Romney Defends Stance On Homosexuality
Says he's "not anti-gay"
The Telegraph Online
CONCORD -- Republican hopeful Mitt Romney said he's not anti-gay but has never supported legalizing marriage for homosexuals. "I know there are some who say that is a difference, my view, and it is the view I have had from the very beginning. I have opposed gay marriage from the beginning," Romney said Wednesday during a question-and-answer forum at the Lincoln Financial Group.
But Ray Fortier of Manchester accused Romney of cozying up to the gay community and giving the impression he was supportive while running for governor in 2002.
"I've studied his record, and he made all kind of statements that appeared supportive while trying to win their vote and then was very different once he took office. He courted groups to win their support," Fortier said.
"Pete Wilson did the same thing in California, and it ended up costing him politically."
Wilson, a former GOP governor, made a brief, failed run for his party's presidential nomination in 1996.
Romney said he's appointed gays to political jobs in his office and to judgeships and isn't embarrassed by them.
If elected, Romney vowed he would not embarrass the country as former President Bill Clinton did by having an affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky.
"I will not embarrass the people of this nation by doing anything in the White House that will in any way demean the institution of marriage," Romney said.
Romney is riding high in polls in New Hampshire and of late has sharpened his rhetoric on the campaign trail against three leading Democratic candidates, Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama and ex-Sen. John Edwards.
Romney said all three are liberals who believe big government is the solution to the nation's challenges.
"I'm convinced that America is going to change course, and the question is which way it is going to go: Are we going to take a sharp left turn represented by Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama and John Edwards, or are we going to march forth with the American values that have always helped us be the strongest nation on earth. And I believe we'll do the latter," Romney said.
The stakes for this next election are too great to sit this one out, Romney said to a Lincoln employee, a female in her late 20s, who said she's only voted in one election.
"If you like what I'm saying, I would like you to vote multiple times. If you don't like that, then stay home, just kidding," Romney joked.
Earlier Wednesday, Romney said at a campaign stop in Franklin that Clinton was so liberal she couldn't get elected president of France because that government has moderated somewhat.
Clinton spokesman Phil Singer gave a response that mocked Romney's decisions in the past to change his views on abortion and gun rights among other issues.
"Considering how often Gov. Romney flip-flops, he'll be wearing a beret and eating baguettes on the Champs-Elysees next week," Singer said.
Romney finished a full campaign of seven events with a town hall-style forum at the McKelvie Middle School in Bedford.
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Posted by Editor at July 26, 2007 03:53 AM
