December 20, 2007 | By DAVID ROSEN

The summer scandal about Mitt Romney's role as a closet pornographer appears to be resurfacing as the Iowa Republican caucuses near. While never raised during the Republican debates, the rumor has been gaining momentum as local press and Christian groups continue to circulate the tale of Romney's complicity in the offering of pornographic programming while on the board of the Marriott hotel chain. It seems to be contributing to the steady erosion of Romney's electoral standing among evangelical Christian Republican voters.

"Mitt Romney regularly denounces the 'cesspool' of pornography on the campaign trail," wrote Ben Weyl in the "Iowa Independent." "But recently, those would be supporters have been grumbling that Romney did not do enough to shut down hardcore movie options in Marriott hotels while he was on the company's board for nearly a decade."

The story of Romney's link to porn programming broke in July by AP reporter Glen Johnson. Romney served on the Marriott board from 1992 to 2001 and was chairman of its audit committee. During Romney's tenure, Marriott contracted with On Command to provide in-room television services; in 2006, On Command was acquired by LodgeNet. When questioned by AP, Romney claimed that the issue of pornography never came up at board meetings and insisted that he did not know how much money porn generated for the hotel. Ignorance is bliss.

Romney received an annual fee of $25,000 and stock options while serving on the Marriott board. He also received a campaign contribution of $80,000 arranged by J.W. Marriot.

When the story first broke, the Christian right was up in arms. Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, denounced the Marriott board and, indirectly Romney: "They have to assume some responsibility. It's their hotels, it's their television sets."
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How deliciously low can the dirt diggers go!

A truly religious man would have offered the PTL channel to Marriott hotel goers and Latter Day Saints pamphlets to go with those pre-dinner cocktails.

Posted 9/6/2006 8:45 AM ET | By Matt Bradley Correspondent, The Christian Science Monitor

It's a business that has become quietly entrenched in America's corporate culture: pay-per-view pornography in hotel rooms. Most large chains provide the service, along with standard-issue films.

The pay-per-view service has brought hotels millions of dollars a year. But these days, the US hotel business is also attracting moral outrage and vitriol — on a scale that pornography insiders say amounts to one of the largest organized assaults on the skin business in recent memory.

A consortium of 13 conservative groups has created CleanHotels.com, a website that provides listings and reservation services for US hotels where travelers can rest safe from taint or temptation. The conservative groups have also run a series of full-page ads in USA Today, urging authorities to prosecute hoteliers under federal and local obscenity statutes.
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Romney seemed to understand this (the supposed effects of porn on society) when he told graduates at the Christian-owned Regent University that pornography poisons "our music and movies and TV and video games."

Delivering the journalistic equivalent of a giant lump of coal three days before Christmas, the Concord Monitor editorial board has leveled an extraordinary broadside against Mitt Romney, declaring in an editorial to be published in Sunday's paper that the former Massachusetts governor "must be stopped" in his quest for the Republican presidential nomination.

The Monitor has not yet endorsed in either party's primary. Instead, it issued an unusual anti-endorsement dripping with scorn under the headline "Romney should not be the next president."

The piece begins: "If you were building a Republican presidential candidate from a kit, imagine what pieces you might use: an athletic build, ramrod posture, Reaganesque hair, a charismatic speaking style and a crisp dark suit. You'd add a beautiful wife and family, a wildly successful business career and just enough executive government experience. You'd pour in some old GOP bromides -- spending cuts and lower taxes -- plus some new positions for 2008: anti-immigrant rhetoric and a focus on faith.

"Add it all up and you get Mitt Romney, a disquieting figure who sure looks like the next president and most surely must be stopped."