Responses to Concerns About Romney

Having interacted a fair amount with some Huckabee supporters the past week, and noting the take of the mainstream media, let me take a shot at listing some commonly expressed concerns about Romney, and how I would respond to those concerns. I should say that I could go into them in great detail with documentation, but I give you just my summary here.

“Romney is a flip-flopper and has changed his positions for political purposes from the time of his run for governor to now. He’s not really committed to conservative causes—it’s all just talk.”

- This is a tired argument, and really not that hard to address. First, prior to his run for governor of Massachusetts, his political views were not well known or documented. Second, when he ran for the U.S. Senate from Massachusetts against Ted Kennedy, and when he ran for governor, he went on record with a number of positions. On social issues it’s true he was moderate at best, but in every other case they were conservative positions, and it was his economic policies that were the real focus of his campaign for governor. The pro-life issue is instructive, as he basically said “look, I’m personally against abortion, but this is a heavily pro-choice state and this is the law of the land, so I will leave the issue alone and not try to change it.” As governor, he did just that, including working against expansion of access to abortion in the state. And on another major social issue, Romney was a true hero in combating changes in the definition of marriage to include “gay marriage.”

- Now that he is running a national campaign, he is able to and has defined his positions which are down the line conservative. Note that when he made pledges in his run for governor, he kept them. He has made pledges as part of his campaign for the presidency. He will keep them. He has shown nothing but trustworthiness when he has given his word.

“Romney is not really committed to the pro-life and pro-marriage/family causes important to many social conservatives.”

- Again, see above. But also, look at this link regarding his work to protect marriage here.

“Romney is just a typical rich guy, out of touch with the average person and he’s trying to buy the election but it isn’t working because he’s spent much more than other candidates and still isn’t the leading candidate.”

- Romney is a rich guy. Since when, especially among Republicans who believe in the free enterprise system, did it become a bad thing to succeed based on hard work, skills, and ability? That’s what America is all about! Certainly Ronald Reagan believed in this, and traditionally conservatives do as well.

- As Romney himself has said, if so many of his friends are willing to give to his campaign and ask others to do the same, how could he refrain from sacrificing his own money in the cause? He’s done so because he believes he can do the job well, and to give America a choice based on what he can offer.

- Romney began the campaign with very limited name recognition. A significant portion of the money spent has been just to increase his visibility. Romney began without a “natural base of support” of any significant size, which is in contrast to his major competitors, who all had name recognition and/or a natural base of support of significant size.

“Romney isn’t a natural politician so he can’t win in November.”

- True, he has limited experience in politics, and especially national politics. Isn’t that one reason we want him? As he says, are we going to solve problems that have been debated but not solved for years, just by sending Washington insiders back there just to sit in different seats?

- Plus, he is developing this skill. You could see it developing in Michigan and since then. He’s becoming better, and his campaign has made smart adjustments as they’ve gone along.

“Romney won’t be able to attract the moderates and cross-over Democrats needed to help beat the Democrat in November.”

- Romney nearly beat Senator Kennedy, a liberal icon, in Massachusetts and did win the governorship there. He certainly understands moderates and even liberals and this gives him a leg up on persuading many to join him. We shouldn’t underestimate him in this area.

“Romney’s will be handicapped by being Mormon.”

- This seems to be fading as an issue as people have been able to listen to him, consider and digest this issue. He has won a majority of evangelical voters in some states and a number of significant conservative religious leaders have come to his defense. In a year in which the four leading candidates are a black candidate, a woman candidate, a Mormon candidate, and an “old guy” candidate, Americans have shown they are willing to vote for the best candidate regardless of issues of race, gender, specific religion, or age.

Consider this video segment from a black conservative religious leader:

Rev. Chip Murray: