Nov 26, 2007 8:50 pm US/Eastern
Spin-O-Meter Works OT For Mitt And Rudy
BOSTON (WBZ) ―
It's getting ugly as the clock counts down toward the first primary voting, now just six weeks away in New Hampshire.
And as the charges fly between Republicans Mitt Romney and Rudy Giuliani over the Tavares murder case, it's crunch time for the machine that measures truth in political rhetoric, the Spin-O-Meter.
"He's already proven that he can lead under extraordinarily difficult circumstances," Giuliani said during happier times in the Romney-Giuliani relationship, when Rudy backed Mitt for governor in 2002.
But with Romney's neck exposed by the Tavares case, Giuliani hasn't hesitated to go for the jugular.
"The judge showed an inexplicable lack of good judgment," he said last week of Romney-appointed Judge Kathe Tuttman's decision to release Tavares from prison.
"Governor Romney had a very poor record in dealing with murder and violent crime as governor."
Is that the truth or self-serving spin? Giuliani backs it up with disputed statistics. And the fact is, Romney's anti-crime policies were much like those Giuliani promoted as New York mayor.
Giuliani's statement is much more spin than a truthful assessment of the Romney record.
But what about Romney's return fire, his claim that "Giuliani's appointment of alleged embezzler Bernard Kerik as police commissioner and endorsement of him to be homeland security chief renders his judgment suspect."?
Hey guys, you've both made your share of mistakes in office. Neither one of you can fairly be called soft on crime.
Romney's anti-Rudy spin doesn't pass the Spin-O-Meter's smell test either.
But the Spin-O-Meter doesn't measure political damage done, and there, I see Romney as the loser in this exchange, simply because he's got more to lose in Iowa and New Hampshire than Giuliani, who trails badly in both places. Any hint that Romney isn't what he pretends to be hits him in a very sore spot - voter unfamiliarity with Romney and suspicion of his consistency on issues.
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