Romney was in favour of building a high-tech fence along the whole border, and spoke strongly against immigration reform. I don't think he can accurately be described as "open borders". He also has similar positions on foreign affairs to Trump - strong US military with no plans to use it, encourage increased military spending by allies. They're also both part of elite dynasties, having essentially taken over where their father left off. Generally, they both seem to be fairly moderate conservatives who have adopted extreme social conservative positions during the election campaign to galvanise their voter base, although Trump seems more instinctively anti-immigration.
Trump's policies are broadly just a small section of Romney's policies. Romney had a more rounded set of policies covering many issues, whereas Trump only covers eleven (? that's my highball estimate from memory) areas. Romney had political experience. Romney was a statesmanlike figure who didn't threaten to undermine democracy or casually mention a willingness to nuke allies or brag about sexually assaulting women. Romney appointed a moderate as his running mate, instead of a paleoconservative. He was far from perfect, particularly with his socially conservative stances, but he was a stronger candidate than Trump in every way.
06 Nov 2016, 8:10 pm
