Consistently Inconsistent

Talking to middle aged men; I tell them that women are the cause of all their problems. Talking to middle aged women; I tell them that men are the cause of all their problems. Talking to both groups in the same setting, I tell them that the children are the cause of the problems. This flip flopping technique to fit the current audience may have been successful before media came into play, but now people do not have to be in the room with you to know what is going on. Thanks to YouTube, all you need is one camera, and one post, and you have officially been scooped. The flip-flop method has throughout the republican presidential campaign has become synonymous with Mitt Romney.

Seasons come and go but I remain the same. Candidates rise and fall, but Romney is the most consistent of them all; in the polls that is. As other contenders for the election fight over the spotlight, increase and decrease in polls, Romney as steady as the current, has yet to drop in surveys. Although, his opponents say that as far as consistency, that is the only thing about Romney that remains the same.

In the past, Romney has been attacked for changing his position on abortion, gay rights, gun control, health care and tax policies, but none have yet to interfere with his status at the top of polls.

The latest attack on Romney’s shifting views:

According to the Wall Street Journal in a Pittsburgh rally on Thursday,  Romney said, "My view is that we don't know what's causing climate change on this planet. And the idea of spending trillions and trillions of dollars to try to reduce CO2 emissions is not the right course for us." Which conflicted with his statement in New Hampshire earlier this year, "I believe based on what I read that the world is getting warmer. And, No. 2, I believe that humans contribute to that. I don't know how much.…And so I think it's important to us to reduce our emissions of pollutants and greenhouse gases."

Romney's most recent comment indicated a potent change  from his prior attitude as governor of Massachusetts, when he enforced rules on coal-burning power plants that he touted as the first in the country to target gases thought to cause global warming.

The Pittsburgh remarks came shortly after Romney created confusion over his views of an Ohio law, backed by Republican Gov. John Kasich, that limits collective-bargaining rights for public employees. The Wall Street Journal reports that Romney visited a Republican phone bank in Cincinnati where volunteers were asking voters to support the law in a referendum. Romney told reporters he didn't know enough about the ballot initiative to comment, despite the fact that he had demonstrated his support of the law on his Facebook page. On Wednesday, he reverts back to his original opinion, saying he backs Mr. Kasich "110%."

Blows from his competitors:

• ·         Rick Perry

o   "Mitt's been on both sides of those issues. He's, you know, been for a ban on guns in Massachusetts. He's been for pro-abortion. He's been for, you know, supporting gay rights. And now, he's on the other side of those issues."

o   "We are very, very different from the standpoint of consistency. I have been a consistent conservative. I have always been in favor of the Second Amendment and protecting Second Amendment. I've always been pro-life. I've always been a fiscal conservative."

• ·         Jon Huntsman

o   “Romney is a perfectly lubricated weather vane on all the major issues of the day.”

• ·         Obama Campaign

o   Romney's so-called flip-flopping may be one of the few areas where Republican contenders and the Democratic opponent agree. An aide to President Obama on Sunday repeated the Obama campaign line that Romney "has no core," and shifts his position to suit the audience.

o   Top Obama adviser David Plouffe:  "You look at issue after issue after issue he's moved all over the place. I can tell you one thing working a few steps down from the president, what you need in that office is conviction. You need to have a true compass. And you've got to be willing to make tough calls. And you get the sense with Mitt Romney that, you know, if he thought it was good to say the sky was green and the grass was blue, to win an election, he'd say it."

According to Fox News, "People usually like it if you change positions and you come toward their position. But you are only allowed a certain number of flips before people begin to doubt your character," said Fox News contributor Brit Hume. "And I think Romney exhausted his quota sometime back. And these fresh ones I think are over the limit, and I think they hurt. And I don't think the fact that he's flipping in the direction that Republicans will like will help very much, because I think they don't trust him." 

Here’s to him, 

Here’s to her, 

Here’s to whoever serves my interest best, 

Cheers!