Senator Rick Santorum has ended his race for the White House for reasons that are understandable and honorable. I have no interest in supporting Newt Gingrich for President. If I lived in a State where the election were not held, I’d probably vote for Ron Paul in order to avoid the unpleasant experience of voting for Mitt Romney twice, and I would begrudge no one else that decision or the decision to vote for Santorum or Gingrich in the remaining primaries. However, as I’ve already voted in the Caucus, I declare that I will support Mitt Romney for President in 2012.
I don’t particularly care who Governor Romney chooses as his running mate. As long as he keeps with his commitment to a pro-life Vice-Presidential Candidate, I could care less. If I were to have any favorites, it would be Ohio Senator Rob Portman, a boring vague figure who would fit right in on the Romney ticket.
Conservatives who opposed Governor Romney are disappointed, but we have to be frank. The nomination of Mitt Romney is an event we have brought upon ourselves and which we deserve for a lack of planning, foolish divisiveness, and lack of foresight. I’ll talk about how we can remedy these situations in the future–but not until after the Fall election.
I’ll not paper over Romney’s problems or be dishonest about the endorsement of Romney. Several people have looked like fools this cycle because last cycle that acted like Romney was a true conservative and this cycle they’re declaring him anathema. Let me be completely honest, a vote for Mitt Romney is a vote for the lesser of two evils.
After Mitt Romney has been on the national stage for five years, I cannot define what his political core is, or even if he has one. I have no idea whether he’s running to achieve the current program he’s talking about, has a hidden agenda, or no agenda at all. The one consistent theme of Romney’s political career has been personal ambition.
Mitt Romney has praised Rick Santorum for running a good campaign. I wish I could sincerely praise Governor Romney for that. He’s run a campaign based on tearing down men of better courage and achievement for the conservative movement. To quote Speaker Gingrich, “Romney is like a four foot eight guy who wants to play center on a basketball team. The only way he can do it is to make others smaller.” When I hear Romney or his supporters complain about the negative tone of the campaign and how it has damaged the GOP, I’m reminded of the man who murdered both his parents and begged for leniency because he was an orphan.
Because of the campaign Romney won, he has left behind a GOP electorate where there are many hard feelings and he’ll have to overcome that. He’ll also have to overcome the record negative ratings he has earned for himself as a result of the campaign he has run. My biggest reservation about supporting Romney is that it may encourage the same gut-turning tactics by future campaigns. In addition, Romney’s ascension teaches us that principles don’t matter as long as you have money, ambition, and the ability to talk out of both sides of his mouth.
However, I said Romney is a lesser evil and I meant it. A Christian Pastor when referring to these “lesser of two evils” choices asked a good question, “Shouldn’t Christians want less evil?”
Barack Obama has run an Administration that has sought to attack the religious liberty of the American people. He has shown that he believes there is no limit on the power and size of the Central Government. As America is on the brink of fiscal abyss, he has proposed the most outlandish budget proposals ever seen. While a Bill Clinton might react to this by proposing spending cuts and tax increases, Obama has opposed tax increases and even more spending. In Barack Obama’s world, you can have $1.5 trillion deficits as far as the eye can see without consequence.
Barack Obama has stymied attempts at drilling for oil even as Gas Prices surge out of control, threatening the well-being of every American. He is making unwise cuts in our defense budget that will endanger our national security for years down the road.
Finally, Barack Obama is the most pro-abortion president in the history of this Republic. His administration’s policy is to promote, encourage, and finance the destruction of innocent human life wherever and whenever it can.
This is a key issue for me. As bad as Mitt Romney has treated Rick Santorum and other conservatives in this race, it is nothing next to how Barack Obama has treated the unborn. Therefore, while I mistrust Mitt Romney, I will give him the benefit of the doubt on a few points.
Governor Romney has pledged to be a pro-life President and to appoint strict constructionist to the court. While his appointments in Massachusetts give reason for doubt, the fact is that Romney has been endorsed by conservatives such as Jay Sekulow of the American Center for Law and Justice which has a major interest in arguing before the court on behalf of the unborn and religious liberties. I will, for the purpose of this election, trust that endorsement means Romney will appoint strict constructionist judges. Conservatives can take comfort in the appointment of Harriet Miers. President Bush appointed her but she was forced to withdraw when conservatives dissented and were unsure of her commitment. We have no such leverage on an Obama appointment.
Secondly, in the face of our current fiscal crisis, I will entertain the hope that once in Washington, Romney will face the fiscal crisis and the entitlement crisis head on. If he won’t face it from principle, I hope he faces it from pragmatism. No one wants to be the president who sent America into insolvency. However, seriously addressing these problems requires political courage which Romney has shown no evidence of. I give Romney about 25% chance of seriously taking on the nation’s fiscal future in a meaningful way. However, that’s 25% higher than I would give President Obama and if Romney only makes minor changes to cover his tail and forestall the most serious consequences of our national problems until after his Administration, Romney will have still done more for the country than Obama.
Romney supporters will doubtless not appreciate the honest tone of this. However, I think that there will be enough insincere pabulum written by conservatives between now and Election Day to fill the entire Library of Congress. I hope this endorsement will speak to those who are truly displeased with the nomination of Mitt Romney. I hope that they will join me in supporting the lesser of two evils in this campaign, and hoping for the best.
I wish Governor Romney the best. For the duration of the campaign, I won’t post anything negative about Governor Romney. I reserve the right to criticize Romney’s campaign if it does something boneheaded, but I endorse Governor Romney as the lesser of two evils in this race.
