The Real Romney
Page 42
152 The discussion grew increasingly heated: Interview with Bain Capital partners, 2011. The blowup with a Goldman banker appears to have first been reported in: David Snow, “The House That Mitt Built,” Private Equity International, September 2007.
152 He convinced: Zuckoff, “Romney Rescue of Bain & Co. a Study in Profit and Loss.”
153 “He was willing”: Interview with Harry Strachan, 2011.
153 Only one person left: Interview with Bain partners, 2011.
153 “If Bain & Co. went bankrupt”: Interview with Geoffrey Rehnert, 2011.
154 the company had paid down: “Damon Corp., 5th Annual Globe 100/The Best of Massachusetts Businesses-Profitability,” The Boston Globe, June 8, 1993.
154 Romney personally reaped $473,000: Frank Phillips, “Romney Profited on Firm Later Tied to Fraud,” The Boston Globe, October 10, 2002. Romney said his earnings included $103,000 he had made on the deal as well as a 5 percent share of Bain’s profit, or $370,000, totaling $473,000.
154 The day after the merger: Meg Vaillancourt, “Romney-Aided Deal Closed Damon Plant,” The Boston Globe, October 9, 1994.
154 “corrective action”: Phillips, “Romney Profited on Firm Later Tied to Fraud.”
154 paid $119 million in fines: Kimberly Blanton, “Needham Lab Fined $119M for Fraud,” The Boston Globe, October 10, 1996.
154 “There is a mess”: Yvonne Abraham, “Candidates Spar over TV Ads,” The Boston Globe, October 22, 2002.
155 Lifelike: 2001 financial disclosure report, Mitt Romney, Massachusetts State Ethics Commission.
156 Bain lost its money: Interview with Michael Goss, 2007.
156 Auto Palace/ADAP: Brown, “Special Opportunities Fund: Investing in Funds Managed by Bain Capital.”
156 Gartner would go on: Interview with Stephen Pagliuca, 2011.
156 “I don’t think”: Interview with Thomas Stemberg.
157 About forty-five minutes into: Interview with Mark Nunnelly, 2011.
157 In the fall of 1998: Chana R. Schoenberger, “Pie in the Sky; Is Domino’s Pizza Worth All the Trouble to Bain Capital?” Forbes, September 17, 2001.
157 “We’re the biggest schmoes”: Mitt Romney, appearance at National Review Institute conference.
157 Bain reaped more than $100 million: Domino’s IPO filing, 2004.
157 earning a 500 percent return: “Domino Effect,” The Detroit News, December 9, 2006.
158 “the Tin Man”: Interviews with Bain partner, 2011.
158 “I don’t care”: Mitt Romney, “Searched,” presidential campaign ad, December 17, 2007, http://abcnews.go.com/video/video?id=4026797&tab=9482931§ion=2808950&page=1.
158 “Investment Firm Shuts”: Shirley Leung, “Investment Firm Shuts to Help Find Girl,” The Boston Globe, July 12, 1996.
158 “Shortly thereafter”: Robert C. Gay, “Finding the Needle in a Haystack: Thoughts on Being Morally Courageous in Business,” speech at Brigham Young University, 2003.
158–159 “It was a shocker”: Peter Canellos, “Bain Capital Recalls NY Search,” The Boston Globe, December 8, 1996.
159 “Mitt’s done a lot of things”: Romney, “Searched.”
159 “more valuable than some”: Canellos, “Bain Capital Recalls NY Search.”
159 During Romney’s fifteen years there: Brown, “Special Opportunities Fund: Investing in Funds Managed by Bain Capital”; interviews with Bain partner, 2011.
159 “the standard investment banker approach”: Romney, Turnaround, 16.
159 The first deal: Interview with Scott Sperling, 2011.
160 Experian: Interviews with Bain Capital and Thomas H. Lee partners, 2011.
160 A mere seven weeks: James S. Hirsch and Matthew Rose, “Buyout Group Hits $500 Million Jackpot—Great Universal’s Accord to Buy Experian Brings Fast Investor Bonanza,” The Wall Street Journal, November 15, 1996.
