Mitt Romney

 

Summed up in one sentence, Mr. Romney makes me nervous. I’ve always felt a little uneasy about him, though I can’t pinpoint why.

The Susan B. Anthony List recently released a pledge for the 2012 Presidential "hopefuls" to sign stating pro-life measures, such as de-funding health centers that are involved with abortion, and appointing pro-life people to the appropriate positions. Mr. Romney wouldn’t sign this. (To be fair, Herman Cain and Gary Johnson wouldn't either.) I guess I can understand what he means in his explanation [paragraph 2 and 4], but it isn’t enough. So Mr. Romney doesn’t want Planned Parenthood (PP) de-funded? Or does he? I’m confused now. The only reason the pro-life movement is going after PP specifically is because it’s the biggest abortion provider in the US. If we could de-fund all abortion clinics, so much the better. So why is he uneasy about that? It also seems very strange that he practically repeated the PP argument against de-funding: that women will lose access to vital health services. Hmmm.

He also thinks that appointing only pro-life appointees to relevant federal positions would "strictly limit his choices" [paragraph 4]. Why? Does he intend to not appoint pro-life people? Who else then, except pro-abortion?

Besides this statement, Mr. Romney is still a little dangerous because of his past strong support for abortion and his slowness to take up the “De-fund PP!” battle cry. Never trust a politician who switches his views. Never. Even if it’s for the better. Because we have absolutely no way of knowing if that is what they really mean or not. I hate politicians who flip-flop. If he becomes pro-life and stays pro-life and consistently does dangerous things (politically) for life, then I might consider actually believing him. I have a rule about whether to believe flip-flopping politicians or not: are they going to gain anything from suddenly stating such-and-such? And if they do, do the risks they take outweigh that statement? Do they hover in the background or do they shout from the rooftops, even when the shouting is unpopular?

Enough about the pro-life issue. Here is the rest of my analysis:

Mr. Romney’s saying all the same things everybody else is. He’ll replace Obamacare, he’ll create jobs, he’ll stop the out-of-control spending. I got bored reading his website simply because it was all the same things I’d heard before.

One thing I just recently found out (so is not the reason he makes me nervous) is that Mr. Romney is a Mormon. I don't think he's evil or anything, and it may have absolutely no impact on how he does as President, but that's another thing to add onto my why-Romney-makes-me-nervous list.