Posted on 06/07/2011 11:51:10 AM PDT by Jim Robinson
Washington (CNN) - Mitt Romney has a message to Tea Party candidates nationwide: If you lose your Republican primary bids, stay on the sidelines.
The former Massachusetts governor on Monday warned the grassroots movement not to mount third party efforts in general elections, which he said would siphon votes from Republican nominees.
"If there is a conservative candidate that runs in the general election, then obviously, divide and fail is the result," Romney said in an interview with the conservative Web site Newsmax. "Hopefully Tea Party candidates will run in respective primaries and they will either win or lose. And if they win, they will go into the general. If they lose, they won't, and they will get behind the more conservative of the two finalists."
Romney explained that "dividing our conservative effort in the general elections" would "basically hand the country to Barack Obama and Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid, and that would be very sad indeed."
(Excerpt) Read more at politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com ...
Thanks, Philly...
Jim Robinson posted on Wednesday, June 15, 2011 9:04:30 PM: “Ok, will run the videos on the threads for awhile or until we get tired of him.”
Thank you, Sir!
I haven't yet checked which videos you've posted, but based on what I've seen over the last couple of years, the words out of Romney's own mouth defending a pro-choice stance, especially pointing out to his Democratic opponent in the governor's race that his position was the same held by his family back in Michigan when they ran for office, are devastating.
Romney has done a lot of work to backtrack from the position that, in all fairness, probably had to be taken to mount a credible challenge to Sen. Kennedy in Massachusetts and then to win the governor's race.
A lot of people have forgotten what he said years ago or excuse it based on the political realities of one of our most liberal states. He now publicly says that he's changed his views. Okay, fair enough; people do change. Even Ronald Reagan used to be a Democrat.
But this issue isn't like changing one’s mind on something else that is important about national policy like free trade or immigration — this involves outright murder of millions of babies. Where is the repentance?
I don't want to hear Romney just say, “I was wrong.” At an absolute minimum, I want him to say, “I have blood on my hands, thousands of babies died in my state and I did nothing, and I will have to answer to God for my sinful dereliction of duty. If elected president I will do everything I can to put an end to the babykilling, and here's my plan of specific steps I will take to win back the trust of people I betrayed by my actions in Massachusetts...”
That's not too much to ask that Romney say in public, and if Romney were in my church I'd demand considerably more in private to make sure the repentance is sincere and not merely mouthing words. The fact is that repentance right now would be politically convenient for Romney, and anytime repentance leads to material benefits, private pastoral conversations are appropriate to evaluate the sincerity of the words.
Of course, we're evaluating Romney's qualifications to be president, not to be a communicant member of a church, so our questions need to be focused on public acts because we can't evaluate his spiritual condition at a distance (apart from the obvious factor that he's in a cult group). We don't live in John Knox's Scotland, John Calvin's Geneva, or even Jonathan Edwards’ Massachusetts; the federal Constitution was deliberately written to bar religious tests for federal office, and therefore we need to deal with Romney's public positions.
The key problem is this: How do we know that just as Romney was saying what he needed to say to get elected in an ultra-liberal Democratic state, he isn't now saying what he needs to say to get through a Republican Party national primary? I have heard no satisfactory answer to that question.
What makes that truly dangerous is that if Romney manages to get nominated, he'll be under tremendous pressure to “tack left” in the general election. If Romney is willing to say whatever he needs to say to get elected and isn't acting based on core values, based on his own family history we have every reason to fear he'll drop the abortion issue like a hot potato once he no longer needs to satisfy conservatives.
Unless someone can show me I'm wrong, I can't accept Romney as the Republican nominee since he'll be responsible for nominating the Supreme Court justices who will decide the fate of millions of babies.
As Christian and other “social issues” conservatives, we are not yet in the position of our brothers and sisters in Europe where they routinely have to choose between the lesser of two evils. We can still demand that the Republican Party nominate candidates who are solidly committed to certain core Judeo-Christian principles on which this nation was founded.
