Author exposes 'myths' about George Romney

In an extremely long piece on BuzzFeed, writer John Bohrer asserts that the oft-repeated story about George Romney walking out of the 1964 Republican convention due to the GOP’s intransigence on civil rights is a myth.
He also provides ample evidence to shoot down one prevalent theory about Mitt Romney – that his cautiousness and flip-flopping as a candidate is due to seeing his father’s presidential ambitions destroyed in a moment of brutal honesty.
The piece notes that the convention walkout has been mentioned dozens of times in the media -- and by Mitt. Bohrer reports that a top aide for the then-governor of Michigan was by his side throughout the convention and that he doesn’t recall any dramatic moves by Romney.

Here’s how Bohrer puts it:
“… George Romney did not walk out of the 1964 Republican National Convention. He stayed until the very end, formally seconding (Barry) Goldwater’s eventual nomination and later standing by while an actual walkout took place. He left the convention holding open the possibility of endorsing Goldwater and then, after a unity summit in Hershey, Penn., momentarily endorsed the Arizona senator. Then he changed his mind while his top aides polled “all-white and race-conscious” Michigan communities for a “secret” white backlash vote against LBJ’s civil rights advances -- a backlash that might have made a Goldwater endorsement palatable at home. Finding the Republican label even more unpopular than civil rights in Michigan, Romney ultimately distanced himself from the entire party, including his own moderate Republican allies.”

Many political junkies who were children (or perhaps not yet born) during George Romney’s political ascendancy from 1962 to 1968 may be surprised to learn that Mitt’s father was a staunch non-partisan when he first made noises about running for governor. In fact, he criticized both major parties to the point that some considered his rhetoric a bit obnoxious.
Another revelation for those of us in the under-60 crowd is that Romney was considered a serial flip-flopper on many issues, including the Vietnam war, and that Mitt was doing missionary work in France from July 1967 to December 1968, so the son missed all the family drama and disappointment of the brief George Romney presidential run.

Long before George Romney declared that the he had been “brainwashed” about Vietnam -- the fatal blow to his presidential hopes -- his credibility on the issue was highly questionable, according to Bohrer:
“To summarize, he was for it (the war) before he was against it before he was for it before he was against it again — with various ambiguities in between.
“… Romney’s 1968 campaign was ultimately considered inept. The press referred to his early effort as ‘George Romney’s Organization for Presidential Exploration,’ or, ‘GROPE.’ Columnist Jack Germond joked that he had a special key on his typewriter that printed, ‘Romney later explained….’ TomWicker wrote that his Vietnam incoherencies made reporters ‘wonder if Romney’s square jaw was not attached to a blockhead.’”