The other day, I posted my opinion about Rick Santorum. I promised I’d post a similar piece about Mitt Romney, so I suppose I have to put out some effort and go figure out what I really think about the man.
Although I’m a registered Democrat, I’m actually more of an Independent and often will 
cross party lines at the ballot, and have marked my vote for someone from practically every party except perhaps a communist. I’m not really sure if there are registered communist party members anymore, or if they actually still run for office anywhere except in China, where you have to be a communist party member to get a government job.
What I was trying to say, is that I normally don’t pay much attention to the conservative races, especially in the primary phases. I can’t vote in the Republican primaries, so I don’t usually have much interest in who is running until the field is narrowed down a bit. Santorum is different of course – he’s very scary and people should sit up and take notice of him before he accidentally slips in through the back door because we weren’t really looking.
Romney on the other hand, comes across to me kind of the same as when you hear adults talking in a Charlie Brown cartoon. You hear the noise, and know it’s someone talking, but the words just don’t quite make it into the air. Mitt is a lot like that – lots of noise, but no real message that sticks to the wall.
I think a lot of people like me are confused by Mitt. His position on issues seems to be 
remarkably flexible, and eventually will land on whatever you want it to be. Of course, a lot of politicians are like that, especially in primary season. I recall John McCain had a similar issue, turning into nearly a completely different person when he begain to run for President the last time.
There’s also the issue of him being so out of touch with “normal” wage-earning folks like us. I don’t see that as so unusual, perhaps because I’ve spent the last 16 years of my life working in the corporate office of a very large company, full of people who make in one pay check more than most people need to support a family of five for a year. And their paychecks aren’t even the primary source of their income – it’s that stock equity that companies give out – that’s where the real money lies.
Anyway, having been around these types of people for a considerable amount of time, I know that they have absoutely no idea at all how normal people live. They are clueless, and when you try to explain it to them, you might as well be speaking martian. They don’t get it, never will get it, and there is no sense wasting your breath. The “1%” (and Romney is more in the “.00025%” are a completly different breed.
Anyway – where does Romney say he stands on the issues?
- He used to support abortion, but now he doesn’t
- He likes sales taxes, wants to eliminate taxes paid by the rich
- He wants to roll back any regulations that make it hard for business to do business
- He wants to dump medicaid, and isn’t opposed to privatizing social security
- Isn’t really clear on what he thinks about Afghanistan
- Doesn’t think waterboarding is torture
- Would bomb Iran if sanctions didn’t work
- Has flip-flopped on carbon emissions and now doesn’t really know what to think
- Like Santorum – likes the big fence, but has flip-flopped on illegal immigrants
- Is opposed to same-sex marriage and supports a constitutional amendment
- Would repeal the Obama health care plan, even though he put one just like it into law in Massachusetts
- Appears to have a strong dislike of teacher unions
- Appears to dislike China
- Corporate bailouts were essential, but not done correctly
You know, looking at that bullet list, and comparing it to the one for Rick Santorum, I don’t see a lot of difference. They are both equally scary, it’s just that Santorum does a much better job at putting it into words while in front of a news camera.
What the frick is wrong with people that think torture is OK? That’s one of the scariest parts about both Santorum and Romney. Anyone that thinks it is OK to torture another human being has no boundaries, and you can figure from there that they will do most anything to achieve whatever it is they want. Is that really the America we want to be, or used to be before the Bush family tooks us down the long dusty road to Tehran?
There are all sorts of political issues in any campaign that drive people to vote for one person over another. It could be taxes, or womens rights or how someone views the environment – or none of the above.
Sure, our economy hit a bump – look back in time, we’ve had them before and I’m sure we’ll have them again.
What’s really more important? All those issues don’t mean a hoot if we end up being an amoral country, with leaders in charge who think torture and mayhem are OK. What’s the next step? Look east at Syria – do you really think that can’t happen here too? It could, if we keep letting apathy keep us from the polls or paying attention to what these guys really believe.
I think I strayed a bit off topic – where were we? Oh – Mitt Romney. I think the reason it’s so hard to actually get a grasp on what Romney stands for is that he keeps changing his mind. He was for a path to citizenship for immigrants, now he’s not. He was against the Bush tax cuts, then he was for them. He was anti-Reagan, now he’s pro-Reagan. He was anti-gun, now he’s seeking an endorsement from the NRA. He once stated he went hunting and owned guns, then he changed his mind. He’s changed his mind so many times on global warming that I don’t think even he knows what he really thinks anymore.
Name an issue, and Mitt has at least three opinions on it, all conflicting. Do we really want this man to sit in the White House?
Scary…but right on target. JB