The "scandal" that's ridiculous
Mitt Romney has been drawing criticism for saying that he "saw" his father march with Martin Luther King, even though he did not witness the event. This strikes me as a non-story. It seems probable to me that Romney did not mean to say that he literally saw George Romney and Dr. King marching together. In that event, Romney likely would have said that he was with his father when he marched with King, or that he himself marched with King.
For what it's worth, my father and I marched "with" King in the historic 1963 Washington event. (I can't prove it though -- my father is dead, my mother who "saw" us off that morning is dead, and I might have purchased my commemorative pin on EBay). I never say that I saw my father march with King because that would understate my participation.
In any case, the point Mitt Romney was making is that his father, a Mormon, had a stellar record on civil rights and participated in the civil rights activism of the early 1960s. That claim is incontestable. It's a pity, moreover, that Romney would even have to address efforts to pin the formerly racist views of his religion on him.
Meanwhile, though, Jennifer Rubin, who criticized Mitt Romney (absurdly, I thought) for being insensitive to Jews when he kicked off his campaign at the Henry Ford museum, reports that Romney told the Boston Herald in 1978 that he and his father marched with Dr. King. The campaign admits that Mitt Romney never marched with King.
Even assuming that this 29 year-old report accurately quoted Romney, I would have thought that the statute of limitations period on misrepresenting one's self to the press in 1978 has expired.
JOHN adds: The "marched with King" flap was the occasion for a hit piece by Glen Johnson of the Associated Press this morning. The AP story is titled: Romney backpedals on statements — again.
Johnson drips with venom for Romney:
Mitt Romney, who earlier this year had to backpedal on his hunting exploits, is explaining himself again after claiming an endorsement he did not receive and saying he witnessed his father in civil rights marches he could not have seen.
How's that for an opening paragraph? Maybe Johnson could just write "I hate Mitt Romney" and spare us the details. He continues:
"It's a figure of speech," Romney said Thursday after media inquiries into the Republican presidential contender's statement during his recent religion speech that he watched his father, the late Gov. George Romney of Michigan, march with Martin Luther King Jr.Romney, who was in high school at the time, later said he only heard of his father marching and some historians have questioned whether his father, in fact, did march with King. The Romney campaign provided books and news articles it said supported his statement.
There are two parts to the attack on Romney. The first, as Paul notes, is that Romney wasn't physically present when his father marched. The second, peddled by the AP and many others, is the claim that the elder Romney never actually marched "with" King. I was surprised to find that the latter point has erupted into something of a historical controversy. These are the facts: George Romney was a strong supporter of civil rights and was an ally and vocal supporter of Martin Luther King. King led a large march in Detroit in June 1963; Romney did not attend the march in person because it took place on a Sunday, but issued a proclamation in support of it and sent two "personal representatives" to take part in the march. Six days later, Romney participated in a spin-off march organized by the NAACP in Grosse Pointe, about which the Detroit Free Press reported on June 29, 1963:
With Gov. Romney a surprise arrival and marching in the front row, more than 500 Negroes and whites staged a peaceful antidiscrimination parade up Grosse Pointe’s Kercheval Avenue Saturday. … ‘the elimination of human inequalities and injustices is our urgent and critical domestic problem,’ the governor said. … [Detroit NAACP President Edward M.] Turner told reporters, ‘I think it is very significant that Governor Romney is here. We are very surprised.’ Romney said, ‘If they want me to lead the parade, I’ll be glad to.'
It doesn't appear that King attended that particular event. So it is possible that George Romney never marched "with" King, although he certainly did march in his support. Of course, King participated in a great many marches and demonstrations. Mitt Romney and his brother Scott both remember their father marching "with" King, and there is no reason to assume they are wrong, even if it didn't happen in June 1963.
But what a petty controversy! If only reporters would dissect statements made by, say, Joe Wilson, John Kerry and Barack Obama with the same microscopic zeal--hostility, really--with which they examine every word uttered by Mitt Romney. I'll give the last word to Stephen Hess of the Brookings Institution, who, with David Broder, wrote a 1967 book that said, "[George Romney] has marched with Martin Luther King through the exclusive Grosse Pointe suburb of Detroit and he is on record in support of full-coverage Federal open-housing legislation." Reached for a comment on the current controversy, Hess "told the Detroit Free Press he couldn’t remember the source for the reference in the book, but he doesn’t think it matters to voters or Romney’s candidacy whether Romney’s father and King were literally side by side."
UPDATE: Eyewitnesses support Mitt's statement that his father marched "with" King. Via Hugh Hewitt.
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