You’d think that Mitt Romney — stable and sober, with mostly center-right views — would relish the fact that he no longer has to share the limelight with quirky oddballs like Newt Gingrich and radicals like Ron Paul now that he’s sewn up the Republican nomination for president.
But if so, why is he hanging around with the likes of Donald Trump, unreconstructed birther and unrivaled self-promoter?
Not only did Romney attend a fundraiser this week with Trump, his campaign website invited supporters to “donate today” so they’d be eligible to win “airport transportation in the Trump vehicle; stay at the Trump International Hotel & Tower New York; tour [the] Trump Tower; [and] dine with Donald Trump and Mitt Romney.”
That’s a lot of mentions of Trump, a fellow who this week renewed his claims that President Obama may have been born outside the country, this time because a promotional item put out by Obama’s literary agent back in 1991 said he was “born in Kenya and raised in Indonesia and Hawaii.” And never mind that a woman who worked at the agency at the time has admitted making the error.
Romney doesn’t share the birther movement’s views, and — unlike Colorado Rep. Mike Coffman, for example — has never given intellectual aid and comfort to the cause. Nor would he seem to need Trump’s fund-raising assistance, as undeniably effective as it might be.
Meanwhile, polls suggest the Republican base in recent weeks has fallen dutifully into line behind the former Massachusetts’ governor, despite worries on that score earlier in the campaign. So why the embrace of Trump?
We’re not suggesting a candidate has a duty to repudiate every crackpot who supports him or gives money. Obama hasn’t repudiated the likes of Bill Maher, for example, despite despicable comments the super PAC contributor directed at female politicians in the Republican Party.
But it’s one thing to accept money from fringe enthusiasts and another to hold a drawing in which the prize is a dinner featuring both the candidate and the crackpot.
“I don’t agree with all the people who support me, and my guess is they don’t all agree with everything I believe in,” Romney explained. “But I need to get 50.1 percent or more, and I’m appreciative to have the help of a lot of good people.”
Trump is no doubt appreciative of Romney’s appreciation, too. After all, being appreciated — and above all, noticed — is what he lives for.
