Mich. group sees Romney in liberal light

As he heads to Michigan today to deliver a political speech, Governor Mitt Romney is raising the hackles of a conservative organization in that state, which says his views on abortion and same-sex marriage are ''largely indistinguishable" from those of US Senators Edward M. Kennedy and John F. Kerry, Democrats of Massachusetts.

''We hope you will not allow your event or your hospitality to be used to in any way validate or legitimize Governor Mitt Romney's support of legal abortion-on-demand or his endorsement of homosexual activists' political agenda," Gary Glenn of the American Family Association of Michigan wrote in a letter to the Republican state senators Romney will address at a fund-raiser tonight for the Michigan GOP.

The Michigan dust-up puts Romney's political challenge in stark relief, as he mulls a presidential bid in 2008. To have a chance at winning the nomination, he will have to burnish his conservative credentials for Republican primary voters who are much farther to the right than the voters Romney wooed in Massachusetts. Some political observers believe the pressure of performing that balancing act will persuade Romney not to seek reelection as governor in 2006 if he plans to run for president.

Romney spokesman Eric Fehrnstrom called Glenn's letter ''a blatant distortion of the governor's record." Romney says he personally opposes abortion, but he has also said it should be ''safe and legal." He opposes marriage and civil unions for same-sex couples, but last year he backed a proposed constitutional amendment that would legalize civil unions because, he says, the measure was seen as the only way to stop same-sex marriage.

Romney was born in Michigan, and his father, George, served as governor in the state. The trip is the latest in a series of out-of-state visits by the Massachusetts governor.

''As a famous son of Michigan, Governor Romney will be welcomed, as he should be, with courtesy and respect," Glenn said yesterday in a phone interview with the Globe.

''But when it comes to philosophy, we don't care whether his name is Kennedy, Kerry, or Romney, the proabortion, pro-gay rights views of a liberal politician from Massachusetts will not be welcomed here, certainly not among Republicans."

Glenn said he is ''absolutely confident" that many Republican senators were not aware of Romney's views when he was invited to speak at the fund-raiser.

''I don't think there is a piece of prolife legislation that has not been enacted in Michigan; it's one of the most prolife states in the country," Glenn said. ''When it comes to his philosophy, it's where he stands that will count with profamily citizens, not where he was born."

In his letter to GOP senators, Glenn attached an article published earlier this month in Bay Windows, a gay weekly newspaper, which argued that with the notable exception of his opposition to same-sex marriage, Romney has compiled a mostly pro-gay record as governor. Romney has appointed several openly gay people to key positions, endorsed openly gay legislative candidates, and declined to gut the Governor's Commission on Gay and Lesbian Youth.

But Marc Solomon of Mass Equality, one of the groups that led the fight to legalize same-sex marriage in Massachusetts, said he doesn't view Romney as an ally.

''Mitt Romney's record on same-sex marriage and on the treatment of gay and lesbian couples and the families they raise is atrocious," Solomon said. ''He opposes both marriage and civil unions, which puts him far on the right. He is now going out of state and mocking gay families, gay parents, and the whole idea of gay parenting."

''I think that Romney's position is about as out of step with the citizenry of Massachusetts as it can conceivably be," he added.

Some prominent Republicans in Michigan, which will hold its primary early in 2008, appear willing to cut Romney some slack, given the political realities he must face in Massachusetts. State Senator Alan Cropsey, a leading supporter of last year's successful effort to amend the Michigan constitution to ban same-sex marriage, said yesterday that Romney ''is doing the best he can."

''Of course Mitt Romney's views on some of the social issues are going to be much more liberal than the average Republican in Michigan," Cropsey said, praising Romney for trying to put the issue of same-sex marriage to the voters. ''It's not like Massachusetts is mainstream by any stretch of the imagination."

Senate majority leader Ken Sikkema said Michigan Republicans should give Romney a chance to define himself, rather than relying on conservative groups or the media to do it for him.

''If he becomes a candidate, if he pursues this, he'll have many venues in Michigan where he'll be asked those questions," Sikkema said. ''I'd rather give him a chance to address those issues himself over a period of time."

Sikkema added, however, that, even with his ties to Michigan, Romney won't be ''starting on a level playing field with other potential candidates and rivals" if his views on social issues are more liberal than those of the typical GOP voter.

Romney's father was a moderate Republican who walked out of the 1964 Republican Convention to protest the declaration by nominee Barry Goldwater that ''extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice."

But the modern GOP has mostly forsaken George Romney's moderation for Goldwater's conservative vision, and the younger Romney will have a hard time winning the Republican nomination by following his father's example.

George Romney was an early favorite for the 1968 GOP presidential nomination, but he aborted his candidacy after he ignited a media firestorm with his explanation of why he had shifted from supporting the Vietnam War to opposing it. In a 1967 television interview, Romney said generals and diplomats had ''brainwashed" him into supporting the war during a visit to Vietnam two years earlier.

In recent speeches in Missouri, South Carolina, and Utah, Mitt Romney has tried to turn the Bay State's perceived liberal excesses to his advantage, poking fun at Massachusetts in front of conservative audiences and comparing himself to ''a cattle rancher at a vegetarian convention."