The Boston Globe
Monday, March 25, 2002
Democrats launch assault on Romney
By Corey Dade
Globe Staff
State Senate President Thomas F. Birmingham today will hurl
the first of many expected salvos from Democrats at Republican gubernatorial candidate Mitt Romney, with a radio ad
criticizing his no-new-taxes approach to balancing the state budget.
Birmingham is the first Democratic candidate for governor to
strike out on what party leaders have said will be a sustained attack on Romney, portraying him as far more conservative than
he lets on and challenging his positions regarding abortion and gun control.
In the ad airing on radio stations statewide, Birmingham
accuses Romney of a misleading pledge to solve the state's budget woes without raising taxes, cutting services, or
ordering layoffs. Echoing the position of Acting Governor Jane Swift, Romney's stance against a tax
hike is a cornerstone of his campaign.
To address a $455 million shortfall, Birmingham and other
Democratic legislators have proposed freezing the voter-approved income tax cut, raising other taxes, and
eliminating some tax deductions.
"Mitt's telling us a fairy tale," Birmingham says in the
60-second spot. "The truth is, we will need both budget cuts and a temporary delay of the income tax cut to protect the
progress we have made."
Speaking to reporters yesterday, Birmingham criticized
Romney for promising the voters too much in the midst of a crisis projected to create a $2 billion budget deficit by 2003.
"Either he doesn't know what he's talking about when he's
talking, or he does know what we're facing and he's misleading the public," Birmingham said.
"I'm not going to characterize as to his motivations. I'm
just reacting to what he has said."
The Romney campaign responded by insisting that while he
believes a tax hike is unnecessary, he has not addressed issues such as reductions in state services or layoffs.
Painting Birmingham as a tax-and-spend Democrat, aides tried
to position Romney as a candidate above the fray in a budget battle that has embroiled both parties.
"Regarding the income tax rollback, he does not believe it
should be repealed, and based on everything we know, it should not be delayed," said Eric Fehrnstrom, a Romney campaign
spokesman. "Part of the reason we have a huge budget deficit at the State House is because
of politicians like Tom Birmingham."
Fehrnstrom said it was too early in the campaign to discuss
Romney's budget plan, but that he has begun to look for places to cut spending.
Because Swift ceded her candidacy to Romney last week, polls
have shown Romney running strongly across the state against the five Democratic candidates, prompting Democrats to
begin crafting an anti-Romney publicity campaign....
In a letter Friday, Swift reached out to her political foes,
Birmingham and House Speaker Thomas M. Finneran, urging them to hold joint staff sessions and a series of town hall
meetings to find a compromise on the budget.
Birmingham has embraced Swift's request. A Finneran
spokesman said yesterday that the speaker was mulling a reply and declined comment.
Despite speculation that Swift's letter was a prelude to
reversing her opposition to a tax increase, Fehrnstrom said the Romney campaign "didn't read any softening of her no-tax
position." Instead, he said, Swift should be applauded for urging the state's top three political
leaders to accelerate next year's budget process to help cities and towns plan their
own budgets based on state funding.
Late yesterday, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Steve
Grossman chimed in with a budget-related barb at Romney, challenging him to fight a proposed federal stimulus package
that Grossman said could shrink the Bay State's revenues.
Fehrnstrom responded: "If Steve Grossman has anything to say
about the state's financial situation, he should say it to Tom Birmingham and [state Treasurer and gubernatorial
candidate] Shannon O'Brien, who allowed this budget mess to happen on their watch."
Staff writer Ralph Ranalli contributed to this report.
