Wednesday, December 13, 2006

Will the Real Mitt Romney Please Stand Up?!

Mitt Romney is selling himself now as a radical conservative, hoping that the same voters that helped President Bush get into and maintain the White House will do the same for him. This flies in the face of what he has sold himself as in the past, and it begs the question, will people buy it?

When running for Senate against Ted Kennedy, Mitt Romney had this to say about gay rights:

"For some voters, it might be enough to simply match my opponent's record in this area. But I believe we can and must do better. If we are to achieve the goals we share, we must make equality for gays and lesbians a mainstream concern. My opponent cannot do this. I can and will."

"as we seek to establish full equality for America’s gay and lesbian citizens, I will provide more effective leadership than my opponent."

“I feel that all people should be allowed to participate in the Boy Scouts regardless of their sexual orientation.”

"During his 2002 gubernatorial run his campaign distributed bright pink flyers during Pride that declared 'Mitt and Kerry [running mate Kerry Healey] wish you a great Pride weekend! All citizens deserve equal rights, regardless of their sexual preference.' Romney also argued that he would not only support gay friendly policies but would fight on behalf of the gay community to secure benefits such as domestic partner benefits and hospital visitation rights for same-sex couples."
- Bay Windows 3/3/2005

"There will be children born to same-sex couples, and adopted by same-sax couples, and I believe that there should be rights and privileges associated with those unions and with the children that are part of those unions." On another occasion, his spokesman "declined to state Romney's position on whether homosexual couples should be allowed to adopt, and declined to say whether the governor opposes gay adoptions."
- State House press conference, 6/15/2005
- Boston Globe, 3/2/2006

"On Gay Rights: All citizens deserve equal rights, regardless of their sexual orientation. While he does not support gay marriage, Mitt Romney believes domestic partnership status should be recognized in a way that includes the potential for health benefits and rights of survivorship."
- Romney's 2002 campaign website

At "Liberty Sunday" Romney had this to say:

"They not only reject traditional values, they reject the values of our founders and they cast aside the wisdom of the ages."
- LibertySunday.com

"What (the judges) ignored is that marriage is not primarily about adults, marriage is about the nurturing and development of children ... every child deserves a mother and a father," he said.
- WHDH-TV

Romney never shows his true colors. Instead, he manipulates his words so that he is in his best light with whomever he is speaking. When speaking to gays, he uses the term "gay". When he is speaking to people opposed to equality, he uses the term "homosexual". For those who are not in the know, "homosexual" is seen in the gay community as having a derogatory nature because it shows a focus on sexuality rather than the human individual. The politicly correct term would we "gay" or "lesbian" and Romney knows this well. This is no "tar-baby" incident.


And he had this to say about abortion rights:

"I believe that abortion should be safe and legal in this country. ... I believe that since Roe v. Wade has been the law for 20 years we should sustain and support it. "
And on the subject of the “Morning after pill”:

"..it’s an effective morning after pill and I think it would be a positive thing to have women have the choice of taking morning-after pills….I would favor having it available."
The list goes on and on. Romney backed RU-486, waiting periods for gun purchases, indexing the minimum wage to inflation, and numerous other progressive causes.

Mitt Romney has always been a thoughtful, pragmatic Republican of the Northeastern tradition.

Until now.

The “new and improved” Mitt Romney is running for president. Gone is the cold sober realist of the past. Gone is his advocacy for gay rights and abortion rights. He is pandering to the GOP’s bigot base. READ MY LIPS Mr. Romney, "No more LIES."

No comments: