romney goes both ways

The Washington Post isn't letting this Mitt Romney identity crisis thing go. There's a front page article today that asks, "Will the real Mitt Romney please stand up (please stand up)?"

Despite the fact that Romney positioned himself as a moderate in his 1994 Massachusetts Senatorial campaign (in which he ran against Edward Kennedy), he has more recently "evolved" into a social conservative, changing his views on gay and lesbian rights as well as abortion rights.

Dan Balz and Shailagh Murray at the Post suggest that Romney's change of heart has a great deal to do with the fact that neither Rudy Giuliani or John McCain -- who are topping polls for the 2008 Republican nomination -- have friends in the social and cultural conservative movement, who have been key to George W. Bush's success over the past two elections.

But, if this is true, this may not be a smart tactic. Paul M. Weyrich, head of the conservative Free Congress Foundation, points out in the article that someone who can flip in one direction, can flop back the other way once he's in office.