His position would work in a general election against a dem, but I don't think his middle of the road abortion stance will get him the republican nomination. Remember, the fringe element of the two parties are the ones who dominate the vote in primaries and caucuses, not the middle. He'll have a hard time convincing a real conservative to vote for him in the primaries.
How about John Kerry on the Iraq War? :wink: Romney is a clear case of a politician changing decades of beleif to get himself elected. I fear that anti-abortion types will find his conviction shallow and will assume he will not be an avocate for them, they won't support him any more than Giuliani. Pro-choice types will likely feel the same way and this could actually gain him the pro-choice republican vote.
Don't count Romney out. He is not afraid to state his position on an issue and can back it up. In addition he is a proven manager and decision-maker. I know he is still third in line, but his poll numbers have doubled in the last few weeks and there is a long way to go yet.
No he won't. I am a mainstream conservative as are most of my friends, and we would have no problem voting for him if we feel he has the best chance of winning the election. Republicans are very practical. They will vote for the candidate they think will be the winner.
I'm not saying he can't win, I'm saying it'll be very difficult for any pro-choice candidate to get the republican nomination. IMO, he can only do so if all the other candidates fail miserably. But if he and another pro-life candidate are equal on most issues, the pro-life candidate will win. Guess we have a whole year to debate this.:hihi:
You may be right. What stand a candidate takes on the abortion issue could be a tie-breaker. But a lot of times when there is a dead heat between candidates, a voter will base his or her decision not so much on an issue but on their overall assessment of a candidate. They simply like his "cut." Call it charisma or the "X factor," but don't underestimate it. Voters will often say to themselves, "I disagree with him on this or that issue, but I just have confidence in this person." Maybe it is a part of being a leader. Such a quality can be real hard to gauge but it is there and needs to be taken into account.
The man can't have my vote: http://www.al.com/news/birminghamnews/index.ssf?/base/news/1178785342271430.xml&coll=2 TUSCALOOSA - If Rudy Giuliani was at all confused about where he was Wednesday morning, considering a presidential candidate's hectic pace, all he had to do was look on the wall of his hotel room and see the Paul "Bear" Bryant picture. Any remaining confusion would have been cleared up when a violin quartet played "Yea Alabama!" at the Bryant Conference Center in Tuscaloosa, as he waited to address about 800 Republicans. The GOP presidential hopeful and former New York City mayor paid homage to the most famous houndstooth hat-wearer of all time before he got down to a busy campaign day in the Heart of Dixie.
Come on now, how else do you expect him to reach out to anyone in Tuscaloosa. Hell, all he pretty much had to say was "Blah blah blah, Bear Bryant, blah blah blah" over a loudspeaker and he would have sold out the football stadium.
