Romney was a tough one. On several issues he talks like a conservative, Gay Rights, Abortion, Guns, but his record in MA on these issues is certainly not conservative.
However, in order to be a SUCCESSFUL politician, you must tailor your message to your constituency to a degree, I had to try to judge if some of his more liberal policies were necessary in Boston for overall success there but would be less of a factor in Washington. Never-the-less, because of his past, I did grade him lower on several issues in which he now says he is strongly conservative.
No, you were right to downgrade Romney...I agree with you. But some people are saying to have him rated too high. I was trying to explain the inherent difficulty in rating a guy like him. Clearly Duncan Hunter is the ideal choice, but I think it has been painfully clear for months that we are firmly in “hold our nose” territory in 2008.
Your rankings are very helpful to people who are willing to take the reasonable approach which suggests that ALL of the Republican candidates, except perhaps Ron “headed for a rubber room” Paul, are preferable to ANY of the Democratic candidates.