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Romney's Changing Views: Candid or Convenient? (Opportunistic Flip-Flopper)
ABC News ^ | 23 February 2007 | Marcus Baram

Posted on 02/23/2007 1:54:29 PM PST by Spiff

Romney's Changing Views: Candid or Convenient?

As Candidate Builds Support From Conservatives, He Confronts Accusations He's a Flip-Flopper

By MARCUS BARAM

Feb. 23, 2007 — - One candidate believes abortion should be legal, endorses embryonic stem cell research, supports a minimum wage increase, believes gays and lesbians deserve full equality and should be allowed to serve openly and honestly in the military, and opposes capital gains tax cuts.

The other candidate is firmly against abortion, opposes stem cell research, vetoed a minimum wage increase as governor of his state, vehemently opposes gay marriage and wants to maintain the "don't ask, don't tell" policy, and supports capital gains tax cuts.

It's the old Mitt Romney versus the new Mitt Romney.

The first description applies to Romney's positions in 1994 and 2002, when he was running for office in liberal Massachusetts. The second applies to Romney's current positions as he campaigns to become the Republican presidential candidate.

The candidate's positions have changed substantially on several issues -- including abortion and gay rights -- that are vital to social conservatives whose support is essential to winning the Republican primaries.

Romney said that his transformation is a natural one, indicating the development of his beliefs over a 13-year period. In a well-publicized story, the former Massachusetts governor said he became ardently anti-abortion after an apocryphal 2003 meeting with Harvard scientists, who informed him that stem cell embryos are destroyed after 14 weeks.

And he refuses to believe that voters will hold his changing views against him. "I don't think people are going to select their candidate based on a scorecard" of positions on the issues, he recently told the Des Moines Register. "I think instead they look at the individual."

Largely due to his anti-abortion stance, Romney has positioned himself as the true conservative in the Republican field when compared with Rudolph Giuliani, who's liberal on social issues, and John McCain, whose maverick reputation and previous support for expanded stem cell research has alienated some members of his party.

It appears that Romney has made significant inroads among the social conservative flank of the party.

After months of wooing -- he hosted evangelical leaders like Jerry Falwell, Franklin Graham, Gary Bauer and Richard Lee at a casual gathering at his Boston home last October -- he has picked up some key support, according to the Romney campaign. Prominent conservative legislators such as Senators Jim DeMint. R-S.C.; Larry Craig, R-Idaho; Bob Bennett, R-Utah; and evangelicals such as Mark DeMoss, Jay Sekulow and Jim Bopp Jr. have endorsed him.

When the Christian Broadcast Network's correspondent David Brody recently asked his anti-abortion readers to pick between McCain and Romney, 90 percent of the respondents chose Romney. "What is apparent is that those who are for Romney on the life issue, love this guy with a passion," wrote Brody.

Bopp, a leader in the anti-abortion community who now acts , was cautious about Romney's conversion. But after taking the time to study the candidate, he became convinced and endorsed him.

"He's certainly explained to my satisfaction that he's sincere," Bopp told ABCNEWS.com. "I looked to his conduct in office and at every turn. Where he could advance the pro-life cause, he did ? and he took tremendous hits on that and paid the political price for vetoing that [stem cell research] bill. He's walked through burning embers."

Bopp emphasizes that other prominent political leaders, such as Ronald Reagan and George Bush Sr., supported abortion rights before converting to anti-abortion positions. "There are millions of people who are pro-life who had abortions -- we know that people can convert."

But a number of prominent conservative leaders such as Paul Weyrich, the Family Research Council's Tony Perkins, and Donald Wildmon are not yet convinced, and some openly doubt the sincerity of Romney's beliefs.

"The last message we want to send to prospective candidates in future elections is to say that you can spend your entire political career trashing the values of social conservatives and then win our support by claiming to have a deathbed conversion just before running for president," said Gary Glenn, a leader of the American Family Association.

"It is my opinion that social conservatives will not be fooled by another liberal Massachusetts flip-flopper who insistently promoted abortion on demand, gun control and the agenda for homosexual rights."

John MacMillan, Republican town committee chairman in Billerica, Mass., supported Romney when he first ran for office as the state's governor in 2003. But he said that he became quickly disillusioned.

"He's as phony as a three-dollar bill," said MacMillan. "When I started to look at his positions -- gun control, pro-gay -- I found out that he's just as bad as [Democratic Sen.Ted] Kennedy. I've been a Republican all my life, and leopards don't change their spots. He'll change his position, say anything, to get votes."

Political historians say that it's not uncommon for candidates to change their positions on the way to higher office -- with varying results.

George Bush Sr. supported the Equal Rights Amendment, abortion rights and described Ronald Reagan's economic policy as "voodoo economics" during the 1980 primary. By the time he became Reagan's vice president, he'd changed his mind on all those positions. Combined with the betrayal of his "read my lips" pledge on taxes, all those switches contributed to the perception that Bush waffled on the issues.

