Who's Lacking Candor, Romney or the AP?

Power Line Blog ^ | 12/30/2007 | Power Line

[CharlesWayneCT]

We wrote here about Glen Johnson, the reporter for the Associated Press who has been assigned to cover Mitt Romney's presidential campaign. Johnson makes no secret of the fact that the detests Romney, and his articles on the candidate have been a succession of hit pieces. His most recent, this morning, is titled Analysis: Romney and Candor. Johnson's thesis is that Romney has a "candor gap," which is a nice way of calling him a liar.

But Johnson's evidence is remarkably thin:
.... Here, it is Johnson who is dishonest, not Romney.
.... In the entirety of his long article, Johnson comes up with only one instance that could possibly show a lack of candor: Romney's statement in Keene, New Hampshire that he has been a hunter pretty much all his life--i.e., once when he was 15, and a second time last year. Obviously, Romney got carried away on the stump and made his experience sound greater than it is. But if that's all Johnson can come up with after Romney has spent almost a full year giving speeches nearly every day, Romney is an extraordinarily honest man. Taking Johnson's coverage as a whole, it is clear that Glen Johnson and the Associated Press, not Mitt Romney, are the ones that are willing to twist the facts to push a political agenda.

[CharlesWayneCT]

The Powerline response to the AP hit piece this morning, showing that of all the "lack of candor" cited, the only actual evidence was Romney's "Hunter all my life", which outside the echo chamber here is a meaningless throwaway line, the type of hyperbole that you here all the time on the campaign trail.

As they say "Romney is an extraordinarily Honest Man."

[SandRat]

when the question is asked Who's Lacking Candor, Romney or the AP? The answer is immediate and obvious. The AP!

[wastedpotential]

Romney is many things, but I have trouble believing he is an extraordinarily honest man. The timing of his changes on social conservative positions is just too coincidental for me to take them at face value. Also, I could not see Bush or any other true pro-life executive agreeing to a $50 copay for elective abortion.

[AlaskaErik]

Romney is a gun grabber. That alone makes him unworthy of the presidency.

[Clara Lou]

The good thing about it all is that we here at FR know enough to judge for ourselves.

[NittanyLion]

Who's Lacking Candor, Romney or the AP?

Both.

[NYC Republican]

excellent. thanks

[Reaganesque]

The more they shriek about alleged dishonesty, the more his opponents confirm that Romney is the man to beat. I can’t wait for Friday.

[TheLion]

Thanks for posting this. Typical of the left and numerous articles posted around here attacking Romney.

[TheLion]

What gun did he grab?

[kathsua]

In other words a Dan Rather attack.

[TheLion]

Romney on Guns

http://www.freerepublic.com/~unmarkedpackage/#guns

Governor Romney: “Americans should have the right to own and possess firearms as guaranteed under the

U.S. Constitution. I’m proud to be among the many decent, law-abiding men and women who safely use

firearms.”
(Ted Novin, “Presidential Candidate Mitt Romney Visits Firearms Industry’s Trade Show,” National Shooting

Sports Foundation, 1/12/2007)
Hasn’t Gov. Romney been against the right to bear arms?

No. Governor Romney has always supported the individual right to keep and bear arms. The firearms bills

that Governor Romney signed into law (see below) were all endorsed by the National Rifle Association

(NRA) and/or the Gun Owners’ Action League (GOAL), which bills itself as “The Official Firearms

Association of Massachusetts.”

The NRA gave Mitt Romney a rating of ‘B’ in the 2002 election race for Governor of Massachusetts.
(Scott Helman, “Romney retreats on gun control,” The Boston Globe, 1/14/2007)

Craig Sandler, former Director of General Operations of the National Rifle Association and former Nashua

Police Chief, endorses Governor Mitt Romney for President.

In endorsing Governor Romney, Craig Sandler said, “Throughout his career in both the public and private

sectors, Mitt Romney has demonstrated exceptional leadership ability, integrity, and commitment to

principle. As a New Hampshire resident, former law enforcement officer, and avid sportsman, I am

supporting Governor Romney because he is the candidate who will protect our Constitutional rights and

strengthen our nation.”
Governor Romney On Parker v. District of Columbia:
Governor Romney: “It is my hope that the Supreme Court will reaffirm the individual right to keep and

bear arms as enshrined in the Bill of Rights and protect law abiding gun owners everywhere. To further

guard this fundamental liberty, as President, I will take care to appoint judges who will not legislate

from the bench but will instead strictly interpret the Constitution.”
(Romney for President, “Governor Romney On The U.S. Supreme Court’s Decision To Review Second Amendment

Case,” Press Release, 11/21/2007)

More here:

http://www.freerepublic.com/~unmarkedpackage/#guns

[JohnBovenmyer]

You may interpret the timing of his change as you wish. It’s a free country. But don’t blame him for the abortion copay, it was mandated pre-Romney by the state supreme court. He had no more right to disobey it than to disobey Roe v. Wade. He was governor, not dictator.

[big'ol_freeper]

Romney is a lying, flip-flopping, gay-loving, gun-grabbing, flaming liberal...hardly an extraordinarily honest man.




U.S. Army Retired

[big'ol_freeper]

Was a Planned Parenthood guaranteed seat on his health board mandated also. If so I'd love osee proof of your claims.




U.S. Army Retired

[org.whodat]

As they say, Slick "Romney is an extraordinarily disHonest Man."

LOL

Slicker than snot on a door knob! Flip flopping liberal!

[TheLion]

BTTT!

[wastedpotential]

He did not have to allow for non-medically necessary abortions, but his plan allowed for elective abortions. He also had a Planned Parenthood person on the board to oversee the plan, but no pro-life person was asked.

