And in response to the "so what"...
The point is that individuals and organizations who believe passionately in protecting every prenatal child's Right to Life have every right to question a politician's public record on that issue, and to challenge the GOP to defend its own pro-life platform position.
And nothing about that is "negative" or impugns Mr. Romney personally -- except to the extent that a politician's character can (and should) be fairly judged by his own words and actions.
If you don't think it's appropriate to judge Romney based on his public policy views, please enlighten everyone as to the basis on which he (or any other politician) should be judged.
BOSTON GLOBE
Boston, Massachusetts
June 14, 2006
Idaho activist: Romney a not-so-special guest
by Scott Helman, Political Reporter
Governor Mitt Romney is scheduled to address the Idaho Republican Party convention Friday night in Idaho Falls, but at least one conservative activist in the state won't be rolling out the welcome wagon.
Bryan Fischer, executive director of the Idaho Values Alliance, a group formed earlier this year to push a gay-marriage ban, wrote a letter to state party chairman Kirk Sullivan yesterday questioning the choice of Romney as the guest speaker. Fischer questions Romney's conservative bonafides by citing his recent shifts to more hard-line positions on gay rights and abortion.
"Research the Idaho Values Alliance has done reveals that Mr. Romney holds views which are wildly out of alignment with the party's own platform and with public policies that are best for Idaho's families," Fischer wrote. (Read the whole letter here: http://www.idahovaluesalliance.com/news.asp?id=259
Romney is likely to face more doubters like Fischer as he works to position himself as a top 2008 presidential contender. But whether such criticism will make a real dent or be dismissed as fringe sentiment is unclear at this point.
http://www.boston.com/news/local/politics/blog/2006/06/idaho_activist.html