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Flexible Social Conservatives in Search of a Winner
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02/23/07 07:43 AM ET
For so long now I have dismissed the growing conventional wisdom that predicted social conservatives would shelve their passionate devotion to their principles and priorities and vote for left-leaning Republicans in 2008.
But now a purely conservative Republican who believed his pro-life stand was the most important principle he could fight for in public office has looked me in the eye and told me so. He has decided homeland security is now the most criticial issue of our time.
He thinks Mitt Romney is a fake and he said he will choose between Rudy Giuliani or John McCain. Pat Robertson seems to be jumping on this bandwagon — no endorsements or anything...yet — but he has invited Giuliani to speak at his Regent University this spring, and Romney gets to give the commencement address. Hey Mitt, you lucky dog.
When Guiliani spoke before a group of conservative Republicans in California weeks ago, one attendee said he was willing to overlook the views he doesn't share with America's Mayor. "If you have to make a trade-off, I'll make the trade-off for Giuliani," Larry Stirling, a retired state superior court judge from San Diego, told The Washington Post. "He's been through a trial by fire. He's got gravitas. The first thing a president has to do is protect us. The rest is a secondary consideration."
There is a long way to go until the numbers are counted, but clearly enough social conservatives are willing to leave the reservation in search of a winner. And it's an interesting take on Romney. If true pro-lifers are willing to give the issue a back seat, they may be more likely to embrace someone who is truly pro-choice but who never flipped on it, if that candidate can bring something more important to the table.
But now a purely conservative Republican who believed his pro-life stand was the most important principle he could fight for in public office has looked me in the eye and told me so. He has decided homeland security is now the most criticial issue of our time.
He thinks Mitt Romney is a fake and he said he will choose between Rudy Giuliani or John McCain. Pat Robertson seems to be jumping on this bandwagon — no endorsements or anything...yet — but he has invited Giuliani to speak at his Regent University this spring, and Romney gets to give the commencement address. Hey Mitt, you lucky dog.
When Guiliani spoke before a group of conservative Republicans in California weeks ago, one attendee said he was willing to overlook the views he doesn't share with America's Mayor. "If you have to make a trade-off, I'll make the trade-off for Giuliani," Larry Stirling, a retired state superior court judge from San Diego, told The Washington Post. "He's been through a trial by fire. He's got gravitas. The first thing a president has to do is protect us. The rest is a secondary consideration."
There is a long way to go until the numbers are counted, but clearly enough social conservatives are willing to leave the reservation in search of a winner. And it's an interesting take on Romney. If true pro-lifers are willing to give the issue a back seat, they may be more likely to embrace someone who is truly pro-choice but who never flipped on it, if that candidate can bring something more important to the table.
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