Both Republicans are expected to endorse their former rival Mitt Romney -- and signal to their backers to fall in line behind the party's presumptive nominee -- but each wants assurances that Romney will deliver for them. Neither is rushing toward the task.
Meanwhile, it doesn't appear that Rep. Ron Paul of Texas is going to go that way. Paul is still in the race and hasn't yet recognized Romney as the party's nominee. The tea party favorite and former Libertarian presidential nominee seems unlikely to endorse given deep differences with Romney on economic and foreign policy issues.
Romney plans to meet Santorum on Friday and Gingrich plans to endorse him this week, an end-of-primary dance that happens every four years once the party settles on a nominee.
Santorum, a former Pennsylvania senator, quit the race April 10 but has stopped short of publicly embracing Romney as the GOP's standard bearer after a bitter primary season that featured Santorum calling Romney "the worst Republican in the country" to run against Obama.
Not long after, Santorum was telling CNN's Piers Morgan about Romney, "It's very clear that he's going to be the Republican nominee and I'm going to be for the Republican nominee and we're going to do everything we can to defeat Barack Obama." Morgan could not goad him into a proper endorsement.
Gingrich all but bowed out last week, saying: "It's clear Romney is the nominee and the focus should be on defeating Obama. We should not focus on defeating ourselves."
He plans to officially end his campaign in the coming days and endorse Romney.
Romney, for his part, has been working to bring the party together after a bruising primary season, and nods from Santorum and Gingrich could help mend those wounds. Both Santorum and Gingrich have fervent followings among conservatives who make up the base of the party and who generally view Romney skeptically because of his positions on a host of issues.
Romney has changed his position on bedrock issues such as abortion and gay rights. He supported the 2008 Wall Street bailout that angered conservatives and paved the way for the rise of the tea party. And he signed a health care overhaul as governor that provided the groundwork for Democrats' national law that requires all Americans to buy insurance or face a fine. Romney's health care overhaul in Massachusetts required health care coverage.
That's the primary issue Santorum plans to discuss Friday when he meets privately with Romney.
"We want to make sure he doesn't replace it with any kind of mandate," Santorum adviser Hogan Gidley said. He added, "Rick just wants to have a candid, open conversation about making sure the folks in the 11 states that voted for him, and the conservative movement, have a voice in the Romney campaign."
I don't think that Romney has changed his position on gay rights as dramatically as some say although he certainly has taken a different tack. He has always held that marriage can only be between a man and a woman. He strongly supports the Catholic position that "all unjust discrimination should be avoided" and he thought there was a way to direct the push in MA away from disolving marriage by providing a contract (civil union) approach. However he feels that the civil union push deteriorated the conversation and caused so much confusion that it wasn't the best way to move forward. I think there are some elements of what he proposes that conincide with Catholic teaching and I think this would be worth exploring. Obviously regarding abortion he says he has reversed course dramatically.
ReplyDeleteI am the mom of a priest and an Independent voter. My entire family has been driven from the Democratic Party by it's pro-death & pro-gay agenda. Obviously, we will have no choice except to vote for whomever is nominated by the GOP. To be honest, my family is underwhelmed by Romney; this is like McCain all over again: another wishy-washy politician who, like many other disappointing politicians, claims to have see the light (because it's the 'right' thing to say, I fear).
ReplyDeleteWhat a blessing that the Lord called your son, anonymous. God bless you both. Mary was the mom of a Priest, too.
ReplyDeleteI have the same impression of Romney. But I would vote for a ham sandwich before I voted for obama.