Mitt Romney

Via @hypervocal Why oh why did Mitt Romney pose for this picture. twitpic.com/8glbi8

— Andrew Kaczynski (@BuzzFeedAndrew) February 6, 2012

Sometimes, Boston's cab drivers are telling the truth; the credit card machines don't work - and it's not their fault.

According to (Boston's own) Charles Pierce of Esquire, the Romney for President campaign shut off staffers' credit cards in the middle of the night on Tuesday, leaving the Boston crew scrambling for money.

From the moment Mitt Romney stepped off stage Tuesday night, having just delivered a brief concession speech he wrote only that evening, the massive infrastructure surrounding his campaign quickly began to disassemble itself. Aides taking cabs home late that night got rude awakenings when they found the credit cards linked to the campaign no longer worked.

Oh, well, need to save that money for 2016, right?

During the final presidential debate, Romney boasted that MA is a leader in education and number one in the country.

MR. ROMNEY: — just about education, because I’m — I’m so proud of the state that I had the chance to be governor of. We have, every two years, tests that look at how well our kids are doing. Fourth graders and eighth graders are tested in English and math. While I was governor, I was proud that our fourth graders came out number one of all 50 states in English and then also in math, and our eighth graders number one in English and also in math — first time one state had been number one in all four measures."

It is true that MA is the birthplace of public education, something Romney would gladly claim if he could. Our schools also receive one of the highest rates of funding from the federal government and spends more per student than other states. As such, our schools were number one before Mitt and after. One of the main reasons for MA’s success was its investment in early chilhood education, which Romney cut as soon as he became Governor.
In addition, something that Mitt did not claim but happened on his watch was the Unz initiative, which made bilingual education illegal and widened the opportunity Gap.

Massachusetts sure came up a lot in the debate tonight. Some history to go with the references:

When Romney got his binder full of women (and why he had nothing to do with it).

When Romney got tough on a coal plant in Salem.

When Romney opposed a wind project.

When Romney signed a permanent ban on assault weapons.

Why Romney balanced the state budget: Under the state constitution, he had to (even Mike Dukakis balanced the budget!).

Slate: Why Mitt Romney's Massachusetts Education Plan Backfired.

Who is Crazy Khazei?

Romney/Ryan: Reducing the deficit, one 65 year old at a time. #p2 @maddow @mittromney

— Joseph J. Santorsa (@Marnus3) August 15, 2012

Want Governor Romney back? We didn't think so.

Voters in Massachusetts know better than anyone else what a Romney presidency would look like—and we need to let the rest of the country know how terrible it would be.

That's why we're joining with other Massachusetts progressive groups TODAY for a rally to show that Romney was a failure as governor and we certainly don't want him in charge of the country.

Can you join us THIS MORNING at 11:15 on the steps of the State House on Beacon Street to stand up and say that Mitt Romney was wrong for Massachusetts and he is wrong for America?

We're inviting the press, so it's really important that we have a big crowd to show them how fired up we are. MoveOn members all over the country will be on the front lines fighting to keep Mitt Romney out of the White House. Today in Boston, that fight begins.

Thanks for all you do.

Daniel, Levana, and the rest of the team

PAID FOR BY MOVEON.ORG POLITICAL ACTION, http://pol.moveon.org/.

Mitt v. Mitt, The story of two men trapped in one body.

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Looks like Mitt Romney's campaign has found a new way to keep little kids out of the parking lot of his North End campaign headquarters. A disgusted citizen reports:

Mitt Romney's giant Shredder Truck illegally parked outside his office on Commercial Street. This giant shredder truck often parked in tow zone in front of Romney National HQ, yet never towed or ticketed. Maybe he's shredding the parking tickets too?

H/t to the one person who scans Citizens Connect even more obsessively than I do!

As Mitt Romney has taken to the national public stage as a contender for the Republican presidential nomination, Deval Patrick's administration has been asked many times to provide e-mails from Romney's time as governor. The catch: they can't find any to hand out.

Romney's staff paid the state to take their hard drives with them in a move Romney's campaign is calling "a longtime executive branch practice". The server was wiped completely and the computers in the State House were even replaced. As a result the State House now has no electronic mail archive from anyone between 2002-2006.

Romney's enforcers took no guff this morning.

Tenacity runs a summer tennis and literacy program for North End kids at the park at the corner of Commercial and North Washington streets. Parents who dropped their kids off on the way to work would pull into the parking lot next to the tennis court to let them off.

