James Kirchick: Mitt Romney’s pomp and circumstance

Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney’s ceremonial leaving of office last week had all the Hollywood glitter that we have come to expect from the presumed presidential candidate.

At 5 p.m. Jan. 3, he left his corner office in the Statehouse and made his way down a red carpet, greeting well-wishers all along the way. Live television cameras followed the entire, 25-minute “lone-walk,” ending with a 19-gun salute. The front page of the next day’s Boston Herald screamed, “WASN’T I GREAT!” using a photo of Romney waving to the cameras with his wife in tow.