Opinion: If Mitt WereTwo-Faced He’d Wear the Other One

by Cyndy Hardy

Updated Jan. 13, 2008

Presidential candidate Mitt Romney bombed at CNN’s Nov. 28 YouTube debate. The meltdown started when he bashed Rudy Giuliani for his sanctuary policies as mayor of New York City.

Giuliani said his policies complied with federal mandates to provide healthcare and education regardless of immigration status. Like it or not, those are rights protected by the U. S. Constitution. Maybe Romney does not defend the Constitution.

Giuliani said his policies allowed illegal immigrants who were victims of crimes to report those crimes without fear of deportation. Romney’s criticism implies that he supports no such protection for undocumented crime victims.

Giuliani fired back, accusing Romney of having a “sanctuary mansion,” referring to allegations that illegal immigrants performed work on his home. “You did have illegal immigrants working at your mansion,” Giuliani said.

“No I did not,” Romney said. From the other side of his mouth, Romney said it wasn’t his fault if the contractor who worked on his house employed illegal immigrants. Homeowners shouldn’t have to ask for documentation if someone looks different or has a “funny accent,” Romney said.

Romney bashed candidate Mike Huckabee for supporting a bill that would have given collage funding for children of illegal immigrants. Huckabee said the funds would go to students who excelled and who had been in the school system for a long time.

Huckabee said Americans are above punishing children for crimes committed by their parents. “We’re not that kind of country,” he said. We don’t do it for any other crime so why should we do it for illegal immigration, he said.

Romney said no public money should ever be used for anyone “who stays in this country illegally.” Apparently he believes children of illegal immigrants should do ‘the right thing’ and leave the country.

Huckabee defended his record well. He said college funding rewards good students and invests in their momentum to become contributing taxpayers.

When one ‘YouTuber’ asked if candidates absolutely believe every word in the Bible, Romney puffed his chest and declared his faith. Moderator Anderson Cooper said the question was “every word.”

Romney pursed his lips and hemmed and hawed while the moral majority, millions of Mormons and their critics held their breath. “Yeah, the Bible is the word of God,” Romney said, firmly between a rock and a hard place!

Romney was asked if he would allow the interrogation technique of water boarding to continue under his administration. Waterboarding simulates drowning in a controlled environment.

Romney said he is against torture but believes it is not for candidates to determine whether waterboarding is torture. “I’d seek [McCain’s] counsel,” he said.

McCain – a former prisoner of war – was “astonished” that Romney still didn’t know that waterboarding is torture. So, Romney has McCain’s counsel and still would not take a stand against the practice.

Updated on Sunday, Jan. 13, 2008: Appearing on CNN's Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer, Romney said he won't utter the words 'waterboarding is torture' because it sets a precedence that he may be held to if elected president. He reiterated that the U.S. does not condone torture, but said an event, such as a direct nuclear threat on a city, might warrant extreme interrogation measures.

Romney completely welched on his prior support for “a day when gays and lesbians could serve openly in the military.” He stumbled over himself saying this is not that time, as if the issue is not as important as it once was. Trying again, he said that this is a time of war, so it is not the time to defend homosexuals’ service.

Grasping for a life line, Romney finally said he changed his position because “I didn’t think ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ would work” and that the past 15 years proves to him it does work.

Romney was also called on his flip-flop on abortion. Once a pro-choice advocate, he said he changed his mind in 2004 during debates on stem-cell research. “On abortion, I was wrong,” he said.

After the debate, a studio of undecided Republican voters agreed that Romney did not do well. CNN analysts agreed.

“If people are looking for somebody in this country who has never made a mistake … they ought to find somebody else,” Romney said. Perhaps that came from his other face – the one he would see later in the mirror.