How many competitive and extremely expensive high-profile bids for office does one have to mount to have a “political career”?
According to Mitt Romney, the answer is more than four.
During an appearance on Morning Joe Wednesday, Romney put a new spin on the “I didn’t inhale” line he’s been using all along the campaign trail to describe his experience as governor of Massachusetts.
Here’s a taste of what that sounds like, from last Thursday’s presidential debate:
“I spent my life in the private sector, not in government. I only spent four years as a governor. I didn’t inhale.”
This is arguably true. Though Romney has tried again and again to take a big hit off the popular vote fatty — running for Senate from Massachusetts in 1994, governor in 2002 and finally president in 2008 — voters have only given him a win once.
But Wednesday, Romney upped the outsider ante, claiming spending the better part of two decades running for office doesn’t classify as having a “political career.”
“Why am I in it? It’s not the next step of my career, by the way,” he said when asked why he’s running for president. “I don’t have a political career.”
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