Talk Back: The Anti-Romney Vote

After Friday’s show, I received a call from a listener who was very worried about Mitt Romney. This individual was a strong supporter of Gingrich and would fall into what I call the “anti-Romney” voting block. After declaring himself a conservative he went as far as to say that he would vote for Obama over Romney (which I see as a strange thing for a “conservative” to want to do). The caller was very persuasive, but at the end of the call I was left scratching my head wondering, “Why do people hate this guy so much?”

Here are the three issues which I think push “conservatives” to be anti-Romney and why I think that they are bad reasons.

1. Bain Capital

Romney is characterized as the candidate who made firing employees and slashing up American businesses his life’s work. I personally think that what Mitt did at Bain Capital is a great background for a president. Any president is going to have to take a hard look at what is going wrong and right regarding our government spending and start looking for things to cut or improve. My point here is that Bain wasn’t about ruining American businesses (like Staples) it was about cutting the fat from these companies so that they could be more successful (which in turn leads to more people being hired). Likewise, I believe that if the U.S. wasn’t burdened by billions in misdirected spending the country would be a lot better off.

2. Mormonism

I am not a Mormon, however I think that Mormon’s represent some of the best of what America has to offer. They have strong views on hard issues and are staunchly independent. Their troublesome history with the U.S. Government has also put them in a position that defends individual liberty, religious freedom, and resistance to government intrusion. Although lots of people will vote against Mitt because of his faith, I’d rather vote for the guy that sticks to his guns as far as faith is concerned than the guy (Obama) who claims to have gone to church but doesn’t seem to have listened to his pastor’s outrageous sermons.

3. Flip-flopping

It’s true that Mitt Romney changed his stated views on abortion. My defense of Mitt is that this occurred while he was already in a position of power (governor of Mass.) and does not appear to be of the political “I need more votes” variety of flip-flopping. I sincerely believe that Mitt’s discussion with bio-ethicist William Hurlbut is what caused him to change his mind on the issue.

I’m still making my decision on Romney care (which Romney does not wish to be a national program). As for now, I take the federalist side of the coin and think it’s great that states try new things as long as they go through the proper legislative channels. This post is too long, so I’ll log off and let you tell me where I’m wrong.

-Jon