Gary Glenn,
Never did I say in my entry that Romney had only one position shift in his entire political career. I was speaking of the positions articulated in the flyer. That you read into it more than is there is your miscalculation.
Basically, I’m trying to debunk the claims that Romney has switched positions on everything imaginable and that he used to be a full fledged liberal. I think that the flyer helps debunk those claims.
Also, the veiled mistruths in your accusations of Romney position shifts are also enlightening. You say that I’m purposely trying to mislead . . . looks like you’re already a pro at that.
Just picking a few that you mention:
*Gays in Military: Originally (1994) didn’t support “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell”, but now all the military leaders say that it’s working so he supports it now. Flip flop or learning from experience of over a decade of military experience with a specific policy?
*Romney never said that Gay Marriage “should” be a state issue . . . he stated that it IS/WAS a state regulated issue. More on that one here http://iowansforromney.blogspot.com/2006/12/boston-globes-deception-romney-has-not.html
*NRA—His positions haven’t switched on guns . . . period. Still for a AWB and has a recent B grade from the NRA. “Lifetime member” is the level of membership sign up that he chose. Would you have preferred that he sign up for just one year?
Look, some people seem to think the #1 qualification for becoming our president should be how long you can stay entrenched in your incorrect and failing positions. Romney has learned and “evolved” in a few areas (some of them key areas, most of them very peripheral issues, but all of them show political growth and maturity). But there is far more “amplification” of these issues than is really there. And I think you not only know it Gary . . . you’re complicit in it.
Jeff, don’t you have a conscience? Aren’t you the least bit embarrassed to repeatedly make statements so easily proven false? Or after all this time, are you simply ignorant of your own candidate’s record?
Fish in a barrel...
You falsely claim: “Gays in Military: (Romney) originally (1994) didn’t support ‘Don’t Ask Don’t Tell,’ but now all the military leaders say that it’s working so he supports it now.”
In 1994, in a letter to the homosexual Log Cabin Republicans who twice endorsed his campaigns, Romney not only endorsed DADT but called it merely “the first in a number of steps that will ultimately lead to gays’ and lesbians’ being able to serve openly and honestly in our nation’s military.” (See PDF of full letter: http://www.massresistance.org/docs/marriage/romney/record/RomneyLogCabinLetter.pdf
“(Romney) once embraced the ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ policy as just a first step toward openly gay people in the military. Now, he says the policy should not be changed in a time of war.” Los Angeles Times: http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-na-romney1feb01,1,378412.story
“Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney (R), who once advocated allowing gays to serve openly in the military, said yesterday that he does not think the Pentagon should change its ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ policy in the midst of the Iraq war.” Washington Post: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/18/AR2007021801218_pf.html
Notice that in all cases, Romney says DADT shouldn’t be changed “at this time”...”in a time of war”...”right now.” Seems to be signaling as clearly as possible that at a different time, not at war, he would support — once again — forcing American military personnel to share showers, foxholes, and close living quarters with individuals openly involved in homosexual behavior.
And while we’re at it, Romney was the only Republican candidate for president to publicly criticize Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Pace for saying homosexual behavior is “immoral.”
*Romney never said that Gay Marriage “should” be a state issue...he stated that it IS/WAS a state regulated issue.”
As a candidate for federal office in 1994, in what was obviously a dodge to avoid answering the question of how he as a U.S. senator would vote on the issue, Romney tap-danced by saying “the authorization of marriage on a same-sex basis falls under state jurisdiction,” obviously suggesting that as a federal candidate, he should not be expected to respond. This time, once again a candidate for federal office, he says he believes it should be a federal issue. (Funny, Mitt thinks protecting marriage should be constitutionally protected at the federal level, but he thinks the right of a prenatal child to be born in the first place should not be constitutionally protected.) In 2002, as a candidate for governor, Romney opposed the proposed marriage amendment to his state’s constitution; now, of course, he supports it.
For a change, Jeff truthfully writes: “NRA—His positions haven’t switched on guns...period.”
Correct. Mitt still endorses the Assault Weapons Ban and unless there’s been a flip-flop I haven’t heard about, the Brady Bill.
What has flip-flopped is his transparent posturing, from dissing and criticizing the NRA — “That’s not going to make me the hero of the NRA.”...”I don’t line up with the NRA.” — to now professing that he’s so strongly supportive of NRA that he’s a “life member.”
Which was clearly yet another Clintonesque-Romneyesque attempt to deceive people into believing he’d long been a supporter of NRA...a deception quickly exposed when it was uncovered and reported that he’d only paid the $500 to become a “life” member last August. Congenitally unable to avoid such deceptive devices, Mitt later claimed to be a “life-long hunter” too, only to be caught red-faced on that one as well.
Care to put more fish in the barrel, Jeff? I was an “expert” marksman in the Army Guard and Reserves.