TAMPA, Fla. - Possibly the only living American who supported both Mitt Romney and Barack Obama in the same election year told Human Events Wednesday that he is ???totally committed and in a big way??? to Republican Romney???s election this fall.
William F. Weld, former Republican governor of Massachusetts and now a lawyer in New York, explained to us that ???I supported Obama over (John McCain) in ???08 because I felt he was more serious about the economy. You can see how wrong I was!??? But, liberal Republican Weld quickly added, ???I had supported Mitt Romney for the nomination in ???08. He has been a friend of mine for more than 25 years. We shared a ticket in 1994, when I ran for re-election as governor and he ran for the Senate. He is the most decent guy I know.???
Weld has long been controversial among conservatives for his strong socially liberal stands, including being pro-abortion and supporting the gay agenda. Regarding the obvious differences with Romney and the Republican platform, Weld told us: ???Look, I realize Mitt takes different positions from me. I have always been a social liberal and a fiscal conservative. I come more from the libertarian wing of the Republican Party. When I was in the Reagan administration (as assistant U.S. attorney general), we knew the administration was comprised primarily of social conservatives and libertarians like me. One group would make jokes about the other. I imagine a Romney administration would look something like that.???
Weld also, surprisingly, voiced enthusiasm for the selections in Human Events??? recent ???Dream Cabinet??? feature suggesting to a ???President Romney??? conservatives that he might put into his administration. Weld especially agreed with the choice of John Bolton as secretary of state and told us, ???I saw John last night and greeted him by saying ???Hello, Mr. Secretary.?????? Weld has known Bolton for many years and wrote a strong letter of support for him when President Bush named him ambassador to the United Nations in 2003.
The former Bay State governor also voiced enthusiasm for our choice of Steve Forbes as treasury secretary and noted how Forbes??? ideas of smaller government and lower taxes were influential in his governorship. Weld also said he endorsed our ideas of Herman Cain as commerce secretary - ???Great!??? - and Rick Santorum as secretary of labor. He recalled how then-Sen. Santorum of Pennsylvania strongly supported Weld???s own losing Senate race against John Kerry in 1996 and said: ???I???ve always liked him.???
The only ???Dream Cabinet??? pick Weld told us he differed with us on was that of Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell. As he said, ???it might be too early to take him out of the governorship.???
