In Reality, Romney’s Work Far From Complete

To the editors:



Re “President Romney?” news, Dec 16:

Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney’s announcement not to seek re-election because he had accomplished what he promised is preposterous. Let’s face facts: Gov. Romney is an ambitious man with a mixed record of political achievement who knows he is unlikely to win another statewide election which would scuttle his bid for the Republican presidential nomination in 2008. Despite three years on Beacon Hill, the governor remains a shrewd businessman and remembers how to hedge his bets.

The governor’s assertion that it is unnecessary to serve another term because his work is finished is an absurdity. There is an abundance of work yet to do, as his lieutenant governor will remind us when she declares her candidacy for the job. I wonder if the motive underlying Gov. Romney’s choice to quit has more to do with the reluctance to sacrifice his presidential ambitions upon the altar of a lukewarm record?

It says something about the character of the man, and the efficacy of his tenure in office, who fears to run on the remarkable progress he claims his administration has made.



JEFFREY W. WHITE

Belmont, Mass.

January 8, 2005



The writer is a senior at Harvard Extension School