California Conservative

A new 527 ad might start changing the political landscape in Iowa and South Carolina. The advertisement is from the American Right to Life Action group. It provides a stunning rebuke of Romney’s insistence that he’s pro life. Here’s the transcript of the advertisement:

Once upon a time there was a man named Mitt who said a very bad thing:
Romney: “I believe that abortion should be safe and legal in this country”
Then he thought of campaigning in Utah and said something different. “I am NOT pro-choice!”
But when he came back to liberal Massachusetts: Romney: “I will preserve and protect a woman’s right to choose.”
Then in 2004 he magically became pro-life, but only six months later: Romney: “I am absolutely committed to my promise to maintain the status quo with regards to law related to abortion and choice.”
The spell must have worn off.
Now he’s on the campaign trail again, and he’s back to being pro-life.
Romney: “I was pro-choice; I’m pro-life.” … “I changed my position” … “I never said I was pro-choice.”
Narrator: BR: Mitt Romney, willing to sacrifice children, lying for your vote.
Paid for by American Right-to-Life Action.

Here’s how Gov. Romney responded to the ad:

“My record in being pro-life is very clear as the governor of Massachusetts, and my guess is that there is some group that is pulling for another candidate and is trying to find someway to go after me, and that is just the nature of politics,” he said.

That isn’t being clear. That’s a picture of being contradictory on the life issue. How can you be “pro-life…as the governor of Massachusetts” while stating halfways through his only term that “I am absolutely committed to my promise to maintain the status quo with regards to law related to abortion and choice”? How can he be pro life when he signed a health care bill into law that establishes a $50 co-pay for abortions?

I’ll agree with Gov. Romney that this 527 might be pulling for another candidate, though it’s quite possible that they’re just pulling for their policy position. I’ll even agree that their closing rhetoric is over the top. That said, their rhetoric is irrelevant. Gov. Romney’s statements are his statements since they’re verifiable.

If this 527 is pulling for another candidate, the next logical question is to ask why they’re pulling for a different candidate. Based on the fact that they’ve accumulated this collection of contradictory statements says that they’re opposing Gov. Romney because they don’t trust his statements that he’s pro life. Why should they?

As for Romney’s questioning why this organization is running this ad, is that his attempt to say that this organization has ulterior motives? Perhaps but irrelevant. Gov. Romney’s contradictions are Gov. Romney’s contradicions.

More importantly, some of these contradictory statements were made after Gov. Romney supposedly had a pro life transformation. This advertisement, coupled with Gov. Romney’s changing positions on tax cuts, cements in discerning people’s minds that Mitt Romney never met a position he wouldn’t change if it suited him politically.

GOP activists should demand that our nominee is steadfast in holding the right policy positions. Thus far, Mitt Romney has flunked that test on the life issue and tax cuts, two of the most important issues to conservatives.

Finally, what other positions has Gov. Romney been less than forthright on? Let’s be honest: If someone isn’t trustworthy, they don’t belong in elected office, especially as the leader of the free world.

Technorati Tags: Mitt Romney, Tax Cuts, Pro Life, Flip-Flopper, Election 2008

Cross-posted at LetFreedomRingBlog

This entry was posted on Saturday, December 22nd, 2007 at 11:51 pm and is filed under Activism, Author: Gary Gross, Election 2008, Health Care, Special Interests, Subversives, Taxes. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.