Posted on 12/31/2007 8:35:07 PM PST by Spiff
Why Romney Is Right for Iowa, America
By Doug Wilson
TownHall.com
Monday, December 31, 2007
As we stand on the cusp of 2008, the Republican Party remains stuck in the throes of an identity crisis. Most Republican voters have an intuitive sense of this—even if they don’t quite know what to do about it.
GOP voters sense a party without direction, one that has drifted from many of its core values in order to preserve power or placate perk-hungry voters. They also sense the high stakes, which explains their widespread discontent and indecisiveness: They’re afraid of making the wrong decision at a time when they feel they really need to make the right one.
I know the feeling. I felt it myself.
About this time last year I carefully evaluated the candidates for the GOP nomination. It was a nerve-rattling experience, particularly in the still-fresh wake of the 2006 elections that swept Democrats to power. I considered many factors in selecting a candidate, but two in particular stand out a year later. First, I wanted to support a candidate who would unify the Republican coalition. Second, I wanted to support a candidate with a track record of extraordinary leadership.
I found such a candidate in Mitt Romney.
As Iowa voters prepare to cast the first votes of 2008 this week, I wanted to retrace the steps of my thought process in the hopes of convincing Hawkeye State Republican - and independents - in New Hampshire, South Carolina and all across the country—to support Governor Romney.
Romney Unifies the Republican Coalition
To hear the media tell it these days, one might think the three parts of the Republican coalition—military conservatives, economic conservatives and social conservatives—are distinct entities with irreconcilable agendas. In fact, the Republican coalition has worked together to propel GOP candidates to victory in 5 of the last 7 presidential elections—Ronald Reagan in 1980 and 1984, George H.W. Bush in 1988 and George W. Bush in 2000 and 2004.
Of course, not every Republican ascribes to all three “legs” of the “stool.” But over the past 27 years, most Republicans have understood that the independent fate of each of these legs is inexorably intertwined with those of the other legs. So sometimes an economic conservative may not be a social conservative but might support a candidate who is in the hopes that the candidate will advance a free-market agenda. And so on with various other permutations.
In a country of 300 million people, this is how politics works. And for Republicans it has to work this way because there simply aren’t enough military, economic or social conservatives who can, by themselves, carry a candidate to a national victory.
In evaluating the candidates, I determined that Governor Romney is the best candidate to unify the Republican coalition—and therefore the most likely to defeat Clinton or Obama in November. He is a strong military conservative who has spoken eloquently and forcefully about the threat of radical Islam; he is a dependable economic conservative who wants to extend the Bush tax cuts and believes in the power of free markets and free trade; finally, he is a social conservative who understands the importance of family values and a culture of life. In short, he is a friend to—and a unifier of—all three parts of the Republican coalition.
Romney Is a Proven, Extraordinary Leader
In my many years in the business world, I have seen firsthand the importance of leadership. I have seen companies succeed and fail, often due to the leadership capabilities of their executives.
This year alone we have seen both great triumphs of leadership (General David Petraeus’ oversight of the surge in Iraq) and great failures (former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales’s ham-handed management of the Justice Department). So when it comes to choosing a president, I place high value on leadership experience.
Thankfully, the Republican field has plenty of candidates with notable leadership experience. Nearly every major candidate is a proven leader, and many have overseen governments or other organizations in times of great peril. But only one candidate, Governor Romney, has the breadth of leadership experience that I believe our next president needs.
Governor Romney not only has government leadership experience as Massachusetts’ former chief executive, but he also has private sector leadership experience. Governor Romney spent the majority of his career at Bain Capital, building a world-renowned private investment firm that helped birth companies such as Staples and Domino’s Pizza. He also rescued the Salt Lake City Olympics from an ethics scandal, thereby bringing honor to our country with one of the finest Games in recent memory.
It is Governor Romney’s experience at Bain and the Olympics that truly sets him apart from his competitors. He has seen, firsthand, the ups and downs of the business world. He understands the symbiotic relationship between competition and efficiency, and grasps the detrimental impact that high taxes and government regulation have on businesses. Most importantly, he has made a career, both in the private and public sector, of making the touch decisions, of being the person with whom the buck stops.
As the recent assassination of Benazir Bhutto in Pakistan makes clear, the world remains a very dangerous place. The next president will have no time for a warm-up; he must be ready to lead on his first day in office. Governor Romney’s blend of public and private sector leadership, and his record of extraordinary success, make him the right man to do just that.
