Posted on 01/19/2007 8:39:00 AM PST by RKV
LADIES AND gentlemen, welcome to the first virtual debate of the new political season, a mock matchup to help take the true measure of two men locked in ideological conflict.
Our first candidate is Mitt Romney.
Candidate number two? Why, that's Mitt Romney as well. ...
A note on the proceedings: While our forum is fanciful, the words in quotation marks are real.
Let's begin.
...
Please give us your views on gun control.
MM: I supported the Brady Bill, which instituted a five-day waiting period before you could buy a handgun, and a ban on assault weapons. As I said in 1994, "That's not going to make me the hero of the NRA." But then, "I don't line up with the NRA." As I said in my gubernatorial campaign, "We do have tough gun laws in Massachusetts. I support them. I won't chip away at them."
Romney2008: "I have a gun of my own. I go hunting myself. I'm a member of the NRA and believe firmly in the right to bear arms. In our state . . . there are a series of laws restricting gun ownership in various ways. Over the past four years, I've worked very closely with the Gun Owners' Action League here, which is an affiliate of the NRA, and we've made some changes which I think they feel have been positive steps. And so you are going to see that, I think, hopefully, in other states as well, as they make progress, perhaps further than Massachusetts has."
MM: Ah, excuse me, but isn't that son Josh's gun?
...
Alas, we've run out of time. But I hope our forum has revealed something important about the positions, character, and convictions of these two very different politicians.
(Excerpt) Read more at boston.com ...
Dear nowandlater,
"I think we would strongly push the pro-life agenda, traditional marriage, 2nd ammendment rights, and conservative judges."
Especially on these isssues, above all others, I don't see any reason to believe Mr. Romney.
For years he told us he was a principled pro-abort. For years, including when running for governor IN 2002, he staunchly backed the "right" of a woman to procure the killing of her unborn child. For years he told us he was for ENDA.
Now he tells us he was wrong about abortion, wrong about ENDA.
Why should I believe him?
Here's how it looks to me:
- When he was running for office in [pro-abort, pro-homo agenda] Massachusetss, he was a pro-abort, pro-homo agenda kinda guy.
- Now that he's running for the nomination for the presidency of the [pro-life, pro-normal] Republican Party, all of the sudden (no earlier than 2004 or 2005), he's a pro-life, "traditional marriage" kinda guy.
The bottom line is that in the very recent past, he's done 180s on three major social issues.
Sorry - he looks and smells like a used car salesman. And not one of the more honest ones.
He appears to be an opportunist.
"He is a politician like every other candidate, but I do trust him when he says he will be our advocate."
I don't trust him as far as I can throw him.
I think he'll do anything, say anything to get elected.
Reminds me of another fellow who ran for president named Bill...
sitetest
Excellent post, excellent point.
You: Hey, according to your unethical standards it doesn't matter what the answer is to that question does it "Super Conservative Man"?
Every campaign I've ever been directly involved in for the last seven years or so, I've made that involvement public here on FR.
Your unwillingness to answer the question sounds quite a bit like a "yes."
Some weeks ago you posted here that you've met with Romney. What was the subject of your conversation? Some more good ways to try and fool good conservatives?
"We"?
Frankly, if he will push forward our causes, it doesn't matter to me what others or you may think of him. He is a politician like every other candidate, but I do trust him when he says he will be our advocate.
After looking at his liberal record and words going back decades, there is no basis for such trust.
Bingo now you got it right Guliano will win.
Do you know what a fact is?
"We"
Sorry, I am more Engineer than Essayist.
Your response is: "You mean his record in ultra-Democratic Massachusetts, where just about every veto can be overridden by the legislature that has only 30 Republicans, out of 200? I don't think it's fair to judge him on basis of what he accomplished in that state."
You want to give this LIAR a pass? What happened to his statement that he wanted to be like daddy and do what's right No matter what the political consequences.
Whe're you from, newbie?
What is wrong with doing right above all else?
Very good post.
Because Romney is from Massachusetts and the people who read the Globe tend to be interested when a local is running for President. If papers from around the country were obsessing on Romney, then a conspiracy theory to undermine his candidacy might make some sense.
If Sam Brownback's candidacy looks more promising, I expect to see the Kansas City Star run several pieces about him. Why? Because they want to undermine him? Yes, partially but also because their readership is interested in the local boy making national waves.
Thank God for Tom Delay. Like the old "Who" song says, "Won't be fooled again."
