FLIP FLOP MITT AND THE GREAT BIG CHARACTER QUESTION

I know Mormons are supposed to be hardworking, uber-goal-oriented and sober (as well as obedient to authority and good tithers) but, just like with any other subset of the population, there have been Mormons willing to lie their asses off to achieve their goals. Mitt Romney, the candidate the Church of Latter Day Saints is banking on (literally) to win the presidency for the Mormons, may have collected the most campaign cash in the first quarter-- disproportionately from fellow Mormons-- but his poll numbers are low and his reputation is that of a flip flopper and a liar who will say or do anything to grasp the golden ring.

Today the Associated Press is running a cute, innocuous little story about another Romney little white lie. In and of itself-- a fib about how many times he's been hunting-- it is meaningless. Stacked up with a growing pile of lies, endless little lies from a man who can't ever seem to get his stories straight, from a man who, at least politically, stands for absolutely nothing except a will to dominate, a picture is being painted for voters. And the picture is of someone who can never be trusted.

Hunting for votes in critical New Hampshire, Romney told an NRA supporter at a campaign q&a during a campaign stop that he and hunting were like coffee and cream. "I purchased a gun when I was a young man. I've been a hunter pretty much all my life." Whether that has an outright lie or a "weasel" (a term from Al Franken's old Air America show he employed to describe a half truth meant to deceive), the word is out on Romney as someone who will say whatever he thinks it takes to get ahead-- and ahead in this case means into the Oval Office. A DNC spokesperson summed it up well: "Whether he's pretending to be a hunter, misleading people about loaning his campaign millions of dollars or signing a no-new-tax pledge he once mocked to hide his tax-raising record, he'll say absolutely anything to distance himself from his real record."

As for hunting, other than for votes, Romney's done it twice, once as a 15 year old when he killed bunny rabbits on a ranch in Idaho and once at an obligatory GOP photo op last year when he pointed a gun at some quail at a Georgia game preserve that was part of a Republican Governor's Association publicity stunt. He claimed he owned a gun and then, under questioning, backed away and said his son Josh owns two and it's at the family vacation home back in the Motherland Utah.

Romney is now admitting he's only been hunting twice in his life but he still insists he wasn't trying to be deceitful. It just came out that way. It always does with Romney. Yesterday he was lying about killing bunnies with a semi-automatic, do you want to see this guy in the White House talking about WMDs? So what's Romney's real record on gun control? Before he decided to pander to the far right in order to win the GOP nomination?

Expressing familiarity with and support for gun rights is key among Republican presidential contenders, who count gun owners, members of the military and the NRA itself among their potential supporters.

It helps explain why Romney joined the NRA last August, signing up not just as a supporter but a designated "Lifetime" member, and why he has softened his gun control positions.

Romney told his Keene audience, "I'm after the NRA's endorsement. I'm not sure they'll give it to me. I hope they will. I also joined because if I'm going to ask for their endorsement, they're going to ask for mine."

During a 1994 U.S. Senate campaign, Romney positioned himself as a moderate outsider, warning special interest groups to stay out of the race and saying he supported the Brady gun control law and a ban on assault-style rifles.

"That's not going to make me the hero of the NRA," he told the Boston Herald at the time. "I don't line up with a lot of special interest groups."

It's a theme he carried into his 2002 gubernatorial campaign. At the time, Romney pledged to do nothing to change the state's firearms statutes.

"We do have tough gun laws in Massachusetts. I support them. I won't chip away at them. I believe they protect us and provide for our safety," he said.

True to his word, Romney went on to sign one of the toughest assault weapons laws in the country.

WILL ROMNEY BE ALLOWED TO JOIN THE SPORTSMEN'S COALITION?

I suspect he'd have to kill a few more critters before they let him in. I bet Romney is sorry he ever brought up the subject. I didn't think Old McCain had it in him to strike out so wittily. I can't wait to see what he says about Giuliani's crossdressing.