"It seemed that he didn't have a center," said Tim Naftali, the incoming director of the Nixon Library. "Doonesbury made fun of him by portraying him as just a voice, as if to say that he didn't have a core."

Naftali said that other leaders, from Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Reagan to Robert Kennedy, switched their positions on important issues. "The question is, when does the bait and switch happen?" he asked. "It happens when you run on one set of policies and then in office you do something else. If they're going to make the change, I prefer that they do it before they're in office."

Michael McGerr, a political historian at Indiana University, said that Romney's change of views on several important issues is fairly unusual in a political campaign.

"There is always some fudging and blurring on the positions and there are periods of time in which a good number of leading politicians within a party make an adjustment but not individual major contenders," he said. "That's not so common because politicos don't tend to get caught changing their stances on the issues."

Mitt Romney: On the Issues

Abortion
1994: Believed abortion should be safe and legal
2002: Personally against abortion but pro-abortion rights as governor, endorsed legalization of RU-486 (morning-after pill)
2007: Firmly anti-abortion

Stem Cell Research
2002: Endorsed embryonic stem cell research
2005: Vetoed stem cell research bill

Gun Control
1994: Supported assault weapons ban and Brady bill, rebuffed the NRA
2002: Supported assault weapons ban and Massachusetts' tough laws on gun control

2006: Joined NRA as a life member and said that states should ease licensing requirements; claimed he was a gun owner but later admitted that he's didn't in fact own a firearm

Minimum Wage
1994: Opposed increase as an "anti-business" position but told David Brinkley in October that he supported tying an increase to rate of inflation
2002: Supported increase in line with inflation
2006: Vetoed minimum wage increase

Gay Marriage

1994: Opposed federal marriage amendment, vowed to help establish "full equality for America's gays and lesbians"
2002: Provided legal protection to same-sex couples in Massachusetts
2007: Supported federal marriage amendment, worked to block same-sex couples from adopting

Gays in the Military
1994: Supported "don't ask, don't tell," saying it was a step toward "gays and lesbians being able to serve openly and honestly in our nation's military"
2007: Didn't want to change "don't ask, don't tell" policy

Capital Gains Tax Cut
1994: Opposed capital gains tax cut
2002: Refused to sign "no new taxes" pledge
2007: Supported capital gains tax cut as part of his pledge to make President Bush's tax cuts permanent; signed "no new taxes" pledge



TOPICS: News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: abortion; hitpiece; liberalmedia; rino; rinoromney
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1 posted on 02/23/2007 1:54:31 PM PST by Spiff
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To: Spiff
It's the old Mitt Romney versus the new Mitt Romney.

This is an editorial piece, right?
2 posted on 02/23/2007 1:57:54 PM PST by LtdGovt ("Where government moves in, community retreats and civil society disintegrates" -Janice Rogers Brown)
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To: LtdGovt
This is an editorial piece, right?

No.

Buzz off, newb.

3 posted on 02/23/2007 1:59:13 PM PST by Spiff (Rudy Giuliani Quote (NY Post, 1996) "Most of Clinton's policies are very similar to most of mine.")
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To: Spiff

Mitt does not have a chance.


4 posted on 02/23/2007 1:59:32 PM PST by Timbo64
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To: Reagan Man; EternalVigilance; dirtboy

Hey, is there a STOP ROMNEY ping list?


5 posted on 02/23/2007 2:00:21 PM PST by Spiff (Rudy Giuliani Quote (NY Post, 1996) "Most of Clinton's policies are very similar to most of mine.")
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To: Spiff
No.

Why not? It sure sounds like the columnist really doesn't like Romney. I expect this from a Frank Rich column in the New York Times, but not in a supposedly objective piece.

As for your second comment, it is remarkable that you used 2,75 words to make a personal attack on me, but only 1 word to contend what I said.
6 posted on 02/23/2007 2:01:56 PM PST by LtdGovt ("Where government moves in, community retreats and civil society disintegrates" -Janice Rogers Brown)
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To: Timbo64

Mitt Romney is the logical nominee given the current field, and I predict he will prevail over Giuliani in a tight race for the Republican nomination. McCain has no chance.

Maybe Duncan Hunter can run an effective dark horse campaign and surprise everyone, but I wouldn't count on it.

You heard it here first, Romney will be the Republican nominee.


7 posted on 02/23/2007 2:05:53 PM PST by Maceman (This is America. Why must we press "1" for English?)
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To: Spiff

If your not for Ron Paul or Duncan Hunter look to get flamed here Spiff.

It takes a bit more insight to realize that the MSM is hammering Romney #1 beacuse he's too conservative for them unlike Rudy and #2 he is the one they are most worried about.