The Right Man at the Right Time
Governor Romney’s ability to unify the Republican coalition and to provide effective leadership on his first day in the White House differentiate him from his GOP competitors, and position him to beat the Democratic nominee in November. I urge my fellow Republicans in Iowa and elsewhere to support the right man at the right time for our country: Governor Mitt Romney.
Doug Wilson is chairman of Townhall.com, a California co-chair of Mitt Romney's presidential campaign, an advisor to the Heritage Foundation, and co-author of Getting America Right: The True Conservative Values Our Nation Needs Today.
“You know, people such as Peter Popoff, the Bakkers, Oral and Richard Roberts, Ted Haggard . . .”
The people you mention are all charismatics.
BTW - I said no “true evangelical” would vote for a mormon. I never said that evangelicals are the only true Christians. Stop extrapolating.
The people I mentioned claimed to speak for Christians. Just as you do, oh keeper of the Key to True Evangelicalism and self-appointed quality controller for Christ.
Thanks for the thoughtful response to all the negativity here on FR with our GOP candidates.
Based on the postings here I am seriously afraid Hillary or some other socialist Democrat will be elected because of conservatives boycotting the GOP ticket. It’ll be like 1992 all over again, and we’ll likely get Hillary and her Bill back in the WH. Then we’ll long for the days of GWB, and be sorry we did not support the GOP candidate!
Personally I think any one of our candidates is superior to the Democrats in the race. The Dems range from socialist to pacifist to anti-American to surrender monkeys. Not much to choose from if you are making a positive vote.
“The people I mentioned claimed to speak for Christians. Just as you do, oh keeper of the Key to True Evangelicalism and self-appointed quality controller for Christ.”
I never any such claims. Do you understand the concept of extrapolation? Are you as assinine in person as on line?
Thanks for your tacit, albeit disingenuous, admission of Willard's left-leaning judicial position.
Quote: "No, we are the quality assurance and quality control personnel for true Christianity."
Are you as assinine in person as on line?
Yes, I am. Are you as an insufferable prig in person as you are online?
Romney doesn’t have a left-leaning judicial position, so anything that you think “admitted” it was a figment of your imagination.
He appointed democrats to the judiciary. Conservatives do not advocate a republican-only judiciary, especially given that two of the worst justices we have are republicans.
We can hardly argue for an independent judiciary if we insist that republicans only appoint republicans, while democrats are required to appoint republicans.
So the question is whether he tried to pick judges that would be liberal. In this case the judge he picked was thought to be a law-and-order prosecuter, a democrat but not a bleeding-heart liberal activist. The liberals opposed her because she wasn’t deferential to them.
It bothers me not at all that Romney appointed democrats more than republicans to state judgeships in a state where democrats outnumber republicans by a vast majority in the legislature.
Mitt has been very specific about his philosphy of federal judicial appointments, and his position is a solid conservative position. Some of his solid conservative endorsements have endorsed him specifically because of his strong position on judges.
The use of a mistake by an appointed judge, and the tragic death of two people, for a crass and false political attack, is something I don’t condone, and will not be a party to.
Issues of a candidate’s beliefs and how they would effect his actions is certainly important, and I didn’t mean otherwise.
However, pronouncing whether people who speak in tongues should be able to call themselves “evangelical” certainly has nothing to do with how a candidate is going to make decisions.
“Yes, I am. Are you as an insufferable prig in person as you are online?”
Oh much worse when the occasion calls for it.
I wish Fred Thompson had won the hearts and minds of the people, because before all this rancor, most of those who are supporting Romney could have easily supported Fred Thompson.
Fred has unfortunately alienated a few folks, and his supporters a few more, making the task harder. And he hasn’t moved up in the polls, or shown any sign that he is a sure thing against Rudy or the democrats.
So now we are back to being scared, and trying to find a conservative we think can win. If we nominate Romney, and he loses in the general, we’ll all feel bad. If we give up on Romney, and support Fred, and Rudy is our nominee, or McCain, we’ll feel bad. If Thompson wins and then loses the general election and we gave up on Romney, we’ll feel bad.
Oy vey!
“However, pronouncing whether people who speak in tongues should be able to call themselves “evangelical” certainly has nothing to do with how a candidate is going to make decisions.”
I made statements to the effect that no true evangelical would vote for a mormon. The lady that responded she would was a charismatic not an evangelical. That is why I pointed it out the difference. I was not attempting to insult her, just say that she could not be an example.
Of the “evangelicals” that have supposedly supported Romney...I think that careful analyses of their backgrounds would be revealing.
