Sam Brownback: Mitt Romney Skips Values Voter Presidential Debate

Decision comes as no surprise, given Mitt's weak record

September 17, 2007 -- FT. LAUDERDALE, FL – While U.S. Senator and Republican presidential candidate Sam Brownback proudly gathers with pro-family voters for today's important Values Voter debate, Mitt Romney decided to skip the event. Given his liberal record taking stands as being pro-choice, pro-gay rights, pro-embryonic stem research and pro-taxpayer funding of abortion, Romney's decision to shun Values Voters comes as no surprise.

"The only values Romney has consistently cared about are in his stock portfolio," said Rob Wasinger, National Campaign Manager of Brownback for President.

Pro-Family Leaders Have Pointed out Romney's
Poor Record on Values Issues

Tony Perkins, President of the Family Research Council, on Romney's letter pledging support for gay rights: "This is quite disturbing. This type of information is going to create a lot of problems for Governor Romney." (Adam Nagourney and David D. Kirkpatrick, "Romney's Gay Rights Stance Draws Ire," New York Times, 12/9/06)

Perkins: "He talks about core values … but I'm troubled by his changing views on abortion." (John J. Miller, "Evangelicals for Romney?" National Review, 12/18/06)

Michael Farris, founder of Patrick Henry College: "[W]here has he been on pro-family issues over the years? I want to see candidates with arrows in their backs. I'm not looking for an Olympic-year conservative." (John J. Miller, "Evangelicals for Romney?" National Review, 12/18/06)

Paul Weyrich, Chief Executive Officer of the Free Congress Foundation: "Unless he comes out with an abject repudiation of [his letter supporting gay rights], I think it makes him out to be a hypocrite. And if he totally repudiates this, you have to ask, on what grounds?" (Adam Nagourney and David D. Kirkpatrick, "Romney's Gay Rights Stance Draws Ire," New York Times, 12/9/06)

Richard Land, Southern Baptist Convention: "Christians believe in conversion, and so they're open to listen, but when a candidate twelve years ago says he is more of a champion on these issues than Ted Kennedy, that needs to be explained." (Glen Johnson, "Romney's Record on Gay Rights Questioned," The Associated Press, 12/12/06)

Romney Has Even Flip-Flopped on Ronald Reagan

"Romney's repeated references to the nation's 40th president illustrate how the governor, as he builds toward a 2008 presidential bid, is increasingly trying to cast himself in the Reagan mold." (Scott Helman, "Romney Reaches for Reagan Touch," The Boston Globe, 11/25/06)

"The day after the midterm elections, Governor Mitt Romney, reflecting on the GOP's punishing losses, issued a clarion call to conservatives: 'We must return to the common-sense Reagan Republican ideals.'" (Scott Helman, "Romney Reaches for Reagan Touch," The Boston Globe, 11/25/06)

"Three days later, at a state house veterans day ceremony, Romney invoked the former president again, saying, 'as Ronald Reagan once said, 'I have seen four wars during my lifetime and none of them began because America was too strong.'" (Scott Helman, "Romney Reaches for Reagan Touch," The Boston Globe, 11/25/06)

"And then asked by a Fox News interviewer whether he was running for president, Romney said he was giving it some serious thought, because the stakes were so high. 'We're going to have to make sure that we have the kind of Reagan optimism that America's looking for,' he said." (Scott Helman, "Romney Reaches for Reagan Touch," The Boston Globe, 11/25/06)

But Previously, Romney Ran Away from President Reagan and Wasn't Even a Republican

Romney: "I was an independent during the time of Reagan-Bush. I'm not trying to return to Reagan ..." (Joe Battenfeld, "Conservative Group Yanks its Support for Mitt," The Boston Herald, 10/27/94)

"[R]omney first had to gain the nomination of a party he had just joined in October 1993, after formerly being an independent. 'We knew nobody,' said his wife, Ann. 'We did not know a single Republican activist.'" (Ben Bradlee Jr. and Daniel Golden, "Strategies Shaped an Epic Race," The Boston Globe, 11/10/94)

Romney Shunned Conservatives and the Republican Party

"To reinforce his non-partisan stance, Romney disassociated himself from out-of-state right-wing groups. He discouraged 'family values' organizations and the Christian Right from contributing money or producing their own anti-Kennedy ads." (Ben Bradlee Jr. and Daniel Golden, "Strategies Shaped an Epic Race," The Boston Globe, 11/10/94)

"[The Conservative Victory Committee] attacked Republican U.S. Senate candidate Mitt Romney for espousing a 'left-wing agenda' and urged its followers not to support his candidacy. The group said Romney's nationally-televised debate performance against Sen. Edward M. Kennedy showed he is 'anti-family' and running away from conservative Republican themes." (Joe Battenfeld, "Conservative Group Yanks its Support for Mitt," The Boston Herald, 10/27/94)

