Politics & Power Quote by Mitt Romney

Romney’s sentence is a political two-step dressed up as reassurance: one hand grips the “traditional definition of marriage,” the other pats gay and lesbian Americans on the shoulder. The intent is less reconciliation than coalition-building. By opening with “Like me,” he invites the listener to join a supposedly broad, reasonable middle - a majority that can feel tolerant without conceding policy ground. It’s a rhetorical move that tries to turn a contested moral question into a matter of mainstream consensus.

The subtext is the real engine. “Preserve” implies something fragile under attack, recasting marriage equality not as an expansion of rights but as a threat to an inherited social structure. “Traditional definition” is careful language: it smuggles a specific exclusion (same-sex couples) inside a phrase that sounds neutral, even civic-minded. Then comes the prophylactic: “oppose bias and intolerance.” That clause functions as moral insurance, meant to preempt charges of bigotry by separating the speaker’s stance from its predictable social consequences. You can deny rights, the sentence suggests, without denying dignity.

Context matters because this was a familiar posture for establishment Republicans in the pre-Obergefell era, when public opinion was shifting fast and national candidates needed suburban moderation without alienating a religious base. The genius - and the cynicism - is that it frames equality as optional while treating non-discrimination as sufficient. It’s compassion as a substitute for permission, acceptance offered in tone while withheld in law.