In a campaign set against Democratic U.S. President Barack Obama, experts said Mitt Romney’s history as the former Massachusetts governor has been a delicate aspect of his campaign.
Romney’s Massachusetts legacy was a “hit-and-run,” said Tobe Berkovitz, a political media consultant and an associate professor at Boston University’s College of Communication.
“It seems that he cut some deals with the legislature, which you have to do if you’re a Republican governor to try to get some laws enacted,” Berkovitz said.
Berkovitz said Romney “burnt out” trying to deal with the Democratic establishment on Beacon Hill and headed for “greener pastures,” such as the presidency.
The Republican presidential candidate, governor of Massachusetts from 2003 to 2007, worked on Beacon Hill with an 85 percent Democratic state legislature.
During his term, the state’s unemployment rate decreased while the national rate also dropped, and Massachusetts adopted a healthcare law with an individual mandate, according to FactCheck.org.
Some experts said Romney’s Massachusetts background could hurt him, while others said it shows his cooperative abilities.
Steve Koczela, president of the MassINC polling group, said Romney is not running for the presidency based on his history.
“He’s a Republican from a Blue State — for the most part he’s downplayed the ‘I’m from a Blue state’ dynamic,” he said. “He hasn’t emphasized it much during the campaign.”
Romney’s Massachusetts background makes it difficult for him to connect with his Republican base, Berkovitz said, which is what he needed to do during the primaries.
“That’s why he tried to position himself away from a moderate governor to a conservative, typical and palatable Republican presidential candidate,” he said.
Massachusetts GOP Communications Director Tim Buckley said the fact that Romney is from Massachusetts is positive for his campaign because of his accomplishments in the Bay State.
“He showed that he can work both sides of aisle clearly on issues,” he said in a phone interview. “People appreciate someone who can do that.”
Romney had many accomplishments during his run as governor, Buckley said in a separate email interview.
Unemployment dropped while Romney was governor, he said.
“Governor Romney also pulled the state out of a $3 billion deficit and increased the rainy day fund to $2 billion without raising taxes,” Buckley said. “These accomplishments were all achieved with bipartisan support, as the legislature was controlled by Democrats.”
He said Romney worked across party lines to achieve his accomplishments.
Part of Romney’s job was working with both sides, something Romney has a long history of doing, Buckley said.
Berkovitz, however, said he did not believe Romney would win his home state of Massachusetts.
Romney is 12.7 points behind Obama in Massachusetts, according to the latest polls from Talking Points Memo’s Poll Tracker.
“That’s pretty clear that he’s going to get rubbed in his home state,” Berkovitz said.
But Berkovitz said this would not hurt Romney’s campaign.
“[This] really doesn’t hurt him with Republicans anywhere else because I think Republicans in most parts of the country thought, ‘If this guy is appealing to Massachusetts, then he’s not appealing to me,’” Berkovitz said.
He said there would be very little support for Romney in Massachusetts because it is a “highly Democratic state.”
“Romney is not going to look for support [in Massachusetts],” Koczela said. “He’ll focus on the Boston media market because of New Hampshire, and it’s a swing state.”
Despite Romney’s Massachusetts healthcare legacy, Berkovitz said Romney has been “pretty much running away from government healthcare.”
“His rationale is that he wants to leave it up to the states,” he said.
The state’s comprehensive healthcare law somewhat adheres to this philosophy, but Romneycare might tarnish Romney’s reputation, Berkovitz said.
But placed against Obamacare, Romney might not be too hurt by his healthcare history.
“Obamacare is so much worse that it’s probably not going to hurt him with the Republicans,” Berkovitz said.
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