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Weird Political Science

The right wing punditocracy is already has a favorite to replace the gay-marriage debate, at least if this National Review editorial is any indication. This time, it’s Massachusetts Senate President Robert Travaglini playing the role of Gavin Newsom and none other than Governor Willard Mitt Romney as the heavy. Calling anything Harvard does immoral is enough to generate major buzz in Massachusetts, and the conventional wisdom is that Romney is staking this position to enhance his political affinity to Republicans in places like South Carolina come 2008. That assumes however the Governor also thinks there is something here that bolsters his reelection campaign in 2006.

Kansas Senator Sam Brownback has proposed a national ban on therapeutic cloning, though it’s uncertain if it will pass. Romney’s hope is likely that all of the money expended in California and New Jersey could be for naught. His fear could be that the state will be blindsided if ban passes. Already this sounds like the gay marriage debate in Massachusetts where Romney was not so proactive. Simply put: no one really knows what the economic effects of sanctioning gay marriage are. Whereas it’s easy for the Governor to imagine many of his state’s biotech firms bankrupted after years of research are declared illegal.

After all, any Governor that runs for President has to tout successful programs and initiatives from back home. The only risky thing is Romney that proposes only half a loaf.
posted by Thomas at 6:07 PM 1 comments