Video: Mitt Romney on H&C

Wow, tough crowd here. After the current President Bush ran as a conservative and then governed as a liberal (spending, affirmative action, illegal immigration, UAE disgrace, Global Warming Alarmism, tying one hand behind our military’s back etc) I can understand why real conservative republicans are uneasy about the candidates we have running on our side this election. Mitt Romney though is surely more of a Reagan Republican then any other candidate we have in the game right now. The most important thing a President can do is appoint judges to the Supreme Court. Have you listened to Romney talk about the kinds of judges he would appoint? Its like listening the George Will. He is a fiscal conservative and has been very successful fighting for fiscal conservativism in the bluest of blue states. Mass was in a financial disaster with a giant deficit after years and years of democrat spending control until Romney came in and righted the ship and turned the deficit into a surplus. I have many liberal friends who thought the state was going to hell in a handbasket when Romney took over and refused to spend unnacounted money on meaningless social programs and now they look at the situation and it has changed their minds about spending/taxes and fiscal conservatism in general. He views the threat from Radical Islamic Fascists (his words) as the greatest threat to our contry right now and speaks eloquently and thoughtfully about what needs to be done in order to combat it. He’s not afraid to say that we need to kill them in order to solve the problem. He has taken a very stong stand against illegal immigration and when he talks about it he is as on target and as well informed as Michelle Malkin. He is thoughtful and Reagonite on almost ever single important issue of our time and we are going to throw him in the trash because one time he may have taken a stand contrary to yours on one single issue. Guys, you will never find someone running for POTUS who agrees with you on every single belief that you have. A key reason for this is because someone who agrees with us on everything will have a very tough time getting elected. The media would not print his/her name without jusxtaposing it with “extreme right wing conservative” and that is what Romney is trying to avoid right now. If it were up to me Rush Limbaugh, George Will, Charles Krauthammer and Michelle Malkin would all be battling for their name at the top of the Republican ticket. With the media today that is just not going to happen. If Thomas Jefferson ran today he could not get elected. He would be labeled an extreme constitutionalist. The closest thing we have to that now is Romney despite the fact that he said something mean about assault weapons one time.

Zetterson on March 13, 2007 at 10:52 AM

And PRCalDude in response to your “Waffles right” description George Will said it best in his piece last week:

“At CPAC, Romney gave the most polished speech, touching all the conservative movement’s erogenous zones, pointedly denouncing the “McCain-Kennedy” immigration bill and promising to seek repeal of the McCain-Feingold law regulating campaign speech. Romney, however, is criticized by many conservatives for what they consider multiple conversions of convenience — on abortion, stem cell research, gay rights, gun control. But if Romney is now locked into positions that these conservatives like, why do they care so much about whether political calculation or moral epiphany moved him there?”

Zetterson on March 13, 2007 at 11:52 AM

Roark and aengus,

I understand what you are saying completely and you are not wrong to make judgements in regards to character based on shifting positions at times of political convenience. I do ask that you apply the same scrutiny to all of the candidates though. Its true that Rudy exemplified strong character and great leadership on Sept 11th and the days following. For that he will always be a hero to me and I’m sure many other people as well. But Rudy, like Mitt, has questionable moments as well. The same goes for McCain. I know a lot of people who feel uneasy about Rudy publicly announcing the split from his former wife (the 1st of 3 I believe) before she even knew about it. I know many people who feel uneasy about his statements on abortion recently posted right here on Hotair. I know people who feel very uneasy about the statements Rudy has made about the types of judges he would appoint. It will be interesting to see how his positions “evolve” in regards to these issues as the campaign runs its course. If they don’t he will never win a Republican primary once people realize what his positions are. McCain is an undeniable hero who’s character can never be brought to question. This is a man who willingly subjected himself to the most brutal forms of torture because his captors refused to release his fellow POWs along with him when they found out about his father’s position in the military. To this day he has one arm shorter then the other because of the multiple times it was broken over those years. That being said John McCain too has “character” issues when it comes to shifting positions. Right here on Hotair recently their was a post documenting his varying statements from one moment to the next and mocking his reputation for being a “straight talker.” All politicians are guilty of this. All of them. They may be heros but they are also politicians. I like Mitt because he is by far the most traditional Conservative Republican in the field. McCain and Guliani are far more liberal then Mitt Romney. He has a record as Gov in Mass that backs up these beliefs despite the fact that he had to deal with and work with one of the most liberal (if not the most liberal) legislatures in the entire country. If you want an example of heroic behavior on Romney’s part it will be minor in comparison to Guliani and McCain but there is one example that comes to mind. A few years ago he and his sons rescued a group of people who’s boat sank off the shore from the Romney family’s lake house. He swam out with his sons and saved the people from drowning. He did not go to the media and annonce this. He did not mention a thing and did not want to talk about it. The people he and his sons saved went and told the story to the local news stations. Yes, as I mentioned before, this is very minor in comparison to McCain and Guliani but it is a reflexion of character none the less.

If you are a Republican who votes on the issues Romney is far better then McCain and Guliani. McCain and Guliani both have very liberal tendencies. If you are voting on heroism your vote should go to McCain and next to Guliani. I like to vote on the issues so that is why I’m in Rommey’s camp. Different things are attractive to different people. Other then that I have no strong feelings on the matter.

Zetterson on March 13, 2007 at 2:30 PM

Fair enough Roark. I gotcha. And just so you know I didn’t mean to pigeonhole you by incinuating that you are the type of person who votes strictly on how “heroic” a candidate has been in his/her past. I understand it could have come accross that way but that is not what I meant nor would I be so arrogant as to claim that I know what you personally vote for. I was trying to speak in more generic terms. In other words, in using the word “you” I didn’t mean you personally but instead I meant a random/typical voter. Should have made that more clear. And also, for the record Rudy is definitely my #2 choice right now and, like you, am waiting to hear more about his positions on other issues like the ones you mentioned. And, yes, you’re right… long way to go.

Zetterson on March 13, 2007 at 5:02 PM