160 “go down as one”: Ibid. Partners involved in the deal said the seven-week turnaround time understated the time frame, explaining that Bain and Lee had had nearly six months of conditional ownership while the computer system was being tested.
160 “hit with the lucky stick”: Interviews with Bain Capital partners, 2011.
160 “Gee, Mark, are you sure?”: Interview with Mark Nunnelly.
161 “We stumbled on”: Interview with Phil Cuneo, 2011.
161 “an Internet star”: Ibid.
161 In just under three years: Stan Pace, “Rip the Band-Aid Off Quickly: Why ‘Fast, Focused, and Simultaneous’ Works Best in Corporate Transformations,” Strategy & Leadership 30, no. 1 (2002): 4–9.
161 “wasn’t like being”: Interview with Bain Capital partner, 2011.
162 “The returns were just eye-popping”: Interview with Geoffrey Rehnert.
162 “passbook” savings accounts: Mitt Romney, appearance at National Review Institute conference.
162 Romney’s own wealth had increased exponentially: Zuckoff and Bradlee, “Romney’s Business Record Gives Larger Picture.”
162 “I’m not going to”: Interview with Mitt Romney.
162 Under federal tax law: www.econlib.org/library/Enc/CapitalGainsTaxes.html. In 2011, the billionaire Warren Buffett drew the attention of President Obama when he said that the tax rate differential contributed to the deficit and said it was unfair that he paid a lower tax rate than his secretary did.
163 “The objective is”: Interview with Ross Gittell, 2007.
163 “It’s the opposite”: Interview with Marc Wolpow.
163 his claim is accurate: Interviews with Bain Capital partners, 2011.
164 “The goal of the investor”: Interview with Howard Anderson.
165 “Work was never”: Romney, Turnaround, 11–14.
165 “Do I really want to”: Ibid., 14.
Chapter 7: Taking On an Icon
166 knew him as “Pops”: Interview with Jim Davies, 2007; interview with Mickey Fedorko, 2011; e-mails from Davies and Fedorko, 2011.
166 “I’m so mad”: Jack Thomas, “Ann Romney’s Sweetheart Deal,” The Boston Globe, October 20, 1994.
166 Decades earlier: E-mail from Jim Davies, 2011.
166 “He said, ‘Ann, you’ve got’ ”: Thomas, “Ann Romney’s Sweetheart Deal.”
167 “I’ve been living here”: Campaign Almanac, C-SPAN, 1994.
167 “Are we going to die”: Ben Bradlee, Jr., “Romney Seeks New Chapter in Success,” The Boston Globe, August 7, 1994.
167 “You can gripe”: Ibid.
167 “No! No!”: Campaign Almanac, C-SPAN, 1994.
167 what was left to do?: Mitt Romney, Turnaround: Crisis, Leadership, and the Olympic Games (Washington, D.C.: Regnery Publishing, 2004), 14.
167 That October: Bradlee, “Romney Seeks New Chapter in Success.”
168 And Kennedy himself: Peter S. Canellos, ed., Last Lion: The Fall and Rise of Ted Kennedy (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2009), 261–281.
168 “I recognize my own shortcomings”: Curtis Wilkie, “Kennedy Admits Personal ‘Faults’ in Speech, Vows to ‘Continue to Fight the Good Fight’ for Liberal Causes,” The Boston Globe, October 26, 1991.
168 “There was, from the beginning”: Interview with former Kennedy staffer, 2011.
169 His face was mottled: Sally Jacobs, “Bay State Again Takes Kennedy, Flaws and All,” The Boston Globe, September 19, 1994.
169 “People said to me”: Interview with Mitt Romney, 2007.
169 “This,” Romney would later say: Anthony Flint and Andy Dabilis, “Senator and His Challenger Both Exploit Romney Remark,” The Boston Globe, October 31, 1994.
169 “He knew what the game was”: Interview with GOP operative, 2011.
170 Even before all that: Interview with Joseph Malone, 2011.
170 “a very attractive”: Interview with GOP operative.
170 “philosophically vacuous”: Don Feder, “Romney: A Thin-Gruel Republican,” Boston Herald, October 20, 1994.
171 “That was his entire focus”: Interv
iew with Seth Weinroth, 2011.