8 posted on 02/23/2007 2:15:10 PM PST by traderrob6
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To: Spiff
Hey, is there a STOP ROMNEY ping list?

It should be the same as the STOP GIULIANI list. They're both hardcore leftwingers. The only difference is that Giuliani is more honest about it.

Embryonic Stem Cell Research Financier Joins Pro-Gay Fundraiser To Host Mitt Romney San Diego Event

Mitt getting passionate about abortion - In his own words

9 posted on 02/23/2007 2:17:18 PM PST by EternalVigilance (“Let us raise a standard to which the wise and honest can repair; the rest is in the hands of God.”)
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To: Spiff

All twisted facts that amount to straight lies and non-substantive smearing.


10 posted on 02/23/2007 2:20:49 PM PST by SteveMcKing
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To: LtdGovt

If ABC attacks Mitt Romney, it is strong confirmation that he is conservative.


11 posted on 02/23/2007 2:23:49 PM PST by SteveMcKing
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To: SteveMcKing
If ABC attacks Mitt Romney, it is strong confirmation that he is conservative.

ABC attacks George W., so your logic doesn't follow. And the President looks like a John Bircher next to Romney.

12 posted on 02/23/2007 2:29:05 PM PST by EternalVigilance (“Let us raise a standard to which the wise and honest can repair; the rest is in the hands of God.”)
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To: EternalVigilance
And the President looks like a John Bircher next to Romney.

Evidence?
13 posted on 02/23/2007 2:30:16 PM PST by LtdGovt ("Where government moves in, community retreats and civil society disintegrates" -Janice Rogers Brown)
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To: EternalVigilance; LtdGovt
ABC attacks George W., so your logic doesn't follow. And the President looks like a John Bircher next to Romney.

You state that Bush is more conservative than Romney, and that Bush is attacked because he is conservative. LtdGovt states that the ABC attack on Romney is proof that the MSM (whose RINOdar is better than ours) also considers Romney conservative.

Why doesn't this logic follow?

14 posted on 02/23/2007 2:38:42 PM PST by Plutarch
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To: LtdGovt
Evidence?

Start with his career. He spent the last four years as one of America's most liberal governors. On his watch, gay marriage, a ban on assault weapons and socialized medicine were enacted. After garnering the endorsements of every radical pro-abortion, pro-gay leftist group in sight, he filled his administration with them...fouling the public schools with gay propaganda and appointing radical gay extremists to the courts. In fact, Romney appointed more Democrats to the bench than Republicans. He left the Massachusetts GOP in shambles.

And, notwithstanding his lies to conservatives today, nothing's really changed. Here's who he has on the schedule raising money for him:

Embryonic Stem Cell Research Financier Joins Pro-Gay Fundraiser To Host Mitt Romney San Diego Event

You don't think they'd be doing that if they didn't have certain "assurances" do you? *wink* *wink*

Here's the real Romney:

Mitt getting passionate about abortion - In his own words

15 posted on 02/23/2007 2:40:09 PM PST by EternalVigilance (“Let us raise a standard to which the wise and honest can repair; the rest is in the hands of God.”)
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To: Spiff

He has only flipped. He has not flopped. geez.


16 posted on 02/23/2007 2:41:42 PM PST by libbylu
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To: libbylu; AFA-Michigan; Spiff; Gelato

Personally, I don't think Romney is a flip flopper.

I think he's a liberal to the core, and is simply being brazenly dishonest.


17 posted on 02/23/2007 2:52:03 PM PST by EternalVigilance (“Let us raise a standard to which the wise and honest can repair; the rest is in the hands of God.”)
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To: Plutarch

I could care less what the libs at ABC think about anything. What matters is Romney's liberal record as Governor.


18 posted on 02/23/2007 2:53:26 PM PST by EternalVigilance (“Let us raise a standard to which the wise and honest can repair; the rest is in the hands of God.”)
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To: Spiff
Notice the meticulous effort that ABC has put into finding problems with Romney to dissuade GOP voters. The MSM publishes hit pieces against neither RINO's nor general election losers. The MSM's numerous anti-Romney hit pieces are produced to prevent the GOP from selecting who they most fear would be an effective GOP candidate, and a conservative President.

The MSM's many anti-Romney hit pieces are their Jedi Mind Trick on the GOP.

ABC/MSM to GOP voters:

"Romney isn't the candidate you're looking for".

19 posted on 02/23/2007 2:58:37 PM PST by Plutarch (The MSM's RINOdar is better than ours.)
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To: EternalVigilance
I could care less what the libs at ABC think about anything. What matters is Romney's liberal record as Governor.

You think that your RINOdar is better than the MSM's. You're wrong.

20 posted on 02/23/2007 3:09:15 PM PST by Plutarch
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