Mitt Romney: Right about Michigan’s Trees

Of Mitt Romney’s political career, which he announced yesterday would end with the completion of his first Senate term in January 2025, I have one thing to say: He is right about Michigan’s trees.

During his 2012 run for president, Mitt Romney more than once attested to the aptness of Michigan’s arboreal adornments. “I love this state,” he said on one occasion. “It seems right here. The trees are the right height.” Not long after, he declared, “You know, the trees are the right height, the streets are just right.” And Romney was no flip-flopper on this question. Media outlets found pro-tree comments from Romney as early as 2008. Even a media that obsessively assailed Romney during that campaign (“What about your gaffes?”) could only treat such a random, innocuous Romney preoccupation as a mostly harmless curiosity, perhaps with just a slight undertone of mockery.

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Jack Butler

Jack Butler is a former submissions editor at National Review.

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Of Mitt Romney’s political career, which he announced yesterday would end with the completion of his first Senate term in January 2025, I have one thing to say: He is right about Michigan’s trees.

During his 2012 run for president, Mitt Romney more than once attested to the aptness of Michigan’s arboreal adornments. “I love this state,” he said on one occasion. “It seems right here. The trees are the right height.” Not long after, he declared, “You know, the trees are the right height, the streets are just right.” And Romney was no flip-flopper on this question. Media outlets found pro-tree comments from Romney as early as 2008. Even a media that obsessively assailed Romney during that campaign (“What about your gaffes?”) could only treat such a random, innocuous Romney preoccupation as a mostly harmless curiosity, perhaps with just a slight undertone of mockery.