Until recently, that is. The Romney presidential campaign, based at 585 Commercial St., next to the lot, is now blocking it off to everybody but campaign workers, forcing parents to stop in a turning lane for the Charlestown Bridge and get their kids out. This morning, a couple of glowering guys enforced the no-lot policy. They told one irate parent there'd been a "hit and run" in the lot. Hit and run? Why, yes, somebody scratched a car and then left without taking responsibility. A parent? Well, nobody'd seen the "hit and run."

Another parent writes:

Patrick pwns Romney.

Then a 14 year old teenager, Lisa Allen came forward Wednesday to tell her side of the story when Republican candidate for US Congress former police officer Sgt Jeff Perry, failed to protect Ms. Allen from Officer Scott Flanagan who performed an illegal strip-search of her. Police officers are entrusted to, and take an oath to, serve and protect. Ms. Allen said Officer Perry protected Officer Flanagan but not her. Ms Allen went further and said Perry "should not be in a position of power."

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Guy who's supposedly a rap star (Ed. note: What the hell do I know?) reveals he was the guy in the tete-a-Mitt on that plane, and says Romney grabbed him first.

Guy objected to Mitt telling him to put his seat upright for takeoff. In economy. No, it wasn't Kevin Smith.

No, not Bill Weld, silly. Mitt Romney, who, you may recall, sold his Belmont house awhile back.

That darn tax-and-spender! Lance explains how the court case that started it all was launched in 2003 by the Romney administration's Revenue Department - not by Deval Patrick:

... [T]he next time Mitt Romney runs for president, he should be asked over and over again from Keene to Laconia why he wanted to impose a Massachusetts sales tax on New Hampshire businesses.

Please, try not to snort too loudly.

Aw, our own Mittster is already running for president again.

The Outraged Liberal ponders Romney taking a different tack in 2012 to outflank hard righters like Palin and Huckabee:

... Could we be witnessing yet another metamorphosis, with Romney blooming as new (pretty) face and voice of the "pragmatic" wing that is expected to emerge? ...

Jay Fitzgerald doesn't doubt it for a second:

... Of course there'll be another metamorphosis -- and another and another. When Mitt finally develops a consistent message, we'll know he's not running anymore.

Oh, no, Romneyoids couldn't possibly be behind all those nasty Palin stories. Romney and his minions would NEVER stoop so low. Just ask Jane Swift.

But maybe it doesn't matter. Seth Gitell quotes a top Romney aide as saying he doubts Romney will run in 2012. And we know Romney's word about not running is his bond. Just ask Jane Swift.

Oh, and Steve Garfield fact-checks Romney mouthpiece Eric Fehrnstrom, who feels compelled to mouth off about the evil that bloggers do without understanding what a hyperlink is.

Does anyone really think Mitt Romney won't run in 2012?

Mitt's spokesman, Eric Fehrnstrom, says Mitt isn't thinking about 2012 and he is giving 110% to McCain/Palin.

One election-at-a-time.

In addition to attack dog, a purpose Romney is filling as we speak, the top contender must also be uncertain about how many houses he owns.

Republicans have governed the country with a willful disregard for the issues facing the middle class. There is nothing about the Republican ticket in 2008 that would make one believe they have any intention of changing.

Michael Prager reports:

... [T]his morning, for the second time in a couple of months, I ran into him in the market. The other time, I was with Georgie but he was alone, cruising the produce section of the Shaw's Market in Belmont. This time, I was alone but he was with his wife, Ann, when we met up at adjacent cash registers at Wilson Farms. ...

Hmm, I wonder if Mike Dukakis still shops at the Harvard Street Stop & Shop when he's in Brookline? A former co-worker once reported Dukakis started arguing with him about his choice of cereal - Dukakis tried to convince him the store brand was just as good and would save him money.

The Real Estalker takes us on a virtual tour of Mitt Romney's new pied-a-mer on the beach in La Jolla, Ca.:

... It goes without saying all those hideous chairs and the beige rugs will be hauled out to the dumpster and Your Mama suggests that the Romney's spend a few hundred thousand doing over the kitchens and bathrooms in a style befitting someone of their financial stature. We hope the couple will bring in a local landscaper who knows a thing or two about indigenous vegetation and do something about the paltry and pathetic landscaping on the ocean side of the house that gives the rear facade the vague visage of an upscale mobile home. Your Mama would also consider opening up the ceilings to gain some volume, particularly in the living and dining rooms. This is a single story house and there's really no need to feel smashed down by vast planes of just slightly too low ceilings. ...

Spotted by Margalit.

He sets up another North End PAC to run for president in 2012 on the assumption McCain will lose, Boston Daily reports.