NOT!
Too many flip-flops!
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.
“Northeast Liberal,” “Massachusetts,” etc. Some people have gotten too accustomed with labels that they cannot see or think objectively. They have a proven, conservative winner and successful person right in front of their eyes and don’t even see it. Shame.
May I remind you that the GOP is the party that freed the slaves, gave women the right to vote, etc. Let me tell you something. The bottom of my street is Kirtland, Ohio. I stopped at the visitors center of the Kirtland Temple to collect signatures to have Mr. Romney placed on our ballot for our congressional district. There were about 8-10 adults (retired) from the LDS church who were serving a mission and volunteering there (married couples). They all shook my hand. Not one of them talked politics, and all were some of the most gracious people I have ever met, even though they could not sign my petition because they were not registered voters in our district. Not one of them discussed politics or stated their opinion against comments like yours. I guarantee you, if you were with me, you would have been as impressed and pleased to meet them as I was.
Oops, another liberal sellout turncoat deceived ignorant troll back-stabbing kool-aid drinker. :-)
NOT!
Too many flip-flops!
Actually, we can save things that liars touch. That’s why I believe Free Republic will survive the current ends-justifies-any-means jihad that at the moment has good “conservatives” bearing false witness against public figures and freepers alike, because they mistakenly think that is the “marching orders”, and like obedient foot-soldiers they take those orders to mean “by any means necessary”.
But we will survive, and when the election is over, maybe some of those who engaged in the politics of personal destruction and slander will be men enough to apologize to those they have so falsely, rudely, and visciously maligned.
How are you doing on the list of Clinton judges who have made gross mistakes that Fred Thompson “rightly voted against”?
Pretty short list?
Latest Rasmussen Poll:
McCain 17%
Romney 16%
Huckabee 16%
Giuliani 15%
Thompson 12%
Romney is sitting just below his highs. Thompson is sitting 20+ points down from his highs. The only other candidate who isn’t sitting well below their highs is McCain.
He sure is. I do not understand why conservative support him.
There are a lot of sick people on this board. They need a counterpart RU board like DU, where they can vent their spleens.
Happy New Year!!!!
Cheers
Happy New Year, everyone! :-)
McCain scares me to death!
Here's a list of endorsees. Tell us which of these are not "true evangelicals". Include your citations from God where applicable:
It would appear your claim that "true evangelical christian"s won't support Romney are inaccurate.
- Tom Tancredo
- Bob Jones III
- Jay Sekulow
- Paul Wilke
- Rev. Morris Hurd
- Dr. Robert Wolgemuth, former Chairman of the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association
I’m shocked, shocked, that Doug Wilson ...... a California co-chair of Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign .... thinks Mr. Romney is “right for IOWA, America”.
My goodness, who knows what I’ll see posted next on FR.
But you haven’t received word from “on high” that you are to use any means necessary to “take out” Romney.
It’s probably going to get worse before it gets better. I had hoped FR would remain a place where all good conservatives were built up and kept viable, so when one of them wins the nomination, we can all work together.
I’m not sure how we will be expected to “work with” people when they have been name-calling and bearing false witness against their own fellow freepers.
If Mitt Romney, or Rudy Giuliani, is nominated by the Republican Party, this will leave the country with two evil Parties - a veritable Democrat Party A and Democrat Party B.
I, for one, should this occur, will be leaving the GOP and working to help set up the conservative alternative. We may not take enough folks with us to win, in the short term, but we will almost certainly guarantee that the Republican Party will not win another national election ever.
You, and all of the compromised so-called “conservatives,” might want to take one last chance to take a deep breath and reconsider the outcome of what you’re advocating.
Don’t say nobody warned you.
I wouldn’t be surprised if some Fred supporters secretly hope Romney wins the nomination and loses the election, just so they can feel good about themselves, much like the democrats hope we lose the war in Iraq, “for our own good”.
If Fred wins the nomination and loses, it will be there fault, and maybe they’d rather be able to blame someone else.
I’m going to work my butt off for whoever our nominee is, and I am already working hard to counter false statements against ALL of our candidates.
I just got a nice note from Fred Thompson: “Thanks for all you have done to support Fred Thompson’s campaign. Because of your support, Fred is in the position to have a strong showing in Iowa that will send him on to victory and the nomination.”
Unfortunately, some of his supporters here think Thompson is crazy to thank me.
Probably a Thompson supporter posting an editorial from another liberal newspaper attacking conservatives for supporting aggressive interrogation, with commentary from that freeper AGREEING with the liberal article.
Oh wait, we’ve already SEEN that, at least twice.
Good to see you are still here, I thought for a moment the Fred supporters had gotten you banned for not being sufficiently deferential to their candidate.
Another part of the Mitt problem...
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