The Corner once again weighs in on their
"chosen one's" abortion position. Romney certainly presents an
interesting case regarding "evolved" positions on important moral
issues.
In the WaPo item in question, the point
seems to be made that the woman believed that Romney had been
pro-life all along, but simply took the pro-death position because
in order to have a shot at winning he needed to do so.
Some, including a few of Romney's cheerleaders on other sites,
have pointed to this kind of story as proof that Romney has been
pro-life all along.
We think this story confirms the far more troubling aspect of
the Romney campaign: that he appears willing to sell out his core
convictions to win.
As we've reported, one of the key points recruiters for the
Romney campaign have been using to woo supporters is that Romney
will be far more reliable than Sen. John McCain in being true to
conservative values: good on taxes, good on judicial
nominations.
Yet, how can Romney's people with a straight face use this line
of argument, when their own candidate has appeared willing to
surrender what social conservatives believe to be the most critical
issue for an elected official -- life -- in order to win? With this
sad track record, one has to wonder what Romney will do to, say,
ensure his Supreme Court nominee is not filibustered (Harriet
Miers, anyone?). Or what deal he would cut to ensure he gains a
victory on a major healthcare reform bill (as he did in
Massachusetts, where he could have fought to block taxpayer-funded
abortions, but apparently chose not to, in order to preserve the
potential for passage of the overall plan).
We'd be much bigger supporters of Romney's if he'd just come out
and say that his pro-death position was a purely mercenary one and
that he was lying to the Massachusetts voters all along. That's the
kind of frank, honest talk that might actually help a candidate in
a primary race where there is all too much pandering going on.
Our sense is that the conservartive base has probably had enough
with compromisers and candidates willing to sell out their core
values for a cheap, short-term victory.
topics:
Taxes, John McCain, Abortion, Supreme Court
