Romney doesn't lead Republicans, he follows them

[Ravi]

One example: He tried to force Rep. Todd Akin from the critical race for the Missouri Senate seat and failed. Akin seems to feel perfectly comfortable defying him, even after receiving a personal plea from Rep. Paul Ryan, Romney’s vice presidential pick.

That’s no small matter. Republicans have a shot at winning control of the Senate and Akin is messing with that plan. His 10-point lead evaporated after his bizarre ranting about rape and pregnancy. It also hurt Romney by turning attention to the party’s extreme position on abortion and its troubled relationship with science.

Another problem: The new party platform defies Romney on abortion. Romney opposes abortion, but makes an exception for cases of rape and incest; the platform does not. That’s a blow to Romney’s efforts to close the yawning gender gap in this race, but the party’s conservative base, like Akin, openly defied him.

By choosing Ryan, Romney showed that he still feels the need to feed the conservative base. If this ticket wins, Ryan could become president at any moment and will at least be a hand on the steering wheel when it comes to Romney’s budget policies.

It is another disturbing signal that Romney is not likely to heave his party toward the middle, as Bill Clinton did with the Democrats in 1992. Romney is not challenging the Sister Souljahs of his party; he is placating them at nearly every turn.

Editorial: Romney doesn't lead Republicans, he follows them | NJ.com

 

[SniperFire]

Rather early in the morning to be drinking, isn't it, Ravi?

 

[beretta304]

You're one desperate hombre, Ravi!

 

[Stephanie]

And Obama really isn't President, he just travels around the country then his handlers just pull his strings and he dances and spews ugly words

 

[Greenbeard]

It's much easier for Mitt to change a position than for the entire party to accommodate him.

He's flexible.

 

[Mad Scientist]

Don't worry kids. When Romney is elected he'll go back on his promise to end ObamaCare.

Bush = Obama = Romney. Same sh*t, different assh*le.

 

[Ravi]

It's much easier for Mitt to change a position than for the entire party to accommodate him.

He's flexible.

He's very flexible. And he gets no respect from his own party.

 

[beretta304]

It's much easier for Mitt to change a position than for the entire party to accommodate him.

He's flexible.

He's very flexible. And he gets no respect from his own party.

Does a fact or the truth ever enter your mind before your fingers hit the keyboard?

 

[Valerie]

Rather early in the morning to be drinking, isn't it, Ravi?

Are you offering to share...?







Looks like all my Tebowing over this issue has gone for naught...IMO this extreme "pro-life" platform will sink the Romney/Ryan campaign as they will lose the rational middle once people catch wind of Mitt's official stance.


Looking at his web site last night I discovered the following, under "Issues" there is one called "Values":


"he believes that the right next step is for the Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade"

Values

 

[Dot Com]

Romney(bot) is the absolute last person the Repub voters wanted, as evidenced by his continual last place spot in the Primary until everyone else dropped-out, now they are saying he is a model Repub?

true story

tissue?

 

[Valerie]

I'm so disappointed Mitt has caved on this...

The writer of this piece takes an anti-Romney tack but it has a lot of good info... I've taken the time to highlight some of it here but there are many quotes and links that I don't have time to go through right now...

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, depending on his audience. 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.


...

Romney began to think about running against Sen. Ted Kennedy. Romney approached the idea as he had always approached things: with a businessman’s prudence. He hired Republican pollster Dick Wirthlin to survey the Massachusetts electorate and identify challenges Romney might face. Scott, a friend of the Romney family, reports in his book that Wirthlin came back with tough news: No pro-life candidate could win statewide office in Massachusetts.


Until this moment, Romney hadn’t taken a public position on abortion. He had pro-life experience as a Mormon leader and counselor. He had pro-choice experience as the relative of a woman who had died from illegal abortion. In general, he respected women, and he didn’t like government telling people what to do.

Within the Romney family, his mother had preached the separation of religious practice from public policy.

Mormons, having suffered persecution at the hands of other Christians, feared the injection of sectarian faith into politics.

The LDS church also had a doctrine of free agency that distinguished the rightness of choices, such as whether to drink alcohol, from the freedom to make those choices.



Above all, abortion wasn’t Romney’s issue. He was a CEO interested in management and finance. His comments throughout the 1994 campaign reflected ignorance about RU486, morning-after pills, and parental consent laws, which in those days were major topics in the abortion debate. Romney was smart enough to learn about these issues if he had wanted to. He just didn’t care that much.


Romney could have framed his complex feelings about abortion either way. Wirthlin’s poll said that if he ran as a pro-lifer, he’d lose. It would be simplistic to say that the poll dictated Romney’s decision. But we know that he used the poll to influence the most important pro-life organization he had to appease at the time: the elders of the LDS

...



If he didn’t frame his position as pro-choice, he’d lose. Many of the church leaders were unhappy with Romney’s formulation. But if they wanted him in the Senate, this was the best they were going to get.

