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The Conversion - How, when, and why Mitt Romney changed his mind on abortion
Slate ^ | 02/22/2012 | William Saletan

Posted on 02/22/2012 11:20:57 AM PST by PhxRising

To understand Mitt Romney, you have to understand the most difficult passage of his political life: how he changed his position on abortion. Not the story he tells about it, but the real story. Romney began his political career as a pro-choicer. In the story he tells, he had an epiphany, a flash of insight, and committed himself thereafter to protecting life. But that isn’t what happened. The real story of Romney’s conversion—a series of tentative, equivocal, and confused shifts, accompanied by a constant rewriting of his past—paints a more accurate picture of who he is. Romney has complex views and a talent for framing them either way. He values truth, so he makes sure there’s an element of it in everything he says. He can’t stand to break his promises, so he reinterprets them. Parts of the story have been told before. But no one has put it together. And no one has assembled the many video and audio clips that bear witness to what happened. In this article, the first complete examination of Romney’s journey, you’ll see his transformation on camera. (You can also watch a video narration.) When you see the story in its full context, three things become clear. First, this was no flip-flop. Romney is a man with many facets. Second, for Romney, abortion was never really a policy question. He didn’t want to change the law. What he wanted to change was his identity. And third, the malleability at Romney’s core is as much about his past as about his future. Again and again, he has struggled to make sense not just of what he should do, but of who he has been. The problem with Romney isn’t that he keeps changing his mind. The problem is that he keeps changing his story.

(Excerpt) Read more at slate.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: 2sides4romney; abortion; allsides4romney; collapsingromney; corelessromney; everyside4romney; flipflop; flipperromney; janusromney; novalues4romney; poserromney; prolife; romney; romney2promiseall; waffleromney
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So, basically, Romney followed his church's teaching and was pro-life. Then in 1994 a pollster told him he would lose election in Massachusetts if he was pro-life, so he conveniently became pro-abortion. And while he was governor, he created Romneycare with free abortions on demand. Then in 2005, he saw the light, and suddenly realized he was pro-life all along.

If Romney won't stand on principles and his church's teaching when it comes to something as basic as a human life, then what other principles will he throw aside when it comes to being elected? Deficit? Taxes? Guns? Freedom? Strong military?

1 posted on 02/22/2012 11:21:07 AM PST by PhxRising
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To: PhxRising

It was a miracle, you doubter! First he had a vision of a throne of power surrounded by gold dollar signs, then a voice told him he is now pro-life.

Some people just don’t believe in happy endings. ;-)


2 posted on 02/22/2012 11:24:08 AM PST by Pining_4_TX ( The state is the great fiction by which everybody seeks to live at the expense of everybody else. ~)
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To: All


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3 posted on 02/22/2012 11:33:33 AM PST by musicman (Until I see the REAL Long Form Vault BC, he's just "PRES__ENT" Obama = Without "ID")
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To: PhxRising

4 posted on 02/22/2012 11:34:44 AM PST by PetroniusMaximus
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To: PhxRising

To Mitt Romney the ends justify the means, even if it means mass murder of the innocent!


5 posted on 02/22/2012 11:35:24 AM PST by Paperdoll (On the cutting edge)
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To: PhxRising
He values truth,

Oh, indeed, yes.

Romney values truth so much that he's EXTREMELY parsimonious in uttering it.

6 posted on 02/22/2012 11:36:47 AM PST by Flycatcher (God speaks to us, through the supernal lightness of birds, in a special type of poetry.)
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To: PhxRising
ROMNEY FLIPPER, SWIMMING WITH FLIPPER
7 posted on 02/22/2012 11:41:08 AM PST by FrankR (You are only enslaved to the extent of the entitlements you receive.)
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To: PhxRising

Romney’s only principle is that he doesn’t have any principles!


8 posted on 02/22/2012 11:47:21 AM PST by SWAMPSNIPER (The Second Amendment, a Matter of Fact, Not a Matter of Opinion)
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To: PhxRising
So, basically, Romney followed his church's teaching and was pro-life. Then in 1994 a pollster told him he would lose election in Massachusetts if he was pro-life, so he conveniently became pro-abortion. And while he was governor, he created Romneycare with free abortions on demand. Then in 2005, he saw the light, and suddenly realized he was pro-life all along.

I've heard that his wife was pro-abortion and very supportive of Planned Parenthood.

My question is: Did she flip-flop every time he did????

