UT-Sen: Mitt Romney is exploring 2018 Senate run

[mencken]

I truly despise Romney - not just because of his embrace of horrifying policies, not just because of his record as a corporate leech, but because of his moral weaknesses in that he could change his views on abortion and gay rights and a host of other issues at age 60 on a dime because it's more electable to do so.

Did not Obama, Biden, Clinton, et. al. all change their views on gay rights for much the same reasons?

And does anyone to the left of Todd Akin or the right of Sandra Fluke on the issue really care how the candidate feels about abortion, an issue that has been settled since 1973?

[mencken]

I truly despise Romney - not just because of his embrace of horrifying policies, not just because of his record as a corporate leech, but because of his moral weaknesses in that he could change his views on abortion and gay rights and a host of other issues at age 60 on a dime because it's more electable to do so.

Did not Obama, Biden, Clinton, et. al. all change their views on gay rights for much the same reasons?

A very large share of Americans have changed their personal views on gay rights to become more accepting, and this reflects cultural changes that made people reexamine old beliefs. For Obama and Clinton, electoral calculations figured in (as it does for every politician) but in broad outlines it's nothing more than loads of people over 30 have done.

Generally, when flip-flopping for electoral convenience, it makes sense to switch from a position that is less popular to one that is more popular.

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Not really, see above. You just happen to approve of one switch and disapprove of another.

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So Romney went from "I'm for them" to "I'm against them" (citation needed, as I highly doubt Romney ever actually said that he was against gays), but Obama "dialed back his support for gay rights"? Sounds like a double standard.

[mencken]

Generally, when flip-flopping for electoral convenience, it makes sense to switch from a position that is less popular to one that is more popular.

But it's also true that a change of heart is usually from a position that is less popular to one that is more popular. How can you distinguish the two?

I tend to view changes of heart from those who professionally tell people what they want to hear with generous amounts of skepticism.

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Not really, see above. You just happen to approve of one switch and disapprove of another.
[/quote]

Literally hundreds of millions of Americans have switched their views from against gay rights to for gay rights in my adult lifetime (I am 40). The number who have switched in the other direction I can probably count on one hand, and usually it's because of a personal trauma. Romney's flip-flop is evaluated against that background. [/quote]

One could be pro-gay rights in 1992 and being against gay marriage in 2007 without any change in position (I do not believe gay marriage was more than a fringe position in 1992). That hardly requires a flip-flop; you just disapprove that he did not change his position as the Overton Window shifted.

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So you take issue with his position on the issue, not a lack of conviction. Sometime tells me you would not prefer Mike Huckabee or Rick Santorum on gay rights, because they are more ideologically sincere?

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Yeah, hordes of gay voters in Miami, Philadelphia, and Columbus would have voted for any Republican other than that turncoat Mitt Romney.