Free Republic's (1/9) poll on Republican candidates' liberal positions that would be deal killers

Free Republic Poll ^ | 1/9/2008 | Jim Robinson

[Jim Robinson]

(1/9) If the eventual Republican presidential nominee has a record including one or more of the following non-conservative positions, would you vote for him anyway or which item specifically would most likely be a deal killer?

• Abortion/gay rights

• Open borders/amnesty

• Gun grabber

• Tax & Spender

• Nanny stater

• Untrustworthy/flip flopper

• Anti-free speech

• Two or more could kill deal

• Three or more definitely kill deal

• I'll vote "R" regardless

Click on source link above to respond to the poll.

---

Three or more liberal positions on critical issues would definitely kill the deal in my book.

The way I see it:

X = Candidate holds or has record of non-conservative position. W = Weak or mixed positions.

Candidate	Abortion/ Gay Rights	Open Borders/ Amnesty	Gun Control	Tax and Spend	Nanny Stater	Untrustworthy Spinner Flip flopper	Campaign Finance Reform
Giuliani	X	X	X	-	-	X	X
Huckabee	-	X	-	X	X	X	W
Hunter	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
McCain	W	X	W	W	W	X	X
Romney	X	X	W	W	X	X	X
Thompson	-	-	-	-	-	-	X

Thompson and Hunter are most conservative, but I prefer Thompson because Hunter's going to have a tough time making himself known and jumping from the House to the Presidency.

Please correct me where I'm wrong.

[ThreeYearLurker]

Her are my two cents for what their worth.

Hunter is a good guy, but he has no chance so scratch that.

Romney is a flip flopper because he had to run in Mass. I really think he is pro-life, and wouldn’t do any nanny state stuff if he was pres, but I cant be sure, so I am wary.

McCain has a ACU life rating of 83% His style is all wrong so we think he is more liberal than what he is, he kisses up to the drive bys, so I am wary.

Giuliani is right on the most important stuff. He will be strong on the WOT, and will be a fiscal conservative, even though he was a big city mayor. As a prosecutor, I can’t see him appointing liberal judges. But I am also wary about him.

Fred is a great guy, but he hasn’t gained any traction so far. He needs to win SC big, then I will send him a check.

Huckabee is liberal as hell, no way will I vote for him.

Can I write in Tom Coburn/Jeb Bush?

[dmw]

“I believe the WOT and our military is at the top of ANY issue we face in this election. Am I wrong?”

No, you are not wrong. But all of the R candidates (minus Ron Paul) support the WOT. It was not necessary to list this on the chart because we all know where they stand on this issue. Everyone on this forum is in agreement on this issue. Isn’t this clear to you? It was not meant to imply that it isn’t an important issue here—it is and we all know it.

[Jim Robinson]

Yup. And everyone here other than the Paulettes, Buchananites, Rockwellians, paleocons and misc & sundry DU trolls agree that national security and the WOT is paramount. The ones who don’t, well, they don’t count so no need for the column. FR supports a strong national defense, period, and any Republican nominee who doesn’t is automatically disqualified and excluded from any consideration whatsoever.

[pay dirt]

Hillary must be stopped!

If I might add, ANY Democrat must be stopped. They all speak with one voice when it comes to the security of this country, our military and the WOT. At least the Republicans running (with the exception of head-in-the-sand, Ron Paul) aren't that daft.

[nicmarlo]

Thank you for the link. I will read that.

[mountainfolk]

You are a sterling patriot and a great humanitarian. I am relieved to hear that you would be more merciful to minorities than were the Nazis. I have not seen your name on any list featuring conservative candidates. Perhaps the ‘A’ list is being kept secret. Please post your resume so I can determine if you are conservative enough to warrant my support.

[Jet Jaguar]

:0)

[pay dirt]

George W. Bush wasn’t a magnificent general either before becoming our President. But we sure kicked butt in Afghanistan and Iraq under his command.

[dmw]

“Can I write in Tom Coburn/Jeb Bush?”

How about Tom Coburn/J.C. Watts?

Disclaimer—I’m from OK. ;^)

[RebekahT]

I’m pinging you to #296, as well.

[Jim Robinson]

Oh, so that’s what this is all about. No thanks. Rudy is the worst of the litter. IMHO.

[pay dirt]

Excellent. Then you and I would have to agree that the worst thing for our country would be for Hillary, or Obama, or any other Democrat to become President in the next election. Now we must just hope for the best Republican candidate to win the primary and do our best to see that that happens. And when a Republican candidate is chosen, I’m sure you will join me, and others, in encouraging all voters, and members of your forum, to vote Republican. Do it for the troops! :)

[Jet Jaguar]

Justices, justices, justices.

Why would Huckabee appoint better judges than Fred, or Duncan?

In my opinion, they would consider and apoint the same.

The big difference is, Huckabee has a history of appeasement to get thing accomplished.

(this is on my desk and must be done)
(I will appease the opponents and wheel and deal until it is done)
(It was not the best solution, but it is now off my desk. I did a good thing.)

[WOSG]

Change your name from unspun to spun. That's spin that we corrected yesterday!

You look at total tax burden not state tax burden so it doesnt look so bad due to Bush tax cuts that Huckabee had nothing to do with! If you look at state tax burden alone, it went up BIGTIME under Huckabee - up 50% in 10 years.

To get a real read on Huckabee as Governor ... Take a look at this - from RebekahT, an Arkansas Freeper:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1950905/posts?page=95#95 But when we say that Huckabee hurt the state GOP, we are talking about seats in the state legislature. The governor, as head of our party, is in charge of setting the tone for the party, recruiting candidates for winnable races, targeting seats that we have a shot of taking, supporting those candidates, etc.. and that is what Huckabee was so poor at doing, mostly because he only put young, inexperienced guys who were blindly loyal to him in leadership positions in the party. Huckabee blacklisted any GOP legislature who dared not to support any of his liberal proposals and constantly pandered to democrat groups. Huckabee got elected largely by overwhelming democrat support in Arkansas - what does that tell you about his policies?!

It was extremely hard to work to bolster the conservative movement when the leader of our state party was becoming more nanny-state by the minute, constantly supporting and proposing liberal agendas. This hurt candidate recruitment and turned many conservative activists off. ... Huckabee ... went from being the hope of the GOP in Arkansas to our worst enemy on everything but guns and abortion.

[Jim Robinson]

I’m here to tell you right now that I will never pull the lever for Rudy. So that’s out. Next.

[higgmeister]

Proconsul Jim, my deal breaker is not on the list.,p>I will not vote for anyone soft on aggressively fighting Islamic Fascism.

[pay dirt]

Oh, so that’s what this is all about. No thanks. Rudy is the worst of the litter. IMHO.

???? I said, "George W. Bush", not Rudy Guilliani. Rudy isn't on my list of presidential hopefuls.

[Jim Robinson]

Nor will I.

[pay dirt]

I’m here to tell you right now that I will never pull the lever for Rudy. So that’s out. Next.

Why do you keep talking about Rudy? Perhaps you meant to respond to someone else? I don't think Rudy will be the nominee anyhow. But, if hell freezes over and he does become the nominee, you bet I'd vote for him over Hillary or Obama, et al, any day of the week. Yep, I love our troops more than my own personal issues.

[Jim Robinson]

The “Magnificent General” thing. That was in reference to Rudy.