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View Full Version : "There is a lot of movement underground that the mainstream media doesn't see."




lonestarguy
05-13-2007, 12:21 PM
(Some good intel in article from a NH former state rep supporting RP)

http://www.unionleader.com/article.aspx?articleId=7544dd61-639f-4c6f-ad25-f24a8d4acbb0

Pro-life leaders divided on Romney
By JOHN DISTASO
Senior Political Reporter
Saturday, May. 12, 2007


Five New Hampshire pro-life leaders split in their opinion on the sincerity of Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney's abortion epiphany.

In interviews, they agreed John McCain, despite a strong pro-life voting record, doesn't seem "committed" to the issue, while Rudy Giuliani has finally shown himself clearly to be on the other side.

Ron Paul, Sam Brownback and Mike Huckabee were cited when the pro-life leaders were asked to name the purest candidates on the issue.

Romney states clearly that he is formerly pro-choice and now is pro-life, but he has been hammered on the life issue since he acknowledged on Wednesday that his wife made a $150 contribution to the pro-choice Planned Parenthood group in 1994.

Giuliani says he personally abhors abortion and that it would be "OK" if the landmark Roe v. Wade U.S. Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion were overturned - but also "OK" if it isn't overturned.

Two days ago, after his own donations to Planned Parenthood were reported, his campaign aides told the New York Times he will now speak clearly that he is pro-choice.

It remains to be seen to what role the abortion issue plays in the Republican Presidential campaign. It has not been a front-burner issue in recent past campaigns.

UNH Survey Center director Andrew Smith said New Hampshire Republicans are more pro-choice than the national average. He pointed to national polls showing only about one-quarter of Republican voters favor unlimited abortions. In New Hampshire, the corresponding number is more than one-third.

In an April poll in New Hampshire, Smith said, 34 percent of self-identified Republicans said abortion should be legal in all circumstances, 52 percent said it should be legal only in limited circumstances such as cases of rape, incest or when the life of the mother is in danger, and 14 percent said it should not be legal under any circumstances.

Among registered Republicans and undeclared voters who say they will vote in the GOP primary, 34 percent said abortions should be legal under all circumstances, 50 percent said it should be legal under limited circumstances and 13 percent said it should not be legal under any circumstances.

Karen Testerman, president of the pro-life Cornerstone Policy Research group, said of Romney, "Everybody has an ability to change their opinions because they get more information. But there is some flawed logic when he says he is against embryonic stem cell research but yet is willing to support abortions for cases of rape and incest. Why is a life at seven days more precious than a life at 14 or 20 weeks?"

Testerman said that McCain "has a good voting record," but she said he does not excite pro-life activists, and overall, "He doesn't seem to be getting the spark, based on the event attendance I've seen."

She named Brownback and Huckabee as "100 percent" pro-life.

►Giuliani tries to clarify abortion stance
►McCain fires NH campaign director
►Romney estimates his wealth to be in hundreds of millions


Former state Rep. Barbara Hagan of Manchester said the U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision upholding a partial birth abortion ban refocused GOP voters' attention on the abortion issue.

"It is absolutely a key issue," she said, "but there are still a lot of people out there who don't know what to do. I've been to a few gatherings recently where some fellow pro-lifers are saying that there really is nobody" among the front-runners worthy of staunch pro-life support.

"We're tired of being patronized," Hagan said. "We're tired of hoping that candidates are going to be supportive and then finding out that they are not."

Hagan, who said she is backing Paul for President, said, "People are looking for candidates who aren't just talking a talk but who have an established record of how they've handled the issue."

Regarding Romney, she said, "I know there are people who have been on one side or the other and have had epiphanies. So, I take Romney at his word, but I would have needed to see the fruits of his epiphany before I considered diving heart and soul into a campaign €" whether he would really do anything to help the babies. And I'm concerned with how he handled some of the stem cell questions and that his wife gave money to Planned Parenthood."

Hagan said McCain "just isn't committed to the issue." She also said a lesser-known candidate, such as Paul, should not be written off.

"I don't think the mainstream media will carry all the fish this time," Hagan said. "There is a lot of movement underground that the mainstream media doesn't see."

Long-time pro-life activist former Rep. Phyllis Woods of Dover, chair of the Strafford County Republican Committee, agreed the Supreme Court has re-ignited interest in the abortion issue. She said it is re-surfacing as a front-burner issue "also because we know that the next President will be nominating one or two more Supreme Court justices."

Woods said, "Any candidate who changes his mind on an issue when he becomes better educated on that issue or become persuaded by new information, that's good. That is an indication of growth and what we want in leadership.

"I don't have a problem with a candidate genuinely saying that he has new information," she said. "There is a certain sincerity and genuineness in what Mitt Romney is saying. I'm not a conspiracy theorist. I take people at their word until proven otherwise."

But Darlene Pawlik, president of New Hampshire Right to Life, said she is not impressed by the front-runners.

"How can you be pro-life if you have an exception?" she asked. "Brownback, Huckabee and Ron Paul, these are the pro-life candidates."

Rep. Fran Wendelboe, R-New Hampton, said, "Ultimately, I believe people can change their minds and I don't care when they had the epiphany. It could be the day before they die. I believe Romney is true in his heart about this, and anybody who publicly has a change of heart, I'm going to believe."

TechnoGuyRob
11-18-2007, 06:28 PM
Not so underground anymore. :D

Bradley in DC
11-18-2007, 11:48 PM
Not so underground anymore. :D

You may want to check the date.