The Fact-Checker, by Michael Dobbs

One reason this country is in dire straights is because fact checking is not viewed as front page news.

Good for the Globe for doing a little fact-checking.

Of course, most people in Massachusetts have Romney's number by now. He spent a fair chunk of his term as governor positioning himself for the presidential run by bashing the state he was governor of. That's part of the reason Massachusetts now has our first Democratic governor in 16 years.

Doesn't it make sense that in governing Massachusetts Romney would take into account the strong views and desires of the voters and not go against them ? He might believe one thing, but say that he would do another as governor because he is to be elected as a representative of the people ..

What everyone wanted thought was a competent leader for the fiscal situation ..

A better title would be "Rehash of Publicized Campaign Missteps and Opponent Criticisms"

Boring...there's nothing new here, and nothing that hasn't been publicized over and over again.

On Gay rights: In 1994 Romney was and still is an advocate of gay rights. At that time gay marriage was NOT an issue at all, but he was one of the very first politicians to fight gay marriage when the judge allowed it in MA. He still thinks gays should have rights, but that marriage is for only one man and one woman. He admits that he was apposed to the "Don't Ask Don't Tell" policy and thought it wouldn't work... but it has worked for this many years and shouldn't be fixed.
On Gun Laws: Romney was fighting against legalization of assult rifles in 2002. His argument (which is a valid one) was that assult rifles are used to commit crimes, not protect yourself or hunt with. He is highly in favor of the Right to Bear Arms and has shown this in his record.
On immigration: Romney was the FIRST to appose the immigration reform bill that McCain endorsed. Look that one up... he got a lot of initial criticism for being so against that bill in the start, until others jumped on the ban waggon. When you hire someone, or go wash your car, or go through the drive through... do you ask someone with a different accent for their green card? If Romney did that, we would be discussing how you think he discriminates against foreigners. He gave the business owner a chance and he blew it, so he fired the company. What else should he have done?
On abortion: This is the ONLY issue Romney has clearly changed his position on. He had a close relative die of an illegal abortion and it was hard for him to understand why abortion should be illigal. He ran in the most liberal state of the US and ran on a pro-choice platform. Ok...we all know this, right? Now let's look at his record while IN office. He vetoed EVERY pro-choice bill that came accross his desk. Every one!! When the first one came to him he had to make a choice to take a life or save one, and this was the first time in his life HE had to make that decision, and he chose LIFE.
Romney has been called a flip flopper by the media, but the fact of the matter is, he is a true consirvative and there are many out there that do not want him to be president and will do anything they can to make him look untrustworthy! END OF STORY!

You must remember these people are POLITICIANS. Lying comes as easily as breathing to them. You expect a snake to crawl on its belly. You expect a poli-tee-shun to lie, talk out of both sides of their mouth, bob and weave, evade the issues, say anything to get elected. I put politicians on the same level as used car salesmen, drug dealers, flim flam men.

Romney is dishonest, and has a history of flip-flopping on important issues. The most telling would be on immigration, which as we speak is the focal point of negative ads being run against both Huckabee and McCain. It's truly shameful. The more the press exposes this guy, the more Americans are realizing he is NOT the candidate to be our next president. I look forward to the day he formally drops out of this race.

This isn't fact checking, it's parsing statements to create a hit-piece.

If Romney loses his bid for the nomination....he can always go back to his former occupation....Yacht Salesman

Yacht salesman? Good call. Most people don't read enough to learn the facts. So, in many people's minds he might as well be a Yacht salesman (or elitist--as you'd love to mischacterise him). The left have already stated they fear him the most of all candidates. Why is that so? Romney's work as a Private equity/VC expertset a new presidence in that industry. Many refer to him as a legend. MSM will never refer to him in that way. It makes him sound less competent calling him a flip- flopper.

Ye shall know the truth and the truth... will make you mad--so just believe the lies.

Romney is exactly truthful regarding his statements and how they match to his principles. The problem is that the principle he holds most dear is "Say whatever is necessary to get the deal done." Truth has no objective value to Mitt. Getting elected is valued.

Scrutiny. How many contributors to this blog could stand up to this kind of microscopic exam of their every eyeblink? Politicians are scumbags, agreed, but Romney has done a good job as Massachusetts governor, and can hold an intelligent conversation. He can even pronounce nuclear! We could do worse. I think I'll vote for him even if he white-lies now and then.

Whether or not any of this is true, I have a different reason for not wanting to vote for him. During the Youtube debate, one question asked the candidates if they believed every word of the Bible. When it came to be his turn to answer, he paused, stuttered, and then gave a fairly plausible answer. He sounded like he was trying to think of the answer that would get him the most votes. That may have worked in MA, but it won't over the national scale.

Huckabee 08

john, why on earth would anyone ask a presidential candidate a question about Bible study? It's probably MORE of a disappointment that he acknowledged the question at all. What a waste of time.

Do seriously you anticipate that Congress is going to take up the issue of whether the Bible is to be believed during the upcoming term? If so, then I suppose this is a pivotal issue.

How about this one?

In the November 28th CNN/YouTube debate, Mitt Romney stated, "I took on a major issue, which was health care, found a way to get people health insurance without having to expand government, without having to raise taxes."

Talk about a whopper. In the $1.3 billion law, "Employers who don't provide insurance will pay an annual fee of $295 per full-time employee." (NPR) Additionally, those individuals rufusing to get health insurance have to pay a $219 fee.

If this isn't a 4 nose lie, I'm not sure what is.

He might believe one thing, but say that he would do another as governor because he is to be elected as a representative of the people ..What everyone wanted thought was a competent leader for the fiscal situation ..Posted by: Carl Loeber

That is the very definition of Hypocrisy. As Governor he is not a representative but the leadership. He pretends to be on the left to get the Mass governorship and now he pretends to on right to get the presidency. If we pull back the curtain, not sure what is really there.

Romney the Great America Poser

Why does your paper have a special fact-checking section? What is the rest of the paper for?

good to see a candidate that can learn along the way. Seems Romney holds to his personal beliefs but doesn't feel it necessary to impose them on others via new laws or changes to old laws...at least most of the time. I'm ok w/that.

Choosing your facts to fit your agenda makes your arguments just as true but false.

Just cause you won't fight to overturn an existing law that allows abortion does not make you pro-choice. Don't get confused by the labels.

Lowering taxes gets caught up in statistical interpretation, was it lower per capita, in total, for a given year, at a point in time, for a particular bill passed, does it include tax on gasoline?

I am also in favor of "gays and lesbians being able to serve openly and honestly" in the military. But like Mitt it may not make sense to interfere with the "don't ask, don't tell policy." Must he change everything he doesn't agree with, is there a chance that others are more suitable for some decisions.

Can you support the NRA and gun reform? Sure, why not, I own guns but still would like handguns off our streets!

when it comes to pardons, I think we should let the judges judge and let the governors govern. We shouldn't have governors judging or judges governing! If you want to be found innocent of past wrongs...TALK TO THE JUDGE!

If anyone cares what Romney will do as president you can look at what he has done before .. what someone does is more important than what he says . .. what I hear from him .. heard from him in Massachusetts is him saying what he would do as governor .. he said that he would represent the wishes of the people in regard to abortion and gun policy .. to change what he will do for a different constituency is not hypocrisy to me ..

but don't take my word for it .. google "bork romney" .. listen to what Judge Bork said about Romney .. you think he supports the constitution ?

pick any issue .. and look at the type of folks who have endorsed him for president ..

every heard of Paul Weyrich ?

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