Romney Vs. Romney: Smooth Talking Mitt Heads to New Jersey
January 19, 2007
As part of his ongoing struggle to explain away his record, smooth talking Mitt Romney is heading to New Jersey today. Romney has been traveling across the country trying to explain away the contradictions and shifting positions in his record. Romney's efforts have been so blatant that a Boston Globe columnist today published a "virtual debate" between the two Mitt Romneys: the "Moderate Mitt" who ran for Senate in 1994 and Governor in 2002, and Romney2008, "the conservative Romney has become since catching Potomac Fever." [Boston Globe, 1/19/07]
Among Romney's rapidly shifting positions are:
- Romney refused to sign a "no new tax" pledge while running for governor in 2002 and drastically raised fees and taxes while governor, but signed the pledge last month. [Boston Globe, 1/19/07]
- Romney once bragged that his views on gun control were "not going to make me the hero of the NRA," but now he’s emphasizing his new pro-gun stances and even misled the voters about whether he himself is a gun-owner. [Boston Globe, 1/19/07]
- While campaigning in Massachusetts, Romney expressed support for a women's right to choose, but now is emphasizing his newfound "pro-life" positions. [Boston Globe, 1/19/07]
- Romney once claimed to be "an independent during the time of Reagan-Bush" who was "not trying to return to Reagan-Bush," but now calls President Reagan his "hero" and praises "Ronald Reagan's brand of visionary and courageous leadership." [Boston Globe, 1/19/07]
- Romney once opposed a federal constitutional amendment defining marriage and pledged to provide "more effective leadership" on establishing "full equality for America's gay and lesbian citizens" than Senator Ted Kennedy. [Boston Globe, 10/17/94] Now Romney supports a constitutional amendment on marriage and tried to allow religious agencies to block adoptions to same-sex households. ["Transcript of Romney Address to Liberty Sunday," EvangelicalsforMitt.com, 10/16/06; Boston Globe, 3/16/06]
"Smooth talking Mitt Romney's campaign to talk his way out of his record knows no bounds," said Democratic National Committee spokesman Damien LaVera. "On issue after issue, the right wing Romney we see today has been crisscrossing the country desperately trying to distance himself from the moderate Mitt who ran for office in Massachusetts. Voters will soon realize that smooth talking Romney will say just about anything to anyone to secure this nomination."
Romney Vs. Romney: Conservative Leaders Chose Neither
Tony Perkins, Paul Weyrich, Other Prominent Conservatives Concerned About Romney Letter Arguing For Gay Rights. "Prominent conservatives are upset after reviewing a 1994 letter signed by Mitt Romney when he ran for the U.S. Senate in Massachusetts against Sen. Ted Kennedy. In the 1994 letter addressed to the Log Cabin Republicans, a gay Republican group, Romney strongly argued for gay rights. 'We must make equality for gays and lesbians a mainstream concern,' Romney wrote, adding that he would be more aggressive than Senator Kennedy in pushing for gay rights. . The New York Times reported Saturday that the Family Research Council, among others, expressed disappointment with the contents of the Romney letter. 'This is quite disturbing,' said Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council. 'This type of information is going to create a lot of problems for Governor Romney. He is going to have a hard time overcoming this.' Paul Weyrich, head of the Free Congress Foundation, tells the Times that Romney may be cornered. 'Unless he comes out with an abject repudiation of this, I think it makes him out to be a hypocrite,' Weyrich said. 'And if he totally repudiates this, you have to ask, on what grounds?'" [www.NewsMax.com, 12/11/06]
Orlando Christian-Right Activist Said Romney Has "10 Year History" Of "Liberal Policies On Our Core Issues. "Romney also has what Orlando Christian-right activist John Stemberger described as "a 10-year history of what I think you could call liberal policies on our core issues, namely same-sex marriage, gay rights, abortion rights." Romney has said for years that he opposes restricting choice on abortion because of the death years ago of a relative from an illegal abortion. His view changed, he says, while he and the Massachusetts Legislature were considering stem-cell research legislation in 2005. A Harvard researcher supporting the legislation expressed what Romney considered callous indifference to the deaths of human embryos during the research. Romney says he came to believe that legal abortion has "cheapened life." That researcher, Douglas Melton, responded that Romney 'mischaracterized my position ... I explained my work to him, told him about my deeply held respect for life.'" [Tampa Tribune, 1/7/07]
Americans For Truth President Called On Romney To Retract The Anti-Brian Camenker Web Posting. "Americans For Truth President Peter LaBarbera expressed dismay at former Republican Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney's public attack against Brian Camenker, the head of Mass Resistance and an American hero in the fight against the radical homosexual agenda.' . 'It's not Camenker who is extreme but Romney's (former) 'gay' Log Cabin Republican friends, who wouldn't even endorse President Bush for re-election in 2004 because he favors a Marriage Protection Amendment,' LaBarbera said. He urged Romney to retract the anti-Camenker web posting and apologize to the pro-family advocate, noting that Camenker has done nothing wrong in 'reminding the American public that Romney has flip-flopped from being a very committed pro-abortion and pro-homosexual-activist politician.'" [Christian Newswire, 1/13/07]
American Spectator: Romney's Doing His Best To Persuade Conservatives, But His "Own Messages Keep Getting Mixed Up." According to the Washington Prowler column in the American Spectator, "After weeks of attacks from social conservatives, former Gov. Mitt Romney and his press agents are doing their best to persuade conservatives that the Man from Massachusetts is one of them. But unfortunately, Romney's own messages keep getting mixed up. For example, within the past week, the Romney campaign attempted to clarify -- if not solidify -- Romney's position on stem cell research. As Romney's bona fides as a dedicated convert to the pro-life positions continue to be called into question, the campaign and surrogates have ratcheted up the volume on messages that Romney really does believe in the sanctity of life in ways he did not a decade ago." [American Spectator, 1/17/07]
American Conservative Union Board Member: Romney Willing To Compromise On Issue That Many Of Us Would Not Compromise On. Citing Romney’s support in 2005 for "obtaining stem cells from fertility clinic embryos because those would probably be discarded anyway and because they were created with the intention of helping couples generate life," a board member of the American Conservative Union is quoted in the American Spectator as saying: "That's the problem some social conservatives have with Romney. He was willing to compromise on an issue that many of us would not compromise on... If you are a Republican and a conservative, you've seen what happens when you support compromisers. I don't care how many people say they know Mitt Romney's heart. President Bush said he knew Putin's and look where that's gotten us.'" [American Spectator, 1/17/07]
