I’ve said I suspect that presidential candidate Mitt Romney’s conversion to the pro-life cause came at a mighty convenient time as he was finished with Massachusetts electoral politics and was moving on to the national Republican stage where pro-life plays better.
So am I surprised at the revelation that Romney’s wife donated to Planned Parenthood? Not when you consider that the donation was in 1994 and Romney was very clear about being pro-abortion then. I think charges of hypocrisy related that donation alone are misplaced considering the narrative the Romney campaign has proposed. If the conversion is true, then such a donation is moot.
Still, it also means that Romney may be in the same tradition as the two Presidents named Bush. It has long been speculated based on unverifiable claims that Barbara Bush and Laura Bush are “pro-choice”.
In reality, we do not elect the spouse, we elect the candidate, but can we say that the spouse has no effect on the policy positions of the officeholder?
Ties to Mass. Citizens for Life
Of course, Romney now points out that Ann is one of the leaders of Massachusetts Citizens for Life, the state’s leading pro-life organization. A group which, coincidentally, is giving him a pro-life award at its Mother’s Day dinner this weekend. A group which, coincidentally, received a $15,000 donation from a Romney-controlled foundation last December. A group which used to be quite critical of Romney.
Again, perhaps the pro-life conversion of both Romneys is quite genuine and if that’s true, I give thanks for their change of hearts. But it’s quite another thing to ask me to base a critical vote for president on that promise. Romney would not be the first politician to have a “convenient” conversion when it suited him.
I need him to explain to all of us the details of that conversion. I need to hear from him what was the impetus for such a radical about-face on the most contentious political and social issue of our time.
And I need Mass. Citizens for Life to explain to the rest of us what they apparently see that we don’t and give us some reason to believe that their embrace of the miraculously converted Romneys is anything other than what it appears on the surface. Even they must see that it has the appearance of quid pro quo.
Technorati Tags: pro-life | abortion | Massachusetts | presidential election | Romney | Republican |
I have always liked Mit Romney because when he campaigned, although he gave the right (that is left) nods to the “powers-that-be” in this state to keep them off his back, he also seemed to take every opening he could to move conservative. For example, in his last debate with the Democrat, she came out in favor of allowing minor girls to be snuck off to abortion clinics behind their parent’s backs. Romney immediately said “NO!”
I only wish the media would give as much play to Catholic Democrats who were once pro-life but who flip-flopped (sold their souls??) to please national Democrats.
We elect the candidate, but when it comes to abortion, the spouse is everything. I always say that we’ll never have a truly pro-life president until we have a pro-life first lady.
Here in SC, Gov. David Beasley won in the mid-90s on pro-life platform.
After the election, it was revealed that his father-in-law was an abortionist in TN.
He said it didn’t matter; he was still pro-life.
Exactly how much major pro-life legislation did “the Beas” pass in South Carolina?
As I recall, none.
What do Nancy Reagan, Barbara Bush and Laura Bush have in common? They’re all “pro-choice.”
“But it’s quite another thing to ask me to base a critical vote for president on that promise. Romney would not be the first politician to have a ‘convenient’ conversion when it suited him.”
So Mitt has no problem tossing pro-life Republicans off the sled when campaigning for a Massachusetts-focused office (against Swimmer in the 1994 US Senate race, and against…who?…in 2002 for Guvvna), but now he wants us to take him back with robe, ring and fatted calf now that he seeks the highest of elected offices?
Sorry, Mitt. You gotta do a lot more to get my vote.