Posted on 02/14/2008 9:12:59 AM PST by JRochelle
Snip Let us not forget that Romney snapped his fingers before the election and decided to become a conservative by switching his positions on a litany of key issues, even though his past record was moderate. There were endless gaffes throughout the campaign in which he reinforced the well-earned perception that he would say anything to get elected--from describing himself as a lifelong hunter even though he had hunted only twice, for saying he watched his father march with MLK, for claiming an endorsement of the NRA he never received, etc.
He also failed to emotionally connect with voters. I would go to Romney speeches all year, and talk to audience members after who would tell me they agreed with what he said, but he was "too slick" and "too packaged." It never ceased to amaze me how emotionally tone deaf he was as a candidate, most notable was when he said his sons were serving their country by working to get him elected. I went to a townhall meeting just days before the New Hampshire primary in which a woman said her 26-year old cousin had been paralyzed in a rugby accident, and she asked Romney for his position on stem cell research. Romney responded, "Great, thank you for the question" and he went on with a textbook answer about pluripotent cells without offering any sympathy. Romney's checklist conservatism appealed to desperate conservatives on a cerebral level, but he never reached people emotionally as Huckabee and McCain did. If you want to know why McCain beat Romney, look no further than the final debate between them at the Reagan Library. When they were asked why Reagan would endorse them, Romney recited a laundry list of issues on which Reagan would have agreed with him, while McCain
(Excerpt) Read more at spectator.org ...
Pretty much.
As I see it, Romney flipped on one major issue and two minor ones.
The major issue was abortion.
The minor ones were the "don't ask, don't tell" policy and Federal anti-discrimination laws for gays.
In 13 years ago, he said he did not think the "don't ask, don't tell" policy would work. After seeing that it did work, he changed his mind. Big deal.
Back in 1994, he supported anti-discrimination laws for gays at the Federal level. Now he thinks they're more appropriate at the state level. Big deal.
And that, my friends, is the sum total of his flips. That's a pretty short list for any politician.
He never actually flip-flopped, as far as I can tell.
Only in your imagination.
If the feds have to bail out RomneyCare, Flip will never get elected anything as a Republican. Maybe as a Democrat...
he’s still more right than Bush.
Same goes for the Utah Olympics, in which local Utah business owners were rewarded, along with a small number of spectators that got to see world class athletes at subsidized by working taxpayers.
Republicans are into welfare as much as Democrats, just different. Just like Hastert bought some land near a federal highway, and lo and behold, a highway on/off ramp was then approved, vastly raising the land he bought and then sold.
broncobilly: “It was the rants about how terrible Mormonism was. “They are not Christian They are a cult. They have many Gods. They wear magic underwear. They were racists before 1978. And on and on.” That was the bigotry, not the discussions of flip-flopping.”
It’s not bigotry to call Mormonism a cult. Since Mormonism displays the traits of a cult, it’s reasonable to call it one.
Silly me, its all just my wild imagination.
that’s exactly why I really don’t have such a problem with mccain. Bush and Hastert were for ‘compassionate conservatism.’ McCain will have none of that.
Don’t be stupid. How can “many of” be read as “everything.”
Now Presidential Candidate Mitt Romney says he ‘’strongly opposes'’ the immigration plan also denounced by conservatives even though his public statements suggest he actually agrees with major aspects of the proposal in Congress.
And then there's this little gem, right up there with the other "gaffes" the OP mentions but you didn't respond to: "Bob Dole is a guy I, Mitt Romney, do/do NOT want to endorse me". source.
Just Google "Flip Flops by Romney" and you'll find a whole host of issues that you haven't even touched upon in this thread (yet).
But like I said, it doesn't matter now that his delegates are McCain's. Are you going to defend McCain as tenaciously as you do/did Romney now?
You are just full of brilliant analyses.
I think that is attributable to how Mormons are perceived in the West. Contrary to the vitriol displayed by Mormon defenders here, The West recognizes Mormons as staunch patriots with Conservative and Christian principles.
I really believe the Mormon tag along with Romney's stated positions caused people to accept him at face value rather than digging into his record. I dare say that most had no idea he was from the Northeast, not to mention that he was a liberal governor in very liberal Massachusetts.
Even so, the greater dichotomy is rather stunning. Huck won the South, and the lower Midwest, while Romney won the Mountain West and the upper Midwest. An interesting difference that I would like to see explained.
Don’t be insulting. Why don’t you tell me what the “acceptable number of flip flops” are.
For example, for curiosity, apparently the acceptable number is 3. What say you?
And you are full of vapid responses. Got anything of substance?
I don’t have to look it up. I was in the middle of the battle.
Florida isn’t the south for purpose of political discussion. Everyone I know in FL retired to there from somewhere else. You would not call them southerners.
Your example has three variables: northeastern, liberal, and Catholic. I am not sure northeastern is that big a deal. Catholic would probably be a small factor. But the big problem factor in the example is liberalism, not religion.
Just MHO.
At the same time, Mormons overwhelmingly supported Romney because of his religion. Is that not religios bias?
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