----When Romney, a registered independent until 1993, decided to run against Ted Kennedy in 1994, Romney’s friends were skeptical. “I said, ‘Mitt, this is like running against God in his hometown,’” says Christodoulo. “But at that point he had a bunch of money”, that longstanding antipathy to the Kennedys, and a passion to continue his father’s public work. “He felt somebody needed to take on Ted Kennedy,” says Bob White.
Romney campaigned as a fiscal conservative and social liberal. He declined, for example, to endorse Newt Gingrich’s Contract with America. “I’m not a partisan politician,” he explained. “My hope is that, after this election, it will be the moderates of both parties who control the Senate, not the Jesse Helmses.” He insisted that he was pro-choice and supported Roe v. Wade—“You will not see me wavering on that”—and he argued that he’d be more progressive on gay issues than Ted Kennedy. In a letter to the Massachusetts Log Cabin Republicans, Romney wrote, “I am not unaware of my opponent’s considerable record in the area of civil rights…For some voters it might be enough for me to simply match my opponent’s record in this area. But I believe we can and must do better…We must make equality for gays and lesbians a mainstream concern.”-----
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