In a web ad to be released by the Romney campaign Saturday morning, former U.S. ambassador to the Holy See Mary Ann Glendon, a Romney adviser (who is speaking in New York tonight about “Politics as Vocation”), seeks to encourage pro-lifers about the former governor’s record in Massachusetts.
In “Shares Our Values,” she says:
I’m Mary Ann Glendon and I am a founding member of Women Affirming Life and I have been active in the pro-life movement in Massachusetts and nationally for three decades. [Internationally, too.] The pro-life movement is all about changing hearts and minds and it struck me as very unfortunate that Mitt Romney has been criticized by some people for coming to a pro-life position on the basis of information. That’s what the pro-life movement is all about. Governor Romney showed great political courage and expended much of his political capital in supporting pro-life measures when he was here in Massachusetts. It was a very difficult political environment. 85 percent of the state legislature is Democrat controlled.
Governor Romney in that environment vetoed legislation that would have permitted destructive embryonic research; he vetoed legislation that would have permitted the over the counter sale of the morning after pill; he supported abstinence education in the schools.
Governor Romney was a great friend to the pro-life movement in Massachusetts. In a very difficult political environment, when many doors of the State House were closed to us, we always were welcomed by Governor Romney and his staff. He was a great pro-life governor and he will be a great pro-life president.
It’s an ad about encouraging and welcoming converts as much as it is a political ad for a candidate.
This is the crux of what one has to understand about Mr Romney. As Massachusetts governor, he performed honorably in the absolutely most hostile circumstances imaginable. There were Democrat super-majorities in both houses and in the Governor's council, which passes judgement on judicial nominees. The western version of Cambodia into which Massachusetts has slipped since the election of Obama's trial balloon, Deval Patrick, shows the mettle that Mitt had to exercise.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseYou're making excuses for Romney. Romney wasn't a man that as governor said "I'm pro-life, but I realize Massachusetts isn't". The man openly ran for the office on a pro-choice platform. "I will preserve and protect a woman's right to choose". That's the man's own words, in context. There's no way to explain that away. External Link
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseBy your logic , the pro life movement is closed . Period. End. No newcomers are welcome. No minds can be changed as Governor Romney's was during a 2004 fight over embryonic stem cell research in Mass.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseNo one can be welcomed to the movement, there can be no epiphanies or enlightenment. Why even bother with the pro life movement then if everyone's minds are made up ? As Jim DeMint said yesterday " ..the only way we’re going to ever win the battle for life is to convince a lot of people that used to be pro-choice to be pro-life. And so we — I think this idea of condemning people who change their minds is not a good idea for any of us, whether it’s politicians or just the average American, because a lot of Americans have been a part of and been affected by abortion and we need to welcome
them to the pro-life movement. " It's inexplicable that a movement dedicated to bringing more people to the position of life would shut out converts and refuse to admit those who have changed their minds and hearts.
For the sake of being "welcoming" is it necessary to elect every "newcomer" to be President? Of course epiphanies are welcome. But when choosing a President, itt remains reasonable to question a late-life epiphany that coincides with political expedience.
I personally don't think Romney would ever dare change again, whether or not his pro-life views are sincere. But I still think it is reasonable to wonder how engaged a fighter he would be.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseSo, in your world... words are more important than actions.
Reply to this commentLinkReport Abusesaying he would "preserve the right to choose" doesn't contradict him saying that he was pro life. Those two statements of yours aren't mutually exclusive. They actually kind of go together. The reason he had to say he'd "preserve" is because people thought he was pro life.
Besides, there's little a president can do. So instead you'll get a totally pro choice president as you throw a temper tantrum over romney not being pure enough. Sounds logical.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseI visit pro-life web sites, and I see the hundreds of real-life testimonials from people who came around to the side of life.
They are welcomed, praised, and held up as examples of what can happen.
Why is Mitt Romney an exception?
Why is he alone, condemned beyond his conversion?
The answer is obvious: for the political gain of his detractors.
That is shameful.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseI think one of the reasons people are skeptical of Romney right now is because he and his campaign have cynically attacked Newt as being soft on life issues.
Romney gets up and says he supports Henry Hyde and the Hyde Amendment, yet for the most part that is not how he campaigned and it is not how he governed until he decided to run for President.
On the flip side his own campaign people attack Newt saying that Newt sides with Pelosi on funding abortions, yet Newt stood and voted along side Henry Hyde for well over 20 years on issues of life including the Hyde amendment, partial-birth abortion bans, and on bills from the mid-80's to deny tax-exempt status to organizations which directly or indirectly perform or finance abortions.
