“Mitt Romney…Helped Save My Daughter”
- 12.19.2007 - 10:59 AMAt first blush, this seems like a genuinely great campaign ad — the story of how Mitt Romney basically closed down his business, Bain Capital, in 1996 when the daughter of one of his partners went missing in New York City and Romney sent dozens and finally hundreds of employees to New York to engage in a massive search through the streets for her. It was indeed a selfless and noble thing to do. However, the ad implies Melissa Gay had been kidnapped or something equally sinister, and that is not what happened. As a quick search of the New York Times and Boston Globe archives reveals, she went missing after she traveled to New York from Ridgefield, Conn., on her own, took Ecstasy at a concert on Randalls Island, ended up at a party under the Whitestone Bridge in The Bronx, met a boy there who took her to his house in New Jersey, and stayed with him for a few days, too embarrassed (I would wager) to call her parents and have them come get her. No charges were filed against the boy, which suggests her presence in his house was consensual. I’m sure it was a nightmarish time for her parents, and it was unquestionably was a noble thing Romney did to step in and direct the resources of his firm, including its employees, to search for her. But a) she wasn’t in need of “saving” in the way the ad’s narrative implies and b) there’s no evidence in the open record that the Bain Capital search, wonderfully well-intentioned, was responsible for Melissa’s safe return to her family. UPDATE: There is some contention in the comments below that indeed Melissa Gay was in danger from an Ecstasy overdose. That does not comport with the contemporaneous record. According to the Boston Herald on the day after she was found, “The hunt went on until a family in Montville, N.J., heard of it and called police later to say Missy was with them and fine.” An overdosing teenager is not “fine,” but Melissa evidently was, and probably knew her parents’ home phone number. And, for the record, I am not, nor have I ever been, an adviser to the Giuliani campaign, paid or unpaid.
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December 19th, 2007 at 11:27 AM
Well, I did not see the add, so I cannot comment on whether it is deceptive in its portrayal of the event. In any case, the article does not argue with some of the facts. So apparently Romney did redirect company resources and employees at probably a considerable cost to his company to help find his daughter. I would in no way minimize that. In so many of the missing persons cases covered by the media, you do not never of the company pitching in to help like that. It was not only noble, but highly unusual. I also would not be surprised that if the original thought was that she might have been kidnapped. We as parents tend to think of the worst scenarios when we do not know what is going on with our kids.
If the ad is being deceptive then he certainly deserves to be called out on that, but frankly I am impressed that he even did that at all. I do not think that should be minimized. Is there a link to the add somewhere so I can get a feel for how deceptive the ad is being?
December 19th, 2007 at 1:34 PM
John, I’m not a Romney proponent, but I do see the merit of this ad.
At the time of the disappearance, Romney (and Mr. Gay) had no idea of what became of the daughter. All they knew is that she was missing and presumably in danger. It only became evident after the fact that she elected to be where she was (and shouldn’t have been).
Therefore, Romney’s closing the shop and dispatching company resources and employees is meritorious and deserving of praise. How many parents of missing young adults wouldn’t be thankful for a boss willing to put their personal values and interests ahead of commercial interests?
December 19th, 2007 at 2:20 PM
I do not think it is a good ad. For Romney to brag about it is not nice, and for the father to imply that his daughter had to be saved from anything except her bad behavior and his bad parenting is appalling. It is definitely another example of Romney’s deception, same as his forgetfulness of Planned Parenthood event he attended, same as keeping hiring illegals for a year after he learned about them being illegal, same as claiming credit for introducing some elements of No Child Left Behind in MA before Federal one, though these elements were introduced before he became Governor, and the list goes on.
But he is easily becomes tearful on TV.
December 19th, 2007 at 2:35 PM
Personally I think the ad’s pretty worthless. These things seem to be campaign constants and I’ve never really understood them. It’s always some “heartwarming” tale about how some candidate went out of their way to help someone. Well, whoop-e-dee-doo (sorry, not sure how exactly that’s spelled). Great; you’re nice to people. Obviously an admirable trait but I’d bet that most of the other candidates are, shockingly enough, nice too… How exactly does that qualify you to be President, Senator or dog catcher?
For full disclosure, I’m a Romney supporter (albeit, one who’s underwhelmed by his latest ad).
December 19th, 2007 at 2:40 PM
John,
It is a great ad! The press release includes a lot of details that must be glossed over in a 30 second spot. The point is that she was lost to her parents, whether by her own bad choices, or someone else. How must she feel to know that her parents dropped everything to come get her.
Mitt did a good thing! This kind of accomplishment needs to be touted as an inspiration to others who might have the wrong priorities themselves.
Here is the Press Release
December 19th, 2007 at 2:42 PM
It does not matter WHY she was missing to her frantic parents WHILE she was missing.
Anybody who loves their children knows good and well they would want the world to come to a complete stop if their child were missing. This man is grateful becuase Romney stopped as much of the world as he could to help him find his daughter.
One more thing, if she were lost in the woods and Romney did the same thing would you still be denigrated the ad?
December 19th, 2007 at 2:52 PM
The fact that she did not “need saving” in the ultimate analysis is entirely irrelevant to the discussion and does nothing whatsoever to render the ad less effective or less true. Someone with your supposed intelligence quotient should be able to figure that much out. I realize you’re a schill for Rudy. but your critique of the new Romney ad is a real reach and sort of pathetic if you ask me.
December 19th, 2007 at 3:00 PM
There are more details about the event in a story posted on Romney’s campaign website:
http://www.mittromney.com/News/In-The-News/NEWSMAX_Romney_Rescue
1) The story makes clear in the first paragraph what happened to the daughter (”As it turned out, she had attended a rave party in New York City and had become high on ecstasy.”)
2) It explains that the daughter WAS in need of saving: “Gay’s daughter, when they found her in the basement of that home, was shivering through detox after a massive dose of ecstasy. Doctors later told Gay that he was indeed fortunate - his daughter probably would not have lasted another day.”
3) There is some evidence that the high publicity of the search led the boy to phone in: “The same day the Romney team came to New York, the hunt made the evening news. Television cameras showed photos of the girl and video of investment banker types prowling through Central Park.
The next day, a teenage boy she was with phoned in. He asked if there was a reward. But the boy got nervous and quickly hung up. Luckily, the police traced the call to a home in Montville Township, N.J.”
The asking if there was a reward suggests to me it was motivated out of the publicity generated from the search, rather than calling in just to get the girl to safety.
December 19th, 2007 at 3:15 PM
Dear Will, I think that the ad itself is pathetic. It would be pathetic even if the girl needed saving. Under the circumstances the ad is both pathetic and deceitful, because if anything it helped to save bad or “unfortunate” parents. In fact instead of bragging Romney should feel embarrassed.
December 19th, 2007 at 3:21 PM
I don’t get your take at all. This is the FATHER of the girl who was taken. He was clearly touched by Romney’s selflessness to help his daughter.
You don’t know how things would have played out had Romney not intervened. If she was doing drugs, running with riff-raff, etc., she was in danger. we’re talking about a 14 year old here.
Are you questioning the sincerity of the father? He feels Romney saved his girl. He feels Romney did a self-sacrificing thing.
The ad is very effective b/c it’s in the Father’s own words. I hadn’t heard this story before, but it shows me where Romney’s priorities have been through his life - in the right place.
So what’s your beef? Oh, I forgot, you’re a paid consultant for Rudy. Nice try at a hit piece.