Mitt Romney a Flip Flopper?

Mitt Romney has been called a flip flopper on his stance of abortion. However, the pro-President Obama political organization, Priorities USA, led by the former White House press aide, argued in a memo that Romney has been pro life the whole time throughout his service as governor of Massachusetts and now as a candidate. This memo puts away the idea, which many Democrats and critics of the GOP have, that Romney is someone who goes back and forth on his political positions depending on what office he is looking to serve. According to Fox news, the co-founder of Priorities USA, Bill Burton, claimed that Romney was in fact never supportive of abortion rights and he claimed that Romney only pretended to be so. Burton said, "If Romney wins the presidency, he won't have to 'fake it' ever again. He will be free to push a radical anti-choice agenda that bans abortion, appoint Supreme Court justices who will overturn Roe vs. Wade, and fulfill his promise to support legislation that defunds Planned Parenthood." In saying this Burton wanted women to know this was a warning of what would happen with Romney as President, essentially saying Romney would give women no choice.

            Burton was however discarding the idea that Romney is wishy-washy. Romney's current stance on abortion is his long-held stance and that poses a risk for Democrats since that could make him more appealing to social conservatives in key early election states like Iowa and South Carolina. Apparently Burton was also relying on a claim that Romney supported the recent "personhood" amendment in Mississippi. This would have stated that life begins at conception however it was defeated in Tuesday’s election in Mississippi. In speaking about this claim, Burton said Romney’s support of this proposal shows that he’s “finally being honest about his anti-choice agenda.” With that said Romney never publicly came out in support of the Mississippi proposal. In an interview on Fox News’s “Huckabee,” Romney was asked, “"Would you have supported the constitutional amendment that would have established the definition of life at conception?" Romney responded, “Absolutely.” But that comment was made during a discussion about Romney during his time as the Massachusetts governor, not about the Mississippi election.

            Romney spokeswoman, Andrea Saul wrote in an email "The very last thing the Democrats want to do is run against Mitt Romney. That is why they are focused on Mitt Romney and not the economy. The Democrats are continuing their campaign of deception in their strategy to 'kill Romney.' President Obama's campaign is going to be very interesting to watch, but it's not going to work." I think she makes a good point. Romney seems to be the GOP candidate that Democrats like best. For Obama supporters it would be better if he were not running against Romney. But Romney continues to be doing well in the polls. As for his stance on abortion I don’t think it has hurt him. He said, “I think people understand that I’m a man of steadiness and constancy.”