Major endorsement for Romney

Paul Weyrich has endorsed Mitt Romney for president, which should go a long way toward making Romney acceptable to conservative Christians. Too bad Romney is in favor of increasing legal immigration.

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David B. writes:

The news of Paul Weyrich’s endorsement of Mitt Romney reminded me of a statement that Weyrich made at a similar time during the 2000 election cycle. Then, Weyrich said, “We can live with Bush. McCain is completely unacceptable.” This was in reference to the Bush-McCain race for the 2000 Republican Presidential nomination. It is worth remembering that Bush won over McCain because he was seen as the more “conservative” of the two.

About the same time in early 2000, Weyrich wrote that “friends of mine who know George W. Bush say that he is much more conservative in private than he is in public.” I wrote you about this several years ago. I had also seen this line at NRO from Jay Nordlinger. A few months ago, Rush Limbaugh said the same thing after a private meeting with GWB. This was after the most recent amnesty battle.

Are we going to have the same dance with Romney we have had with Bush? Joe Guzzardi has said that we always end up with pro-immigration Republican Presidents.

LA replies:

Weyrich, who was given weekly meetings at the White House, was quite happy with the Bush administration. Among other examples of the conservative quiescence that Weyrich participated in and encouraged by his example was his total silence on the Grutter decision, as I pointed out here.

However, let us remember that the fact that Paul Weyrich has endorsed a candidate as a good conservative and the best conservative choice available doesn’t necessarily mean that the candidate is not a conservative.

’

David replies:

Yes, Weyrich is endorsing Romney as the best conservative choice available. I used to enjoy watching his NET channel, especially his daily Direct Line program. The line, “George W. Bush is much more conservative in private than he is in public,” is a particular pet peeve of mine.

Posted by Lawrence Auster at November 06, 2007 10:06 AM | Send