Part Three

Part 3 of 3
Now let’s take a look at Mitt Romney
Social Conservatism:
- The only firm candidate on this subject, that had any reasonable prospect was Huckabee. He hasn’t changed on this issue, ever, as far as I can find. Romney has. Romney campaigned for the governorship of Massachusetts as a pro-choice candidate. He now says that he is pro-life. The question is, does he mean it and what does it matter. The main things that the next president will do to get rid of, or advance abortion in this country will be in two areas. The first would be rolling back the limitations and funding cuts that Reagan put in place, Bill Clinton rescinded and George Bush put BACK in place. All of the democrats have pledged to do this. The second would be to appoint constructionist judges of the same type as Alito, Roberts, Scalia and Thomas, justices who know the Constitution and the Federalist interpretation of the Constitution and don’t put things into it that simply aren’t there. They don’t pull from international law and they don’t view the Constitution as a living/evolving document. This will be crucial. Romney has pledged to appoint such men. It is worth noting that the next president will probably get to pick two more Supreme Court justices in addition to numerous appellate court justices. If you can remember back (before I was born), once upon a time Ronald Reagan was not only a democrat, but himself changed on the life issue. He changed firmly, decisively and never went back. Do we trust Romney to do the same?

Fiscal Conservative:
- Romney has signed a pledge NOT to raise taxes. He has been highly critical of government spending. He has a long history of running business and running them well. He bailed out the Olympic debacle and turned it around. All good things. I think of all of the candidates he would do the best in this area and the main issue in this election has become the economy. I don’t know that he would make serious progress, but I think he would push us a little further in the right direction.

National Defense Conservative:
- Romney seems to have a firm grasp on the issue of who are enemies are and how they need to be treated. Contrary to what the McCain camp has been saying about him, he has been solidly behind the surge in Iraq and seems to have an aptitude for cleaning up organization messes. He has a firm grasp on the illegal immigration issue and is pushing heavily for border enforcement. All in all, pretty solid.

Over all:
- Romney has a problem with his image and comes across as “too perfect” or even “plastic” and so some people don’t like him. To me that makes about as much sense as voting for McCain because his wife is pretty. The fact is that while he hasn’t been the most consistent candidate over his entire political career, he has governed and he has led and he has done both well. He knows the economy and his stance on most issues is inside the walls of the conservative spectrum. Is he a 100% conservative? No (I would say Reagan was a 95%), but neither is McCain. I would give McCain about an 80% and Romney about a 88%.

When it comes down to the final straw, quite frankly I think that Romney is the better hope for something better. I think he would handle the economy better than Bush has and I think he would be just as tough on AQ, Iran and all of the other bad guys out there that hate America. He's not a Reagan. He doesn't have the charisma, the poise or the presence the RR did.

McCain is lacking in all of these areas as well. He does have a certain charm and roughness, but it's just as likely to tick people off as it is to make them laugh. McCain is a centrist in the truest sense of the word and regularly likes to jab his fellow Reps just for spite.

As you can see, I'm not really thrilled with either of the choices this time around. I have heard and understand the idea that maybe we need a Jimmy Carter so that we can get another RR, but I'm concerned that a Democrat President with a Democrat Congress could do an almost immeasurable amount of damage to our economy, healthcare system and national defense. Obama and Clinton would both take us further down a socialist track. Universal Healthcare will bankrupt this country and destroy a highly functional system. Once you go down that track, it's almost impossible to come back, i.e. Social Security.

Ugh. I think either Romney or McCain can beat Hillary. I'd rather it be Romney, but having Hillary on the ticket would be enough to energize the Rep base to get out to vote against her. Obama is a different deal. He scares me. If it's even possible, he is MORE liberal than Hillary but infinitely more charismatic and magnetic. People aren't looking at his ideas, they are listening to his dribble and watching Oprah fawn all over him. They think he is JFK re-incarnated, but ignore the fact that he is the polar OPPOSITE of almost everything JFK stood for. JFK asked "not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country". Obama asks, what do you want this country to go bankrupt to give you?

Democrats are following the Saul Alinski playbook. Tell people they are miserable. Give them a target for their misery and then tell them that you will save them. Class envy/warfare at it's worst.