Giuliani Surrogates Lash Out at Romney
By Matt Murphy, The Sun, Lowell, Mass.
Nov. 29–BOSTON — As if it wasn’t hard enough for Republicans in Massachusetts, former Gov. Mitt Romney took a lashing from prominent members of his own party yesterday who are backing his presidential rival Rudy Giuliani.
Former Gov. Paul Cellucci and former Treasurer Joe Malone, along with other Bay State GOP surrogates, trashed Romney’s fiscal record as governor. They charged that Romney was rewriting the history of his one term in the corner office on the campaign trail as he attacks the records of his Republican opponents.
“It reminds me of the man in the glass house,” Cellucci said during an event outside the Statehouse. “During Mitt Romney’s tenure in Massachusetts, the tax burden went up 10 percent.”
The Romney campaign, however, was not caught off guard, dispatching former Lt. Gov. Kerry Healey to defend their administration’s record on taxes and spending.
His campaign also pointed out instances of Cellucci praising Romney’s ability to hold the line on taxes in various published statements between 2002 and
2006.
Cellucci said Romney closed so-called tax loopholes that resulted in $400 million in increased taxes on businesses and $500 million in fees, and presided over budgets that reduced local aid driving up property taxes.
Cellucci also hit Romney for failing to deliver a reduction in the state income tax to 5 percent despite heavy opposition from a Democratic legislature, as he and others talked up the resume of Giuliani in New York.
“They don’t want to talk about the real record of Mitt Romney, which was as a fiscal conservative that was cutting spending when he came into office, and the last thing he did before leaving office was cut spending again,” Healey said.
Healey said Romney inherited a $600 million deficit and $3 billion budget gap that he closed without raising the income tax.
She also pointed out that the Romney administration won a battle over retroactive capital gains taxes that saved $400 million for those who sold their homes or small businesses.
The attack from Giuliani’s campaign came on the heels of a new Suffolk University poll out in New Hampshire that shows Romney opening a 14 point lead over the former New York City mayor.
With Massachusetts joining 23 other states, including New York and California, by moving its primary to Feb. 5, fractured support among Republicans raises the question of whether Romney will have to spend more time and resources away from delegate-rich states to avoid an embarrassing defeat at home.
“I actually find this sad. We have these representatives for Rudy Giuliani running down our state, talking down our state nationally and also running down our party,” Healey said.
Healey was joined by state Rep. Brad Jones, R-North Reading, to offset the Giuliani supporters joining Cellucci and Malone, including Senate Minority Leader Richard Tisei, R-Wakefield, and state Sen. Michael Knapik, R-Westfield.
Romney has been endorsed by 18 of the 19 Republican House members, and two of five Republican state senators. Former Gov. William Weld, under whom Cellucci served as lieutenant governor, also supports Romney.
Romney’s critics largely steered clear of the tempest swirling around the former governor and his appointment of a judge who allowed convicted killer Daniel Tavares to go free without bail.
Tavares is now accused of killing a Washington state couple.
Healey defended the appointment of Judge Kathe Tuttman, saying she had a strong record as a prosecutor, and backed up Romney’s call for Tuttman to resign.
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