Newsmax isn’t the only ConWeb outlet that was desperate to spin away concerns over Mitt Romney’s statement “There’s no legislation with regards to abortion that I’m familiar with that would become part of my agenda.”
In an Oct. 10 Media Research Center item, Matthew Balan claimed that CBS’ Norah O’Donnell was “repeatedly hinting that Mitt Romney flip-flopped on the issue of abortion.” Balan added that “O’Donnell conspicuously failed to mention that during the same interview, Romney promised to ‘reinstate the Mexico City policy….that foreign aid dollars…would not be used to carry out abortion in other countries.'”
But as Balan himself admits in the very next paragraph, reinstating the Mexico City policy would be done via executive order, not legislation.
Balan wasn’t done spinning, though. After quoting from the interview in which Romney made the statement, Balan wrote, “Note that the Republican didn’t say anything about Supreme Court nominees (which would be needed to overturn Roe v. Wade), nor did he give an answer as to whether he would sign pro-life legislation if it reached his desk as president. But O’Donnell glossed this over completely, and badgered her guest about Romney’s supposed flip-flop in giving that answer.”
Balan concluded by huffing, “With this kind of a record, the CBS anchor has all the marks of an Obama campaign stenographer.” And Balan has all the marks of a Romney campaign spin doctor. Is that even allowed under the MRC’s nonprofit status?