9 posted on 02/22/2012 11:57:01 AM PST by Retired COB (Still mad about Campaign Finance Reform)
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To: PhxRising

Romney should run along, and do something else with his money.


10 posted on 02/22/2012 11:58:13 AM PST by pallis
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To: PhxRising
That video is devastating! What a liar!

A that little laugh he has when he knows he's caught. What a creepy guy.

11 posted on 02/22/2012 12:02:28 PM PST by RoosterRedux (Go Newt!)
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To: Pining_4_TX

“...Romney has complex views...”

Translation: RINOmney has no views at all that cannot be changed within a femtosecond...depending upon the latest poll.


12 posted on 02/22/2012 12:09:34 PM PST by Da Coyote
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To: PhxRising

Pro-Abortion Basturd (sic) Rmoney 2002 YouTube video

Willard McBush WANTS polygamy in the afterlife. It makes him no different from practicing it NOW.

13 posted on 02/22/2012 12:19:30 PM PST by fishtank (The denial of original sin is the root of liberalism.)
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To: PhxRising
A reading from the Book of Gallup. Chapter 1, verse 1: And thusly the pollster spake, "Thou shalt lose and lose badly with thy current stand...
14 posted on 02/22/2012 12:19:38 PM PST by KarlInOhio (You only have three billion heartbeats in a lifetime.How many does the government claim as its own?)
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To: PhxRising
Romney has complex views

Yeah, and the rooster on my roof is a compass.

15 posted on 02/22/2012 1:04:44 PM PST by Lady Lucky ( Exposure to the Son may prevent burning.)
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To: PhxRising
To understand Mitt Romney, you have to understand the most difficult passage of his political life: how he changed his position on abortion.

This is such an utter load of hooey. Romney changes his positions to suit his perceived path to the office he is currently seeking. Nothing more complicated than that.

16 posted on 02/22/2012 1:16:36 PM PST by dirtboy
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To: PhxRising
I read the entire LONG article, and watched the short video. I realize it was from Slate, but I found it fair and chuck full of facts, quotes and logical conclusions.

The two headed snake fits Romney's abortion position perfectly.

My conclusion? Romney has no deeply held core belief about abortion. He could care less. He only cares how it affects his political career, period. He wants to be that bowling ball rolling down the edge of a razor blade, on this issue. In the phrase dictionary, there is a picture of Mitt Romney next to the phrase “on the fence”.

Abortion is LIFE & DEATH. It is MURDER. How can you be pro life and be so dispassionate about this issue? The answer is, you can't. So, is Mitt Romney pro life or pro choice? He's both, He's neither. He's an opportunist, who will tell his current audience whatever they want to hear.

Does this character trait of his only manifest itself on the abortion issue? How many other difficult issues will he be on the fence over? Sending our troops into harms way? Knowingly sacrificing their lives for the protection of our liberty. Will we get half measures? Can he pull the trigger when he needs to?

I think he is that squirrel in the middle of the road, who can't make up his mind which way to run. He sees you coming, he knows he's supposed to get out of the way. He has plenty of time, but first one way, then the other, and back again. He finally freezes and leaves it up to the fate. Sometimes he gets away with it and the car passes right over him. Eventually, following this path will get you killed.

17 posted on 02/22/2012 2:12:56 PM PST by faucetman ( Just the facts, ma'am, Just the facts)
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To: PhxRising

Mitt Romney changed his position on abortion just as soon as his targeted electorate disapproved of abortion.

Anyone who believes otherwise - i.e., that the shift was based on some sort of “evolution of principles” - is deluded.


18 posted on 02/22/2012 4:22:00 PM PST by Jack Hammer
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To: narses; Pyro7480; NYer; Salvation
Good compilation; please ping your lists.

Parts of the story have been told before. But no one has put it together. And no one has assembled the many video and audio clips that bear witness to what happened. In this article, the first complete examination of Romney’s journey, you’ll see his transformation on camera. (You can also watch a video narration.)

http://www.slatev.com/video/romneys-abortion-record-spin-vs-truth/
Romney’s Abortion Record: Spin vs. Truth

19 posted on 02/22/2012 8:18:35 PM PST by Dajjal ("I'm not concerned about the very poor." -- severely conservative Mitt Rmoney)
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To: PhxRising

**The problem is that he keeps changing his story.**

Pretty good call for Slate. LOL!


20 posted on 02/22/2012 9:37:21 PM PST by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
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