Posted on 01/19/2007 8:39:00 AM PST by RKV
My question exactly to the Romney supporters. What on earth makes you think a pro-choice East Coast GOP moderate can hold the base in this day and age? And what makes you think he can run from his earlier pro-choice views in the age of Google? In a way, I respect Guiliani a bit more because he isn't pretending otherwise. I wouldn't vote for him in the primary, but he ain't pulling my leg on this subject (although some of his supporters such as Delroy Murdock are).
He has a sizable following in the state based on the Govnr position he won.
I'm not a single-issue kind of guy. It takes more than the right position on any one issue to win me over. But all it takes is one wrong position on a few key issues to lose me. The Second Amendment is chief among those.
Scouts Out! Cavalry Ho!
Twice in the last 16 years the Democrats have run a Massachusetts liberal for President.
It amazes me that anyone in the GOP could think that to be a good plan for them to emulate.
Wake up, laughingstock, you're the problem, not those who you alienate. Dumb bastards that think they're brilliant are nothing but fools.
That said, I will never again hold my nose and vote for someone who doesn't completely and fully support my (and your) right to keep and bear arms. This also goes for border security, immigration reform, maintaining American soverignty, not granting special rights (such as marriage and adoption) to homosexuals, etc.
Just being on the right side of any of these issues alone isn't enough to win my vote. But being on the wrong side of even one of them is enough to lose it.
Scouts Out! Cavalry Ho!
Well, if it isn't FR's resident troll. Amazing how you always seem to pop up when the liberals are getting spanked. Surprising that you think your attacks on conservatives get any traction around a conservative joint like this.
Governor Romney has been touring the country in the past few weeks, courting anti-gay right-wingers in South Carolina, Missouri, and Utah with speeches designed to show that he is firmly in their camp. Yet a look at Romney's record shows that his Rick Santorum drag act is a relatively new phenomenon.
Indeed, years before Romney ran for governor, he took several pro-gay stances in his unsuccessful 1994 Senate campaign against Ted Kennedy. According to an Oct. 17 Boston Globe article that year, Romney courted Mass. Log Cabin for their endorsement, promising them in a letter that, "as we seek to establish full equality for America's gay and lesbian citizens, I will provide more effective leadership than my opponent." Romney won that endorsement, in part due to his support of the federal Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA).
During that race Romney also won Republican Gov. William Weld's endorsement, and he said he was in step with the famously pro-gay governor on many issues, including same-sex marriage. According to an Oct. 21 article in the Globe, when Romney was asked whether he supported same-sex marriage, he answered, "I am sure [Weld] will study it and evaluate it and I will endorse his position on that." (At the time Weld had not come out in favor of same-sex marriage, but he has done so since the Goodridge decision. No such endorsement of Weld's position by Romney has been forthcoming.)
Romney also went to great lengths to dispel charges of homophobia leveled against him for his role as a lay leader in the Mormon Church. A July 15 Globe article alleged that Romney had told a congregation of about 300 Mormons that same-sex relationships were "perverse" in November 1993. Romney's campaign responded with a statement saying that Romney respected "all people regardless of their race, creed, or sexual orientation" and that he would fight against "discrimination of any kind."
Romney took a pro-gay position on another hot-button issue during the Senate campaign: the ban on gay people participating in the Boy Scouts of America (BSA). During an Oct. 25 debate Romney was asked about the Scouts' policy. He answered, ""I support the right of the Boy Scouts of America to decide what it wants to do on that issue," according to the Globe. He then added, ""I feel that all people should be allowed to participate in the Boy Scouts regardless of their sexual orientation." At the time Romney served on the executive council of BSA, and a spokesperson for the organization criticized Romney in an Oct. 27 Globe article for opposing the official BSA policy.
During his 2002 gubernatorial run his campaign distributed bright pink flyers during Pride that declared "Mitt and Kerry wish you a great Pride weekend! All citizens deserve equal rights, regardless of their sexual preference." Romney also argued that he would not only support gay friendly policies but would fight on behalf of the gay community to secure benefits such as domestic partner benefits and hospital visitation rights for same-sex couples.
"Basically I see the provision of basic civil rights and domestic partnership benefits [as] a campaign against [then-House Speaker] Tom Finneran. I see Tom Finneran and the Democratic leadership as having opposed the application of domestic partnership benefits to gay and lesbian couples and I will support and endorse efforts to provide those domestic partnership benefits to gay and lesbian couples," Romney told Bay Windows in an interview published Oct. 24, 2002.
Once again he courted Log Cabin for an endorsement, and once again he got it. That October he met with members of the group's board of governors, where they asked him about his positions on LGBT issues. David Rogers, who served as president of Mass. Log Cabin in 2003, was present at that meeting. He said members were satisfied with Romney's replies about funding for HIV/AIDS programs and Safe Schools programs for LGBT youth, although he said he does not remember the specific positions on those issues that Romney took during that meeting. On the issue of same-sex marriage Rogers said Romney explained that he opposed it, but his answer led Rogers and others to believe that Romney might change his mind over time.
