Romney Campaign Press Release - Research Briefing: "It's Not Social Issues I Care About"

"Unlike some other candidates in the race, Romney is a full-spectrum conservative: a supporter of free-market economics and limited government, moral causes such as the right to life and the preservation of marriage, and a foreign policy based on the national interest." – National Review (Editorial, "Romney For President," National Review, 12/11/07)

Today, The Washington Post Revealed Sen. McCain Is Not Interested In Social Issues:

Sen. McCain: "It's Not Social Issues I Care About." "McCain seems distinctly uninterested when asked questions concerning abortion and gay rights. While campaigning in South Carolina, he told reporters riding with him on his bus that he was comfortable pledging to appoint judges who would strictly interpret the Constitution in part because it would reassure conservatives who might otherwise distrust him. 'It's not social issues I care about,' he explained." (Juliet Eilperin and Michael D. Shear, "Contenders Highlight GOP's Ideological Struggle," The Washington Post, 2/3/08)

Others Have Noted That McCain Doesn't Care About Social Issues:

A Former McCain Aide Previously Said "His Heart Isn't In This Stuff." "'Yes, he's a social conservative, but his heart isn't in this stuff,' one former aide told me, referring to McCain's instinctual unwillingness to impose on others his personal views about issues such as religion, sexuality, and abortion." (Todd S. Purdum, "Prisoner Of Conscience," Vanity Fair, 2/07)

- Former McCain Aide: "But He Has To Pretend [That It Is], And He's Not A Good Enough Actor To Pull It Off. He Just Can't Fake It Well Enough." (Todd S. Purdum, "Prisoner Of Conscience," Vanity Fair, 2/07)

Sen. McCain Tries To "Placate" Conservatives. "Will McCain's understandable effort to bend a little here and bow a little there to placate the most conservative elements of his party, who play a disproportionate role in the nominating process get him all twisted up before he ever gets to face the general electorate that polls suggest admires him so?" (Todd S. Purdum, "Prisoner Of Conscience," Vanity Fair, 2/07)

Couple Sen. McCain's Lack Of Interest In Social Issues With His Lack Of Understanding Economics:

Sen. McCain: "The Issue Of Economics Is Not Something I've Understood As Well As I Should." "Like Mike Huckabee, who joked recently that he 'may not be the expert that some people are on foreign policy, but I did stay in a Holiday Inn Express last night,' McCain suggested to reporters Monday that American consumer culture offered a short cut to expertise. 'The issue of economics is not something I've understood as well as I should,' McCain said. 'I've got Greenspan's book.'" (Sasha Issenberg, "McCain: It's About The Economy," The Boston Globe, www.boston.com, Posted 12/18/07)

- Sen. McCain: "I Still Need To Be Educated." "On a broader range of economic issues, though, Mr. McCain readily departs from Reaganomics. His philosophy is best described as a work in progress. He is refreshingly blunt when he tells me: 'I'm going to be honest: I know a lot less about economics than I do about military and foreign policy issues. I still need to be educated.'" (Stephen Moore, "Reform, Reform, Reform," OpinionJournal.com, 11/26/05)