What's A Little Flip... A Little Flop Between Friends And Freaks?

Elation is breaking out all over Willardland. Not only did his man Rove manage to destroy Cain's viability with the sex maniac/rapist leak, but he managed to make it look like it came from Niggerhead. And on top of that, 30 of Romney's most important "people" paid no taxes at all and can afford to contribute even more money to undermine American democracy and push forward a Romney presidency. Plus the media "missed" the whole Mitt'n'Tagg Ponzi scheme scandal. His glitter even managed to rub off on DWT, quoted this week in, of all the unlikely places, the Salt Lake Tribune-- as we exposed another story for the mainstream media to ignore: "-> The DownWithTyranny blog digs up the old advertisement where Romney endorses Rocky Anderson." Disappointingly, they made no mention of the fabulous art. Damn Mormons... I'll fix them tonight at 9.

There was one little unpleasantry for the Willardites yesterday though-- the Washington Post harping on that matter of him having no core values again. That just drives them crazy. Maybe they're afraid it's starting to catch on. One of my neighbors accused me of "doing a Mitt Romney" yesterday when I changed my mind about painting my street address on my recycling garbage receptacle.

Mitt Romney was firm and direct with the abortion rights advocates sitting in his office nine years ago, assuring the group that if elected Massachusetts governor, he would protect the state’s abortion laws.

Then, as the meeting drew to a close, the businessman offered an intriguing suggestion-- that he would rise to national prominence in the Republican Party as a victor in a liberal state and could use his influence to soften the GOP’s hard-line opposition to abortion.

He would be a “good voice in the party” for their cause, and his moderation on the issue would be “widely written about,” he said, according to detailed notes taken by an officer of the group, NARAL Pro-Choice Massachusetts.

“You need someone like me in Washington,” several participants recalled Romney saying that day in September 2002, an apparent reference to his future ambitions.

Romney made similar assurances to activists for gay rights and the environment, according to people familiar with the discussions, both as a candidate for governor and then in the early days of his term.

The encounters with liberal advocates offer some revealing insights into the ever-evolving ideology of Romney, who as a presidential candidate now espouses the hard-line opposition to abortion that he seemed to disparage less than a decade ago.

Some details of his interactions with liberal activists were first reported in the Los Angeles Times in 2007, when Romney was introducing himself on the national stage.

This time, Romney, focusing more on his economic expertise than his gubernatorial record, is widely viewed as the GOP’s front-runner. His past positions remain fodder for critics as polls show that he has yet to win over many conservative primary voters-- and as rivals in both parties try to brand him a flip-flopper.

Now, as they watch Romney’s ascent from his old stomping grounds in Boston, many of the liberals he encountered wonder whether his transformation has been sincere or a matter of sheer politics. Not only did he espouse more liberal views at the time, but Romney presented himself as a change agent who could soften the GOP’s rough ideological edges.

Melissa Kogut, the NARAL group’s executive director in 2002, recalled Wednesday that as she and other participants in the meeting began to pack their belongings to leave after the 45-minute session, Romney became “emphatic that the Republican Party was not doing themselves a service by being so vehemently anti-choice.”

The abortion rights supporters came away from the meeting pleasantly surprised. Romney declined to label himself “pro-choice” but said he eschewed all labels, including “pro-life.” He told the group that he would “protect and preserve a woman’s right to choose under Massachusetts law” and that he thought any move to overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade decision would be a “serious mistake for our country.”

“We felt good about the interview. He seemed genuine,” said Nicole Roos, the NARAL official who took the notes and shared them with a reporter.

Romney aides declined to comment Wednesday. Aide Eric Fehrnstrom referred the Washington Post to quotes he provided the Los Angeles Times four years ago in which he said that Romney had been true to his words and that activists’ recollections were colored by their political agendas.

“People’s memories change with time, and change depending on which way the political winds are blowing,” Fehrnstrom said then.

In this year’s campaign, conservatives have tried to make some of Romney’s past ties to liberals a liability. They note that Gina McCarthy, a top Obama official responsible for greenhouse-gas-reduction policy, worked as a senior aide in the Romney administration. McCarthy, in her role at Obama’s Environmental Protection Agency, has angered many Republicans and business groups.