Romney's Openly Gay Foreign Policy Advisor Resigns

This could be a sign that Mitt Romney won't be able to shake that etch-a-sketch completely clean. Last week, after all but sealing up the Republican nomination, it was learned that one of Mitt Romney's foreign policy advisers - Richard Grenell - was openly gay. The news definitely raised the dander of social conservatives already hypersensitive about Romney's very liberal streak.

Now, less than a week later, Grenell has resigned.

Via Washington Post:

Richard Grenell, the openly gay spokesman recently hired to sharpen the foreign policy message of Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign, has resigned in the wake of a full-court press by anti-gay conservatives.

In a statement obtained by Right Turn, Grenell says:

I have decided to resign from the Romney campaign as the Foreign Policy and National Security Spokesman. While I welcomed the challenge to confront President Obama’s foreign policy failures and weak leadership on the world stage, my ability to speak clearly and forcefully on the issues has been greatly diminished by the hyper-partisan discussion of personal issues that sometimes comes from a presidential campaign. I want to thank Governor Romney for his belief in me and my abilities and his clear message to me that being openly gay was a non-issue for him and his team.

Perhaps in an attempt to play both sides of the fence, team Romney released a statement of regret that Grenell decided to leave:

“We are disappointed that Ric decided to resign from the campaign for his own personal reasons. We wanted him to stay because he had superior qualifications for the position he was hired to fill.”

Well, of course, by expressing sorrow for the departure, the Romney campaign doesn't alienate the GOProud crowd while also taking the gay rights pinata down from the tree so social conservatives can't beat on it anymore (in this case).

For what it's worth, Van Jones and Al Armendariz both resigned (wink, wink) without being prompted by the White House.