The Ann Romney challenge – How do you go from the private Kingswood High School in Bloomfield Hills Michigan and pursue a semester at the University of Grenoble in France to Olympic dressage horse competition and a home with a car elevator and yet convey to the viewing public that you understand “how hard it is to get ahead now.”
Easy … you relate to them, saying “I’ve heard your voices.”
And then you recount a story from young married life :
“We were very young. Both still in college. There were many reasons to delay marriage, and you know? We just didn’t care. We got married and moved into a basement apartment. We walked to class together, shared the housekeeping, and ate a lot of pasta and tuna fish. Our desk was a door propped up on sawhorses. Our dining room table was a fold down ironing board in the kitchen. Those were very special days.
Then our first son came along.”
Yep, no mention of the wedding of two rather well-off families … where a future President and then Republican Minority Leader Gerald Ford attended the reception … no mention of the honeymoon in Hawaii … I suppose that there were no gifts for the Bride … certainly, no money to actually purchase a table.
The “desk” story is one that Ann Romney told to Jack Thomas of the Boston Globe – circa October 20, 1994 (Note : this was the basis for an earlier MN Political RoundTable commentary :
“They were not easy years. You have to understand, I was raised in a lovely neighborhood, as was Mitt, and at BYU, we moved into a $62-a-month basement apartment with a cement floor and lived there two years as students with no income.
It was tiny. And I didn’t have money to carpet the floor. But you can get remnants, samples, so I glued them together, all different colors. It looked awful, but it was carpeting.
We were happy, studying hard. Neither one of us had a job, because Mitt had enough of an investment from stock that we could sell off a little at a time.
The stock came from Mitt’s father. When he took over American Motors, the stock was worth nothing. But he invested Mitt’s birthday money year to year — it wasn’t much, a few thousand, but he put it into American Motors because he believed in himself. Five years later, stock that had been $6 a share was $96 and Mitt cashed it so we could live and pay for education.
We had our first child in that tiny apartment. We couldn’t afford a desk, so we used a door propped on sawhorses in our bedroom. It was a big door, so we could study on it together. And we bought a portable crib, took the legs off and put it on the desk while we studied. I had a baby sitter during class time, but otherwise, I’d hold my son on my lap while I studied.”
Gosh, what a great picture – baby in a crib and two students studying – that would make … I wonder why there was not one offered by the campaign ?
But then again, … what must George Romney think … did he just ignore his new grandson … did he shun his son and daughter-in-law ?
Nah, his stock gift kept the kids afloat …
But did Ann Romney throw poor George under the bus ?
IMO, YES.
Ann Romney finished her RNC speech :
“This is the genius of America: dreams fulfilled help others launch new dreams.”
Well, how about recognizing those that helped make those dreams happen ? ? ?
Ya gotta wonder about who paid for the hospital bills related to the Tagg’s birth … today, under ObamaCare, students could remain on their parents’ health insurance policy, but wanna-be President Romney’s First Day Agenda is to dismantle ObamaCare.
Ann Romney also mentioned her Multiple Sclerosis and being diagnosed with ductal carcinoma in situ, a non-invasive type of breast cancer … but never mentioned the Romney plan for healthcare.
Side Note : The Atlantic Wire also did a little FactChecking on wanna-be First Lady Romney’s speech concerning Mitt Romney’s job guarantees concerns before moving a desk over from Bain & Company to a new business entity, Bain Capital, with the assurance that he could return if it failed.
The more you read about George Romney and his policies, the more you like him … and feeling sorry for his memory.
The more you hear the Romneys, the more you don’t trust them.
You sound like a democrat. She might have embellished the story a bit, but she at least is willing to discuss her beginnings, not like the current president, who thinks we believe his lies.
Welcome to the Roundtable, Jim.
No, actually, I am an independent … I have voted for Republicans, Democrats and even Independence Party candidates … in fact, I am old enough to have a Goldwater/Miller button, so my memory of George Romney is real. What I detest is politicians that try to play the “emotion card”.
If you have ever been on a jury, you know the Judge will allow a few “character” witness … and as a member of the jury, you will probably discount much of what they say … IMO, Ann Romney was a character witness put out there to make us like her husband … so why did she repeat essentially the same story that she used in the Kennedy-Romney campaign which ended up being deemed unbelievable.
I would not have even written this commentary if she hadn’t added the “ironing board/ dining table” segment … that takes if over the top … do a personal test … grab an ironing board and set it up in your kitchen … does it wobbly when you cut a piece of meat ? can you sit at it and eat ? can other people walk around while you eat ? can two people eat comfortably ? and why would you put up a ironing board instead of just clearing a space off the “door”/desk.
Her speechwriter should be fired.
If you believe President Obama’s beginnings are lies, that’s your opinion, but two lies do not make the truth.
I attended a private all-male high school and I had a study table and kitchen table in my college apartment and I would not lie about it … after all isn’t the theme that the Romney wants presented is that one should be proud of his success … so, why is he sending his wife out to proclaim a “hardknock life” … com’n this aint Annie.
Mac Hall