"He said [same-sex marriage] wasn't popular at this time... So I think his answer on marriage led many of us to believe it was possible, but not at this time," said Smith. He said the group did not discuss civil unions, gay parenting, or a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage with Romney during the meeting.
After Romney won the election, his first days in office gave some in the LGBT community hope that Romney might model himself after Weld in his approach to LGBT issues. At his Jan. 3, 2002 inaugural speech, Romney expressed the importance of defending civil rights "regardless of gender, sexual orientation, or race."
Romney also continued Weld's tradition of appointing openly gay people to key positions in his administration. One of his first cabinet appointments was Daniel Grabauskas, who Romney chose to serve in his cabinet as secretary of the Executive Office of Transportation and Construction.
The new governor's transition team also included several openly gay people, including Grabauskas, former lieutenant governor candidate and current president of the national Log Cabin Republicans Patrick Guerriero, and former Mass. Log Cabin president Mark Goshko.
Other gay Romney appointees include John Wagner, commissioner of the state welfare department, Mitchell Adams, executive director of the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative, and Jonathan Spampinato, a member of Romney's Diversity and Equal Opportunity Council. Two out lesbian appointees were fired by the governor shortly after getting legally married to their same-sex partners: Ardith Wieworka, former commissioner of Child Care Services, who was let go last summer, and Katherine Abbott, former commissioner of the Department of Conservation and Recreation, who was asked to resign last month after her department was blamed for not adequately clearing sidewalks along the VFW Parkway in West Roxbury where four high school students were hit by a pick-up truck after. Wieworka has since alleged that she was fired for marrying her same-sex partner. Abbott has refused to comment publicly on her firing.
Even after he came out in support of state and federal constitutional amendments to ban same-sex marriage, Romney took some actions that could be labeled pro-gay. He offered political and financial support to two openly gay Republican candidates for state representative in 2004, Richard Babson in the Eighth Suffolk District and Michael Motzkin of the Ninth Essex District, who both lost. Both candidates were promoted as part of the Romney Reform Team.
More recently Romney proposed allocating $250,000 for the Governor's Commission on Gay and Lesbian Youth for fiscal year 2006, twice what he proposed for FY05. The Legislature ultimately funded the commission at $250,000 for FY05, so Romney's proposal for next year amounts to level funding, and the proposal is still a far cry from $1.6 million the commission received in the mid-'90s before the state budget crisis. Yet as commission co-chair Kathleen Henry said, Romney could just as easily have dissolved the program.
"We serve completely at the will of the governor," said Henry. She also said Romney issued an official commendation to recognize last year's 10th annual Gay/Straight Youth Pride Day on May 15.
All of which hardly sounds like the record of the man who's been courting red state America with anti-gay rhetoric.
http://baywindows.com/ME2/Audiences/dirmod.asp?sid=&nm=&type=Publishing&mod=Publications%3A%3AArticle&mid=8F3A7027421841978F18BE895F87F791&tier=4&id=A0CA3688CCEA4B259FB5FE42F7DDC9B0
"He managed to get elected as Governor, and that took a majority. In a national election, gaining a majority again is probable.
He has a sizable following in the state based on the Govnr position he won."
I'm a huge Romney fan, but he has no chance of carrying Massachusetts.
You're the only one getting spanked, laughingstock. I'm beginning to think you're a masochistic who can't get enough punishment. Every time you get into the argument you make things worse for those you would support. Every time, Evie, you laughingstock.
LOL...
Human Events 12/27/05 - (Mitt Romney is ranked #8)
On the other hand, it’s particularly interesting to note that Bay Windows, Boston’s major homosexual newspaper, has reviewed Romney favorably. That same newspaper regularly prints extremely vicious and even obscene attacks on all conservative politicians, the “Christian Right” and even parents who challenge the liberal political agenda.
1. Sen. Lincoln Chafee (R.I.) Once approached by Democratic Leader Harry Reid to switch parties, Chafee has long supported liberal policies. He backs legal abortion, gay rights, federal-funded health care, strict environmental protections and a higher minimum wage. Opposes ANWR drilling. Also was the only Republican in Congress not to endorse the President’s reelection and one of three who tried to gut Bush’s tax cuts.
2. Sen. Olympia Snowe (Maine) A self-described “centrist,” Snowe scored a 100% pro-choice voting record as scored by NARAL and consistently votes with Democrats on social issues.
3. Sen. Arlen Specter (Pa.) “Snarlin’ Arlen” warned Bush not to nominate judges who might overturn Roe v. Wade, joined Chaffee reducing tax cuts and supported Democrats on the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, HMO and overtime regulation. Also opposed school choice in Washington, D.C.
