Mittens Romney runs from his Mexican roots

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Mike Taibbi did a report the other night on the new Rock Center about the Romney family roots in Mexico, and introduces us to the Mexican relatives that Willard "Mittens" Romney never talks about.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

NBC Nightly News also had this brief video of Mittens' father, former Governor of Michigan George W. Romney, discussing his Mexican roots with a voter in 1967 when he was running for president.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

I posted about the Romney family history in Mexico awhile ago to make the point that Willard 'Mittens' Romney would have turned away his own immigrant father:

During last night's episode of "Survivor – GOP Presidential Primary," Willard "Mittens" Romney took a hard-line position on immigration which would have turned away his own immigrant father, and no less stigmatize and demonize him than did his father's kindergarten classmates so many years ago.

I wonder what his later father would have to say. He'd probably shed a tear over what his son is willing to do to win the GOP nomination.

George W. Romney is the poster child for the DREAM Act, yet his own son Mittens says he would veto the DREAM Act if he was president and Congress sent him the bill. Romney would veto DREAM Act – CNN Political Ticker:

"The question is, if I were elected and Congress were to pass the DREAM Act, would I veto it, and the answer is yes," Romney said in response to a query from the audience of roughly 200 at The Family Table in Le Mars.

On Wednesday, "Mittens" Romney proudly accepted the endorsement of Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, one of the architects of Arizona's SB 1070, formerly with the anti-immigrant organization Federation for American immigration Reform (FAIR) that the Southern Poverty Law Center classifies as a hate group. AZ/DC Blog – Kris Kobach, who helped write SB 1070, endorses Romney:

Republican presidential frontrunner Mitt Romney on Wednesday announced the endorsement of Kris Kobach, the Kansas secretary of state who is better known in Arizona and in Latino communities for the legal assistance he gave former state Sen. Russell Pearce in writing Senate Bill 1070, Arizona's controversial 2010 immigration law.

The Romney news release on Kobach's support touts his work on Arizona's and Alabama's immigration laws.

“I’m so proud to earn Kris’s support,” Romney in a written statement. “Kris has been a true leader on securing our borders and stopping the flow of illegal immigration into this country. We need more conservative leaders like Kris willing to stand up for the rule of law. With Kris on the team, I look forward to working with him to take forceful steps to curtail illegal immigration and to support states like South Carolina and Arizona that are stepping forward to address this problem.”

Romney's announcement came shortly before state Reps. Ruben Gallego, D-Phoenix, and Anna Tovar, D-Tolleson, and other community leaders and activists were expected to gather in Phoenix to blast Romney for saying that as president he would veto the Dream Act, legislation that would that would grant legal permanent residency to individuals brought to this country illegally as children if they are attending college or serving in the military.

It also came on the same day that the Republican National Committee is set to announce an expanded national Latino outreach effort. (Bwahahaha!)

“With his campaign trumpeting Kris Kobach’s endorsement, Mitt Romney’s descent into the dark clutches of radical nativism is complete," said Frank Sharry, executive director of America's Voice, a national organization that supports comprehensive immigration reform. "In Kris Kobach’s America, kids who want to serve in the military and attend college are criminals, states should have the right to nullify federal immigration enforcement priorities, and undocumented immigrants who are hardworking and well-established, who take care of our kids, our elders, our food and our houses, are a plague to be banished. Romney’s embrace of this endorsement is nothing less than disgusting, and will not be forgotten by those who have felt the consequences of the Kobach approach to immigration first-hand.”

Pema Levy writes at Talking Points Memo, The Perfect Storm That Could Sink Romney’s Hispanic Vote Hopes:

In the days leading up to the Iowa caucuses, Mitt Romney made what could prove a fatal error: as president, he said, he would veto the Dream Act. Designed to provide a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants brought to the country as children, the Dream Act is so intensely popular that it’s hard to see Romney winning 40% of Latino voters, the crucial threshold Republican pollster Matthew Dowd said Bush had to hit in order to win crucial swing states in 2004. Bush, who pushed for immigration reform, barely hit 40% and won. McCain fell short.

* * *

Indeed, you might say that Romney is facing a “perfect storm” of circumstances that could damage his outreach to Hispanic voters, the least of which is his own tone-deaf approach towards immigration.

Romney will be coming to Arizona in February for our primary. Will Arizona's political reporters be prepared to ask the tough questions Romney clearly is uncomfortable with about his family's Mexican roots and his hard-line stance on immigration that is clearly at odds with his own family's history? Or will reporters simply ask him the typical fluffer questions to set up his GOP talking points?