Mitt Romney Can't Live Down Being a Flip-Flopper (thought, Democrats, Republicans)
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I just took the time to watch this video. Pretty hard to trust Romney, in my opinion. - If this doesn't give you 'pause'...you need to check and see if you have heartbeat.
But Romney certainly has Obama's endorsement, it seems!
Wow. All of Mitt's flip-flops in one video. Nice. Particularly damning is the flip-flopping Mormon's support of Obama's stimulus package. I can just see Obama's attacks ads now playing Mitt's own words against him every time the flip-flopping Mormon attacks Obama's stimulus.
Wow. All of Mitt's flip-flops in one video. Nice. Particularly damning is the flip-flopping Mormon's support of Obama's stimulus package. I can just see Obama's attacks ads now playing Mitt's own words against him every time the flip-flopping Mormon attacks Obama's stimulus.
That Romney is a morman, is the most troubling aspect for me.
He was Obama's ambassador to China (and an ambassador to Indonesia under Bush I think?) He was an incredibly popular 2 term governor in Utah--he balanced their state budget--and he has extensive business experience through his family's company. He's likable, smart, and has both foreign policy and successful business experience--he's a proven leader. I think he has it all.
Here's why the far right end of the R base hasn't embraced him. He's very much a social moderate. I'm an old school, moderate R, so it works for me. He's also a Mormon. The very things that kill him with the R base--religion and social issues--are the things that would make him very appealing to independents. Obama praised him for the job he'd done as ambassador, and that upsets the extreme Obama haters as well.
I look at it this way--the things that demand real and meaningful change in this country are the economy and foreign policy, and he's a star in both those areas. The R party is going to have to decide what they want--a candidate that meets their purity test, or one who can actually get the job done and has a chance of winning the general.
I'm a resident of Utah so perhaps I can offer a little insight on Huntsman from my perspective. He was mainly a popular governor because the economy was good and the government never asked too much of its citizens during his tenure. He was by no means a miracle worker. Utah has had a long line of good governors, and none of them had trouble balancing the budget either. Much like Governor Perry, he just can't take credit for his state's success. He wasn't a turn-around governor unlike Romney.
Huntsman was originally elected because of his name. There's really no question about it. His dad, Jon Sr., is a self-made billionaire and gives a great deal to charity and the local cancer research institute. Jon Jr. inherited his dad's petro-chemical company (think oil refineries). He has business experience, in fact part of the reason he gained his ambassador positions was because all of the Huntsman refineries operate in Asia. He wasn't exactly a revolutionary businessman though. Again, he was just one head in a series of heads of a well-managed organization.
He's well educated and experienced in foreign relations. I'll give you that. I think he'd make an excellent Secretary of State. But I think he's weak on social issues because as governor, he seemed to stick his finger to the wind with most things. He claims to have reformed healthcare in Utah, but members of his administration claim he had no vision or idea of what he wanted, and could hardly take credit for what the state ended up with. And it's being quite generous to call it a "reform," really. Utah is a state with highly competitive healthcare companies offering above average care at below average costs. I mean it's basically the poster child for how healthcare should work. Obama himself lauded Utah's healthcare in his State of the Union address in '10. But Huntsman isn't to thank for this; they were highly competitive long before he was governor.
On many issues, Huntsman voiced support for things that just seemed to have no effect. He didn't get much flack for supporting cap & trade because nothing really ever came of it. He voiced support for civil unions, a move that Utah's gay and liberal community practically deified him for, but his support was practically a joke. Utah's legislature will never pass such legislation. One of the key points of his original platform was to replace a state prison, but no one heard about it after he became governor. He was originally unsure about education voucher legislation, but ended up supporting it, and it subsequently passed in the Utah legislature. Then, the legislation flopped when Utah's incredibly conservative base called it to a referendum and rejected it. He's said many things to appear moderate or progressive, but in action, he really wasn't either of those things.
