From an April Fool's report (AP), on Iowa's conservative Christian Republicans apparently falling for Romney's pseudo-conservative identity:
Religious conservatives hold on in Iowa
Associated Press, 4-1-07
DES MOINES, Iowa --There was a time when any Republican candidate who did not meet the approval of Iowa's religious conservatives was all but doomed to failure in the state's presidential caucus. As the 2008 race takes shape, these conservatives are no longer the unassailable force they once were, although they remain a powerhouse in Iowa's GOP.
The role of Christian activists in the state is closely watched because of Iowa's leadoff position in the presidential nominating season. At this point, however, there is little sign that activists are uniting behind a candidate or trying to channel the race in a particular direction. Virtually all recent polls in the state have shown former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani, Arizona Sen. John McCain and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney leading the Republican pack among likely 2008 caucus-goers, and all have hurdles to overcome with religious conservatives.
Candidates such as Kansas Sen. Sam Brownback and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, with far better conservative credentials, have drawn little support, largely because they are viewed as long shots. "They acknowledge that these guys may not be guys who are going the distance," said Iowa House Republican leader Chris Rants of Sioux City, who has close ties to religious conservatives. Rants is backing Romney, whom he says has appeal as a man of religious conviction even though his Mormon faith sets him apart from most religious conservatives. "He is a man of faith, and while they may not have the same specific religious beliefs, they share the same values," Rants said.
John Haskins comments:
What will it take for these people to stand for something? Have they still not learned the lesson that we have to tell the Republican Party who is "electable" not let the party and its corporate donors and country club Rockefellers give us a list of "electable" RINO's to choose from, every single election -- again and again! "Like the dog that returned to its vomit," as Christ said. With the hundreds of hours of research and legal work handed to them by seasoned pro-family people in Massachusetts and other states, they are still going to trust the Republican establishment again? How can this leading Iowa religious conservative, Mr. Rant, call Romney "a man of religious conviction" and "a man of faith" ?
PLEASE, give us an old-fashioned heathen, an atheist, a pagan cannibal, a communist, a rusty old wheelbarrow! Give us anyone or anything else, but not one of these flagrantly phony pseudo-conservative enemies of my children's innocence and liberty! Maybe then Christians will stop lying to themselves about these "men of religious conviction" who go around a state constitution to impose sodomy-based "marriage," advance sodomy-based adoptions, and force Catholic hospitals to issue abortifacients. Mr. Rants tells other Christians that Romney shares our values. NO! Christ warned us. "By their works ye shall know them."
Remember we were also told that George W. Bush was a "man of religious conviction"! And Romney is far more of a fraud than Bush is. It's up to them if they want to endlessly split the difference between good and evil in their own private lives. But people need to ask themselves who put them in charge of negotiations between God and Lucifer over my children's future.
Stand on principle, people, or get out of the way! None of this over-calculated "pragmatism" ever turns out to be as smart as claimed.
- John Haskins
Parents' Rights Coalition
