Romney, in tone shift, reaches out to Democrats

Governor Mitt Romney, who has used Massachusetts Democrats as a foil in recent out-of-state political speeches, began reaching across the aisle yesterday with a new radio ad that stresses what he and lawmakers can accomplish by working together.

In an interview with the Globe, Romney also praised the healthcare plan that Senate President Robert E. Travaglini unveiled last week, saying, ''There's a lot in there I like." Both he and Travaglini aim to reduce the ranks of the uninsured by allowing insurers to offer less expensive policies with scaled-back benefits.

''On healthcare, we're pulling in the same direction," Romney said.

The governor's approach yesterday differed from the tone of the last month and a half, when Romney told out-of-state Republican audiences that in Democrat-dominated Massachusetts he feels like a ''cattle rancher at a vegetarian convention." Last month, he also aired a radio ad criticizing stem cell legislation advocated by Democrats as a ''radical cloning bill." Relations had warmed in the late fall and winter, when the governor reached out to Democrats after losing badly in his attempt to seat more Republicans in the Legislature.

Romney's campaign is paying for the latest radio ad, which began airing across the state yesterday and will cost about $50,000 a week. He said yesterday that the ads will run for ''a number of weeks" and that they probably will be followed by other ads discussing issues such as healthcare, education, and job creation. Without the partisan rancor of an election year, the governor said, he is hopeful that progress can be made on all those fronts.

''This can be another year of action in the Legislature," the Republican governor says in the 60-second spot, which he says he wrote.

He points out that he and lawmakers already have closed the state's budget gap without raising taxes and have jump-started a stalled school construction program. ''You will be hearing me on the radio talking about my ideas, like market-based health insurance for everyone," his ad says. ''We can create great schools by finishing the job of education reform. And, we can make Massachusetts a truly job-friendly state. How? By working together."

Several strategists have said Romney will need to cast himself as a conservative if he runs for president in 2008, but also must burnish his resume with concrete accomplishments. In the interview, Romney agreed he must work with Democrats in order to advance his agenda, though he spoke of the benefits to the state, not his own political career.

''The only way I can further my agenda is by having bipartisan support and public support," Romney said, referring to the Republicans' minority status on Beacon Hill. ''And so with the extraordinary opportunity we have this spring, I want to make sure that the agenda is clear and understood by the public and legislators on both sides of the aisle."

The ad campaign also serves as a signal that Romney is engaged in what is going on in Massachusetts, combating critics' assertions that he is already focused on the 2008 race for the White House.

''This ad and others that will follow are not meant to be oppositional in nature, but instead to try to build consensus," Romney told the Globe. ''This is evidence that I care very deeply about a number of issues, and I see this year as a critical year of opportunity."

Senator Richard T. Moore, the Uxbridge Democrat who cochairs the Legislature's Joint Committee on Health Care Financing, said he was ''pleasantly surprised" by Romney's praise for a key component of Travaglini's healthcare plan. ''If he really does want to work with us, we certainly do want to work with him," he said.

But Philip W. Johnston, the Democrats' state chairman, took a darker view of Romney's radio campaign.

Johnston said the governor is trying to shore up his suburban base after taking positions such as opposing same-sex marriage and the stem cell bill and strongly backing President Bush's reelection, positions that alienated many of those voters.

''None of those positions fits the state well, so he and his advisers are thrashing about, trying to settle on an approach that will work for him politically," Johnston said. ''One would have to be very naive to believe that he is sincere about what he says in the end."

Scott Greenberger can be reached at greenberger@globe.com.