Never underestimate Mitt Romney's willingness to reinvent himself — anytime, any place, any issue.
He shifted his position on taxes during last week's debate with a passive President Barack Obama. This week, he tried to soften his stance on abortion, telling the editorial board of the Des Moines Register, "There's no legislation with regards to abortion that I'm familiar with that would become part of my agenda."
How quickly Romney forgets Roe vs. Wade, the Supreme Court decision which struck down laws restricting abortion. Changing the law of the land was definitely part of his agenda — or so he repeatedly said on the presidential campaign trail. As he worked to woo suspicious pro-life voters during the primaries, Romney declared support for overturning the 1973 landmark decision and said he hoped to appoint justices who would reverse it.
Writing in The National Review on June 18, 2011, under the headline "My Pro-Life Pledge," Romney called for the reversal of Roe vs. Wade, calling it "a misguided ruling that was a result of a small group of activist federal judges legislating from the bench."
Romney's campaign quickly clarified the comments the candidate made to the Des Moines newspaper, stating that "Mitt Romney is proudly pro-life and he will be a pro-life president." Of course with Romney, being proudly pro-life depends on the meaning of pro-life — or is it the meaning of pro-choice?
Shannon O'Brien, the Democrat who lost to Romney in their 2002 race for governor of Massachusetts, said that whenever she hears about his staff "walking him back, the image I have is of this agitated dementia patient walking off in one direction. Then, the staff grabs him and walks him back to where he's supposed to be."
When it comes to abortion, Romney has been walking around in circles since he first ran for office in Massachusetts against Ted Kennedy.
During their iconic 1994 showdown in Faneuil Hall, Romney told voters. "I believe abortion should be safe and legal in this country. I believe that since Roe vs. Wade has been the law for 20 years, that we should sustain and support that law and the right of a woman to make that choice."
Kennedy, who didn't buy Romney's pro-choice persona then, famously dubbed his opponent "multiple choice."
Romney began his well-documented switch to pro-life in 2005, when he told the Boston Globe, "I believe that abortion is the wrong choice except in cases of incest, rape and to save the life of a mother." By 2007, he was saying that Roe vs. Wade "cheapened the value of human life." He said he supported an amendment to the Constitution that would legally define personhood beginning at conception.
If that's what he believes, that's what he believes. But is it really what he believes?
Joan Vennochi writes for the Boston Globe.