The Three Faces of Mitt Romney

Mitt's Etch-a-Sketch
"I shake it and start over."

I had lunch today with my friend Stan, who unlike my other Republican friend, Buck, who has been disillusioned by Mitt Romney, has remained a stalwart GOP supporter. Although we have heated debates about politics, Stan is an old friend and we are able to maintain that friendship in spite of our differences.

Today, when I referred to "The Three Romneys," he didn't seem to know what I was talking about. Therefore, I had to explain to him that the "First Romney" who was running for the governorship of Massachusetts, proposed a liberal agenda to appeal to the voters of a liberal state. His campaign was successful and he implemented a liberal agenda including a health care program very similar to what he calls "Obamacare."

When he ran for the Republican nomination in 2008, he was considered too liberal for a Republican Party co-opted by the Fundamentalists and the Ultraconservatives.

Having learned his lesson, in the 2012 campaign, chameleon Mitt changed his positions to conform to win the support of the extremist right-wing of the party. This was Mitt #2! And viola, he received the nomination. Then he chose Paul Ryan, the disciple of Russian atheist,  Ayn Rand, and was now on the side of dismantling existing social safety networks.

But Mitt #2 could not win the general election with the baggage he had picked up in his quest for the GOP nomination. No problem. As one of his staff in a moment of honesty revealed, we have an Etch-a-Sketch. We shake it, wipe the slate clean and then we reinvent Mitt Romney #3 who can compete in the general  election. This is the Mitt Romney we are seeing now: the Mitt Romney who is protecting most of his tax returns from public scrutiny, agrees with President Obama's foreign policy, tries to deny he wanted the US auto industry to go bankrupt, promotes George W. Bush's domestic policies but doesn't want to be associated with him, and fears to speak out against the crazies in his own party who speak of "legitimate rape."

We know there are three different Mitt Romneys based on the expediency of getting elected. How many more Mitts are there waiting in the wings?

P.S. The problem with my friend, Stan, and perhaps many other voters is that they have conveniently forgotten the earlier Mitt Romneys and have to be reminded how often he has changed his position on major policy issues. I began listing the Romney flip-flops on a napkin, but Stan stopped me at 20 plus.
For some of the major Romney Reversals cf: http://ronstidbits.blogspot.com/2012/08/romney-reversals-cast-long-shadows.html

Whether it is "Romnesia," as President Obama kindly refers to it, or political expediency, the question becomes: Can we trust Mitt Romney?