So maybe if Mitt would spend a little bit more time telling us in his own words and from his heart as to why his conversion occured instead of trying to tear down others who have spent decades in the trenches fighting and advancing the pro-life agenda, we might not be so skeptical.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseBy the way...what do you have to say about Joan Appleton?
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Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseYes, but after supporting more Leftist Policies than I care to mention, after 4 years Romney left office with an abysmal approval rating. Reagan was in office 8 years, with Democrat Majorities in the House all 8 years and a Democrat majority in the Senate 7 of his 8 years in office; yet he never strayed from his core conservative principals. Oh, I almost forgot, he left office with an approval rating over 60% which subsequently has risen; while Romney left office with an approval rating of 34%.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseYes, but after supporting more Leftist Policies than I care to mention, after 4 years Romney left office with an abysmal approval rating. Reagan was in office 8 years, with Democrat Majorities in the House all 8 years and a Democrat majority in the Senate 7 of his 8 years in office; yet he never strayed from his core conservative principals. Oh, I almost forgot, he left office with an approval rating over 60% which subsequently has risen; while Romney left office with an approval rating of 34%.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseYes, but after supporting more Leftist Policies than I care to mention, after 4 years Romney left office with an abysmal approval rating. Reagan was in office 8 years, with Democrat Majorities in the House all 8 years and a Democrat majority in the Senate 7 of his 8 years in office; yet he never strayed from his core conservative principals. Oh, I almost forgot, he left office with an approval rating over 60% which subsequently has risen; while Romney left office with an approval rating of 34%.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseThe GOP establishment's rush-to-embrace Romney has now taken on mythic configuration. K-Lo, the most Catholic, pro-life voice on the Corner, is embracing the "least" Catholic, most pro-choice candidate. Jonah G, the most erudite of the Corner, is making fun of Huntsman for his ability to speak Chinese. Señor Krikorian, who ridicules the proper pronunciation of Spanish words, is ignoring the fact that Romney speaks Spanish properly. Romney is also fluent in French, which really has Hansen Jr. gasping nervously. It's like a pinball machine, where everybody lights up on queue.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseRomney optimizes the phrase "Talk is Cheap". His Rhetoric is stellar, his record is abominable. I'm curious, did Romney reach out to the Massachusetts Pro-life community, before or after he forced tax payers to fund abortions and build a new facility for Planned Parenthood?
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseRomney optimizes the phrase "Talk is Cheap". His Rhetoric is stellar, his record is abominable. I'm curious, did Romney reach out to the Massachusetts Pro-life community, before or after he forced tax payers to fund abortions and build a new facility for Planned Parenthood?
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseRomney optimizes the phrase "Talk is Cheap". His Rhetoric is stellar, his record is abominable. I'm curious, did Romney reach out to the Massachusetts Pro-life community, before or after he forced tax payers to fund abortions and build a new facility for Planned Parenthood?
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseRomney is showing through the strategic use of these endorsements and supportive ads, that he knows how to put together a strong, solid coalition that has staying power. He strikes me as slow, steady, strategic - all the ingredients of a good leader.
Plus these people are all people of integrity. They are not just dropping in because he is the flavour of the month. They are there because they know he can lead a movement long term. He has cultivated and worked on these relationships through persuasion, dialogue, and his record.
Romney is EARNING this nomination and earning the respect of the party the old fashioned way - through very hard work. Far from being a media darling, especially around NRO, he is still an impressive candidate well deserving of the support he is accumulating.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseRomney is showing through the strategic use of these endorsements and supportive ads, that he knows how to put together a strong, solid coalition that has staying power. He strikes me as slow, steady, strategic - all the ingredients of a good leader.
Plus these people are all people of integrity. They are not just dropping in because he is the flavour of the month. They are there because they know he can lead a movement long term. He has cultivated and worked on these relationships through persuasion, dialogue, and his record.
Romney is EARNING this nomination and earning the respect of the party the old fashioned way - through very hard work. Far from being a media darling, especially around NRO, he is still an impressive candidate well deserving of the support he is accumulating.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseMitt Romney was not only not pro-life in Massachusetts, he was also in support of marriage for homosexuals. He wouldn't say so outright, but he appointed the Democrat, liberal judges who pushed through the gay marriage laws and ignored the signatures requesting a ballot initiative that would have allowed the voters to decide if they wanted homosexual marriage to be allowed in their state.
Mitt Romney reminds me of Obama in that he'll make sure that someone else does the dirty work for him so that he can come out looking squeaky clean. Anyway, if he was such a conservative in Massachusetts then why does he come out and say that he's had a change of heart since he was governor of Massachusetts. Change of heart from what? From being a liberal?
Reply to this commentLinkReport Abuse"I will not waver on a woman's right to choose."
- Mitt Romney
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