From Deseret News archives:
Romney called favorite of 'theo-cons'
Romney, elected just four years ago as a moderate Republican, is seizing on the opening created by an unexpectedly tough re-election campaign this year for Sen. George F. Allen of Virginia, the prospective presidential candidate who had been widely seen as the standard-bearer for the GOP's conservative wing.
As Allen has been forced to put his 2008 hopes on hold, analysts and observers say, Romney has rushed to fill the vacuum by appealing to the right on homeland security, immigration and social issues, particularly in South Carolina, a crucial early primary state home to many conservative voters.
"He's maximized his window of opportunity very well in South Carolina," said Scott Malyerck, executive director of the state Republican Party. "He's hitting those conservative buttons that folks are concerned about."
On his blog this week, conservative writer Andrew Sullivan called Romney the "theo-cons' favorite nominee" who has "clearly positioned himself as McCain's opponent on the issue" of interrogation methods.
Though McCain is still considered the front-runner for the Republican nomination, his independent streak on issues such as immigration and tighter campaign finance rules has long alienated some conservatives. With the 2008 jockeying intensifying, Romney is trying to exploit that rift by articulating positions that fall to the right of McCain's and by courting religious conservatives.
When McCain and two other Republican senators broke with Bush last week in insisting on greater rights for terrorism suspects in American custody, Romney firmly backed the president, labeling the move by McCain and the other maverick senators "a big mistake." Romney told The New York Times he was "foursquare behind the president" and went out of his way to cite several other areas, including immigration policy, where he held more conservative views than McCain.
Romney's criticism drew a curt response from McCain, but it has won plaudits elsewhere.
"Romney gets it, and McCain hasn't got a clue," reads a blog entry on gopbloggers.org.
Comments
- Mya tops fellow celebs 3:16 p.m.
- Stocks zigzag after rally 2:53 p.m.
- Placebo power behind cures 2:49 p.m.
- 'Suspect just shopping screenplay' 2:49 p.m.
- '08 loss 'learning experience' for TCU 2:47 p.m.
- AMA: repeal 'don't ask,don't tell' 2:46 p.m.
- Jackson's executors approved 2:43 p.m.
- Mapleton rejects mtn. airport bid 2:42 p.m.
- Plea in sex abuse streaming case 2:40 p.m.
- NJ man sues FBI over his detention 2:39 p.m.
- Utah group finds homes for orphans
- Pratt pleads not guilty to sex charges
- Jazz blow big lead, hang on
- Senators want food tax restored
- Y. tight ends talented tandem
- Utes get extra motivation
- Alta's Ohai is Ms. Soccer 2009
- BYU soccer incident still popular
- Lobo land like home for BYU lineman
- Price injured; Miles has cast removed
- House passes health care bill
245 - TCU showdown has big implications
185 - Lobo suspended
184 - Cougars crush hapless Cowboys
155 - Senators want food tax restored
137 - Utah Jazz fall apart against Kings
131 - TCU 4th in AP poll; U. 16th, Y. 22nd
119 - No 'backlash' for pioneers, gays analogy
104 - RSL rallies to advance
103 - Utes pound winless Lobos
89
Why do so many people live so close to refineries in Utah and elsewhere?
what an awesome game, really the only one that we can reasonably win. The...
interesting | 1:56 p.m It's more than the "Tear down this wall"...
I guess I would call myself an American mutt. Born in American with a mix of...
Warm, cold, tepid, nothing you can do about it anyway. Short of eliminating...
Re: Not about the money. Other good reasons to want TCU to win 1. I...
It's embarrassing when you're 8-1 and ranked #16 ... and your fans have...
Isn't it somewhere by Scipio?
What fascinates me is the contrast between the tone taken by the DN writers...
interesting | 1:56 p.m. If your posting contains mis-representations it...
Yeah if Utah beats TCU then they would certainly lose enough skill and to...



You can be the first to comment on this story.