Romney defends shift on issues
Faces questions at N.H. event
MANCHESTER, N.H. -- Governor Mitt Romney defended his conservative bona fides yesterday before an audience of skeptics and supporters curious about his rightward shift on several hot-button social issues as he readies for a run for president.
In what was billed as a friendly holiday get-together organized by his political committee, Romney faced questions about his evolving views following reports in the Globe and other publications that examined his positions on abortion, stem cell research, and gay rights.
Some audience members walked away from the encounter still uncertain of his conservative credentials.
"When I first heard his answer about his journey of becoming prolife, I began to feel better about the questions being asked of him lately," said Shannon McGinley of Bedford, N.H. "After talking with him in person, though, it is hard to figure out what he does believe."
The questions reflect the doubts some conservatives have about Romney and other top Republican presidential contenders, including Senator John McCain and Rudy Giuliani, the former New York City mayor.
"People in the prolife community are still looking for that strong, Reagan-like conservative, and we have a lot of questions about Romney," said Karen Testerman, a social conservative activist from Concord, N.H. "What he said today were good answers, but I think you will be hearing us asking him these questions a lot."
The Globe reported Sunday that Romney leaves Beacon Hill early next month a far more socially conservative voice than when he arrived in 2002 and when he ran for the Senate in 1994.
Twelve years ago, he told gay Republicans that he would be a stronger supporter of gay rights than his opponent at the time, Senator Edward M. Kennedy. He later vowed to leave abortion laws untouched, but in 2005 began describing himself as "firmly prolife." Yesterday, The
Yesterday, after speaking to an audience of about 150 people, Romney defended his record as governor to reporters.
"The proof is in the pudding," he said. "People will have a chance to look at my record as governor of Massachusetts and see what I've done there. Talk is cheap, but action is not."
Earlier, Romney met with the audience for less than a half-hour, telling the group that "I have always believed" that "marriage should be a relationship between a man and a woman and that same-sex marriage is a mistaken course."
"Now, I changed my view on abortion and life," he conceded. "When elected governor of Massachusetts and before that, I said I'd keep the laws at they were. I said I would support the Roe v. Wade decision and obey the laws of Massachusetts as they were and I wouldn't change them, and I've honored that promise."
He explained that his study of stem cell research led him to evolve into a firm opponent of abortion and certain forms of stem cell research.
Romney said his opposition was not based on a religious belief, but on his feeling that a human cell dividing, as it does in a growing embryo, is alive.
"We're going to need more people to have a change of heart as I have and to look at it very, very carefully and recognize that in civilized society, we recognize that there is a need to respect the fragility and the dignity of human life," he said.
Romney was in New Hampshire for two events largely put together by his supporters in this state, which holds the first-in-the-nation presidential primary. He is expected to announce his plans in January.
He visited New Hampshire in a week when former Virginia governor Jim Gilmore and former Oklahoma governor Frank Keating said they were both considering presidential runs because a "Reagan conservative" had yet to emerge from the current field of candidates, including Romney.
While Romney acknowledged changing his views on abortion, he maintained he has always believed that marriage "is a relationship between a man and a woman" but that gays should not be discriminated against in the workplace or in obtaining housing.
"Some people think that is a conflict, but it's not in my view," said Romney. "As much as I feel in America that we shouldn't discriminate against people, I also feel that marriage should be about the relationship between a man and a woman, and a child deserves a mom and a dad." 