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Governor Romney, during this campaign, you have been criticized

Page history last edited by PBworks 16 years, 10 months ago
    • MR. WALLACE: Governor Romney, during this campaign, you have been criticized -- and again tonight you've been criticized -- for changing your position on some issues. You say that it's a part of learning from experience. Can you point to an area in which your learning from experience led you to change to a position that is less popular with the Republican base?

 

    • MR. ROMNEY: Sure, a number -- quite a few, actually.

And as Senator McCain did, as he mentioned the flag issue -- I have issues that take me in the same direction. One is No Child Left Behind. I've taken a position where, once upon a time, I said I wanted to eliminate the Department of Education. That was my position when I ran for Senate in 1994. That's very popular with the base.

As I've been a governor and seen the impact that the federal government can have holding down the interest of the teachers' unions and instead putting the interests of the kids and the parents and the teachers first, I see that the Department of Education can actually make a difference. So I supported No Child Left Behind. I still do. I know there are a lot in my party that don't like it, but I like testing in our schools. I think it allows us to get better schools, better teachers; allows us to let our kids have the kind of hope that they ought to have.

I think, by the way, the civil rights issue of our time is not what's going on on this stage right here, but what's going on in the schools in the inner cities of America, because the kids are not getting the education they need for the jobs of tomorrow.

And so I'm very proud of the position I've taken. I support the president in that regard, and that's where I stand.

 

My Analysis:

 

I had never heard this before: "We're going to have about 40 percent of the government employees turn over in the next couple of terms. And if we can -- we can reduce the employment there, but more importantly, is to go through all the agencies, all the departments, all the programs and cut out the unnecessary and the wasteful." People say that these debates can be a lot of hot air, empty platitudes, and slogans. Mitt Romney is looking at the numbers. He is the man of substance. Has any one heard anyone else talking about that? That in the next two terms (I assume he was talking about presidential terms) 40 percent of the (federal?) government retire? What an opportunity to downsize!


 

Back to 2nd Debate


 

Questions for Romney in the 2nd Republican Debate

  1. Can you foresee any circumstances under which you would pull out of Iraq without leaving behind a stable political and security situation?
  2. Why isn't your pledge to not raise taxes a blatant appeal to the party base?
  3. Are you a clear and consistent conservative?
  4. What would you say to someone who lost a wife or a daughter to an illegal abortion if you named the Supreme Court justice who tipped the balance and over turned Roe v Wade?
  5. Governor Romney, you have also called Senator McCain's immigration plan amnesty. Are you prepared to say that sharing the stage with him tonight? And how do you explain your statement to the Lowell Sun last year in which you said, quote, 'Those that are here paying taxes and not taking government benefits should begin a process toward application for citizenship as they would from their home country.' Why isn't that amnesty as well, sir?
  6. If three shopping centers near major U.S. cities have been hit by suicide bombers. Hundreds are dead, thousands injured. A fourth attack has been averted when the attackers were captured off the Florida coast and taken to Guantanamo Bay, where they are being questioned. U.S. intelligence believes that another larger attack is planned and could come at any time. How aggressively would you interrogate those being held at Guantanamo Bay for information about where the next attack might be?
  7. Governor Romney, during this campaign, you have been criticized -- and again tonight you've been criticized -- for changing your position on some issues. You say that it's a part of learning from experience. Can you point to an area in which your learning from experience led you to change to a position that is less popular with the Republican base?


 

Debates

1st Debate

2nd Debate

 


Abortion

  1. George Stephanopoulos
    1. So do you now believe that abortion is murder?
    2. Should women who have abortions and doctors who perform them be jailed?
    3. If it's killing, why should states have leeway?
    4. What do you believe the punishment should be for an abortion?
  2. Wolf Blitzer
    1. Have you changed your opinion on Abortion?
    2. What is your current position on abortion?
    3. How do you account for your change on abortion?
  3. 1st Debate
    1. Would it be a good day for America if Roe v Wade was repealed?
    2. Have you always been for life or effectively pro-choice?
    3. When you said that being a pro-life president entails more than just appointing strict constructionist judges, was that directed at Giuliani?
  4. 2nd Debate
    1. What would you say to someone who lost a wife or a daughter to an illegal abortion if you named the Supreme Court justice who tipped the balance and over turned Roe v Wade?
    2. Governor Romney, during this campaign, you have been criticized -- and again tonight you've been criticized -- for changing your position on some issues. You say that it's a part of learning from experience. Can you point to an area in which your learning from experience led you to change to a position that is less popular with the Republican base?
  5. Katherine Jean Lopez
    1. Were you faking it when you said you were pro-choice?
  6. Dan Balz, David S Broder and Ruth Marcus
    1. Do you support making abortion illegal?
  7. Mary Katharine Ham
    1. What do you think about the partial-birth abortion ban?
  8. Mike Allen
    1. What policies would you initiate to show your sincerity?

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