As I've observed before, with this election cycle's crop of GOP candidates, when general election time arrives, it's going to be difficult to employ the traditional Republican strategy of claiming that the Democratic rival is a "flip flopper."
A leading example is Mitt Romney. First the former MA Governor was for stem cell research and now he's against it. Yet despite his new found moral opposition, as the Washington Post reports today, Romney continues to invest his personal fortune, managed via a "blind trust," in a company that is a leader in embryonic stem cell research. He also invests in other "morally sound" ventures such as casinos and an oil company that does business with the Sudanese.
Romney disclosed yesterday that his blind trusts earned between $17 million and $69 million in income in the past 18 months. One of his trusts owned between $100,000 and $250,000 in stock in the biotechnology and drug company Novo Nordisk, which describes itself on its Web site as an "active partner in national and international cooperative projects involving stem cells." Many religious conservatives, whose votes Romney is courting, oppose the scientific use of embryonic stem cells because the cells often come from aborted fetuses.Romney's trusts also recently unloaded numerous stocks -- valued at between $150,000 and $1,165,000 -- in casino operators MGM Mirage, Harrah's and Boyd Gaming. Many Christian conservatives -- as well as leaders of Romney's Mormon faith -- morally oppose gambling.
The Romney trusts reported owning and then selling stock worth between $100,001 and $250,000 in the Schlumberger global oil services company, which was identified as doing business with the Sudanese government by members of Congress pushing legislation to end the genocide in Sudan's Darfur region.
Comments
Do you even know what a blind trust is?
Please look it up and give up the sensationalism.
Posted by: Nate | August 17, 2007 10:24 AM
Nate,
When you are investing that much money and also campaigning on morality and a preferred definition of social responsibility, then it's fair game to call Romney on the types of companies he is investing in. The same thing goes for any Democrat. To say it is a "blind trust" and he has no control, is an easy and unacceptable out.
Moreover, as the WPost article notes, when Romney campaigned against Ted Kennedy in 1994, he claimed that Kennedy's blind trust was no excuse. From the Post article:
The blind trust is an age-old ruse," Romney was quoted as saying back then. "You give a blind trust rules. You can say to a blind trust, don't invest in properties which would be in conflict of interest or where the seller might think they're going to get an advantage from me."
Posted by: Matthew C. Nisbet | August 17, 2007 10:29 AM
There are different types of stem cell research. Romney has been consistent on this issue. pay closer attention idiot.
Posted by: Greg | October 25, 2009 12:37 PM