Posted on 05/11/2007 2:41:16 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
BOSTON - Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney is defending his opposition to gay marriage by citing the Scriptures.
The former Massachusetts governor, who in his 1994 Senate bid pledged to be a more effective champion for gay causes than his Democratic rival, discussed gay marriage in an interview set to air Sunday on CBS' "60 Minutes."
"This isn't just some temporary convenience here on Earth, but we're people that are designed to live together as male and female and we're gonna have families," he tells interviewer Mike Wallace, according to an excerpt CBS released Friday. "And that, there's a great line in the Bible that children are an inheritance of the Lord and happy is he who has or hath his quiver full of them."
Romney, seeking to become the first Mormon president, also tries to allay any concerns about his religion.
"What's at the heart of my faith is a belief that there's a creator, that we're all children of the same God, and that fundamentally the relationship you have with your spouse is important and eternal," Romney said over the course of two interviews, one of which was taped at his vacation home in Wolfeboro, N.H.
Meanwhile, Romney also is on the cover of the latest edition of Time magazine.
In its main story, Time writes, "The closest he has ever come to a personal religious crisis, he recalls, was when he was in college and considering whether to go off on a mission, as his grandfather, father and brother had done. ... He says he also felt guilty about the draft deferment he would get for it, when other young men his age were heading for Vietnam."
Romney offered a slightly different tale during an interview with the Boston Herald during his 1994 U.S. Senate campaign.
"I didn't go on a mission to avoid the draft," Romney said at the time. "I never asked my dad (Michigan Gov. George Romney) in any way to be involved with the draft board.
"Romney, however, acknowledged he did not have any desire to serve in the military during his college and missionary days, especially after he married and became a father," the newspaper wrote. "'I was not planning on signing up for the military,' he said. It was not my desire to go off and serve in Vietnam, but nor did I take any actions to remove myself from the pool of young men who were eligible for the draft. If drafted, I would have been happy to serve, and if I didn't get drafted I was happy to be with my wife and new child.'"
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EXETER, N.H. (AP) — Two days before Mother's Day, Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Rodham Clinton appeared with a group of New Hampshire moms to highlight what she called the "inequities and absurdities" that prevent children from receiving quality health care.
"I think one of the greatest gifts you can give any mother is the health of a child," Clinton said Friday at Exeter Hospital, where the three mothers who joined her on stage did most of the talking.
AnnMarie Morse of Candia described her crusade to change state law after her daughter died of colon cancer in 2005. Michelle Morse, 22, had continued to attend college full-time during her chemotherapy to keep her health insurance.
Under what became known as "Michelle's Law," insurance companies that cover college students under their parents' plans must continue the coverage if a student takes a medical leave of absence.
Clinton, a sponsor of federal legislation that would expand Michelle's Law nationwide, called Morse's story one of many examples of a parent who does all the right things, but still struggles with health insurance.
"You think you've taken care of your family. You've been paying your insurance premiums, and when you need it the most it's not there for you," she said. "It's one of the reasons we need to change the whole system, but until we can change the whole system, we have to try to get rid of the inequities and absurdities that stand in the way of people getting the care they deserve and need."
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NEW YORK (AP) — Despite constant denials that he is running for president, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg laid out a national energy plan Friday and took veiled jabs at his potential opponents, accusing them of "politics as usual."
The Republican billionaire outlined an energy plan that proposes creating profit motives for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, building new wind farms and nuclear plants, phasing out incandescent light bulbs and setting early deadlines to accomplish these goals.
Bloomberg, who recently launched an effort to drastically reduce pollution by 2030 in New York City, suggested that those who set later deadlines like 2050 and 2070 are afraid to do the work and make the commitments now. A number of presidential candidates — including Democrats John Edwards, Barack Obama (news, bio, voting record) and Chris Dodd, and Republican John McCain (news, bio, voting record) — have their own proposals with a 2050 endpoint, or support plans with that deadline.
"Legislators that make promises to achieve something in the far-off distant future but refuse to take steps now that would allow us to begin the process are really very hypocritical," Bloomberg said. "That's not leadership, that's not what this country needs. It's passing the buck. And unfortunately for Washington today, it's what we call politics as usual."
