Antigay
Massachusetts governor won't seek reelection

Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, who repeatedly tried to block legal same-sex marriage from happening in his state, said Wednesday that he will not seek reelection in 2006. Political pundits said this could mean he'll seek the Republican nomination for president in 2008, the Los Angeles Times reported. "With regard to what happens down the road, we'll let the future take care of itself," Romney, 58, told reporters, declining to talk specifics about the 2008 race, the newspaper reported. Romney, who has made repeated trips to Iowa and New Hampshire and has taken positions on national issues, has been desperately trying to distance himself from his state's liberal reputation. Throughout the marriage battle, he exhausted every legal avenue to try and keep marriage defined as a union between one man and one woman. When asked by the Times about the chances of any Massachusetts politician winning national office, Linda Fowler, a professor of government at Dartmouth College, scoffed, saying, "Well, stranger things have happened. Obviously, it is a long shot. It is probably only reasonable to think about it at all because the field is so wide open." (Advocate.com)