I hate to bring up his religion, but I'm not sure he's really a Mormon. He said his religion is hard to define, and people who know him have said he's not an active Latter-day Saint by any means, much unlike Romney and all of Utah's major politicians. He's said his adopted daughters are being raised in their traditional cultures (Buddhist and Hindu). Utah's electorate is very religious, and quite frankly, his approval ratings wouldn't have been as high had he been as open about his faith as governor. It sure seems like he just called himself a Mormon to get votes, when in reality his only connection to the faith might just be that he was raised that way.
I'm a resident of Utah so perhaps I can offer a little insight on Huntsman from my perspective. He was mainly a popular governor because the economy was good and the government never asked too much of its citizens during his tenure. He was by no means a miracle worker. Utah has had a long line of good governors, and none of them had trouble balancing the budget either. Much like Governor Perry, he just can't take credit for his state's success. He wasn't a turn-around governor unlike Romney.
Huntsman was originally elected because of his name. There's really no question about it. His dad, Jon Sr., is a self-made billionaire and gives a great deal to charity and the local cancer research institute. Jon Jr. inherited his dad's petro-chemical company (think oil refineries). He has business experience, in fact part of the reason he gained his ambassador positions was because all of the Huntsman refineries operate in Asia. He wasn't exactly a revolutionary businessman though. Again, he was just one head in a series of heads of a well-managed organization.
He's well educated and experienced in foreign relations. I'll give you that. I think he'd make an excellent Secretary of State. But I think he's weak on social issues because as governor, he seemed to stick his finger to the wind with most things. He claims to have reformed healthcare in Utah, but members of his administration claim he had no vision or idea of what he wanted, and could hardly take credit for what the state ended up with. And it's being quite generous to call it a "reform," really. Utah is a state with highly competitive healthcare companies offering above average care at below average costs. I mean it's basically the poster child for how healthcare should work. Obama himself lauded Utah's healthcare in his State of the Union address in '10. But Huntsman isn't to thank for this; they were highly competitive long before he was governor.
On many issues, Huntsman voiced support for things that just seemed to have no effect. He didn't get much flack for supporting cap & trade because nothing really ever came of it. He voiced support for civil unions, a move that Utah's gay and liberal community practically deified him for, but his support was practically a joke. Utah's legislature will never pass such legislation. One of the key points of his original platform was to replace a state prison, but no one heard about it after he became governor. He was originally unsure about education voucher legislation, but ended up supporting it, and it subsequently passed in the Utah legislature. Then, the legislation flopped when Utah's incredibly conservative base called it to a referendum and rejected it. He's said many things to appear moderate or progressive, but in action, he really wasn't either of those things.
I hate to bring up his religion, but I'm not sure he's really a Mormon. He said his religion is hard to define, and people who know him have said he's not an active Latter-day Saint by any means, much unlike Romney and all of Utah's major politicians. He's said his adopted daughters are being raised in their traditional cultures (Buddhist and Hindu). Utah's electorate is very religious, and quite frankly, his approval ratings wouldn't have been as high had he been as open about his faith as governor. It sure seems like he just called himself a Mormon to get votes, when in reality his only connection to the faith might just be that he was raised that way.
Thanks for that insight into the real Huntsman. He doesn't sound like a very sincere person to me. I have never really cared for him. It is sort of funny that in Utah pretending to be a Mormon helps you, but in a national election you might wish you hadn't pretended quite so well...lol.
Paul doesn't benefit by Romney being a flip flopper and Romney won't benefit if Paul drops out. Neither will get each others voters.
I will be making an anti-Romney vote if Perry drops out before my primary not because of Romney as much as the establishment northeast urban Republican elite machine pushing him as the ugly sister response to not getting Ryan, Christie, Daniels, Pataki, etc., to run. You know, that whole "let's get our boy in there with some big money because the rubes in the rest of the country don't know jack."
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AS of now, still keenly observing it (them) all. As mb said in a recent post, we have NO decent choices. I completely agree.
