Thursday, December 21, 2006

Like Father, Like Son?

Mitt Romney is furiously trying to live down his early examples of left deviationism. Along with expressing dangerously tolerant positions on abortion and gay rights, it now comes out that he voted for Paul Tsongas in the 1992 Massachusetts Democratic primary. Maybe Romney should say that he was "brainwashed" into his earlier position.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Tsongas was viewed as social liberal and economic conservative.

He was especially known for his pro-business economic policies that have come to be embraced by many in the modern Democratic Party. In particular, he focused on the United States budget deficit and its harmful effects, a cause he continued to champion after his primary campaign ended by co-founding The Concord Coalition.

He served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Ethiopia in 1962-64, and as Peace Corps Country Director in the West Indies in 1967-68.

"I have been referred to as a pro business liberal. I have always been referred to that way. That is what I am. On traditional Democratic issues, human rights, civil rights, women's rights, the environment, I am a liberal, and I make no apology for that. But in terms of energy policy and in particularly in terms of economic policy I am a realist. I may sound like a Republican but if it works, I am for it. I am not locked in to the ideology, sort of the class warfare, corporate bashing that Democrats find attractive. That is not me it has never been me."

Myclob said...

Romney is not a true Republican because he voted for Paul Tsongas.

Reasons to agree

1. A good republican would never vote for a Democrat.
2. A vote for a Democrat is a vote for the Devil himself. D is for Devil. Even if it is the just the primary and you vote for George H. Bush (like Romney) in the General election.

Reasons to disagree

1. Romney was a good republican because he was very practical. In 1992 there was no Republican primary. He had two options. He could sit on the side lines and not vote (like me this last election cycle) or he could vote for the best candidate who would not likely beat Bush in the General election. Romney chose the latter. This does not make him a bad republican.
2. Paul Tsongas was a fiscal conservative.
3. Paul Tsongas was a good guy.
4. I wish every Republican would have registered as independents in 1992 and voted for Paul Tsongus. Bush would have lost anyways, but we would have had Tsongus instead of Clinton. And now Hillary Clinton. Maybe George H. Bush would have one against Paul Tsongus. Two descent guys, that had nothing to do with Hollywood instead of Bill going against H. Bush in 1992.
5. Maybe Republicans should all claim independent, so that we can vote for Hillary in the Primaries and our guys in the General election.
6. There was no GOP primary contest in 92. In 1992 Mitt Romney voted against Bill Clinton twice.
7. I am a Romney fan, but not even I think Romney was smart enough to see that Bill Clinton was a bigger liability than George H. Bush was an asset for our Country. I am not going to attribute Mitt Romney of difficult political calculus. This was very basic addition. Vote once for the guy you like best, or vote twice? Hmm, let me see…