Nelson Rockefeller’s foreign policy advisor and friend, former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, is a John McCain supporter. So is the man who was Kissinger’s understudy and a Secretary of State himself, Alexander Haig.
There are some mavericks in the "group". Bush was one of them and so is McCain.
Then you have the yes men...like Rombot.
At the end of the day, everywhere McCain has been less than conservative, Romney is on record as bad or worse:
McCain introduced McCain-Feingold. Romney supported measures stricter than McCain Feingold before his run for president, source below:
http://www.earnedmedia.org/fred1219.htm
McCain supported embryonic stem cell research, which is evil, and falls for the old incest ploy, but has otherwise been staunchly pro-life. Romney supported stem cell research, taxpayer funded abortion, abortion by minors without consent of parents, and all MA abortion law (sources below).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_w9pquznG4
http://blog.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/2007/09/romney_and_abortion.html
McCain has occasionally buckled on Gun rights, but Romney is FAR worse:
http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2007/01/14/romney_retreats_on_gun_control/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HzYTdM9b5F4
Romney talks about Reagan now (who endorsed John McCain for Senator btw), but he was not a Reagan republican in the 80s, but a self-described independant:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7pVqZzHm3Z4&feature=related
Romney supported Gay rights (link below, but hold your nose, it’s a log cabin republicans site so I excerpted it for you):
http://online.logcabin.org/mitt-romneys-flip-flops.html
“All citizens deserve equal rights, regardless of their sexual orientation. While he does not support gay marriage, Mitt Romney believes domestic partnership status should be recognized in a way that includes the potential for health benefits and rights of survivorship.”
- Romney’s 2002 campaign website
“Mitt and Kerry Wish You a Great Pride Weekend! All citizens deserve equal rights, regardless of their sexual preference”
- A flier handed out at “Gay Pride” by the Romney/Healey Campaign See the flier here
“We have discussed a number of important issues such as the Federal Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), which I have agreed to co-sponsor, and if possible broaden to include housing and credit, and a bill to create a federal panel to find ways to reduce gay and lesbian youth suicide, which I also support. One issue I want to clarify concerns [grammar in context] President Clinton’s “don’t ask, don’t tell, don’t pursue” military policy. I believe that the Clinton compromise was a step in the right direction. I am also convinced that it is the first of a number of steps that will ultimately lead to gays and lesbians being able to serve openly and honestly in our nation’s military. That goal will only be reached when preventing discrimination against gays and lesbians is a mainstream concern, which is a goal we share…”
- Governor Romney letter to Log Cabin Republicans, October 6, 1994
http://online.logcabin.org/romney_us_senate_letter_-122590-1_12_08_2006_02_30_30_pm.pdf
McCain overplayed Romney’s comments on timetables, but McCain was taking serious flack for pushing for a troop surge while Romney undeniably hedged on the surge:
http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/014/665onpkm.asp?pg=1
Romney has also had a “Road to Damasus, I mean Pennsylvania avenue, conversion” on immigration:
In a November 2005 interview with the Globe, Romney described immigration proposals by McCain and others as “quite different” from amnesty, because they required illegal immigrants to register with the government, work for years, pay taxes, not take public benefits, and pay a fine before applying for citizenship.
“That’s very different than amnesty, where you literally say, ‘OK, everybody here gets to stay,’ “ Romney said in the interview. “It’s saying you could work your way into becoming a legal resident of the country by working here without taking benefits and then applying and then paying a fine.”
Romney did not specifically endorse McCain’s bill, saying he had not yet formulated a full position on immigration. But he did speak approvingly of efforts by McCain and Bush to solve the nation’s immigration crisis, calling them “reasonable proposals.”
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.”
Source:
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2007/03/16/romneys_words_grow_hard_on_immigration/
And lastly, tax cuts:
http://www.clubforgrowth.org/media/uploads/070820-white-paper-romney.pdf
he did not support the Bush tax cuts and won the praise of Barney Frank for not doing so!
http://www.eyeon08.com/2007/02/07/romney-lying-about-his-tax-record/