I wonder if Tom Delay wants to run for President? I sure could support him.
Nothing. It's too bad Mitt didn't do what he said he admired most about his father. Read the post again.
Thanks.
Romney unpopular as he leaves governor's post
Some ex-constituents say '08 hopeful used them as a career steppingstone
By Thomas Burr
The Salt Lake Tribune
Salt Lake Tribune
Article Last Updated:01/16/2007 11:21:22 AM MST
BOSTON - Fresh from running the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City, Mitt Romney quickly launched a bid for governor of Massachusetts. The Republican won 50 percent of the vote despite the state's liberal leaning, and by November, polls showed two of three residents were pleased with his handling of the job.
Four years after taking office, though, Romney left his post with a high disapproval rating. Critical Bay Staters contend now that Romney always had his eye on the White House and used Massachusetts as a pad from which to launch his campaign.
"You can have him back in Salt Lake," lifelong resident Roberta Kilduff said on a recent chilly morning in downtown Boston. "Have another Olympics."
Romney, 59, formed a presidential exploratory committee on his last day as governor but has been laying the groundwork for months, or even longer, for a potential bid. An analysis in December by The Boston Globe said Romney spent all or part of 212 days in 2006 out of state, in many occasions flying to early primary states or stumping for Republicans across the nation.
"He was basically never here," says Kilduff, a Republican who says she was annoyed when Romney poked fun at Massachusetts and also when he swooped in to take over the Big Dig project after a woman was killed in a tunnel accident.
"I don't think anyone should be micromanaging when they're not here."
A Nov. 17 poll by Survey USA and WBZ-TV found that 65 percent of residents disapproved of Romney's performance, a figure that dropped to 59 percent a month later in Romney's waning days in office. The Globe and WBZ reported 54 percent of those surveyed in October viewed Romney's performance as unfavorable.
"Within Massachusetts the enthusiasm about Romney is not as high as it is in some parts of the country for his [potential presidential] candidacy," says Julian Zelizer, a historian and professor at Boston University. Romney's stature diminished over time as many residents saw their governor focusing more on his own agenda and not the state's, Zelizer says.
"Any sitting governor who is running for president is going to face that," he says. "That's the nature of our political system. There is pretty much no way he could avoid this criticism."
Even more difficult for Romney was his need to finesse and show his conservative credentials as he courted Republicans for support in his potential bid. Romney took hard stands against gay marriage, embryonic stem cell research and abortion. The positions eroded Romney's reputation among voters in the blue state of Massachusetts.
Romney, a venture capitalist, first landed in the national spotlight when he was tapped in 1999 to head the scandal-plagued Winter Olympics. After the successful Games in February, Romney was rumored to be considering running for office in Utah but, instead, he plunged into the Massachusetts gubernatorial race.
In retrospect, some residents wish he had stayed in Utah.
"He was a big disappointment for the state," says John Henry, taking a lunch break near historic Faneuil Hall. "He didn't do anything on all those hopes and promises he made. . . . You elect him and you expect him to take care of the state."
Some Bostonians randomly asked about Romney simply scoffed. One dubbed him the "invisible governor" while another called him an "absentee governor."
Some weren't as harsh.
"I don't think I saw anything he did that was horrible or spectacular," says James Stoehr, an eight-year resident of Massachusetts who runs a souvenir shop at the Quincy Market.
Nearby, Ron Crowley says he was a little irritated when Romney was missing from the state so often.
"You pay him to do a job and he wasn't here," he says, but added that it was no surprise Romney was using the state as a steppingstone to higher office. "Everyone knew he was going to disappear."
Romney's camp defends his performance as governor and says he did a lot for Massachusetts. Spokesman Kevin Madden says Romney faced challenges that required tough action and he handled it as a Republican in one of the bluest states "by governing with fiscal responsibility and strong leadership."
"Leaders are not judged by polls, but instead by a benchmark of having made the government work better, and [having] protected the taxpayer," Madden says. "The state is in better shape because of Governor Romney's leadership and that is the best measure of his record."
That may be, says Medfield resident Brad Garnett. But Garnett charges that Romney gave up being governor a while back.
"It was just like trying to lay a foundation for something else," Garnett says of Romney's tenure as governor. "He used it to benefit himself."
http://www.sltrib.com/portlet/article/html/fragments/print_article.jsp?articleId=5021713&siteId=297
Are you related to EV? You sure post the same way and same crap as him.
By golly! LOL
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