Campaign 2012: Mitt Romney, Prep School Bully

This week's other big education-related political story is the Washington Post's coverage of Mitt Romney's prep school bullying -- for which the Republican candidate apologized last night on Fox:

"They talk about the fact that I played a lot of pranks in high school," he said. "And they describe some that you just say to yourself, back in high school I just did some dumb things, and if anybody was hurt by that or offended by it, obviously I apologize."

Slate's John Dickerson discusses why the possibility of Romney having been a bully matters, despite being so far in the past, and reminds us that, fair or not, much the same vetting process has happened to every major political candidate of the past 20 years.  

The story won't determine Romney's candidacy but in today's world, in which bullying is not just considered an unfortunate rite of childhood and a deadly serious responsibility for educators, the accusation that Romney bullied other kids carries heavier weight.

Comments

[Chandra]

I agree that this story won't determine Romeny's candidacy. However with the high level attention that bullying is receiving in today's culture, the way Mitt Romney has responded and continues to respond could have an impact on his political aspirations.

[Sarah]

An interesting thing I noticed recently is that Romney talks a lot about playing “pranks.”
He plays “pranks” with his kids at his summer home.
There are “pranks” at the dinner table.
I wonder just what these “pranks” really are.
That aside, I think it does damage one’s credibility in terms of education legislation to admit they bullied a large portion of their childhood. Not to the extent that the media would like to think, but it’s hard to take a man waxing poetic about bullying being wrong when he stands in the oval office, clearly none the worse for his actions as a kid.