The compassionate conservatism that has been so glaringly absent from the majority of Republican politicians reared its ugly head yet again when Mitt Romney stepped inside the Red Arrow restaurant up in Manchester, N.H. last week. He was giving stump answers to questions about A.I.D.S. and how it is dealt with around the world when his speech and his world was interrupted by Michele Griffin, who works as a waitress at the 'political' eatery.
From The Washington Post:
"What about our nation? How 'bout the USA? C'mon!" yelled Michele Griffin, a 12-year veteran behind the counter at one of Manchester's most famous eating establishments.
She turned to walk away, but the former Masschusetts governor and Republican presidential candidate called her back, sparking an emotional and confrontational 10-minute exchange about health care and the needs of the working class. The already hot diner got even hotter fast.
The exchange took place at the Red Arrow, one of two diners the Washington Post will be visiting repeatedly during the next six months.One of the things I'm proud of doing in my state is putting on track a plan that gets everybody health insurance," Romney began, seeing an opening for his standard stump speech about his efforts as governor of Massachusetts.
But Griffin was in no mood for platitudes, and interrupted.
"After we pay our huge deductibles for our insurance and our cost for our prescriptions, there's nothing left," she said.
She continued on to blast the ex-governor and inadvertently showed his apathy for average people suffering under the tutelage of the current health care crisis. Romney tried to pull out his stump speech but Michele had none of it. She continued to tell her story (while showing Romney to be seriously out of touch) until Romney couldn't take it anymore. Eventually he walked out of the restaurant and she was the one left in tears.
She isn't the only one crying, we are all saddened by the state of health care in America. Unfortunately, Romney isn't one that will break the status quo nor will any of his Republican competitors.
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