At this point, I frankly don't know what I'll do if Romney or someone like him becomes the Republican nominee, and I want to do whatever I can to make clear to the Republican leadership that nominating someone who is weak on “social issues” is a recipe for electoral disaster and reelection of President Obama. I'm hoping the Republican majority will agree in the upcoming primaries and caucuses so we don't get into a situation of a split party in November 2012.
ok, it’s a nuance to some, but I need to correct one thing you said. The Dixiecrats did not “run to the Republican Party” They all immediately returned to the Democrat party & ONLY the 2 or maybe 3 u named ever came to the Republican party but that was later, and years after the 3rd party attempt. The Dixiecrats/Southern Democrats remained in the Democrat party til this day. (again, exception of helms thurmond & one other I think) I am from south MS and believe me southern democrats are everywhere STILL & they vote Democrat too..... the only reason they’ve slowly started coming to the conservative side is because they aren’t fans of communism. Sorry, but I try to slap down liberal propaganda when I see it, even if innocently repeated by a conservative..... ;0) ok, done w/ rant, travel on.
We agree, and I appreciate the historical reminder. Accuracy is important, and while I knew the facts you're pointing out, I glossed over them and probably shouldn't have done that.
I debated several times whether to use the word “Dixiecrat” or “southern conservative Democrat.” I finally decided to use the Dixiecrat name since that term became shorthand not only for Strom Thurmond's political party but also for the whole conservative Southern Democratic movement, which included several different third parties as well as groups within the Democratic Party such as the Boll Weevils. I realize that while many of the original Dixiecrats were long since dead or out of politics by the time of the Reagan era, the movement, as a whole, ended up first voting Republican in national elections and then slowly working its way down to state and local races.
I'm also well aware that process isn't yet over, Arkansas being an obvious example at the state level. Even here in Missouri, I live in a county where it was virtually impossible for Republicans to get elected to county office well into the late 1990s. In less than a decade, the Republicans have gone from being virtually unelectable to now holding the state house seat, the state senate seat, and nearly all elected positions in the county courthouse apart from a few long-term Democrats in positions that are not viewed as especially political where the incumbents are personally well-liked and generally considered well-qualified by both parties.
Not all Democrats are the same. It'd be nice to tell these people to get out of the Democratic Party, but when I do, I get comments reminding me of my Michigan ancestry and politely suggesting that Yankees have no business telling Southerners how to vote. Fair enough; I'll leave that task to born-and-bred Southerners.
hey, my mom’s a southern democrat, and I haven’t been able to pull her from those trenches either. I did hound her enough when I was a teenager in ‘92 & not old enough to vote myself, to not vote for Clinton...but I only got her as far as Perot....LOL...but I tried and hey, I was just a kid....20 years and a political science degree later & I still haven’t been able to pry her off the Democrat party roles...However, she didn’t vote for Obama b/c even she could see through that tripe.....
I’ve voted for my last RINO. Educate yourself on that.
I agree that people can change, but they do need to convince us of how and why they did if we’re to trust them.
In the NH debates, I heard Romney say he was pro-life now, but it was a shallow, seemingly politically-expedient response. I didn’t have strong feelings myself on the issue until i took the time to educate myself more, but now i’m very outspoken to anyone who bring it up around me and think it really should be the most important subject that any politician talks about.
We’re approaching 4-5 times the high estimate of deaths during the holocaust, yet we’re equally as guilty as the german society of turning our backs and pretending it’s not there. The morality of the issue may be considered religious, but a purely medical and scientific look at it shows every abortion takes an innocent human life with a beating heart, brain waves, features, etc. - different than the Casey Anthony trial in the media circus only by in happening a couple years earlier.
Vote for the Socialist Democrat agent Slick Willard ? I’d vote for Zero first, at least he isn’t pretending to be a Republican.
_______________________________________
Well, well, well, I guess we know why you have spent the last year bashing all the GOP candidates and I have yet to find you saying anything bad about O bama. I knew it, I knew I would find you saying that, I just had to look for it.
No, Obama isn’t pretending to be a Republican either, but he’s pretending to be a Democrat when in fact he is a hard core MARXIST. You go ahead and vote for him POS, you planned to and you will, yet you have the audacity to call others who will vote against him idiots? How ironic. You disgust me but o bama thanks you.
