Do I have to say it?
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 ...
He is a Massachusetts elected politician for gosh sakes. There is no way he could be anything but RADICAL LIBERAL. At best he is hiding in the closet trying to lure conservatives like other good RINOs.
I'm shocked! Shocked!
EV's 24-hour "regular job" is damning all Republican political candidates EXCEPT his idol, Alan Keyes....perennial loser.
"You are making the unfortunate mistake of trying to talk reasonably to EV.
You are right of course, but it's not going to go anywhere."
Yes, well.
Get used to it. It's a simple compilation of Romney's words and record. And the record is clear that this guy as governor implemented and advocated for policies that are to the left of 99% of the rank and file of the GOP.
Here we go. The leftwing of FR throwing dirt in the air to try to cover for a liberal.
I'm going to be forced to bring out my old broken record graphic...lol.
"Play it again, Sam."
LOL! Okay --- after three more posts....
Phew...somebody got it...I thought some folks might think '....does that Vaquero guy think that Romney wears a thong???'
I have to wonder how many candidates this year have it. Or how many Presidents have had it. Not many -- or any -- I'd wager.
But yes, there is a little something that's lacking in Romney.
What's missing in Romney may be that he comes across too much as a manager or administrator, a bottom line kind of guy. That's better than being purely an ideologue, but there's a human dimension that people want to see and may not find in him.
Most of the times his name has come up lately have focused on how much money he's collected and which endorsements he's gotten. That's natural, but it leaves a sour taste in the mouth.
There's often one candidate who gets early money and big endorsements, who doesn't go the distance. That's because someone else who doesn't have those advantages is talking about issues and connecting with the voters. So it's almost a disadvantage for a candidate to get too much too soon.
Is Romney a "real Republican"? What people are probably asking is, "is he a real conservative"? In some ways Romney more conservative than his father was, but the party's changed so much that yesterday's "real Republicans" apparently no longer qualify.
A lot of what people object to in Romney is precisely the confusion and contradictions that other Republicans (Nixon, Ford, Reagan, Rockefeller, Bush Sr.) went through in the 1970s and 1980s when the party's base started to change.
Oh, so you deplored Bush as a RINO and never voted for him, Mr. 100% ? Because Bush supported the Brady Bill while running for President as Governor of Texas.. Romney has managed to be Governor of MA while being several standard deviations to the right of his electorate, while Bush was often to the left of his Texas electorate.
Perhaps because Romney is the only Republican candidate from Massachusetts. After all, it is the Boston Globe. Frankly, I don't think the national Democrats are particularly afraid of Mitt Romney.
You mean he's been ssociatin' with them homosectuals?
Well, dammit. You mean homosexuals vote too? How did that happen?
An Open Letter Regarding Governor Mitt Romney
January 11, 2007
Dear conservative friends:
We hail from a broad spectrum of organizations dedicated to fighting for the pro-family agenda in Massachusetts. As you know, Mitt Romney became the governor of our state in 2003. Since that time, we have worked closely with him and his excellent staff on that agenda.
Some press accounts and bloggers have described Governor Romney in terms we neither have observed nor can we accept. To the contrary, we, who have been fighting here for the values you also hold, are indebted to him and his responsive staff in demonstrating solid social conservative credentials by undertaking the following actions here in Massachusetts:
• Staunchly defended traditional marriage. Governor Romney immediately and strongly condemned the 2003 court decision that legalized “same-sex marriage” in our state. More importantly, he followed up on that denunciation with action – action that saved our nation from a constitutional crisis over the definition of marriage. He and his staff identified and enforced a little-known 1913 law that allowed them to order local clerks not to issue marriage licenses to out-of-state couples. Absent this action, homosexual couples would surely have flooded into Massachusetts from other states to get “married” and then demanded that their home states recognize the “marriages,” putting the nation only one court decision away from nationalizing “same-sex marriage.”
• Worked hard to overturn “same-sex marriage” in the Commonwealth with considerable progress to date. In 2004 he lobbied hard, before a very hostile legislature, for a constitutional amendment protecting marriage – an amendment later changed by the legislature to include civil unions, which the Governor and many marriage amendment supporters opposed. Working with the Governor, we were successful in defeating this amendment.
