who is unable to take a stand.


23 posted on 12/23/2011 11:26:38 PM PST by AEMILIUS PAULUS (It is a shame that when these people give a riot)
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To: Steelfish

I believe A LOT of conservative voters will stay home if Romney is shoved down our throats.


24 posted on 12/23/2011 11:55:49 PM PST by FastCoyote (I am intolerant of the intolerable.)
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To: Steelfish

“Consensus” is what got us in this mess!


25 posted on 12/24/2011 12:07:40 AM PST by SWAMPSNIPER (The Second Amendment, a Matter of Fact, Not a Matter of Opinion)
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To: Steelfish

Rinos know how to get along with the socialists. He told the truth.


26 posted on 12/24/2011 12:36:05 AM PST by SaraJohnson
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To: Steelfish

Mitt was 31 years old when the LDS decided in 1978 that black people could become full members of the church. Prior to that they were considered by the LDS to be cursed by God. Now it may not be as bad as it sounds, but that won’t matter because the state run media is only going to go with one side of the story. The one side that hurts the Republican party. This will be proof to them and anyone who listens to them that the Tea Party, Conservatives, the Republican party and any one else who opposes Obama are racists.


27 posted on 12/24/2011 1:02:16 AM PST by Lewis Morris (Having lost sight of our goals, we redouble our efforts!)
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To: Steelfish

Romney sez he knows how to get along Definition.................compromise


28 posted on 12/24/2011 3:24:09 AM PST by ronnie raygun (V)
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To: Steelfish

We had one of those ‘get along’ types from 2000-2008.
I recall him getting along with some cockamamie congressional bill and our saying among ourselves, ‘Just wait, he’s going to fix it with some maneuver’.

That maneuver never materialized, over and over.
IIRC it was years into his term before Pres. Bush vetoed his first bill.

No thanks..no get along for me.


29 posted on 12/24/2011 3:47:35 AM PST by Vinnie
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To: Steelfish
“A leader listens to the people who are one’s opponents — and you find ways of bringing people together,”...
Here's your clue, Mitt...
I don't want you coaching my sports team.
I want to win the game, not give it away!

What an idiot.

30 posted on 12/24/2011 4:29:31 AM PST by philman_36 (Pride breakfasted with plenty, dined with poverty, and supped with infamy. Benjamin Franklin)
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To: Jim Robinson
In other words, a turncoat aisle-crossing RINO.

He builds a "consensus" like Algore - it's termed a "consensus" if it's useful to him. While Gore is battier, Romney is very similar.

31 posted on 12/24/2011 5:10:19 AM PST by trebb ("If a man will not work, he should not eat" From 2 Thes 3)
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To: Steelfish
Romney Touts Himself As Successful Consensus Builder

Of course, if you're a socialist b@tch, that is...

32 posted on 12/24/2011 5:21:26 AM PST by Caipirabob ( Communists... Socialists... Democrats...Traitors... Who can tell the difference?)
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To: Steelfish

Just what we need. Another go along get along.


33 posted on 12/24/2011 5:36:14 AM PST by Georgia Girl 2 (The only purpose of a pistol is to fight your way back to the rifle you should never have dropped.)
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To: Steelfish

Sure Romney knows how to “get along”

He goes along.

No principles except get elected at any cost.


34 posted on 12/24/2011 5:43:51 AM PST by Venturer
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To: Steelfish

Gee. Four more years of Obama, or eight years of Mitt. That is a very, very tough call.

I’m thinking four of Obama might actually be preferable to eight of Mitt.

The GOP truly is the Stupid Party.


35 posted on 12/24/2011 7:51:35 AM PST by surely_you_jest
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To: surely_you_jest

If you get 4 more years of Obama you will see more scenes like the Air Jordans fiasco across America - imagine what will happen if we are having to fight for food and gas.


36 posted on 12/24/2011 10:29:35 AM PST by RummyChick (It's a Satan Sandwich with Satan Fries on the side - perfect for Obama 666)
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To: surely_you_jest

If he’s such a great “Consensus Builder,” how come he can’t build a consensus among Republicans?

Yep, a RINO-Quisling.


37 posted on 12/24/2011 10:38:30 AM PST by Cincinnatus.45-70 (What do DemocRats enjoy more than a truckload of dead babies? Unloading them with a pitchfork!)
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