Say what you will about the Republican candidates for President in 2008, but you have to admit that they are an entertaining lot, engaging in all sort of right wing hijinks, having fun blasting away at each other like a bunch of corporate executives at a paint ball retreat.
I was looking through EvangelicalsForMitt.com this morning. It’s a web site devoted to making the argument that it’s okay to be a right wing Christian and vote for a right wing Mormon.
In order to lift Mitt Romney up, EvangelicalsForMitt.com works hard at tearing the other Republican candidates down. One of their favorite targets is Sam Brownback.
I was particularly entertained at the article they published a few days ago, accusing Sam Brownback of attacking other Republican candidates. Apparently, it’s not an article they published themselves, but something that has been making the rounds in the right wing activist community by email.
The article calls Sam Brownback, “Sam I Am… The Candidate Who Viciously Attacks Fellow Republicans.” Then, the article lists a few different times that Senator Brownback has attacked other Republican presidential candidates.
Finally, and this is what really tickles me, the article attacks Sam Brownback. That’s right, after accusing Brownback of attacking fellow Republicans, the article then goes ahead and attacks Brownback, himself a fellow Republican.
The article slams Sam Brownback as a flip flopper, writing, “As we’ve said before, changing your mind is one thing. But doing it and then pretending you never have–while you are busily condemning others who have changed their minds–is just wrong.” That’s a funny kind of accusation coming from supporters of Mitt Romney, who has changed his mind on many issues, but pretends he never has.
Personally, I don’t think that there’s anything wrong with presidential candidates attacking each other. It’s what they ought to do. For the the good of the country, we need to have candidates for public office carefully scrutinized all the way up to Election Day, and beyond. Mitt Romney’s evangelical supporters, however, have claimed to believe in another standard, one that exempts candidates from criticizing each other. For them to not even follow their own standard, well, it leaves them vulnerable to attack.