As an example, Pat Robertson endorsed Guiliani which surprised many. Robertson claims to be Southern Baptist, but he is openly charismatic in his theology. Not recognized by the SBC. BTW - Bob Jones is Fundamentalistic, whereas Southern Baptists are conservative evangelicals. Names and words do mean things.
WAIT! Wait for me! Last night, just after midnight I have received a pair of tablets from Archangel LaTrine, informing me I was a Prophet of the Church of the Latest and Greatest Saints, the Gromo Church. More to come.Please don’t vote until you hear mo from the Church of Gromo! Halleluyah, dudes!
Most people use the term evangelical in a more inclusive manner than you suggest, however there are a good number of endorsers who would meet your strict criteria as well.
For the record, I consider myself an evangelical, although my proprensity toward calvinism may cause some to disagree with my assessment (I’m PCA). I was raised in the Evangelical Lutheran Church, but I think they abused the name. I’ve hung with Baptists my whole life, and still support believer’s baptism, but otherwise am covenental rather than dispensational.
But I still feel that dragging all of that into a political discussion is a bad idea.
Crawl back under the rock from whence you came. The rest of us have a real enemy to fight and it ain't Mormonism.
“For the record, I consider myself an evangelical, although my proprensity toward calvinism may cause some to disagree with my assessment (I’m PCA). I was raised in the Evangelical Lutheran Church, but I think they abused the name. I’ve hung with Baptists my whole life, and still support believer’s baptism, but otherwise am covenental rather than dispensational.”
Brother, I’m a 5 point calvinist myself, of the Southern Baptist variety. There are actually quite a few of us in the SBC. Two SBC seminary presidents are calvinists. Southern Baptist Seminary of KY is the most so. Its president is Albert Mohler - he is solidy a five pointer as were the founders of the SBC back in 1845. BTW - I would say the entire staff of Southern Baptist Seminary (the oldest of SBC seminaries) are calvinists or lean that direction.
I am not dispensational either, but not entirely convenental - I typically avoid escatological discussions because they go nowhere fast. I’m of the Charles H. Spurgeon variety of Baptist Calvinists. Dispensationalism is more a fundamentalist phenomena than evangelical, really started with the 20th Century.
PCA are evangelical as are Southern Baptists. Usually independent Baptists tend to be fundamentalists.
I guess this might surprise you because I come across as rather harsh on this forum. I really don’t like having to adopt a “nasty” personna, but have found it necessary when dealing with Mitt followers (many of which I suspect are closet mormons).
As a calvinist I believe God is Sovereign in matters of salvation. However, I believe it our duty to present the Gospel to all and protect its message from dilution or perversion. Protecting the message is important to me, and I don’t like psuedo-christian distractors like mormonism.
I don’t like Armenianism, but live in peace with those that hold that view - knowing they only hurt their own peace of mind, not the message of the Gospel.
“You are an enemy of any conservative who doesn’t fit your narrow defintiion of Christianity. That includes Jews, Mormons, Catholics and probably 95% of Protestants who would rather have someone they disagree with in theology but defend their right to worship freely.”
Not really, because I would vote for a Christian friendly Jew and have no problems voting for a consistent Roman Catholic either.
I fully agree with the right of everyone to worship according to the dictates of their conscience. However, that doesn’t mean I want a person that holds what I consider “dangerous” views because of their religious background to be POTUS. Mormons are just plain weird like Hubbards group. I don’t think someone buying into that insanity is suitable to be POTUS. I would never be for putting this into law, but I would hope persons outside of mormonism would recognize the insidious nature of the beast. It is chocolate covered poison. If someone choses to eat it, that is between them and God. However, I won’t allow someone to use the office of POTUS to give respectibility to that poison.
That's his rationalization for polluting the judiciary? Demo(crat)graphics?
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.
The Boston Globe
Yes. Further, the conservative movement doesn’t advocate a ban on gay people being allowed to have jobs as judges, nor do we advocate disqualifying people from judgeships based on their personal views, so long as they demonstrate that they will not allow their personal views to interfere with doing their job.
It’s liberals who attack our conservative judges based on their personal beliefs — like saying no catholics should apply for appeals courts because their personal belief on abortion disqualifies them from being “impartial”.
Tossing that many conservative votes in the dumpster is, evidently a good trade-off in your book in order to exclude from public life all who don't meet your religious test.
I guess we should all be grateful that you merely want them to be second-class citizens rather than put them into concentration camps.
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