Posted by
Georgiaboy on Saturday, January 06, 2007 8:54:19 AM
The race for the Republican nomination has been whittled down to three big time candidate according to some commentators. None of the three has perfect conservative credentials, but each has major electoral strengths and positions that appeal to Republicans.
Of the "big three" I can say for sure, McCain is not the one. Everytime the Republican party really needs him (Judges, Immigration) he is on the wrong side fraternizing with people like Kennedy and Feingold.
If Rudy ends up with the nomination, I will gladly support him. He has an inspiring record on economic issues. He will not do anything to restrict guns, will appoint originalist judges, and will probably agree to refrain from pushing his liberal issues in public. He was also probably forced to sound more liberal than he really is to win in the poisonous environment of New York. Once he is out in the wholesome air of red america, his libertarian conservative core should start shining brighter.
Romney has gotten a lot of flak for "flip-flopping," but I think people are being too harsh. He has been perfectly consistent of gays. He opposes discrimination and hatred towards them, but doesn't think they should be able to marry. That is the position of most Republicans.
He has offered a reasonable explanation of his change on abortion and backed it up with an unpopular veto of stem cell funding. His wife suffers from a disease that embryonic stem cell proponents say could be cured. If he was flip flopping solely for political gain he would not oppose stem cell research. It is supported by a majority of Americans and even people like Frist support it.
Besides, he is a Mormon. Which is more likely, he was pro-life Mormon all along but hid it in order to have a snowballs chance in heck of winning in Massachuessets. In this case, his flip flop should not be worrisome. He is one of us...a spy forced to take disguise in enemy territory. Or that he actually was pro-choice all along and then flipped to a politically unpopular position for political gain. I know that some people are worried, but Mitt has gotten the short end of the stick on his alleged "flip flop."