Scott was present when Romney talked about the meetings after he returned to Boston. Judy Dushku, a Mormon feminist, says she heard a similar account from Romney in 1994:


I went to his office and I congratulated him on taking a pro-choice position. And his response was—Well they told me in Salt Lake City I could take this position, and in fact I probably had to in order to win in a liberal state like Massachusetts. …


I said, Mitt, it doesn’t make me happy to hear that. What you’re suggesting is that you’re not genuinely pro-choice. It’s a position of convenience. He said—Oh no, I actually had an aunt who died of a botched abortion. So I have some positive feelings about choice, but basically I know that I have to take that position.


If you don’t think Romney would say such a calculated thing, look at this video. It shows Romney on The O’Reilly Factor on Dec. 19, 2011, explaining how he came to his pro-choice position.


He tells Bill O’Reilly: “I thought, ‘Well, I can say and can understand the idea of leaving the law the way it is. The Supreme Court has made its decision. I'm just going to say I will support the law and preserve the law as it exists.’ ”
Notice the language: I can say … I’m just going to say. This isn’t a man talking about what he believes. It’s a man talking about framing a public posture under constraint.


...



Mitt Romney’s abortion record: flip-flop or conversion? - Slate Magazine

 

[courseofhistory]

One example: He tried to force Rep. Todd Akin from the critical race for the Missouri Senate seat and failed. Akin seems to feel perfectly comfortable defying him, even after receiving a personal plea from Rep. Paul Ryan, Romney’s vice presidential pick.

That’s no small matter. Republicans have a shot at winning control of the Senate and Akin is messing with that plan. His 10-point lead evaporated after his bizarre ranting about rape and pregnancy. It also hurt Romney by turning attention to the party’s extreme position on abortion and its troubled relationship with science.

Another problem: The new party platform defies Romney on abortion. Romney opposes abortion, but makes an exception for cases of rape and incest; the platform does not. That’s a blow to Romney’s efforts to close the yawning gender gap in this race, but the party’s conservative base, like Akin, openly defied him.

By choosing Ryan, Romney showed that he still feels the need to feed the conservative base. If this ticket wins, Ryan could become president at any moment and will at least be a hand on the steering wheel when it comes to Romney’s budget policies.

It is another disturbing signal that Romney is not likely to heave his party toward the middle, as Bill Clinton did with the Democrats in 1992. Romney is not challenging the Sister Souljahs of his party; he is placating them at nearly every turn.

Editorial: Romney doesn't lead Republicans, he follows them | NJ.com

Agree! The fact that the changes his mind or position on so many things is proof of that!

Swing State Polls as of 8/22/12

Florida Obama 49 Romney 46
Ohio 50 44
Virginia 50 45
Colorado 49 46
Nevada 49 45
Wisconsin 50 45
MI 44 47
PA 48 42​

 

[Ravi]

Rather early in the morning to be drinking, isn't it, Ravi?

Are you offering to share...?







Looks like all my Tebowing over this issue has gone for naught...IMO this extreme "pro-life" platform will sink the Romney/Ryan campaign as they will lose the rational middle once people catch wind of Mitt's official stance.


Looking at his web site last night I discovered the following, under "Issues" there is one called "Values":


"he believes that the right next step is for the Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade"

Values

sigh....he can't avoid going full rightwingnutter.

 

[Valerie]

Rather early in the morning to be drinking, isn't it, Ravi?

Are you offering to share...?







Looks like all my Tebowing over this issue has gone for naught...IMO this extreme "pro-life" platform will sink the Romney/Ryan campaign as they will lose the rational middle once people catch wind of Mitt's official stance.


Looking at his web site last night I discovered the following, under "Issues" there is one called "Values":


"he believes that the right next step is for the Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade"

Values

sigh....he can't avoid going full rightwingnutter.

Feels like he's throwing this thing on purpose... Damn it!

 

[Ravi]

Are you offering to share...?







Looks like all my Tebowing over this issue has gone for naught...IMO this extreme "pro-life" platform will sink the Romney/Ryan campaign as they will lose the rational middle once people catch wind of Mitt's official stance.


Looking at his web site last night I discovered the following, under "Issues" there is one called "Values":


"he believes that the right next step is for the Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade"

Values

sigh....he can't avoid going full rightwingnutter.

Feels like he's throwing this thing on purpose... Damn it!

Maybe he is....it certainly adds to his overall name recognition. That's got to count for something for the business world.

 

[Eaglewings]

Rather early in the morning to be drinking, isn't it, Ravi?

Had to laugh..

But it is true, I feel Romney is more of a puppet than most.

 

[BlindBoo]

He is like a leaf on the wind.

Which ever way it blows, he goes.

 

[Dot Com]

overturning roveywade AND "getting rid of" Planned Parenthood? He has gone full-nutter to appease the Repub Base

 

[Valerie]

overturning roveywade AND "getting rid of" Planned Parenthood? He has gone full-nutter to appease the Repub Base

I knew he was talking about taking away PP funding but he always explained that as a redundancy taken care of by the health care plans and other existing safety nets, etc... Same with the stem cell research issue...I really thought he was going to take this opportunity to lead on these tough issues, find a rational middle ground and focus on the economy, but judging by the wording on that "Values" page listed under "Issues", he isn't planning on budging.

 

[Ravi]

More evidence about Mitten's inability to lead, he's forbid reporters asking him questions about Akin or abortion.

Romney Campaign Forbids Local Reporter From Asking About Akin, Abortion | TPM2012