Romney’s Toughest Fight?
Could it be that Mitt Romney’s toughest opponent isn’t Fred Thompson, Rudy Giuliani or John McCain? Might his toughest fight be with his own words? That’s what this CBS article suggests. It’s something that I’ve pointed to several times, including these posts. Here’s how Politico’s Jonathan Martin makes his case:
Hoping to stymie John McCain’s New Hampshire surge, Mitt Romney has turned to two issues almost certain to move GOP primary voters: tax cuts and immigration. On both counts, Romney noted in recent Granite State campaign appearances, McCain has been crosswise with the majority of his own party.
But, in responding to the charges, McCain’s campaign turned to off-the-shelf material sure to take some of the sting out of Romney’s attacks: Romney’s own words.
On these two hot topics and many others, past statements or positions by the former Massachusetts governor can be found that either completely contradict or at least dilute Romney’s present day attacks.
Martin’s being charitable with his description of Romney’s flip-flops. Lord knows I’ve used stronger language than that. It’s my firm conviction that Mitt Romney hasn’t met a position he hasn’t abandoned. As I noted here, Mitt’s flipped on almost every key issue that’s come before him. Notice the slipperyness of Gov. Romney’s spokesman here:
Asked about this, Romney spokesman Matt Rhoades pointed to his candidate’s statehouse record of “balancing budgets, creating jobs, enforcing immigration laws and reforming health care.”
Rhoades didn’t directly respond when aked how the campaign could take on rivals without its own impurities being brought up. “On issues like immigration, Gov. Romney agrees with the majority of grass-roots Republicans,” Rhoades said.
“The enforcement of immigration laws is an important issue, and Governor Romney’s pro-enforcement policies are the right way to stop illegal immigration, while Senator McCain’s advocacy of blanket legal status and benefits for those who break our immigration laws are exactly the wrong policies.”
I empathize with Mr. Rhoades. His job is to hide all of Romney’s flip-flops, which is like trying to hide an elephant in a glass house. Considering the enormity of the task, Mr. Rhoades deserves double the pay of other spokesmen because his job is twice as difficult.
That’s why it’s easy making a case that Mitt Romney’s stiffest fight is in hiding his multitude of flip-flops.
Technorati Tags: Mitt Romney, Flip-Flops, Fred Thompson, Rudy Giuliani, John McCain, Integrity, Election 2008
Cross-posted at LetFreedomRingBlog