Romney’s Conservative Creds

The Veepstakes is heating up again and I found an interesting tool to review and choose potential running-mates @ http://s.wsj.net/public/resources/documents/info-flash08.html?project=OVOTE08.  Be forewarned, like any other news organization these days, it reflects the bias of the paper.

For example, most of the comments about Republican candidates are quite positive.  “John Thune is a favorite among conservatives” and “Ms. Palin is a popular governor, known as a reformer and a fiscal conservative”.  However, the comments about my favorite, Mitt Romney, were disappointing, but not surprising.  

The Wall Street Journal has always been hard on Romney.  I’m pretty sure it’s because of Romney’s strong anti-illegal immigration stance (WSJ is pro-big business).   Of course, the WSJ had to mention the “flip flopping” charge.  This is one of those criticisms that seems to endure despite the underlying facts.  Nevertheless, I tried once more to put Romney’s record in perspective:

The “flip flop” charge is misleading.  Romney is actually very conservative, born and raised in Michigan, but moved to Massachusetts to attend Harvard.  During a very successful business career, Mitt and his wife Ann raised their kids and put down roots.  Later, he ran for office and had to make compromises to get elected, and govern, in the bluest of blue states. 

Would his critics prefer that Romney had uprooted his family and moved to Arizona, so he could run as a conservative?  Or that he had stayed in Mass, not compromised and not get elected?  Thankfully, Mitt pulled that liberal state a little to the right and Mass, and America, is better off for it. 

Let’s celebrate blue-state conservatives for being on the front-lines, not chastise them when they run for national office.

The main charge of inconsistency relates to his abortion stance.  According to the Boston Globe, “When he ran for US Senate in liberal-leaning Massachusetts in 1994, Romney said abortion should be ‘’safe and legal”, in other words, the status quo.  “As a candidate for governor in 2002, he said he would keep the state’s abortion rights laws intact” – again maintain the status quo. 

Romney is a conservative, pro-lifer, at heart but could never get elected Governor of Massachusetts calling for the repeal of abortion rights.  So, he made a deal with the people of Massachusetts – he would keep existing the state’s abortion laws intact but would not expand abortion rights as governor.  He kept that promise. 

That’s not flip-flopping, that’s negotiating a compromise, without sacrificing his core conservative beliefs, that got a Republican elected Governor of liberal Massachusetts – success!

So I believe the flip flopping charge is baseless and has nothing to do with how Romney would perform as a potential President, if called upon.  Romney’s position on major issues is clear, consistent and conservative.  We know this because he articulated his positions very clearly during the GOP primary, including 22 debates, and that’s because they come from heart. 

Romney really believes, like Reagan did, that the conservative approach offers the best chance to solve our nation’s problems.  I do too.

More of my thoughts on Romney as V.P. @ http://vermonters4mitt.wordpress.com/2008/05/31/mccain-needs-romney-2-2/.