Los Angeles Times : Many GOP voters see Mitt Romney as someone whose views on the issues change with the political tide - He always molds his views to suit the political mood, with ambition his overriding principle

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Mitt Romney, political contortionist, the ultimate opportunist :

One Republican voter said of him: “He’s going to be listening to voices outside. I want someone who can hear his own voice — a clear voice.” (Paul Sancya, Associated Press / November 9, 2011)

Los Angeles Times

Mitt Romney still faces a trust deficit with GOP voters

Mitt Romney may lead the Republican presidential field, but many GOP voters see him as someone whose views on the issues change with the political tide.

By Maeve Reston, Los Angeles Times
November 24, 2011


Mitt Romney still faces a trust deficit with GOP voters


Some excerpts :

"He's not a person we could trust to lead our country," said Angela Cesar, a 41-year-old Republican from Ypsilanti, Mich., who said Romney had changed his position on too many issues. "He's going to be listening to voices outside. I want someone who can hear his own voice — a clear voice."

Steve Holroyd, a 54-year-old chef from Rye, N.H., was initially attracted to Romney's candidacy, but now describes him as evasive: "The more I listen to him, the more he just kind of flip-flops and doesn't know where he stands on anything."

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In his failed 2008 bid, when the issue was raised — as now — by opponents, it hit its mark not because of the issues involved but because of what Romney's flip-flops suggested about his character.

The campaign demonstrated sensitivity to the problem in this race: Romney has strongly defended the health insurance mandate that he instituted in Massachusetts, even though it is reviled by GOP voters, rather than reverse himself on it.

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For Democrats and the other Republican candidates, the weeks ahead are likely to center on Romney's inconsistencies.

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In 1994, when Romney challenged Democratic Massachusetts Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, he argued that "abortion should be safe and legal in this country" and that he would "sustain and support … the right of a woman to make that choice." When he ran for governor eight years later, he reiterated that he was personally opposed to abortion but said he would not alter Massachusetts laws on abortion.

But as he contemplated a presidential run, he declared in a July 2005 Boston Globe op-ed that "abortion is the wrong choice except in cases of incest, rape, and to save the life of the mother." Explaining his veto of a bill expanding access to emergency contraception, he said his "pro-life" views had "evolved and deepened" as he had studied embryonic stem cell research and cloning. He has maintained staunchly antiabortion views in both presidential campaigns.

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Romney on the source of global warming : During a speech in Pittsburgh captured by the liberal blog Think Progress, he said, "We don't know what is causing climate change on this planet." More often on the campaign trail, Romney says he believes humans have contributed to the rise in temperatures — always adding the caveat that he does not know how much.

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But it matters to voters like Leonard Silvani, a 58-year-old Republican from Hampton, N.H. Even though he is most concerned about the economy, Silvani said, the shift by Romney on a core issue like abortion is a warning flag.

"It's telling you that what's he's saying and what he does aren't necessarily the same thing," he said. "And that makes me leery."

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