Bloomberg, a billionaire, has repeatedly said he will not enter the presidential race, although he and his aides have continued to fuel speculation with coy remarks, as well as a greater focus on national issues and travel outside New York.
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COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — A federal judge on Friday refused to stop a Republican presidential debate scheduled for next week, turning down a bid by a long-shot candidate who wanted to share the stage with front-runners in the 2008 race.
John Cox, a Chicago businessman, had filed a lawsuit accusing the debate's organizers of rigging the criteria they used to decide who could take the stage for the May 15 debate in Columbia. Fox News Channel and the South Carolina Republican Party had said that candidates who earned 1 percent of support in state and national polls would be invited; 10 candidates are expected to attend.
Cox claimed he was unfairly excluded because the two organizations arbitrarily chose a poll that did not mention his name when respondents were asked about different candidates. He had asked to be included in Tuesday's debate, or for the debate to be halted.
U.S. District Judge Joe Anderson ruled the state party has a right to choose who is going to be in the debate. He said that while state law gives the party the authority to conduct its own primary, that does not require the GOP to function as though it is a government entity in its sponsorship of the debate.
"It's not the primary. That's the point," GOP lawyer Larry Richter said after the ruling.
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Associated Press writers Sara Kugler in New York, Holly Ramer in Exeter, N.H., Rasha Madkour in Houston and Jim Davenport in Columbia, S.C., contributed to this report.
Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney, left, and his wife Ann speak with supporters during an awards dinner held by the Pioneer Valley's Massachusetts Citizens for Life in Agawam, Mass., Thursday May 10, 2007. Romney insists that while he took a pro-choice stand until a couple of years ago, he has always personally opposed abortion. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
THEN DON'T SUCK THEIR BRAINS OUT, BEYOTCH!
I am too anti-Mormonism and anti-Scientology. I just do not accept Mormonism.
Who on our side ISN'T a two-faced political hack... anyone? ...anyone???
If they lose 2008 it will be because they will not have learned why they lost 2006
Notice how I even find myself thinking of them as 'they'... too many RINO's.
"I gave the Mass GOP socialized medicine, higher fees,
no Big DIG accountability, gay marriage, a wipeout of the GOP,
and Patrick Deval. THINK what I could do for the national GOP now."
“he former Massachusetts governor, who in his 1994 Senate bid pledged to be a more effective champion for gay causes than his Democratic rival...”
ok, this is a lie. All he said was that he was against discrimination.
I don’t have time to debunk all this garbage. People should do their own research.
Funny stuff. Gave me a good laugh. Now back to the serious stuff..
It is no laugh to the people of Massachusetts Romney screwed.
Why is their pain not serious to the Romney campaign and you?
By the way, the AP is out to destroy Mitt Romney. They’ve been pulling their levers for McCrazy because apparently he is the only one who trashes Bush on a daily basis.
“It is no laugh to the people of Massachusetts Romney screwed.
Why is their pain not serious to the Romney campaign and you?”
Still trying to be funny? you know that people in Mass are probably in favor of all those things right? The problem you have is that Mitt Romney had nothing to do with any of it.
HE DOes look like young Bruce Campbell ROFL
“Religions are known by their adherents.” —Dennis Prager
ok, I rest my case.
Le 18:22 “ ‘Do not lie with a man as one lies with a woman; that is detestable.
New International Version © 1973
Looks like Jim Carreys cousin
Luke 20:34 Jesus replied, "The people of this age marry and are given in marriage.
35But those who are considered worthy of taking part in that age and in the resurrection from the dead will neither marry nor be given in marriage,
36and they can no longer die; for they are like the angels. They are God's children, since they are children of the resurrection.
In fairness, the “tale told to the Boston Herald” about mission work and the draft is not “slightly different.” The two “tales” are consistent. Romney may be a problem for many voters because he’s a Mormon. There are also serious questions about his preparation for the presidency and about whether he’s a genuine conservative. I haven’t seen much reason to doubt his character.
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