Romney Flip Flops, Gaffes and Assorted Bloopers

We here at Opinipundit have reversed positions and pulled our support from Mitt Romney in favor of a Fred Thompson candidacy. Here is why.

BELIEVE IT OR not, but in the 1994 Massachusetts Senate race, Bay State governor and presumptive presidential candidate Mitt Romney ran to the left of Ted Kennedy on gay rights.

“If we are to achieve the goals we share, we must make equality for gays and lesbians a mainstream concern,” Romney wrote. “My opponent cannot do this. I can and will.”

He has also been at the forfront of repealing the"don't ask, don't tell'' provisions relating to military service.He looked forward to the day when gays and lesbians could serve "openly and honestly in our nation's military."

Now he's for a Marriage Ammendment, HMMMM

And concerning abortion fuhgetaboutit

On immigration, much the same...In 2006 Governor Romney supported the President’s immigration policy as well as the McCain-Kennedy bill. He expressed support for an immigration program that places large numbers of illegal residents on the path toward citizenship and said illegal immigrants should have a chance to obtain citizenship.

He even went as far as to say that Republicans that break from the President on this issue are making a "big mistake" according to the Associated Press.

Now Presidential Candidate Mitt Romney says he ‘’strongly opposes'’ the immigration plan also denounced by many conservatives. Mitt Romney opposes the legislation but won’t offer a plan of his own.

What about the second ammendment? In his 1994 US Senate run, Romney backed two gun-control measures strongly opposed by the National Rifle Association and other gun-rights groups: the Brady Bill, which imposed a five-day waiting period on gun sales, and a ban on certain assault weapons.

And as the GOP gubernatorial candidate in 2002, Romney lauded the state’s strong laws during a debate against Democrat Shannon O’Brien. “We do have tough gun laws in Massachusetts; I support them,” he said. “I won’t chip away at them; I believe they protect us and provide for our safety.”

And now...But, look, we’ve gotta fundamentally recognize the need to protect the right to bear arms and the fact that there are people who are trying to remove that right inch by inch, and we’re gonna have to defend against that.

Hmmm, appears those people are you Mr. Romney.

How about stem cell research... Remember how Romney now claims that his views on stem cell research have changed (he's now opposed) because of a shocking personal experience? Well, he claimed the same thing a few years ago as justification for why he supported stem cell research - yes, another shocking personal experience.

And in many cases, he said his commitment had been cemented by watching the suffering of someone dear to him: a grandchild whose asthma left him worried about air pollution; his wife's multiple sclerosis, which had him placing hope in embryonic stem cell research; the death of a distant relative in an illegal abortion, convincing him that the procedure needed to remain legal.

All of Romney's liberal views were based on shocking personal experiences, then he decided to run for president and came up with new shocking personal experiences that could justify him wooing the far-right of the Republican party. This guy is a snake.

Pretty much yea.

The environment too??? Weeks after taking office, the new governor led an army of staffers and activists to Salem, north of Boston, for a news conference outside a coal-fired power plant. He was there to demand that the plant draft a cleanup plan by the next year.

The new governor said something that struck the environmental activists as remarkable. "I will not create jobs or hold jobs that kill people," Romney said in a heated exchange. "And that plant - that plant kills people."

Romney told [a group of religious leaders] he was "terrified" about global warming, a phenomenon he described as "quite alarming," according to notes taken by one of the participants, Nancy Davidge of the Episcopal Divinity School at Harvard University.

Then, in December 2005, Romney surprised even his own staff by pulling the plug on a key element of his environmental agenda. Romney withdrew Massachusetts from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative agreement with other Northeastern states. Though Romney's team had taken a lead role in crafting it, the plan could prove too costly to power-plant owners and consumers, the governor said.

Could it have been the start of his campaign that prompted this? Considering his past behavior, you be the judge.

Lastly taxes: After refusing to endorse President Bush’s tax cuts when he was governor, Mitt Romney has now made them a central part of his presidential campaign, stirring accusations that he is changing his position to appeal to GOP primary voters.

