By DORY MacMILLAN – Features Editor
In the GOP presidential primary, many rumors and judgments have been made about the candidates. It is important to figure out where the truth really lies.
This is what we have been told: Ron Paul is a crazy old man, Newt Gingrich is a two-timing pig, Rick Santorum is a strange uber- Christian that wants everyone to have babies and Mitt Romney is a cold, heartless privileged businessman with an odd fetish for large companies.
Its past time to look at how much of that is accurate.
First, let’s take a look at Representative Ron Paul, R-Texas. According to his website, Paul is a physician who specializes in obstetrics and gynecology. More prudent to the campaign, he is considered the “libertarian” candidate.
According to Paul’s website, he does not support the Patriot Act, support gun control or ObamaCare. He believes the income tax should be eradicated and he is strongly pro-life.
Now, Newt Gingrich. Gingrich, former Speaker of the House from Georgia, fancies himself the new “Reagan conservative.”
Gingrich has recently been in the news for claiming that he could lower gas prices to $2.50 a gallon, according to money.cnn.com. His website describes him as pro-life. Gingrich is a strong believer in the Second Amendment. Eight ethics investigations were filed against him while Speaker of the House, although 83 out of 84 charges were dropped. He does not support Obama’s education initiative, “Race to the Top.”
Next we have Rick Santorum, former senator from Pennsylvania. He is very conservative, especially on family values: he believes marriage should only be between a man and a woman and is strongly pro-life. He opposed the Assault Weapon Ban and he wants to remove bans on drilling, according to his website.
Finally, the frontrunner who has kept a relatively strong hold on the GOP nomination: Mitt Romney.
Romney has been scrutinized by the media for seeming “out-of-touch” with the common man. He released his 2010 tax returns which showed that he paid a 13.9% tax rate.
He opposes ObamaCare. He does not support increased gun control regulation. He wishes to create counterterrorism and anti-drug reforms in Latin America. He wishes to keep Iran from gaining the technology to get nuclear weapons, as stated on his website, mittromney.com.
The platforms and stances of these candidates have been extremely twisted by the media. Before jumping on the rumor bandwagon, it’s important to make sure you’ve got the facts straight.
