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 ...
well we fought it and won. Obama is also a repudiation of hillarycare. Even he doesn’t believe in universal mandates, unlike Romney.
Yes in the Christian communities.
The first reason every Christian I talked to why said they would not vote for Romney was he was mormon.
It’s time for a black man anyhow.
No MCCtraitor every.
KC_Conspirator: “...there was a good amount of old fashioned anti-mormon bigotry that did him in, evidenced in the Mike Hucksterbee campaign.”
This is where we get into opinion. You believe bigotry did in Romney. Personally, I don’t think Huck’s support was anti-Romney so much as pro-Huck. What I mean is, Huck is a gifted speaker who shares his supporter’s Christian values (or, at least, they believe he shares their values). Huck appeals to his voters on their level, not as some political elite. Say what you will about his compassionate conservative past, but don’t deny he’s an appealing candidate to some voters.
Romney went from pro-abortion to neutral in his speech and from pro-abortion to pro-abortion in his governance. That is one issue.
He pushed the gay agenda in the schools, moreso than his legislature did. That is one.
He opposed the Bush tax cuts. He covered up the huge increases in taxes labelled as fees by cutting other taxes. That is one
He said he would work for constructionist judges after appointing mostly Liberal/activist ones. He did not change the board recommending them, even though the positions are held at the pleasure of the Governor. That is one.
He suddenly opposed illegals after working to support the sanctuary cities in his state. That is one.
The list is longer than that.
I am not a conservative, but a radical..
America has the government it deserves.. NOW..
Hard to say but true..
America WANTS federal government freebies..
Social Security is PURE socialism..
Universal Health Care will NOT be FREE...
Conservatives have become SOCIALISTS...
If only he had been a POW...
The bigots will get a dem president.
I’m a Christian who is ashamed of the bigots who did not vote Romney because he is a Mormon.
George Washington was in a cult but he was our greatest President.
mccain on a flat tax
Q: Do you favor a flat tax? A: Sure, I’m for a flat tax. I’m for a tax system where average Americans can fill out their tax return on a postcard and send it in and not have the fear of an audit. But do you know why the tax code is 44,000 pages long? Do you know why it’s a nightmare, a chamber of horrors for average citizens and a cornucopia of good deals for the special interests? It’s because every time we pass a tax bill we add another special loophole and a special deal for the special interests.
Source: Republican Debate at Dartmouth College Oct 29, 1999
I agree with you, but Romney is not rank and file.
Islamist’s believe it is OK to lie to unbelievers because we are infidels.
When looking at some people, maybe the question is not what we think of them, but what they think of us?
This isn’t Front Page News, or any kind of “news” for that matter. This is an Editorial.
An editorial with which I disagree. We all know that religious bigotry was a major factor.
From your own link:
“Mr. McCain has tried to reassure economic conservatives by pledging to make permanent the tax cuts he initially opposed. “
Yes, that's the one major switch. All other allegations of flip-flopping are either not true, or very minor. Let me go through your list.
That somebody who once found McCain reasonable on immigration,
He never described McCain as reasonable. He described an early proposal, which was vague about Amnesty, as sounding reasonable. He also said he had to study it further and get more details before taking a firm position. That was not the bill McCain brought before the Senate. As soon as the bill was written down and brought before the Senate, he denounced it.
That somebody who once promised to be more pro-gay rights than Ted Kennedy would end up portraying himself as a social conservative crusader?
Romney always supported equal rights of citizenship for gays. He never changed on that. He also always opposed gay marriage. There's no flip-flop here.
That somebody who signed an assault weapons ban in Massachusetts would say he's a big defender of the Second Amendment, who would veto any such legislation as president?
He always supported the assault weapons ban, just like president Bush. He never said otherwise. While I wish he would flip-flop on this issue, since I think his current position is wrong, but he hasn't.
FYI, the assault weapons bill he signed as governor was endorsed by the NRA. To call it a "ban" is highly misleading. The bill actually reduced the number of weapons banned in the state, while keeping other weapons banned
Do your homework; you're less likely to look like an ass if you do it.
Are conservatives bigots if they don't support government mandated health care?
Punishing irresponsible people who refuse to buy health insurance and then stick taxpayers with their health bills is a conservative policy.
Or $20 billion bailouts for the auto industry?
He never proposed a bailout of the industry. He proposed increased government funding for research and development. There's nothing wrong with that, nor anything inconsistent with conservatism.
Supporting research is very much a legitimate role for government in the conservative worldview. That's because research qualifies as what free market economists call a "public good." The benefits of research benefit accrue to society at large, and not just the person who funds it. Therefore research will tend to get underfunded unless it is supported by government.
That's why we give Federal grants for research at universities, research institutions, and the like. That's why we have a federally supported National Academy of Sciences and similar institutions. Conservatives have traditionally been staunch defenders of these institutions.
Are they anti-Mormon if they decide that in a time of war, somebody with national security credentials is preferable to a one term governor?
Serving in a war 40 years ago, as a lowly junior officer, hardly gives a man national security credentials. So much has changed in the ways wars are fought, that McCain's outdated low-level tactical experience is pretty much useless to a Commander in Chief who must deal in high-level grand strategy in a world very different from that of the late 1960's and early 1970's.
And his record in the Senate hardly gives comfront. The man wanted to send ground troops into Kosovo! Can you imagine a more foolhardy idea? The man's judgement on national security matters is highly questionable, at best.
I’m all for a FLAT TAX.
I go back to the days of Forbes pushing it.
But if you mean that the dems will win the white house because we are all bigots then you are correct, just as if the republican will win because we are all bigots?
There is a considerable difference between Catholics and Mormons to Baptists and Guiliani did not have nearly the religious problem that Romney had.
In general, Baptists consider Catholics to be seriously misguided, but still part of Christianity. In general, Baptists consider Mormons to be part of a cult.
Guiliani would have likely carried South Carolina except for: (1) issues pertaining to his sordid affair and (2) possibly the rise of Huckabee.
I sure wish they would purge FR of the folks who have adopted demoncrat tactics by calling everyone a bigot who stood on conservative convictions against the liberal record of one Mitt Romney. It’s the same crapola that demoncrats have been doing for years when they have no intellectual basis for what they want, and there is no place on FR (or in the conservative movement) for such weak-minded knee-jerk imbeciles.
Also, the most taboo subject on which Romney stood out from the Pubbie pack was healthcare. This will be a forefront issue, like it or not, and Romney far and away had the best grasp of the issue and the best plan.
Romney had three factors against him:
1. He was too packaged.
2. He was a flip-flop artist.
3. He was a Mormon.
What was ridiculous was that he even flip-flopped on his religion. The truth is that Mormons DO teach that Satan is Jesus’ brother! Romney tried to avoid that unpopular fact knowing it would doom him with Evangelicals.
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