IBD: Romney So Far: No Core Beliefs, Many Flip-Flops

"No matter what the media or the GOP establishment say, the truth of the matter is GOP primary voters are still in complete charge of the outcome of this race. Not one vote has yet to be cast."


We should be sending that to Rasmussen who is trying to throw this campaign to the establishment candidate with his polling right now.  The donations don't reflect the Rasmussen numbers, but anyone who has been around politics knows that Rasmussen polls are not to be believed until a few weeks before an election.  He has a history of switching to make his numbers match the fact closer to an election.  For now he is content to help out Rove, Ailes, Fox News, and the establishment trying to give us Romney as our candidate.  If you honestly think that Perry is polling behind Ron Paul then I have swampland for sale in Arizona!

"Is there anyone sane left in the GOP Establishment?"


From what I can observe the answer is a resounding "NO"!  Drudge Report and Fox News are fully on the establishment bandwagon for Romney except for a few hosts but you can count them on one hand and have fingers left over.  Drudge seems to be writing his anti-Perry articles right out of the Karl Rove playbook.  Site after site has figured out what Karl Rove is working for the Establishment GOP to get Romney nominated and a lot of conservatives don't like it one bit.  This pushing Romney who is not conservative and is a flip flopper is absolutely disgusting.  Bush 41 and his cabal who run the GOP Establishment should be ashamed of themselves for what they are trying to do to the Republican Party.  They don't seem to care if we lose as long as it is not Governor Perry.  Are they afraid with Perry, they will see what is left of their power disappear?  I say good riddance to their power over the Republican Party.

Then you have the Koch Brothers and their political arm Americans for Prosperity pushing Herman Cain.  Cannot believe people are not up in arms at his smoking ad which I find totally offensive but then I thought not having smoking in restaurants has been great since I start sneezing around cigarette smoke.  His campaign manager, Block, from Americans for Prosperity (AFP)was suspended from doing political campaigns in Wisconsin for three years due to his dirty tricks.  Most of his campaign people come from AFP and why he and his people don't understand Government or the Constitution.  His comments as President he would sign an amendment left you shaking your head that he could be so naive.  It wouldn't shock you if you have ever asked someone from AFP a question about government that isn't in their talking points, you can expect to get a dumb answer.  Seen it up close and personal.  Cain never claimed AFP on his resume but he had a desk, phone, and email account at AFP and spoke around the country for them getting paid through a speaker's bureau.  Not one thing on the resume which is not shocking when you deal with any candidate the Koch Brothers support.  Like so many wealthy donors on both sides, ethics do not matter!

This IBD editorial nails Romney for his flip flops and the GOP establishment for their stupidity.  Guess in VA yesterday afternoon, Romney flip flopped again on Ohio Right to Work changes from Gov Kasish and now supports them putting out the word it was a gotcha question.  Romney who was a one term Governor, been running for President since 2004, has been threw numerous debates in 2008, is claiming it was a gotcha question.  How dumb does he think everyone is to even consider that he would be caught by a gotcha question?  What a horrible candidate.

Romney So Far: No Core Beliefs, Many Flip-Flops
By DOUGLAS MACKINNON Posted 10/26/2011 04:48 PM ET 

Is there anyone sane left in the GOP establishment? Does plain old common sense and gut instinct no longer matter to those who purport to speak for the party? Have conservative principles and traditional values become nothing more than meaningless rhetoric to those so desperate to hang on to imagined power? 

As the Republican establishment lines up like lemmings behind Mitt Romney, it would be illuminating and in fact critical to look at the news for just the last couple of days with regard to this untethered and pliable candidate. A good place to start would be Romney refusing to back Ohio Gov. John Kasich against the public-employee unions' attempt to roll back the law against union greed. 

In a devastating and spot-on critique of Romney with regard to this issue, the conservative Club for Growth said:

"The big problem many conservatives have with Mitt Romney is that he's taken both sides of nearly every issue important to us. He's against a flat tax, now he's for it. He says he's against ObamaCare, but was for the individual mandate and subsidies that are central to ObamaCare. 

He thinks that collective bargaining issues should be left for states to decide if he's in Ohio, but he took the opposite position when he was in New Hampshire. This is just another statement in a long line of statements that will raise more doubts about what kind of President Mitt Romney would be in the minds of many Republican primary voters." 

Ouch. 

Next we turn our attention to the far-left New York Times and its recent headlines regarding Mitt Romney: "Lectern Gone, Romney Finds More Success," said one. Another proclaimed: "Why It's Good For Romney To Be At 21 Percent." 

Curious. Why do the New York Times and so many other liberal publications continually find ways to promote the Romney campaign? 

Conversely, let's look at some recent New York Times headlines regarding Texas Gov. Rick Perry. The first offered up this default criticism of conservatives by the left: "Perry Plan Would Grant Big Tax Break To Wealthiest." Said another: "Obama Attacks Perry On Flat Tax." 

In a country and a world already turned upside down by escalating chaos and uncertainty, shouldn't voters be paying more attention to the continual flip-flops of a 64-year-old man who does not seem to yet know his core beliefs. Shouldn't it give these same voters pause when so many in the left seem to be cheerleading him on as they did John McCain in 2007? 

On the other hand, call me crazy, but as an independent conservative, when Barack Obama, Debbie Wasserman Schultz and the New York Times team up to attack Rick Perry, it only serves to convince me that he is on the right side of the issue and must be advocating those common-sense and conservative values solutions. 

With the help of the GOP establishment and many in the mainstream media, Mitt Romney is trying to create a sense of inevitability and a growing and unstoppable momentum. That is not only his right; it's smart campaigning. 

But as Mr. Romney allies himself with the entrenched special interests to achieve his goal, potential Republican primary voters need to ask themselves a very important and timely question: What if "unstoppable momentum" turns into terminal velocity? What if their hopes and dreams for themselves and their families go splat against the ground? 

No matter what the media or the GOP establishment say, the truth of the matter is GOP primary voters are still in complete charge of the outcome of this race. Not one vote has yet to be cast.

There is still plenty of time to get educated on the issues and the candidates.Like "The Wizard of Oz," while the entrenched establishment and Mr. Romney try to divert attention from reality, it's time for voters to pull back that curtain, realize who is really pulling the levers and then make an informed decision. 

There is still time to beat the machine. 

• MacKinnon is a former White House and Pentagon official and author of the forthcoming memoir titled "Rolling Pennies in the Dark."   

Source:  IBD