What are Mitt Romney's actual political views?

[Ѕenator Αverroës]

strong ethic of public service + conviction that most voters are rubes

[Proud Lieberal from Northeast]

And so, my fellow Americans, ask not, what Mitt Romney can do for you. Ask, what you can do for Mitt Romney.

[Vermin Supreme]

MIttens being Mittens

[Meeker]

As others have mentioned, his only political belief at this point is that he should be President.

[The Mikado]

Meeker's right.  TBH I don't think he really even cares about politics except to the extent of getting himself elected.  It's not a matter of what does Mitt Romney really believe in, because outside of supporting policies that will get Mitt Romney elected and policies that will make Mitt Romney wealthier, I don't think he really has any real beliefs. 

[Zioneer]

I've thought for a long time that Romney is only running for president to avenge his father's defeat, and other than making himself and his cronies wealthier, he doesn't have any other political principles (though he might have a few Mormon-esque social views, like being pro-Drug War and whatnot).

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

I've thought for a long time that Romney is only running for president to avenge his father's defeat, and other than making himself and his cronies wealthier, he doesn't have any other political principles (though he might have a few Mormon-esque social views, like being pro-Drug War and whatnot).

A pro-drug war President? What a novel idea!

[Zioneer]

I've thought for a long time that Romney is only running for president to avenge his father's defeat, and other than making himself and his cronies wealthier, he doesn't have any other political principles (though he might have a few Mormon-esque social views, like being pro-Drug War and whatnot).

A pro-drug war President? What a novel idea!

Well, what I mean is pro-drug war beyond the fact that it'd be politically suicidal to end it. As in, Mormons like Mitt Romney sometimes see keeping the Drug War-related drugs illegal is a point of religious belief. I don't (I don't care if marijuana is legalized or not, though I would like cocaine and the deadlier drugs to stay illegal), but many Mormons think that way.

[IDS Speaker Ben Kenobi]

And so, my fellow Americans, ask not, what Mitt Romney can do for you. Ask, what you can do for Mitt Romney.

[Stranger in a strange land]

Mitt Romney believes in an America where millions of Americans believe in the America that millions of Americans believe in. At least until he shakes the etch-a-sketch.

[You kip if you want to...]

He's Mitt Romney. He believes in America. *shake shake shake* No wait, he doesn't believe in America.

[politicus]

This thread

[Bacon King]

Assuming for the moment that Mitt Romney does hold genuine, consistent political beliefs, I think it's easiest to assume that his public persona circa 2008 matches his true beliefs the best. As a former Mormon bishop he's quite obviously a social conservative; his support for abortion and such were certainly political opportunism for his runs for office in Massachussetts. He's economically conservative with a very obvious corporatist slant (see his support for the Wall Street bailout and such).

Besides that, I guess you could look at politically unpopular decisions and statements he's made, that have directly harmed him (or at least had the potential to, anyway) as evidence of genuine convictions. Besides the obvious gaffes, the only example I can think of are the fights he had with the MA legislature where he kept slashing funds for the state sex offender registry. From that you can conclude he prioritizes balanced budgets over being tough on crime, I guess?

[afleitch]

http://www.theonion.com/video/romney-to-travel-back-in-time-to-kill-liberal-vers,27788/

[True Federalist]

I've thought for a long time that Romney is only running for president to avenge his father's defeat, and other than making himself and his cronies wealthier, he doesn't have any other political principles (though he might have a few Mormon-esque social views, like being pro-Drug War and whatnot).

Considering what happened the last time we elected someone who wanted to avenge his father's defeat in a presidential election, that's not exactly a reason to vote for Mitt.  I swear that every time I learn more about Mitt such as his former positions on energy policy on Morning Edition this morning, the less willing I become to consider holding my nose and voting for him if he gets the nomination.

For one thing, Mitt's going to have a tough time using gas prices to help him beat Obama.  I wonder if a PAC has already prepared ads with gems from Gov. Romney such as "I'm very much in favor of people recognizing that these high gasoline prices are probably here to stay."  Or from when he put forth a plan to cut greenhouse gases and said, "This plan is going to reduce pollution. It's going to cut energy demand. It's also going to nurture job growth and boost our economy, because reducing greenhouse gases has multiple benefits."  The kindest thing I can say about his change in energy policy is that it could be interpreted as only a 135 degree change instead of an 180 degree.

If you want to be President, you need to be willing to lead, but Mitt's business experience seems to have caused him to conclude that his primary task will be to cater to customer voter desires.  While not unimportant, I have yet to see anything that indicates that he is anything more than a slick salesman who tells customers voters what they want to hear so that they will buy his product vote for him. I fear if he's president, he'll do mainly whatever his advisers tell him is popular and we have some serious problems that don't have any popular solutions that will actually work.  If Romney is President, I think he'll kick the can down another four or eight years and hope that the sh**t hits the fan when some other shmuck is President.

My whole reason for supporting a Republican for president this time is that I think we need a President who can get things done, and because of the probable composition of the House, that means we need a Republican.  But I've come to the conclusion Romney won't tackle anything difficult.  Back when he was in charge of Bain, he could select which companies to take over, the ones that he thought would be relatively easy to fix.  He won't be able to do that as president.

It's looking more and more likely I'll be voting third party in November.  I won't be voting for Obama, but I honestly cannot see myself voting for Romney.  I keep hoping that the Republicans will get a contested convention so that they can find a candidate I could support, but that hope looks extremely dim right now.  Still, it is brighter than the hope I once had that I could learn to stop worrying and love the boob.

[IDS Speaker Ben Kenobi]

Ernest - that's an interesting perspective.

I came to that realization quite some time ago that Romney is willing to say anything - even tossing Planned parenthood under the bus if he thinks it will help him get elected. I'm mystified by the people still supporting him - apparently they know what he's really like?

[True Federalist]

Ernest - that's an interesting perspective.

I came to that realization quite some time ago that Romney is willing to say anything - even tossing Planned parenthood under the bus if he thinks it will help him get elected. I'm mystified by the people still supporting him - apparently they know what he's really like?

I'm guessing they learned how to stop worrying and love the boob, but that is strange a love for me.  Perhaps if I start drinking Rubio's Floridated water?

[Beet]

He is a conservative. Sure, he's willing to say anything to get elected, but I'm willing to say anything for a million bucks, so who am I to talk?

[Governor Scott]

Far-right socially, far-right economically.

[Oakvale]

He doesn't have any. I buy Mikado's pseudo-Freudian theory that Romney is only running to avenge the failure of his father.

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

He doesn't have any. I buy Mikado's pseudo-Freudian theory that Romney is only running to avenge the failure of his father.

Gee, a Harvard MBA running for President to avenge his father's failure in a Presidential election? What a novel idea!

[Fuzzy]

He doesn't have any. I buy Mikado's pseudo-Freudian theory that Romney is only running to avenge the failure of his father.

Gee, a Harvard MBA running for President to avenge his father's failure in a Presidential election? What a novel idea!

Ur funnnnnnnny