A lobbyist for president?

[ProSense]

A lobbyist for president?

By Steve Benen

A decade ago, Mitt Romney stepped in to salvage the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics, which had been rocked by scandal and mismanagement. Tim Murphy reminds us today that he was largely successful, not by putting his private-sector know-how to good use, but by using a whole lot of taxpayer money to get the games back on track.

Indeed, the Mother Jones piece notes a detail I hadn't heard: Romney's 2002 Olympics received more taxpayer money than the seven previous U.S.-based Olympics combined.

It's relevant, of course, because when voters evaluate Romney's record in overseeing the games, it's worth appreciating the extent to which he didn't thrive all on his own -- he succeeded thanks to public institutions and money he received from you and me.

But Jason Cherkis added another detail I hadn't heard anything about until now.

Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney loves to talk about his role salvaging the 2002 scandal-tarnished Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. It's one of the only items on his resume that he will discuss without hesitation. He's so proud of the accomplishment, he wrote a book about it called "Turnaround: Crisis, Leadership, And The Olympic Games."

His Olympics success was pivotal in his winning run for Massachusetts governor in 2002, and it may turn out to be just as important in his current campaign for the presidency. It's why he plans on cheering from the good seats when the opening ceremonies commence for the summer games in London this week.

But when it comes to the retelling of his Olympics story, Romney never mentions the L word. Lobbyist.

Yep, when Romney became head of the Salt Lake Organizing Committee, he was so eager to get other politicians to give him public funds, he became a registered lobbyist.

- more -

http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2012/07/26/12968625-a-lobbyist-for-president

EXCLUSIVE: Romney Bundler A Registered Foreign Agent For Hong Kong
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10021018568

Made in China: Olympic Pin Shaped Like Mitt Romney’s Face
http://sync.democraticunderground.com/10021024094

[BumRushDaShow]

1. K&R

Drip drip drip.

[ProSense]

2. Mitt can't

talk about Bain (notice no questions from Brian Williams on the topic). He can't talk about his time as Governor.

All he has left is the Olympics. Now that he's in full swing with his "build it" distortion, the federal bailout and outsourcing aspects of the 2002 games will soon have him running from that too.