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Saturday, February 02, 2008
Kevin McCullough :: Townhall.com Columnist
Candidate Flip-Flop
by Kevin McCullough
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Will Sen Obama get a bounce from the convention?

Much has been made of Mitt Romney's positions on a short list of issues previous to entering the 2008 Presidential race, the same has been said of Mike Huckabee. Yet admittedly those two men are running on the campaign platforms that they published on their web-sites and have stood by in debate after debate.

John McCain on the other hand has performed major flip-flops on two of the core positions the party base holds dear, and in essence remade himself and his candidacy multiple times.

Assisted by popular mainstream media coverage Senator McCain has escaped careful scrutiny of his positions, unlike both Romney and Huckabee who have had to endure hit after hit for conservative positions and how those differed from previous policies practiced by the two Governors.

John McCain as recently as the New Hampshire primary still scoffed at tax cuts and chided those who had opposed him for the legislation he authored multiple years over that offered direct amnesty to those who had entered the nation illegally. By South Carolina depending on the group he addressed, McCain had seen the light on border fencing, and began calling for the extension of the Bush tax cuts.

You know - the same tax cuts he fought against. The same tax cuts that pulled us out of the Clinton recession, and helped us recover from 9/11 and gave the government treasury revenues of such magnitude that despite fighting an expensive on-going war against global jihadists still allowed us to reduce the deficit ahead of schedule every year.

Yes Senator Cranky could easily be dubbed, "McFlipper!"

Yet highlighting Mitt's previously held positions, positions that he committed to prior to campaigning for president, McCain advanced the double talk of his rival's floppery all the while ignoring his seismic shifts.

And it began to extend far beyond those two issues.

The arrogant Senator began to make allusions to strong judicial nominees that he would put forward if he were to be elected. How easily the voters in Florida forgot that it was Senator John McCain whose "Gang of 14" saw to it that the talented, gifted, and deserving justices were not just moved to the back of the bus.

Senator McCain threw them under it.

The wild-eyed, cocky, and short-fused candidate also attempted to cite his pro-life credentials and his voting record to voters beyond South Carolina. It is my feeling that Senator McCain believes that by running now as a "pro-life" and "strong defense" candidate that he will corner two of the three legs of the Reagan coalition. He's already openly admitted he has essentially no clue how the economy works, or should be fixed, or even managed.

But the suddenly "Verbally pro life" candidate had only months previously admitted that he didn't get all that jazzed about the life issue. When advised by some in his campaign to highlight it more in his appearances on the stump he shrugged his shoulders, and offered snide remarks about how pro-lifers need to get over it.

And of course he refuses to acknowledge the damage he's done to the pro-life activist community through the passage of McCain-Feingold, campaign finance reform legislation that censors voters first amendment expression.

While I was emceeing the "Blogs4Life" conference this year, the pro-life stalwart Senator Sam Brownback shared his thoughts with those gathered. After which he took questions. When asked why he had endorsed Senator McCain his reply was sincere, "His voting record is solidly pro-life."

To which I proffered from the lectern, "Senator I don't question his vote. I just resent the fact that he will not allow me to run a television ad thirty days before an election that points out that Barack Obama favors infanticide." The room erupted in applause. See... we pro-lifers know his vote is safe, but we resent him for zipping our lips - at the most important time of voting consciousness.

Then there's the issue of his victory speeches. Have you ever heard more arrogant dross? Posing as though he is about to call America to greatness, his lips drip with resentment, eye-ball sweeping laughter that seeks to plunge knives into any who disagree with him. It was creepy... Continued...

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About The Author
Kevin McCullough's first hardback title "The MuscleHead Revolution: Overturning Liberalism with Commonsense Thinking" is now available. He blogs at www.muscleheadrevolution.com.

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Subject: Yikes-Instapundit finds Romney lies
Geraghty the Indispensable has the dope on Romney's tale tales (and lies) on firearms:


Sometimes a candidate gets a little too much grief for misspeaking. The first time Mitt Romney said he was endorsed by the NRA in his gubernatorial run, he was wrong; the NRA rated him a "B," which is not bad. (His Democratic opponent was an "A," surprisingly. The NRA did not endorse in that race.) Apparently some NRA folk did some phone-banking for him, and Romney mistook that for an endorsement, and I guess I can see how that mistake could be made. The key is to note that he was told of his mistake back in December.

And then, in an interview a few days ago with Glenn Reynolds, the Instapundit, Romney claimed to be endorsed by the NRA again.

When it happens multiple times, one begins to wonder if Romney just wants to assert the endorsement and hopes that the person he's speaking to doesn't hear the correction.

Glenn comes across to me as a particularly fair-minded interviewer, but after Race42008 demonstrates a couple of different positions in a short span of time — telling Tim Russert he would sign the Assault Weapons Ban, telling Glenn and Helen that he would oppose it — Glenn concludes, "I'm beginning to question his sincerity."

That expression of doubt is all the more stinging because Glenn isn't a shout-and-pound-the-table kind of guy.

Team Romney's touting of their man's record on guns can be found here.


02/04 03:10 PM
http://campaignspot.nationalreview.com/post/?q=MTI1NmU2OGRj ZjFkZjZjYzZkMDgwOWFlOGUwMzNmOWE

McCain debates Hillary, lovingly
Now that the Republican party has practically let the mainstream media pick their candidate we can look forward to what upcoming debates will be like (note: feel free to replace "Hillary" with "Obama" as their positions on the following are the same):

Hillary: Repeal all the Bush Tax cuts!
McCain: I agree!

Hillary: Reward all illegals with citizenship!
McCain: I agree!

Hillary: For now punish America alone for global warming!
McCain: I agree!

Hillary: Alito is too conservative!
McCain: I agree!

Hillary: Abort unwanted babies!
McCain: I agree if it belongs to my daughter!

Hillary: Gay rights!
McCain: Especially if they’re “passionate lesbians”!

Hillary: No Man-Woman Marriage Amendment!
McCain: I agree!

Hillary: Protect incumbents and limit free speech!
McCain: Long live McCain-Feingold!

Hillary: No Alaska drilling!
McCain: I agree!

Hillary: Vote for me!
McCain: I agree! Wait… ! Ummmmmm...

Note: all these responses were derived from ardent McCain statements or positions.
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