Monday, March 13, 2006

One Foot Out the Door Already

This weekend was not all good news for Mitt Romney. During the Southern Republican Leadership Conference, the head of Romney's Commnweath PAC, Trent Wisecup, resigned. Here's the scoop from the Washington Post's blog:

Wisecup's departure comes as a surprise since he had decided to stay on with Romney even after the Governor parted ways with Mike Murphy -- his longtime media consultant and the founding member of DC Navigators, the consulting company in which Wisecup is a partner. A source close to the situation said that Wisecup's decision was due in large part to conflicts with Beth Myers, the governor's chief of staff. Myers is expected to play a major role in the expected Romney presidential bid.
Wisecup not only had ties to Romney's former consultant, Mike Murphy, but also was a spokesperson for Mitt's former sister-in-law, Ronna Romney, in one of her Senate bids.

In any event, every crisis is an opportunity, so Romney decided to accelerate his 2008 plans by giving responsibility for the PAC to his current spokeswoman, Julie Teer. Blue Mass. Group has the story, along with former State Democratic Communication Director Jane Lane's prediction a year ago that this is exactly why Teer was hired.

Just by way of reminder, Teer was the spokesperson for the 2004 Bush/Cheney campaign in New Hampshire, the only state that Republicans lost that year, but won in 2000. Romney is obviously not concerned about her past performance if he is putting his own presidential hopes in her hands. In any event, as Wisecup moves back to Michigan, the rumor mill has Romney following him once his term is up. After all, Mitt's familial base is there, he's got name recognition, and he's basically already told us as much.

What does this mean for us in Massachusetts? Very little. We already knew Mitt was running for president, and at least now we save some money that would have otherwise paid Teer's salary. One thing, however, that this does reveal is how little the state Republicans can expect Governor Romney to do to advance the fortunes of Lieutenant Governor Kerry Healey and the Mass GOP. If Romney's planning on moving back to Michigan in January to boost his 2008 chances, how much time can he spend stumping locally?