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AmSpecBlog
Bill Weld, Obamacon
Like an avowedly pro-choice version of Doug Kmiec, former Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld has gone from supporting Mitt Romney in the Republican primaries to Barack Obama in the general election. The Boston Globe item compares Weld to other Republicans jumping ship and notes Charles Krauthammer's disapproval. But former Minnesota Gov. Arne Carlson, also mentioned, was a classic liberal Republican, a Gopher State Nelson Rockefeller. His politics are probably to the left of Colin Powell's.
Weld in his prime was a somewhat different animal. He was a conservative on the issues that drove him -- taxes, spending, welfare, and crime -- but a liberal on the issues that the Boston Globe uses to disqualify Republicans from office. His liberalism on abortion and gay rights was important to social conservatives, but for him it was mainly a way to get those issues off the table so he could cut taxes, balance the budget, reform welfare, and introduce criminals to the "joys of breaking rocks." The only comparable figure I can think of is Rudy Giuliani.
Alas, toward the end of his first term in Massachusetts he began the slide to a more conventional Rockefeller Republicanism, making him the kind of guy who would endorse Obama. His New York gubernatorial bid was an unmitigated disaster, like his attempt to become Bill Clinton's ambassador to Mexico. But for a brief, shining moment, Weld was about as good as it gets in the Bay State.
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Obamarx| 10.24.08 @ 3:16PM
When John Siber ran against Weld, Silber received conservative support while Weld got MTA and other liberal support. I'm proud I voted for Sibler the last democrat I'll ever vote for.
W. James Antle III| 10.24.08 @ 4:45PM
Silber was more socially conservative than Weld, and Weld did beat him in liberal communities like Brookline. But Weld was more solid on taxes and spending than Silber.
Phil Lawler| 10.24.08 @ 10:24PM
"But for a brief, shining moment, Weld was about as good as it gets in the Bay State." As good as it gets, yes. But it doesn't get very good.
Under Weld, state spending rose at a faster rate than under his predecessor, Dukakis. True, he signed many obscure tax cuts. But the only taxpayer relief on the big-ticket item-- the income tax-- came when he cut a deal with the Democratic majority in the legislature.
Weld was a social liberal who styled himself a fiscal conservative. It was a myth.
BJC| 10.24.08 @ 10:46PM
I usually enjoy Jim Antle's writings very, very much -- but in this comment he's dead wrong. I am a former conservative Democrat, now a disgusted Reaganite Republican -- and I found John Silber admirable and Bill Weld very, very repugnant. I tire of explaining to people that the unidimensional "political spectrum" is a misleading model, as nobody is more opposed to a liberal Republican than a conservative Democrat. Weld cannot accurately be declared "more solid on taxes and spending" because in endorsing Obama, Weld is setting himself in favor of confiscating money from people morally opposed to abortion and homosexuality, to fund those immoral endeavors through government edicts.