Thank you for having the courage to speak out. The primary process has pretty much played out and it is what it is. There is simply no equating a rino with a hard core marxist. How can anyone who calls themselves a conservative in good conscience allow obama another four (or God help us, more) years of free reign. I will not do that to my children and my grandchildren.
Thank you for having the courage to speak out. The primary process has pretty much played out and it is what it is. There is simply no equating a rino with a hard core marxist. How can anyone who calls themselves a conservative in good conscience allow obama another four (or God help us, more) years of free reign. I will not do that to my children and my grandchildren.
__________________________
Funny how the ones that are so self righteous often out themselves in their past posts:
I’d vote for Zero first, at least he isn’t pretending to be a Republican.
287 posted on Tuesday, June 07, 2011 11:53:55 PM by fieldmarshaldj
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2731246/posts?page=287#287
By the standards of present day Massachusetts, he is to the right of Atilla the Hun.
Just go away Mittens!!!
There is simply no equating a rino with a hard core marxist.
_______________________________
I agree and I don’t think ANY conservative will be happy if Romney gets it, not here on FR anyway. I know some conservatives that do like him and I’ve argued with them until I’m blue in the face. It looks like he’s going to be the nominee, and the only other option is the Marxist, who is hell bent on destroying our country and making shady deals with people like Putin when he doesn’t have to worry about being elected again. He is DESPICABLE and I will do everything in my power to thwart his effort to destroy this country.
I’m going to mostly lurk, check my Freepmails, etc. until after November because these Freepers that say they will vote for Soetoro just aggravate me too much. I’m spending time elsewhere exposing o bama and trying to get out the ABO vote.
287 posted on Tuesday, June 07, 2011 11:53:55 PM by fieldmarshaldj
I've noticed several posts like that here in the last few weeks.
I detest Romney but with him we might have a chance, with obama again it is finito....it's disgusting.
I haven't seen anyone say they're voting for B.O. Just that they might do a write in, vote Constitution party, or whatever, at the same time as they vote Republican on their Congressional picks. It's a free country. I would be just as happy if the GOP saw guaranteed red states turn blue and lose them the election as I would be if Obama lost. That way they'll get the message and next time when Rick and Newt say moderates can't win, people will believe it and nominate a conservative.
A chance at what? A chance to see the Congress turn Democratic in 2014, have Romney pass everything they ask because "it's what the people wanted" and then get voted out in 2016 for the most left-wing candidate the Dims can find? If you let the GOP move left, the Dims are only going to move further left, and the American public's going to go left. This is a war. Republicans voting for Romney concedes an enormous amount of ideological territory to the liberals, which will only embolden them and make them try to grab more and more.
There won’t be a next time. If obama is relected there will be no turning back. We are at the crossroads.
The alternative is so much better.
I haven’t seen anyone say they’re voting for B.O.
________________________
Yes, they have and I saved the posts, and the links. It’s getting larger. I’ll post it in a couple of months and will delete ones that have been zotted or changed their tune.
Well, look who's lying again. Using the same time-honored tradition of all the infamous Slick Willardbots of yore. They can't defend their candidate, so they lie about those that expose him and his record.
"No, Obama isn’t pretending to be a Republican either, but he’s pretending to be a Democrat when in fact he is a hard core MARXIST."
Newsflash, dummy: The Democrat Party has been Marxist for a long time now. Are you just figuring that out ? How does that justify allowing/voting in a hard-left Socialist element into the GOP to make it a "Me, too !" party ? You're the one pimping a Socialist all because he pretends to be an "R." Guess what, Einstein. They're both execrable and unacceptable ? You got it ?
"You go ahead and vote for him POS, you planned to and you will,"
There you go again.
"yet you have the audacity to call others who will vote against him idiots? How ironic. You disgust me but o bama thanks you."
Your lies and your idiocy are on full display once again, Mo.
Funny how you chopped out the first part of the post. But, hey, why let facts get in the way of your narrative. You have the intellectual honesty of the fired NBC producer of the Trayvon Martin story.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.