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.

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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.

[Tramonto]

Please correct me where I'm wrong.

Giuliani X W X W W X X

Huckabee - W - W W X W

Hunter - - - - - - -

McCain W X W W W X X

Romney X W W W X X X

Thompson W W - - - - X This is how I see things, sorry if its hard to understand. The Spin/Filp Flop column is interesting since the two guys who don't spin are doing the worst.

[Ol' Sparky]

Here is one of the judges that Romney appointed:

http://www.massresistance.org/docs/marriage/romney/record/

Romney Rewards one of the State's Leading Anti-Marriage Attorneys by Making him a Judge

* Romney told the U.S. Senate on June 22, 2004, that the "real threat to the States is not the constitutional amendment process, in which the states participate, but activist judges who disregard the law and redefine marriage . . ." Romney sounds tough but yet he had no qualms advancing the legal career of one of the leading anti-marriage attorneys. He nominated Stephen Abany to a District Court. Abany has been a key player in the Massachusetts Lesbian and Gay Bar Association which, in its own words, is "dedicated to ensuring that the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court decision on marriage equality is upheld, and that any anti-gay amendment or legislation is defeated."

- U.S. Senate testimony by Gov. Mitt Romney, 6/22/2004

* Stephen Abany testified at the State House in 1999 advocating a bill to repeal the sodomy laws in Massachusetts. This type of activism obviously did not bother Romney.

- Lawyers' Weekly 2/14/2000

[kabar]

Tom Tancredo has endorsed Mitt Romney saying "At this point in time, (Romney) is the best hope for our cause." He met with Romney for an hour before making that decision.

As an immigration activitist myself who will be heading to SC next week as part of a coalition of immigration groups to educate the public about where the candidates stand on amnesty and immigration reform, I am convinced that Romney is our last hope to head off amnesty.

I have been a Thompson supporter from the beginning, but I have been disappointed by his performance in the debates on immigration. Thompson has the best and most detailed plan on immigration reform and control of the borders, but he has not been able to articulate it during the debates nor has he gone after McCain on the issue like Romney has. I know Thompson's advisor on immigration, Kris Kobach, who wrote the plan. He is solid. However, Thompson has been a disappointment. He either does not have command of the subject matter and is unaware of what is in his own plan or he is just paying lip service to the issue to attract support.

Here are Roy Beck's grades for the candidates on the subject As you can see, Fred is the best and Romney second. Roy's group is part of our coalition that will be going to SC. If Fred were a more viable candidate, I would support him without reservation. He also has the best and most detailed plan on entitlement reform, the other issue that I consider to be the greatest threat to this country's future.

We have been in contact with Romney's campaign on immigration issues. We are satisfied that he understands the issue and will deal with it better than any of the other viable candidates. In the meantime, we will be going to SC to derail the campaigns of McCain, Huckabee, and Giuliani. If any one of them gets the GOP nomination, immigration will be taken off the table in the general election since their positions are similar to those of Hillary and Obama.

Romney also said in the interview that it was not “practical or economic for the country” to deport the estimated 12 million immigrants living in the US illegally. “These people contribute in many cases to our economy and to our society,” he said. “In some cases, they do not. But that’s a whole group we’re going to have to determine how to deal with.”

Romney understands the political reality. No one is going to advocate mass deportation. The proponents of amnesty are wont to create the false choice between amnesty and mass deportation of 12 to 20 million illegal aliens conjuring up images of the Holocaust with a cruel, heartless government relentlessly tracking down and rounding up cowering, innocent men, women and children in the middle of the night and packing them into cattle cars for return to the hellholes they risked life and limb to escape. And the staggering numbers make it seem like an impossible task. Faced with such a choice, amnesty seems to be the most humane and logical way to handle the millions who have entered the United States illegally.

Attrition thru enforcement is the real answer. And that is both Fred's and Romney's position. We cannot grant these people legal status because they will be able to sponsor tens of millions more to enter the country legally thru existing chain migration politicies, i.e., family reunification. Robert Rector estimated that the 2006 bill that passed the senate (S.2611) would have allowed 66 million more legal immigrants over a 20 year period in addition to the normal 1.2 million a year we let in now. If that happens, the country is finished period.

The Boston Globe (owned by the NYT) is not a big fan of Mitt Romney.

[Politicalmom]

Romney has NO foreign policy experience, FRed has extensive foreign policy experience.

[what's up]

I didn’t stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night.

Yeah...I guessed that.

[kabar]

Willard didn’t support Reagan`s conservative agenda of the 1980`s and even opposed the Contract With America. He even shifted from being an open borders/amnesty backer to a Tancredo clone.

Tancredo has endorsed Romney. And why would Romney oppose the Contract With America? How was he involved?

[no dems]

Is there anyway we can get this chart to every registered Republican in Michigan and South Carolina in the next few days?

C’mon Freepers, let’s at least do our part and start e-mailing and getting the word out. I’ve got lotsa Conservative Friends in Michigan; they’ll be getting a copy of the chart via e-mail.

[wita]

Try reading the platform for the Republican Party and it will be very apparent, that it is built on conservative principles.
That said, not all of the candidates are perfect but to sit back and not choose is to forget what the other side has in store for the country should they win.

[kabar]

Romney has NO foreign policy experience, FRed has extensive foreign policy experience.

As someone who spent 28 years working for the State Department, we give to much credit to these Congressmen for their "foreign policy experience." In any event, Romney has had plenty of dealings with other countries and their leaders as both a governor and a businessman. He was also in charge of the Olympics.

