Thursday, April 12, 2007

Arends: Mitt Will Say Anything

In case you missed yesterday's Brett Arends column in the Boston Herald about Mitt Romney's recent gun gaffe, here's the best part:

His record here will not stand much scrutiny. Campaign claims he "turned around a Democratic state" are absurd. He did no such thing. He was an absentee landlord at best. He had the second worst jobs creation record of any governor and his health care plan had to be rescued by others. He left the state GOP dead in the water.
[...]
When Romney had his Elmer Fudd moment last week, what he was really saying wasn't "I'm a lifelong hunter" but "I will say whatever my audience wants to hear." It's a pattern. Abortion. Gay rights. New taxes. "Reagan-Bush." From 1994 to 2007, like a good salesman, Romney always seems to agree with his audience completely on every issue. Put him in a room with a bunch of stamp collectors and suddenly he'll be a "lifelong philatelist."

It wouldn't be such a political problem if it weren't so painfully obvious.
Governor Romney can crack all the jokes he wants, but he's not going to be able to escape the idea that he holds no core beliefs, but will always say whatever he thinks will help him politically. Maybe that's an okay way to win an election, but Romney supporters should not be surprised if he has another change of heart when the political winds start blowing in a different direction. He doesn't style himself a "turnaround" artist for nothing, after all.