[AFA-Michigan]

Charles: “Romney is an extraordinarily Honest Man.”

This statement is simply laughable.

Let me help Glen Johnson out:

---

The Myths of Mitt Romney
“Making it up as he goes along”

MANCHESTER UNION LEADER: “Last week Romney was reduced to debating what the meaning of ‘saw’ is. It was only the latest in a string of demonstrably false claims — he’d been a hunter ‘pretty much’ all his life, he’d had the NRA’s endorsement, he marched with Martin Luther King Jr. himself — that call into question the veracity of his justifications for switching sides on immigration, abortion, taxes and his affection for Ronald Reagan. In this primary, the more Mitt Romney speaks, the less believable he becomes.”

http://www.unionleader.com/article.aspx?headline=The+Romney+backlash%3A+Conservatives+are+coming+home&articleId=bc5bd60b-68a2-4427-93aa-d0fc2548ba3d

BOSTON GLOBE: “(Romney) ended the week trying to explain a discrepancy between assertion and fact... It hurt because it’s a reminder of discrepancies between assertion and fact when it comes to Romney’s overall conservative credentials.”

http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2007/04/08/guns_trust_and_romney

EYE ON 08.COM: “This is important because it goes to character. Romney struggles to tell the truth and keep his story straight about basic facts about his own life. He also struggles to keep his story straight on issues like abortion, gay rights, taxes, guns... It is clear what Romney is doing. He is just making it up as he goes along. He is making himself up as he goes along.”

http://www.eyeon08.com/2007/04/07/lifetime-hunter-mitt-romney-never-had-license/

Romney said his father marched
with Martin Luther King. He didn’t.

BOSTON GLOBE: “Mitt Romney acknowledged yesterday that he never saw his father march with Martin Luther King, Jr. as he asserted in a nationally televised speech this month.”

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2007/12/21/romney_never_saw_father_on_king_march

Romney said he marched with
Martin Luther King. He didn’t.

BOSTON GLOBE: “Mitt Romney went a step further in a 1978 interview with the Boston Herald. Talking about...racial discrimination, he said: ‘My father and I marched with Martin Luther King Jr. through the streets of Detroit.’ Yesterday, Romney spokesman Eric Fehrnstrom acknowledged that was not true. ‘Mitt Romney did not march with Martin Luther King,’ he said in an e-mail statement to the Globe.”

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2007/12/21/romney_never_saw_father_on_king_march

Romney said his devoutly religious mother
campaigned for abortion rights. She didn’t.

BOSTON GLOBE: “(Former Michigan Republican Party chairwoman Elly) Peterson is dumbfounded to hear that Mitt Romney has described his mother as having been an abortion rights supporter during (her 1970 U.S. Senate) campaign. ‘If it happened, I’d remember it,’ she said in a telephone interview. ‘It didn’t, and I don’t.’ ...Lenore Romney’s campaign stance is relevant only because her son...raised it in 1994 during a debate with Senator Edward M. Kennedy, and he has been sending mixed signals on abortion ever since. ‘I believe that abortion should be safe and legal in this country,’ he said in 1994. ‘I have since the time that my mom took that position when she ran in 1970 as a U.S. Senate candidate.’ ...Detroit Free Press archives yielded no (Lenore Romney) campaign references to abortion...’The idea that Lenore would defy her church is hard to believe,’ Peterson said.”

http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2005/06/26/evolving_history

Romney said: “I wasn’t pro-choice.”
Romney said: “I was pro-choice.”
Which is it, Mitt?

FOX NEWS SUNDAY: “I never called myself pro-choice. I never allowed myself to use the word ‘pro-choice,’ because I didn’t feel I was pro-choice. I would protect the law, I said, as it was, but I wasn’t pro-choice.”

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,293017,00.html

ASSOCIATED PRESS: “I think I’ve made it very clear. I was pro-choice, or effectively pro-choice, when I ran in 1994 (and 2002).”
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hjo2zpLNAjtxCVkBA1Xn9FYQ5tpQD8TK3G500

Romney said he was endorsed by the
National Rifle Association. He wasn’t.

WASHINGTON POST: “Under Russert’s grilling about guns on this morning’s ‘Meet the Press,’ former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney claimed an endorsement he’d never won. ...’I also was pleased to have the support of the NRA when I ran for governor. I sought it, I seek it now. ...I told you what my position was, and what I did as governor; the fact that I received the endorsement of the NRA.’ The problem? He was never endorsed by the NRA ... ‘The NRA did not endorse in the 2002 campaign,’ said (Romney campaign) spokesman Kevin Madden, when asked about Romney’s comments.”

http://blog.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2007/12/16/romney_claims_nra_endorsement.html

Romney said: “I have a gun
of my own.” He doesn’t.

BOSTON GLOBE: “’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,’ Romney said. Asked by reporters at the gun show Friday whether he personally owned the gun, Romney said he did not.”

http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2007/01/14/romney_retreats_on_gun_control

Romney said he’s been a hunter “all
my life.” Twice. Once every forty years.

BOSTON GLOBE: “This week in Keene, N.H., Romney told a man in an NRA hat that he had ‘been a hunter pretty much all of my life,’ the Associated Press reported. The Romney campaign later acknowledged that Romney, 60, hunted one summer as a teenager and once in his late 50’s.”

http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2007/04/08/guns_trust_and_romney

ASSOCIATED PRESS: “Officials in the four states where Mitt Romney has lived say the Republican presidential contender, who calls himself a lifelong hunter, never took out a license.”

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2007/04/07/romney_defends_lack_of_hunting_license

[big'ol_freeper]

I think we need a Romney truth file just like the GuilianiTruthFile so the mountains of evidence against this scheister are at everybody's fingertips.




U.S. Army Retired