[Reagan Man]

My fellow Coloradan, Tom Tancredo, had a massive brain fart the day he endorsed the liberal, Myth Romney.

As to Romney's opposition to the Contract With America, here is what he had to say:

Video Link

[WOSG]

Huckabee is a huge immigration flip-flopper. He can in no way shape or form be trusted on an issue that he flipflopped majorly on LAST MONTH:

Huckabee on President Bush’s illegal immigration plan:

“To think that we’re going to go lock up 12 million people, or even round them up and drive them to the border and let them go, might make a great political speech, but it’s not going to happen. What should happen, however, is exactly what I think the president has proposed, and that is that we create a process where people make restitution for the fact they have broken the law.

It’s not an amnesty, and I know that there are some who think that anything less than essentially grabbing them by the nape of the neck and tossing them over a fence, real or imaginary, is amnesty. But I think that’s ridiculous. And whether it’s Patrick Kennedy, Rush Limbaugh, or an illegal immigrant, there ought to be some rationality in how we apply our law. We do that every day.

…

“Suddenly to say that these people that came over here to pluck a chicken, pick a tomato, or make a bed should suffer the full consequences of the law as if somehow they’ve totally violated our peace and prosperity, is absurd.”

Huckabee on the reaction to the immigration bill:

“You can’t get them off of it, and you can’t have a discussion beyond the classic, “what part of illegal do you not understand?” I understand it correctly. I know exactly what that means.”

http://race42008.com/2008/01/09/this-huckabee-guy-scares-the-bejeebus-outta-me/

[WOSG]

You are way too harsh on Romney and way too gentle on Huckabee.

[WOSG]

Only on 2 issues did Romney run left. He ran well to Ted Kennedy’s right on a large number of important issues.

[Politicalmom]

It is extremely dishonest to belittle Thompson’s experience.
Romney’s “experience” doesn’t even come close.
****

This is only one of the foreign policy trips Thompson made:

Senator Thompson to Represent U.S. at Asian Conference on Security Issues

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Fred Thompson (R-TN) will represent the United States this week at an International conference on Asian Security Issues. Organized by the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), “Asia Security Conference: The Shangri-La Dialogue” will bring together fifteen defense ministers from Asia-Pacific countries, United States and European defense officials, and leading independent analysts.

Among those participating in the May 31-June 2 conference in Singapore will be U.S. Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz, British Defense Secretary Geoffrey Hoon, Chinese Director of Foreign Affairs Zhan Maohai, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov, and India Minister of Defense George Fernandez.

Issues that the conference will focus on include managing terrorist threats in Southeast Asia, non-proliferation challenges in Asia, United States’ strategy in the region, Europe’s role in Asian security, and China’s military doctrine and security.

“This will be an opportunity for us to reiterate our support for our allies in the Asia-Pacific region who are helping in the war on terrorism and to share ideas about the future of that effort,” Senator Thompson said.

Thompson, the senior Republican on the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee and a member of the Intelligence Committee, has been a leader on national security issues and addressing the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.

http://web.archive.org/web/20021229093017/thompson.senate.gov/press/2002/releases/pr052902.html

*****
- Served on the US-China Economic Review Commission

- A Visiting Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute for Policy Research, Fred Thompson is an expert on national security and intelligence, with a focus on China, North Korea, and Russia. He is also an AEG Scholar specializing in Diplomatic Relations and Foreign Intelligence. He has authored articles and short publications on a wide range of policy-related topics.

- Special Counsel to both the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations under President Reagan

- Member of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence.

-Senator Thompson was a member of the powerful Senate Committee on Finance, which has jurisdiction over, among other things, international trade.

- Member of the National Security Working Group, which observes and monitors executive branch negotiations with foreign governments.

- Member of the American Enterprise Institute for Policy Research, studies national security and intelligence, with a focus on China, North Korea, and Russia.

- Foreign Relations Committee, 1995-96

- Until July 2007, Thompson was Chair of the International Security Advisory Board, a bipartisan advisory panel that reports to the Secretary of State and focuses on emerging strategic threats amd which observes and monitors executive branch negotiations with foreign governments. In that capacity, he advised the State Department about all aspects of arms control, disarmament, international security, and related aspects of public diplomacy.

[Jim Robinson]

Thompson argued for McCain-Feingold and gets a big X in that department for his departure from conservatism. Romney argued in favor of McCain-Kennedy and gets a big X for his RINO efforts. By the way, what is this big love affair that RINOs McCain and Romney have going on with Kennedy?

[Kurt Evans]

I agree with “unspun” that Governor Huckabee isn’t a “tax and spend nanny stater” ... but only because you explicitly asked.

[unspun]

More old news. Yeah, we know, WOSG.

Now how is the research coming on any governor of a state with average or worse poverty who has served over four years since 1998?

Any whose budgets went down? Please do provide those details.

Any whose budgets stayed the same? And they balanced their budgets?

[Jim Robinson]

That’s two too many, plus. Abortion, gays, immorality, affirmative action, forcing corporations to report to radical feminists about the “glass ceiling” and gratuitous shots at Reagan/Bush thrown in for good measure. Couldn’t bring myself to watch the final segment about Romney being in love with himself.

[Tramonto]

I Like Mike.

I give Romney a W instead of an X on immigration. He might also deserve a W on Nanny Statism but his forced Romney care scares me a whole lot more than a public smoking ban.

[Freedom2specul8]

marked to read later