Dear LtdGovt,
With Mr. Romney, I might get 70%.
Or I might get 7%.
I dunno.
It depends on which Mr. Romney shows up for work:
- the adamant, principled pro-abort who told us in 1994 that he'd been a pro-abort for decades because abortion is a constitutional right, and it should be "a woman's choice, not the government's," and who reiterated this position when running for governor in 2002, or the fellow who says now that he's a pro-lifer;
- the fellow who was foursquare for gun control, or the guy who now brags about his NRA membership;
- the guy who backed ENDA (special rights for homosexuals) or the guy who now says ENDA goes too far;
- the guy who said signing a no tax-hike pledge was a gimmick, or the guy who signed a no tax-hike pledge.
I think I'll pass.
sitetsest
"What sane man would let another man's words rather than his deeds tell him who is at war and who is at peace with him?" Demosthenes
Romney has, by and large, governed as a conservative. He cut more government jobs then any other state in the country in 2003. He cut more then 1.6 billion in spending, and proceeded to keep annual increases below 2.5% for 3 of his 4 years. He vetoed a fetal farming bill, an embryonic cloning bill, and an expansion of plan B contraception. He promoted abstinence education programs and worked to re-instate the death penalty. And, perhaps most significantly, he played the lead role in advancing the anti-gay marriage ballot proposition which is now but one step from appearing on the 2008 ballot. There are certainly areas of concern in his record. Gun control is one of them, but his position is substantively identical to president Bush's, but has been advanced in a substantially more hostile environment.
Dear sitetest,
You leave out 70% of the other issues. The war on terror, entitlement spending, taxes, government regulation. If you include those, you will see that 70% is guaranteed.
Furthermore, politicians usually hold themselves to the position they espoused most recently. For example, Bush senior used to be pro-choice, but when he ran in 1988, he ran as a pro-lifer. Then, as president, he vetoed bills that (allegedly) promoted abortion. So your skepticism is unwarranted, in my opinion.