What are Mitt Romney's actual political views?

[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?