Governor George Romney (R-Michigan, father of Mitt) was a passionate advocate for civil rights. Perhaps the most dramatic evidence of this passion came at the Republican National Convention in 1964, which was held, if you can believe it, in San Francisco.

George Romney walked out of the convention when the party adopted a platform that he thought was too conservative on civil rights. The platform was written to suit arch-conservative Arizona Senator Barry Goldwater, who had won the party’s nomination for President. Goldwater thought the 1964 Civil Rights Act violated states’ rights—including, of course, their right to discriminate against African Americans through the system of Jim Crow. Romney disagreed and demonstrated his position by leaving the convention floor and going home.

Interestingly, Mitt Romney joined his father George in walking out of the convention. Mitt was a teenager, and left the convention when his father left. It was—and could be told again as—a dramatic symbol of the Romneys’ belief in opportunities for everyone in America.

Which leads me to the question: what do you think the chances are that Mitt Romney will walk out of the Republican National Convention this year if it passes a retrograde platform on civil rights and civil liberties? Or will pressure the convention to reflect passionate support for civil rights in America? 

Of course, the question is rhetorical. The son is not the father. We are all the worse for it.