Mitt Romney ...

... is an idiot.

"The Commonwealth is very pleased with Microsoft’s progress in creating an open document format," said the state’s Administration and Finance (A&F) Secretary Tom Trimarco in a short statement on Thanksgiving eve. "If Microsoft follows through as planned, we are optimistic that Office Open XML will meet our new standards for acceptable open formats."

The so-called "progress" is nothing more than marketing legerdemain (aka FUD).

Not only that, but Romney is as slimey as Karl Rove when it comes to swiftboating:

In a front-page story, The Boston Globe said Quinn is being investigated for attending out-of-state conferences that were sponsored by technology and information companies. The Globe quoted two unnamed “Romney administration officials” who said Trimarco wants to know details of Quinn’s trips. The Globe said the investigation was launched after it made inquiries about Quinn’s trips and whether they violated state conflict-of-interest regulations.

Some sources said Quinn’s trips had been approved by Kriss and Quinn has noted he has been in demand as a speaker at computer conferences because of the interest in the state’s debate over the formats.

Kriss and Quinn have supported an “Open Standards, Open Source” policy, arguing that it would open up the state’s office software business to increased competition.

The kicker, of course, is this:

Supporters of Microsoft maintain that that stance would unfairly shut out Microsoft from state business.

That has to be the most ironic statement ever written.