Heck...he always wanted conservatives to like him...this might just do it!

Not to give him a free pass I am not sure anyone of us could have our high school behavior scrutinized and come out with out an embarrassing stupid story. I am certainly not a fan of Mitt's but 40 years out of high school I am a different person than I am today.

I agree that many or all of us did some stupid things in high school that would be embarrassing to have to deal with as adults. The way to do it, though, is to admit it and apologize. That ends it. Unfortunately that wasn't Romney's reaction. Saying you don't remember something like that doesn't hack it, unless you participated in so many such events that you can't separate out one incident.

Too funny. The Globe publishes a story on bullying and is criticized, and so it somehow seems as if the GOP condones bullying and will forever tolerate and promote such tactics. Waaaaaaaayyyyyyyy too funny. L - O - L!! L - O - L!!

Give Mitt a break! He had an overprivileged background and could do anything he wanted, when he wanted, just like today! If Mitt wanted, he could even buy the presidency!

This seems to be irrelevant. A lot of young men growing up in the 60s and 70s were just plain ignorant about homosexuality. And a lot of young men of any era behave boorishly and conduct themselves in a way that they later deeply regret. Romney's considerably more mature today than he was then. I don't agree with him on gay marriage (or much of anything else), but I'm willing to believe he's a kinder and more open-minded guy today than he was 45 years ago.

Really? This is what Romney's opposition is latching on to today? That's pretty weak. I smell desparation and it smells delicious. I wish Mitt would get on the National news tonight and answer with a rousing "so what?". God forbid that either sex of our species demonstrates a mild form dominance. Moving on...........

Romney seems to have handled this just right. Not denying but not admitting while at the same time admitting and apologizing. (And sounding sincere at the same time).

While Mitt will brush this off as high school insensitivity, I am reminded of my father lecturing me about bullies. "All bullies are afraid" he told me, "so don't be afraid of them. Nothing stops a bully like a good punch in the nose." Today, of course, that would bring an assault charge, most likely; but it does tell us two things about young Mr. Romney: 1. He was a homophobe, being afraid of someone not fitting in to his view of normalcy; 2. He was a coward. Enlisting a posse to hold the other kid down is about as chicken a thing as there is: if he's so offended, why couldn't he do it on his own? Take a good look at the man today: did he ever play a contact sport? Was he in the military? Doesn't he move like someone with no grace? That's no big deal, I suppose, but note the difference between what the President said and what Romney must uphold: "In my opinion..." the President said. EXACTLY. In Romney's case though, it's not his opinion, just like that poor kid so long ago, 'same sex people are against God's order and we can't allow that! Help me hold them down!" That is the official position of the Mormon church, who spent hundreds of millions trying to block same sex marriage in California. The child is father to the man and Mitt Romney will never shed his intolerance or hypocrisy toward those he cannot abide. He is dangerous and I only hope people recognize that before the election.

He's trying! :-)

cmdsearcher, I was a complete and utter homophobe in my youth. No, I'm not sorry about that but I too have "evolved" to use a news-cycle phrase. I neither support nor oppose gay marriage (I just don't care anymore) and although I am concerned about bullying, that concern only kicks in when it causes potentially emotional and/or physical abuse. To employ a butchered metaphore.... Bullying is often a ship that rights itself. The bullying and hazing that I experienced while in Highschool in Needham and in Tilton, NH only served to make me a stronger person. That said, there are obviously limits and based on the most slanted stories from this particular, alleged event, it's laughable.

Good, let him. I'd rather he buy the seat than have the guy in that seat be a sellout.

Given that this event happened about fifty years ago, I suppose it's water under the bridge. Still, as someone who was bullied (over weight), I find Romney's quasi-apology less than satisfying. I also can't help but think he never would have apologized at all had the event not been revealed. His target -- like so many other bullied kids -- would have just remained in the shadows forever.

So we have four students on the record that this incident occurred, but somehow Mitt can't quite place it. A young man was pinned down and his hair was cut off, but nope, Mitt does not have a recollection of such an occurrence. Mitt, your pants have gone from on fire to a full blown nuclear meltdown. Get real, come clean, and man up!

So if it's so weak, and apparently in your opinion somewhat of a tempest in a teapot, why can't Mitt just say "Listen, it was a different time and I was a different person. I did some things in high school that I'm not proud of and I sincerely apologize to those I may have taken advantage of in the pursuit of some laughs. I do not condone bullying, and am sorry for any harm I may have done by my ignorant pranks." That, I would respect. "Gee, it was such a long time ago and I don't remember (sic)"--no, that's just lame and dishonest.

Yes, people do make mistakes. But this was not a mistake... this was an act of cowardly aggression and no matter what anyone says about the stupid things so many of us might have done when we were young, MOST of us did not have sufficient hatred in us to attack someone the way Romney did (and with a posse--even more cowardly). A lot of us experimented in self-destruction, but most of us did NOT engage in violence toward others. No: the "I did stupid things when I was young" excuse does NOT fly. But it is indicative of what a lot of conservatives are about: fear of others, might-makes-right beliefs, and general mean-spiritedness. Romney trying to downplay these actions are reprehensible too. Can you imagine how terrifying it must have been for that young man to be thus assaulted--even if the assault "only" resulted in his hair getting cut?

Kid, this time you should have had the common sense to just pretend the story didn't exist instead of attempting to turn this into an example of "left wing hypocrisy." Honestly, son...this was just weak.

Riley, if you're "not sorry" then you haven't evolved at all. Congratulations for talking yourself into believing that you have. But you're only lying to yourself. If you'd really changed, you'd be ashamed of what you were.

No kid, this is not what "Romney's opposition has latched on to." This is the story the news outlet reported. It's not a campaign ad from Obama, it's a news story. Get it? Desperation? A story about a nominee for President ASSAULTING and publicly humiliating a human being? You characterize that as desperation? What a depraved human being you are. Go ahead smart guy: tell us some more about how much you've "evolved." I pity you.

Why are you willing to believe that? What evidence do you have? The "moral values" he brags about having today are no different than what he was raised with 50 years, are they not? If he was raised to hate gays so much that we would assault a human being and subject them to public humiliation, what reason is there to believe that he's come to un-hate them?

When I was in high school, I never assaulted someone and subjecting them to public humiliation. And I wouldn't want to associate with anybody who did. Embarrassing stupid stories? Sure. But this goes well beyond that, if you can't see why I don't know how to explain it to you.

Hijinks and pranks?!?! That was gay bashing, Mitt.

How low can the Wash Post go? This is obviously a hit piece meant to cement gay support for Obama. The details are unclear, especially what role Romney played FIFTY years ago. Why has Obama never revealed details about his (radical?) college years?