171 “tame the monster”: Scot Lehigh and Frank Phillips, “GOP’s Romney Declares, Says Kennedy Out of Date,” The Boston Globe, February 3, 1994.
171 Early in 1994: Interview with John Lakian, 2011.
172 So the Romneys set out: Interviews with former campaign aides, 2011.
172 “We knew nobody”: Ben Bradlee, Jr., and Daniel Golden, “Strategies Shaped an Epic Race,” The Boston Globe, November 10, 1994.
172 a particularly popular attraction: Interviews with former campaign aides.
172 “He just made great strides”: Interview with Rick Reed, 2011.
172 The campaign organized a team: Interviews with former campaign aides.
172 “Clearly everybody understood”: Interview with Seth Weinroth.
172 “To this day”: Interview with former staffer, 2011.
172 Ann assumed the role: Interview with former aide, 2011.
173 “empty suit”: Gayle Fee and Laura Raposa, “Inside Track,” Boston Herald, April 11, 1994.
173 “He doesn’t sit”: Interview with Michael Sununu, 2011.
173 “You kind of are”: Interview with former adviser, 2011.
173 Romney’s game plan: Interview with Seth Weinroth.
173 “Here was this”: Ibid.
173 On at least one occasion: “Sins of the Father Visited on the Son,” The Boston Globe, May 15, 1994.
174 The Boston Globe published a poll: Scot Lehigh and Frank Phillips, “Poll Sees Drop-off in Kennedy Support,” The Boston Globe, May 14, 1994.
174 Romney used his convention speech: Frank Phillips and Peter J. Howe, “Romney Wins GOP Approval,” The Boston Globe, May 15, 1994.
174 “He came out and said”: Interview with John Lakian.
174 That evening: Interview with Seth Weinroth.
174 Some called on Lakian to drop out: Phillips and Howe, “Romney Wins GOP Approval.”
174 Instead he cast: Scot Lehigh, “2 Senate GOP Hopefuls Clash over Abortion Funding,” The Boston Globe, May 27, 1994.
175 “Ideologically, I’m not sure”: Interview with John Lakian.
175 “There were a number of issues”: Interview with Mitt Romney.
175 “a real opportunity”: Romney for Senate videotape, 1994.
175 Kennedy and his advisers, meanwhile: Frank Phillips and Scot Lehigh, “Kennedy Pressing Campaign Early On,” The Boston Globe, June 22, 1994.
175 probe Romney’s background: Frank Phillips, “Detectives Probe Romney for Kennedy Campaign,” The Boston Globe, August 19, 1994.
175 “I’m looking out”: Interview with former Kennedy aide, 2011.
176 an effective TV ad: Bradlee and Golden, “Strategies Shaped an Epic Race.”
176 “polls do go up and down”: P-I News Services, “Kennedy Has Tough Opponent,” Seattle Post-Intelligencer, September 20, 1994.
176 Appearing before some five hundred: Geeta Anand and Frank Phillips, “Romney Savors Victory, Challenges Kennedy,” The Boston Globe, September 21, 1994.
176 “I remember the feeling”: Interview with former aide, 2011.
176 Romney said he told colleagues: Interview with Mitt Romney.
176 “There’s just no way”: Romney, Turnaround, 14.
176 “After the primary”: Interview with Mitt Romney.
176 “You saw the flash of anger”: Interview with former Kennedy aide, 2011.
177 Kennedy pollster Tom Kiley: Bradlee and Golden, “Strategies Shaped an Epic Race.”
177 The room overflowed: Interview with former Kennedy adviser, 2011.
177 Shrum recommended: Bradlee and Golden, “Strategies Shaped an Epic Race.”
177 “This is real”: Interview with former Kennedy adviser.
177 For months, Kennedy researchers: Interviews with former Kennedy aides, 2011.
178 “the assets of SCM Office Supplies”: Peter G. Gosselin, “Ind. Strikers Taking Fight to Romney,” The Boston Globe, October 3, 1994.
178 One former Bain executive: Bob Drogin, “To Assess Romney, Look Beyond the Bottom Line,” Los Angeles Times, December 17, 2007.
