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Cripes I would've voted for Tsongas in the Demonrat primary if he was still in the race when my primary came around. At least he was honest. I ended up voting for Moonbeam Jerry Brown, as he was the only opponent to Clinton left in the race when my primary came around. Anything other than Clinton. Of course I voted for G.H.W. Bush in the general, I planned to all along. Yes, I love pointing out to people I voted against Clinton three times. I know a sociopath when I see one.

Yes, Romney is an idiot for his flip-flopping explanation, but presidential primaries, especially when there is an incumbent running, are a joke for most of the country.

And it is really getting ridiculous we have reached a point where it is not enough to support a particular view on an issue, but one must have always held that view.

Flip flop on abortion? Reagan and G.H.W. Bush both flipped.

Michael Reagan was right. Too many people, for the first time in the Republican party's history, are insisting on a perfect candidate.

Michael Reagan was right. Too many people, for the first time in the Republican party's history, are insisting on a perfect candidate.

Sorry, but that's BS. Perfection is not the criteria. But these candidates who have pushed the Dem agenda for the last couple of decades and now want us poor ignorant masses to somehow overlook that, are far from perfect. In fact, they are far closer to perfection for a Democrat than for a mainstream conservative Republican.

And it is really getting ridiculous we have reached a point where it is not enough to support a particular view on an issue, but one must have always held that view.

Is that what the editorial said?

Infact, it did not. It stated essentially that Mitt has altered his views dependent on the political climate he was operating within. Not merely once. Usually when people convert to a view they do not change their mind 3-4 times. It tends to cast doubt on one's convictions, for good reason.

it also states he has done little on the ground level to suggest this conversion was genuine. Yes, Reagan changed his mind. 20 years before he was elected. And he was in the trenches fighting for it. he didn't change his mind on eve of jumping into the primary race, which Mitt did. I would think in an environment where politicians calculate their positions base upon their projected voters and polls, that we've earned the right to be cynical he believes what he's saying.

41 flipped as well. On eve of running. And I doubt this day you'll convince many he is pro-life. he said it to get elected, then governed as a moderate. Exactly what people fear Mitt is doing. Maybe we'd like to learn from past mistakes. Like when we insisted on vetting the SC nominee rather then taking their word Miers would be a conservative. We've been burned by politicians that say one thing, do another. this has resulted in further scrutiny then we've given before. I don't think that's a bad thing. better to dig up the truth then fall for another focused grouped profile.

"but one must have always held that view."

No, I don't think that way. But for someone to change so many things in so short a time is unusual and worth scrutiny.

Here's a guy who banned ugly guns and channeled Sarah Brady saying something like "Massachusetts will be safer without these evil high capacity magazines that are only used to hunt and kill people" then a few years later goes to his first gun show with Wayne Lapierre* and says that he's always supported the Second Amendment, says he owns a gun, says he does not own a gun, and tells some story how he could not shoot rabbits with a bolt action so he switched to the more lethal semiauto .22 to do the job.

Part of an interview he gave in 1994 when running for governor of Massachusetts:
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On whether he supported the civil marriage rights of same-sex couples:

“I line up with Gov. Weld on that, and it’s a state issue as you know — the authorization of marriage on a same-sex basis falls under state jurisdiction. My understanding is that he has looked at the issue and concluded that certain benefits and privileges should be offered to gay couples. But he does not feel at this time that he wishes to extend legalized marriage on a same-sex basis, and I support his position.”

On whether he’d want more studies done on the marriage issue:

“That will occur at the state level. I’ll let the governor in Massachusetts, and the governors of others states, as well, study it, evaluate it, discuss the alternatives with psychologists and social workers and health care specialist and so forth to gather information and consider it in a very reasoned way. I have confidence the governor will take the right action.”
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Now he apparently does not feel that homosexual marriage is a state's rights issue. He fought as hard as he could to stop it, even letting Tom Riley run the State gay marriage case before the Supremes of Massachusetts.

If he had had these conversions a little longer ago and not quite so many I'd feel more comfortable about him. I have not rejected him completely but I am looking at his record critically because of the sudden changes.

*Did he ever go to a gun show in Michigan, Utah, or Massachusetts? Do they even have them in Massachusetts (if they did we'd have film of Kerry shaking hands there I'm sure). Anyone in these three states ever see Romney there? Heck I met lots of politicians at shows in Nevada and California and New Mexico.

"Flip flop on abortion? Reagan and G.H.W. Bush both flipped."

I don't believe Reagan ever flipped.

In the sixties he already seemed against abortion, but like many, or even most of us, did not form an actual stand on the emerging issue until a few years later.

That is a far cry from an almost 60 year old politician firmly sticking with, and publicly and (effectively)defending a pro abortion position during the intense abortion wars of the 1970s, 80s and 90s, and then switching to the opposite view in 2004.