L. Brent Bozell, Executive Director of the Conservative Victory Committee: "It makes no difference who wins (the Senate race) … Romney is not going to be a fighter for a conservative agenda." (Joe Battenfeld, "Conservative Group Yanks its Support for Mitt," The Boston Herald, 10/27/94)

"Bozell said he now regrets asking his group members to contribute to Romney because the debate 'demonstrated very clearly that (Romney) has more in common with liberal democrats than he does with conservatives.'" (Joe Battenfeld, "Conservative Group Yanks its Support for Mitt," The Boston Herald, 10/27/94)

A Review of Romney's Record on Key Social Conservative
Issues Makes Clear Why Romney is Dodging Values Voters

Abortion

"I believe that abortion should be safe and legal in this country. I have since the time that my mom took that position when she ran in 1970 as a U.S. Senate candidate. I believe that since Roe v. Wade has been the law for 20 years we should sustain it and support it." (Scott Lehigh, "Romney v. Romney," The Boston Globe, 1/18/07)

"'You need someone like me in Washington,' Romney told NARAL, according to NARAL executives." (Jennifer Rubin, "Mitt Romney's Conversion," The Weekly Standard, 2/5/07)

January 2007: "Over the last multiple years, as you know, I have been effectively pro-choice." (Bruce Smith, The Associated Press, 1/29/07)

February 2007: "I am firmly pro-life … I was always for life." (Jim Davenport, "Romney Affirms Opposition to Abortion," The Associated Press, 2/9/07)

Romney, when asked whether or not he thought abortion was murder: "[Murder] means different things to different people." (Ask Mitt Anything Event, Laconia, NH, 5/29/07, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bBstHDhikio)

"... in a Planned Parenthood questionnaire in 2002, [Romney] was asked: 'Do you support state funding of abortion services through Medicaid for low-income women?' He responded, 'yes.'" (James Pindell, "Romney's Speech to Pro-Life Group Brings Up New Questions on Abortion," The Boston Globe, 5/9/07)

"In the 1994 Senate campaign ... [Romney] also voiced support for the controversial abortion pill RU-486." (Scott Helman, "Romney's Journey to the Right," The Boston Globe, 12/17/06)

Gay Rights

Romney: "I will support and endorse efforts to provide those domestic partnership benefits to gay and lesbian couples." (Ethan Jacobs, "Mitt Romney's Secret Gay History," Bay Windows, 3/3/05)

"There are other ways to raise kids that's fine: single moms, grandparents raising kids, gay couples raising kids. That's the American way, to have people have their freedom of choice." ("New Hampshire Woman Challenges Romney on Gay Marriage," The Associated Press, 6/6/07)

Romney said he would be better for advocate for gay rights than Ted Kennedy: " ... in the 1994 letter--sent in the final weeks of his failed Senate campaign against Kennedy--he cited his sensitivity to the concerns of Log Cabin Republicans, the gay GOP group. 'As a result of our discussions and other interactions with gay and lesbian voters across the state, I am more convinced than ever before that as we seek to establish full equality for America's gays and lesbian citizens, I will provide more effective leadership than my opponent.'" (Glen Johnson, "Romney's Record on Gay Rights Questioned," The Associated Press, 12/12/06)

Romney supports forcing the Boy Scouts to accept gay Scout leaders: Romney in his October 1994 debate against Ted Kennedy: "I feel that all people should be allowed to participate in the Boy Scouts regardless of their sexual orientation." (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uEOJNw4lmlI)

Embryonic Stem Cell Research

Romney: "I do support stem cell research. What I don't support is cloning. What I don't support is embryo farming. That's the position I've had from the very beginning as we've really delved into this issue. There are different levels of stem cell research. I support using surplus embryos from IVF. I do not support cloning. So that's supporting stem cell research." (NBC, "The Today Show," 2/14/07)

But Romney's abortion conversion story is premised on opposition to embryonic stem cell research that "cheapened respected for human life":

"Romney says he changed his mind in November 2004, when he met with a scientist from the Harvard stem cell institute. Romney claimed in a June 2006 interview that the researcher had told him: 'Look, you don't have to think about this stem cell research as a moral issue, because we kill the embryos after 14 days.' Romney went on to say that both he and his chief of staff had an epiphany, recognizing that embryonic stem cell research cheapened respect for human life." (Scott Helman, "Romney's Journey to the Right," The Boston Globe, 12/17/06)

Source: Sam Brownback campaign

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