4. Sen. Susan Collins (Maine) Voted with liberals on the 1999 tax cut, campaign finance reform and the partial-birth abortion ban. Also advocated “pay-as-you-go” tax cuts with spending increases in 2004, leading to a budget never agreed upon between the House and Senate.
5. Rep. Christopher Shays (Conn.) He led the House fight for McCain-Feingold campaign finance “reform.” He’s also prone to back environmental causes, gun control and abortion rights. He had no GOP challenger in 2004, but narrowly escaped defeat, 52% to 48%, by a Democratic opponent in the general election.
6. Gov. George Pataki (N.Y.) Helped unions raise pay and unionize Indian casinos. Has said, “I believe in a limited government, low taxes, a tough approach to crime. ... But I also believe in an activist government. I’m not one of those laissez-faire types.”
7. Rep. Sherwood Boehlert (N.Y.) Over the course of his 23-year career, he’s gained considerable power (chairman of the Science Committee), despite amassing one of the most liberal voting records of any House Republican. Fought back conservative challengers in 2000 and 2002 and could face a GOP challenge in ’06.
8. Gov. Mitt Romney (Mass.) Has said, “I believe that abortion should be safe and legal in this country.” Supports civil unions and stringent gun laws. After visiting Houston, he criticized the city’s aesthetics, saying, “This is what happens when you don’t have zoning.”
9. Rep. Michael Castle (Del.) As president of the moderate Republican Main Street Partnership and key player in the so-called Tuesday Group lunches, he is a ring-leader of RINOs. He’s teamed with Democrats to make federal funding of embryonic stem cell research one of his top priorities.
10. Rep. Jim Leach (Iowa) One of only six House Republicans to vote against the Iraq War resolution in 2002, he was also the only Republican to vote against President Bush’s 2003 tax cuts. His support for environmental causes and abortion rights has won him liberal fans.
Scouts Out! Cavalry Ho!
Congratulations on your efforts! I respect you for at least your persistence but I still think you are not being wise by lambasting a potentially electable, effective advocate with wide mass appeal for the conservative agenda which we won't get with McCain or Rudy.
Seriously, let's forget the labeling of Mitt as a RINO or a panderer and focus on the brass tacks:
1. If Mitt Romney were president in 2008 would a Romney presidency support tax increases and fiscal discipline?
2. Likewise, if the Federal Marriage Ammendment Act came to his desk do you think he would sign it?
3. Also, if Mitt were president would he nominate socially conservative Supreme Court judges?
Here, you can look at the answer key below for help:
1. Yes.
2. Yes.
3. Yes.
;)
EV doesn't function in reality. You're wasting your time with him, let's hope others reading your post can see what is the truth in all of this. By working against a viable Republican candidate it seems EV has put himself in the same position as those hammering Romney from the Left. Interesting.
Come on. Who do you think you're kidding?
Romney appointed prominent homosexual activists and Democrats as judges
• “Governor Mitt Romney, who touts his conservative credentials to out-of-state Republicans, has passed over GOP lawyers for three-quarters of the 36 judicial vacancies he has faced, instead tapping registered Democrats or independents — including two gay lawyers who have supported expanded same-sex rights, a Globe review of the nominations has found. Of the 36 people Romney named to be judges or clerk magistrates, 23 are either registered Democrats or unenrolled voters who have made multiple contributions to Democratic politicians or who voted in Democratic primaries, state and local records show. In all, he has nominated nine registered Republicans, 13 unenrolled voters, and 14 registered Democrats.” - Boston Globe 7/25/2005
Romney Rewards one of the State’s Leading Anti-Marriage Attorneys by Making him a Judge
• Romney told the U.S. Senate on June 22, 2004, that the "real threat to the States is not the constitutional amendment process, in which the states participate, but activist judges who disregard the law and redefine marriage . . ." Romney sounds tough but yet he had no qualms advancing the legal career of one of the leading anti-marriage attorneys. He nominated Stephen Abany to a District Court. Abany has been a key player in the Massachusetts Lesbian and Gay Bar Association which, in its own words, is "dedicated to ensuring that the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court decision on marriage equality is upheld, and that any anti-gay amendment or legislation is defeated." - U.S. Senate testimony by Gov. Mitt Romney, 6/22/2004 Press release from governor’s office 5/4/2005
• Stephen Abany testified at the State House in 1999 advocating a bill to repeal the sodomy laws in Massachusetts. This type of activism obviously did not bother Romney. - Lawyers’ Weekly 2/14/2000
Are you on Romney's payroll, a vendor, or part of his campaign organization?
Another little item:
Mitt Romney has been a disaster for the MA GOP. He's left it in ruins. There is every reason to believe that he would have the same effect on the national party, given the opportunity.
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