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"At its Most Basic Level, Insincere"

By wt

I missed this op-ed from a Weekly Standard Writer and former staffer to Mitt Romney, who helped him run against Ted Kennedy in 1994, ultimately unsuccessfully.

If you have time, I recommend reading the whole thing. If not, the portions below are quite good.

The Mitt Romney I got to know was warm and likable. He had an electric intelligence. He was unfailingly decent. He was totally committed to his family. He treated everyone with respect and kindness.

If you?re like most politically attuned Americans, you probably don?t agree with my description of Mr. Romney.

...

Early in the presidential race, Mr. Romney perceived a tactical advantage in becoming the campaign?s social conservative.

Religious conservatives and other Republicans with socially conservative views found the two early front-runners, John McCain and Rudy Giuliani, unacceptable.

As someone who shares the beliefs of social conservatives, Mr. Romney saw an opportunity that he could exploit. He made social issues the heart of his candidacy.

This tack rang false with the public because it was false.

The problem wasn?t so much the perception of widespread ?flip-flopping? on issues like abortion. The public allows its politicians a measure of flexibility. But the public correctly sensed something disingenuous about Mr. Romney?s campaign.

Voters perceived the cynicism of a campaign that tried to exploit wedge issues rather than focus on the issues that in truth most interested the candidate.

They sensed phoniness. As a consequence, many have grown to feel that Mitt Romney can?t be trusted.

This lack of trust is now the dominant and perhaps insurmountable obstacle that the Romney campaign faces.

This was my instinct exactly when I blogged this. Romney's changes aren't flip-flops so much as they're disingenuous attempts at pandering that are so obviously calculated.

I have no doubt that author of the op-ed knew a likable man in 1994. But he is certainly right that that is not the Romney that comes across in 2008.

Full post as published by Expressio Unius on February 04, 2008 (boomark / email).