In 2003, Romney stunned a roomful of Bay State congressmen by telling them that he would not publicly support Bush’s tax cuts, which at the time formed the centerpiece of the president’s domestic agenda. He even said he was open to a federal gas tax hike.

“For a Republican governor, I thought it was interesting,” U.S. Rep. Michael Capuano (D-Somerville) said. “I don’t prejudge people, so I thought he might have the courage of his convictions, but I guess I was wrong.”

Well their you have it, Republican Presidential hopeful Mitt Romney has virtually changed his position on just about every single issue crucial to conservatives. Folks this is a man with neither conscience nor core. He is the epitamy of expedience and the personification of opportunism. I want to like Romney he's smooth, polished and quick witted but then again so was Bill Clinton. I guess after looking at the facts I find myself trusting them both just about the same.

P.S.I may have spoken a bit too soon about the "polished thing" Here are a few not ready for primetime moments...

1.Romney told a man in an NRA hat that he had "been a hunter pretty much all of my life".After boasting about his membership in the National Rifle Association, Romney later admitted he joined the group less than a year ago. (Conspicuously disingenuous to put it mildy.)

2.Rachel Griffiths got up and asked Romney if any of his five sons were serving in the military, and if not, how did they plan to support the war against terrorism? "The good news is that we have a volunteer Army and that's the way we're going to keep it," Romney told the crowd, adding, "[O]ne of the ways my sons are showing support for our nation is helping to get me elected, because they think I'd be a great president." (PU!)

3.During a radio appearance for the 2002 campaign, Romney forgets the name of his running mate, Kerry Healey. Explaining that Healey will help broaden the GOP ticket’s appeal, Romney says, “That is what has drawn me to Sherry.” Also, while discussing his efforts to woo conservative Democrats, Romney calls former Massachusetts governor and Reagan supporter Ed King “Frank King.” (It happens.)

4.Romney ruminated on Hitler's scientific achievements unprompted, in a Q & A about energy policy. As the New York Sun's Ryan Sager said at the time, you wouldn't think that anyone running for president would have to be told, "Don't mention Hitler in a positive light." (Pretty dumb unforced error)

5."Hugo Chavez has tried to steal an inspiring phrase — 'Patria o muerte, venceremos.' It does not belong to him. It belongs to a free Cuba."
Another case of campaign researchers apparently being off for the day: "Patria o muerte, venceremos" (which means in Spanish, "Fatherland or death, we shall overcome") does not belong to a free Cuba. The starkly fascistic phrase was, in fact, a tagline for Castro, who Romney had, earlier in the same speech declared "a stain on Cuban soil."

6."In France, for instance, I'm told that marriage is now frequently contracted in seven-year terms where either party may move on when their term is up. How shallow and how different from the Europe of the past." (Say Wha??? Nobody seems to know what he was referring to here as no such policy exists)

7."I'm not going to weigh in (reference to an Iraqi troop surge). I'm still a governor." (one of the top ten weasle brush offs of all time)

8.At the Wilton Candy Kitchen, which claims to be the "oldest ice cream parlor/soda fountain in the world," Romney told a crowd of mostly elderly residents that his son Josh was about to complete a tour of all 99 counties in Iowa.

9.A woman raised her hand. "Yes, please!" Romney said.

"How many counties are in Massachusetts?" she asked.

"Thirteen," he said. A few feet away, an aide shook his head and said, "Ten."

"Oh, no, I think it's 13," Romney said. "Not like your 99."

Thanks for playing, Mitt. But the correct answer for the number of counties in the state that you served as governor for four years is... 14. (Significant brain fart)

10. Not satisfied, Blitzer reposes the question, to which Romney replied, "Well, I answered the question by saying it's a non sequitur. It's a non -- null set kind of question, because you can go back and say, 'If we knew then what we know now,' by virtue of inspectors having been let in and giving us that information, by virtue of if Saddam Hussein had followed the U.N. resolutions, we wouldn't be having this discussion. So it's a hypothetical that I think is an unreasonable hypothetical."
(What the hell???)