Massachusetts governor and Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney has been positioning himself as a family values conservative and an opponent of gay marriage. However, that was not always the case. During his 1994 run for the Senate against Ted Kennedy, Romney promised to be an even bigger advocate for gay rights. In a letter to the Log Cabin Club of Massachusetts, he wrote:
“For some voters, it might be enough to simply match my opponent’s record in this area. But I believe we can and must do better. If we are to achieve the goals we share, we must make equality for gays and lesbians a mainstream concern. My opponent cannot do this. I can and will.”
Wow. This from the guy who wants a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage in the only state in the union to legalize it? But the letter didn’t stop there. He supported “don’t ask, don’t tell,” saying it was “the first in a number of steps that will ultimately lead to gays and lesbians being able to serve openly and honestly in our nation’s military.”
Needless to say, Romney’s friends aren’t happy.
Tony Perkins, president of the conservative Family Research Council, said Romney’s comments were “quite disturbing.”
[…]
Noted conservative Paul Weyrich told The Times, “Unless he comes out with an abject repudiation of this, I think it makes him out to be a hypocrite.”
My guess is that Romney is just another politician who will say whatever it takes to get elected. I am not alone in this assessment:
Arline Isaacson, co-chair of the Massachusetts Gay and Lesbian Political Caucus, said she cautioned gay and lesbians against believing Romney’s overtures in 1994, and said conservatives shouldn’t trust him, either.
“He can’t be trusted,” she said. “Because if it is politically expedient for him to swing to his right or swing to his left, he will do it.”
I don’t think the real Mitt Romney can stand up – because there is no there there. He’s just another empty suit. (Photo: Reuters)
VIVIAN J. PAIGE | All Politics is Local 
I called a friend of mine who goes to school in Boston specifically to get an impression of what people in Massachusetts are saying about Romney. She was very quick to respond by saying, and this is a direct quote, “Mass already knew that Romney changed his message depending on who he was talking to. We didn’t need him to run for president to tell us he’s a bigger flip flopper than John Kerry.”
Seems like he’s been flip flopping for years and it was only his presidential hopes that resulted in his inconsitencies receiving national attention.
I’ve blogged about this twice Vivian, I agree with you 100%. Fortunately for us, the liklihood of Mitt Romney winning the Republican nomination (at this point) is not looking good (for him). 🙂
Ain’t politics grand? Governor Dean signed the bill that made no-permit concealed-carry the law in Vermont. Then he swung way left to go after the Democratic Presidential nomination.
Jack – you leveled a charge without backing it up. Other than “swinging left” did he go back on the concealed-carry law?
Oh – and Terry – I missed your posts on this earlier. Sorry.
No need to be sorry Viv. I get real annoyed when people post about something and someone swings in with the “I posted about this already…”
It is ok for more than one blogger to post on a subject. No one in the blogoshpere invented talking about stuff. Stop it!
No one owns a subject or a point. When people say that, they are implying the were first therefor they have some sort of intellectual right to the topic.
Enough with the Howard Stern “everyone copies me” routine!
Ok, back to the discussion 🙂
I think that the story does tell us everything we need to know about the state of the GOP, though. It could pretty easily be titled as “Favored Candidate Moves to Assure Party He Does NOT Seek Equality for All Citizens.”
Oh goodness, no, not equal rights for all! That would be so . . . American!
“Oh – and Terry – I missed your posts on this earlier. Sorry.”
No need to be sorry, I wasn’t trying to imply “I was first.” Besides, I only gave brief mention to it once, and a quick article on another occassion, both several days ago. Just meant that I share virtually the same opinion with you, yet again. 🙂
“No need to be sorry Viv. I get real annoyed when people post about something and someone swings in with the “I posted about this already…”
Like I said, I was not trying to say that at all. Sorry if it came out that way. I don’t play the “well I had it first” game.
Actually, unless I have a different spin on something, I really do try not to cover what others have already done. I’d rather point someone elsewhere than repeat the same thing over and over.
Now – wait til you see my take on the Washington Post story 🙂 Let’s just say it won’t be an echo chamber response.
No worries. Like I said, it wasn’t my intention to sound as if I was playing the asinine “I had that first” garbage. I always enjoy reading your take on things Vivian, no matter who else might be covering it.