178 “It was devastating”: Interview with former Kennedy staffer, 2011; Bradlee and Golden, “Strategies Shaped an Epic Race.”
178 A union official called: Bradlee and Golden, “Strategies Shaped an Epic Race.”
178 The ads featuring: Ibid.
178 Three days after the filming: Scot Lehigh and Frank Phillips, “Kennedy Raps Romney on Ind. Plant Strike,” The Boston Globe, September 30, 1994.
179 “Wouldn’t it be nice”: Ibid.
179 “This is not fantasy land”: Frank Phillips, “Romney Firm Tied to Labor Fight,” The Boston Globe, September 23, 1994.
179 Romney did not air: Bradlee and Golden, “Strategies Shaped an Epic Race.”
179 They distributed leaflets: Ibid.
179 On October 7: Frank Phillips, “Romney Agrees to Talk; Union Balks,” The Boston Globe, October 8, 1994.
179 Two days later: Meg Vaillancourt and Sarah A. McNaught, “Romney Meets with Strikers; Workers Confront Candidate at Event,” The Boston Globe, October 10, 1994.
180 Romney’s poll numbers: Scot Lehigh and Sally Jacobs, “Romney Lashes Out at Kennedy over Television Attack Tactics,” The Boston Globe, October 13, 1994.
180 “It’s something we should have”: Bradlee and Golden, “Strategies Shaped an Epic Race.”
180 “You can tell”: Interview with Joseph Malone.
180 “Letting go of that”: Interview with former staffer, 2011.
181 “You’d get Republicans”: Interview with former Romney aide, 2011.
181 It might have been: Sridhar Pappu, “The Holy Cow! Candidate,” Atlantic Monthly, September 2005, 106.
181 “We’ve got this thing”: Interview with Massachusetts Republican leader, 2011.
181 “socially innovative”: P-I News Services, “Kennedy Has Tough Opponent.”
181–182 In September: Interview with Richard Tafel, 2011.
182 “In Mitt’s mind”: Interview with Massachusetts Republican, 2011.
182 Romney was on the executive board: Peter G. Gosselin, “Kennedy, Romney Continue Trading Charges over Facts,” The Boston Globe, October 27, 1994.
182 “I’m with you”: Interview with Richard Tafel.
182 So not long afterward: Mitt Romney, letter to Log Cabin Republicans, October 6, 1994.
182 Romney had previously said: Scot Lehigh, “Kennedy, Romney Battle for the Middle,” The Boston Globe, October 10, 1994.
183 Even after the group: Interview with Richard Tafel.
183 He was deeply touched: Richard Tafel, Party Crasher: A Gay Republican Challenges Politics as Usual (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1999), 224.
183 In fact, his professed views: Scot Lehigh, “Romney Takes More Heat on Abortion,” The Boston Globe, September 10, 1994.
183 He later softened: Lehigh, “Kennedy, Romney Battle for the Middle.”
183 appeared in June: Scot Lehigh, “Romney Admits Advice Against Abortion,” The Boston Globe, October 20, 1994; Michael Levenson, “Romney Dismisses Photo Taken at Fund-raiser, Says He Is Firmly Antiabortion,” The Boston Globe, December 19, 1997.
183 Ann Romney gave: Scott Helman, “Romney’s Wife Made Contribution to Planned Parenthood,” The Boston Globe, May 10, 2007.
183 October 1963 death: Ann Keenan, certificate of death, Michigan Department of Health, October 8, 1963.
183 Keenan’s death: Interview with Jane Romney, 2007.
184 “championed a woman’s right to choose”: Romney for Governor campaign flyer, 2002.
184 In June 2005: Eileen McNamara, “Evolving History,” The Boston Globe, June 26, 2005.
184 Abortion had been a defining issue: Interview with David Plawecki, 2011.
184 “I think we need”: Noreen Murphy, “Lenore Speaks Out on Issues,” Owosso Argus-Press, May 11, 1970.
184 “perverse”: Scot Lehigh and Frank Phillips, “Romney Allegedly Faulted
Gays in Talk to Mormons,” The Boston Globe, July 15, 1994.
185 Romney maintained throughout: Lehigh, “Romney Admits Advice Against Abortion.”