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Political candidates are judged on everything they do, and have done for that matter. Some may argue that a candidate’s past has no bearing on his present character, and that it has nothing to do with a campaign. That may be the case, but the way they handle a shameful incident from their past tells you a lot about their present character.

 Earlier this month, the Washington Post published an in-depth look at the high school days of Republican presidential hopeful, Mitt Romney. The portrait they paint is far beyond the childhood prankster Romney claims to have been.

            In 1965, Romney was a clean-cut high school senior at the prestigious Cranbrook School in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. The son of Governor George Romney, young Mitt was a natural leader among his peers.

            John Lauber, one of Mitt’s classmates, who was consistently the target of abuse for being different and his perceived homosexuality, returned from Spring Break with a newly bleached-blond hair style.

            This did not sit well with Romney, who used his leadership skills to compel a group of students to hold a sobbing Lauber down while he cut his hair.

            Gary Hummel, another target of Romney’s, was a closeted gay classmate whom he taunted with shouts of “atta girl” whenever he spoke in English class.

            With growing concern over bullying in schools, especially of LGBT teens, one would think that Romney would address this issue seriously. 

            After the Washington Post broke the story, Romney went on Fox News Radio, and offered a general apology for anything he may have done in high school, but, despite several eyewitness accounts, couldn’t recall the incidents in question:

 

                                    “Back in high school, you know, I did some dumb things, and if anybody was hurt by that or offended, obviously, I apologize for that… [Laughs] You know, I don’t, I don’t remember that incident… I participated in a lot of hijinks and pranks during high school, and some might have gone too far, and for that apologize.”

   

            Not only did Romney fail to take responsibility for his past bullying, but he glossed over his behavior as, “hijinks and pranks.” He later said there was, “no harm intended,” when the incident with Lauber was a downright hate crime, and coupled with the Hummel case, he sounds like a full-fledged school yard oppressor.

            Romney says that he changed after marrying his wife Ann and going on his mission to France, but he hasn’t changed that much. His opinion of homosexuality certainly hasn’t changed, and his lack of memory on the matter, while chuckling about it, is a winking admission to his homophobic base, and at the same time, a denial to moderates.

            Politicians are held to a higher level of scrutiny, especially presidential candidates. Their past is always in question. A candidate with integrity embraces their past, however regretful, and shows how it made them the person they are today. Mitt Romney failed to do that, and instead showed his true colors.

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