Voters voice regard, regret over Slick-Mitt Romney

[Ian David]

Voters voice regard, regret over Romney
Huge potential unmet, some say

By Lisa Wangsness, Globe Staff | December 26, 2006

Terry O'Brien saw a flash of the man he 'd voted for in 2002 last summer, after the fatal ceiling collapse in the Interstate 90 connector tunnel. Governor Mitt Romney hurled himself at the problem, holding press conferences, touring the tunnel, and ordering a comprehensive safety inspection.

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But interviews with more than three dozen voters last week most strikingly revealed a wistfulness among those who voted for the governor and even those who did not. Many saw huge potential in Romney, a smart business executive with few connections to the clannish Massachusetts establishment, when he took office four years ago. Looking back, they wondered what he might have accomplished, had his ambition to run for president not overshadowed his term as governor.

"He totally didn't use the skills he clearly has," said Judy Deal, 44, a Democrat and real estate broker from Jamaica Plain. " It's frustrating because even though I didn't vote for him, I know he has the talent to progress further. But he really dropped the ball on Massachusetts."

Few voters interviewed expressed anger about Romney's rightward drift on gay rights and abortion, saying they always believed he was socially conservative at heart. But many said the social issues distracted him from what they had hoped would be his agenda -- improving the economy and tackling patronage in government.

"To me, the amount of effort he's put into squashing gay marriage is disproportionate to the amount of effort he's put into" anything else, said Joanne Kenny, a 42-year-old Democrat and human services worker from Quincy. "If you spend that much time on one issue, you're taking time away from other stuff."

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http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2006/12/26/voters_voice_regard_regret_over_romney/?rss_id=Boston+Globe+--+City%2FRegion+News