• Provided active support for a successful citizen petition drive in 2005 to advance a clean constitutional amendment defining marriage as the union of one man and one woman.
• Rallied thousands of citizens to focus public and media attention on the failure of legislators, through repeated delays, to perform their constitutional obligation and vote on the marriage amendment.
• Filed suit before the Supreme Judicial Court. The Governor’s suit asked the court to clarify the legislators’ duty to vote and failing that, to place the amendment on the 2008 ballot. That lawsuit, perhaps more than any other single action, was by all accounts instrumental in bringing pressure on the legislators to vote. The vote ultimately was taken on January 2, 2007 and won legislative support – clearing a major hurdle in the three year effort to restore traditional marriage in the Commonwealth.
• Fought for abstinence education. In 2006, under Governor Romney’s leadership, Massachusetts’ public schools began to offer a classroom program on abstinence from the faith-based Boston group Healthy Futures to middle school students. Promoting the program, Governor Romney stated, “I’ve never had anyone complain to me that their kids are not learning enough about sex in school. However, a number of people have asked me why it is that we do not speak more about abstinence as a safe and preventative health practice.”
• Affirmed the culture of life. Governor Romney has vetoed bills to provide access to the socalled “morning-after pill,” which is an abortifacient, as well as a bill providing for expansive, embryo-destroying stem cell research. He vetoed the latter bill in 2005 because he could not “in good conscience allow this bill to become law.”
• Stood for religious freedom. Last year, Governor Romney was stalwart in defense of the right of Catholic Charities of Boston to refuse to allow homosexual couples to adopt children in its care. Catholic Charities was loudly accused of “discrimination,” but Governor Romney correctly pointed out that it is unjust to force a religious agency to violate the tenets of its faith in order to placate a special-interest group.
• Filed “An Act Protecting Religious Freedom” in the Massachusetts legislature to save Catholic Charities of Boston and other religious groups from being forced to violate their moral principles or stop doing important charitable work.
All of this may explain why John J. Miller, the national political reporter of National Review, has written that “a good case can be made that Romney has fought harder for social conservatives than any other governor in America, and it is difficult to imagine his doing so in a more daunting political environment.”
We are aware of the 1994 comments of Senate candidate Romney, which have been the subject of much recent discussion. While they are, taken by themselves, obviously worrisome to social conservatives including ourselves, they do not dovetail with the actions of Governor Romney from 2003 until now – and those actions have positively and demonstrably impacted the social climate of Massachusetts.
Since well before 2003, we have been laboring in the trenches of Massachusetts, fighting for the family values you and we share. It is difficult work indeed – not for the faint of heart. In this challenging environment, Governor Romney has proven that he shares our values, as well as our determination to protect them.
For four years, Governor Romney has been right there beside us, providing leadership on key issues – whether it was politically expedient to do so or not. He has stood on principle, and we have benefited greatly from having him with us.
It is clear that Governor Romney has learned much since 1994 – to the benefit of our movement and our Commonwealth. In fact, the entire nation has benefited from his socially conservative, pro-family actions in office. As we explained earlier, his leadership on the marriage issue helped prevent our nation from being plunged into even worse legal turmoil following the court decision that forced “gay marriage” upon our Commonwealth.
For that our country ought to be thankful. We certainly are.
Sincerely,
Rita Covelle
President, Morality in Media Massachusetts
Richard Guerriero
Immediate Past State Deputy, Massachusetts State Council, Knights of Columbus
Mary Ann Glendon
Learned Hand Professor of Law, Harvard Law School
Kristian Mineau
President, Massachusetts Family Institute
Dr. Roberto Miranda
President, COPAHNI Fellowship of Hispanic Pastors of New England
James Morgan
President, Institute for Family Development
Joseph Reilly
President, Massachusetts Citizens for Life
Thomas A. Shields
Chairman, Coalition for Family and Marriage
___________________________
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