Redstate

That's Romney. You can't duck and run when your'e a Republican Governor in Massachusetts. He'll take these question head on just like he has for National Review and all other publications. Deft, articulate, charming and presidential. Keep bashing him, you're only tougening him up for his battle with the Clinton machine.

I have to admit -- I wasn't expecting this! I thought he might wait out the storm. But this was a deeply honest and frankly fresh approach to the charges of "flip-floppiness" - he admits it.

This is very refreshing. It's not every day you see such prompt and direct response to concerns, especially those generated in the blogosphere.

Whatever else we take from this, can we at least agree that Romney has "addressed" the issue, finally? I'm weary of demands he "explain himself." At least let's agree he has made a genuine effort to be upfront and candid about his past.

What do y'all say?!

Romney has the guts to admit he changed his position. I think that is something the American people will respect in a general election because it shows he is always examining the issues and trying to remain in touch. One of the complaints about the current President is that he is out of touch.

this is something american needs..even tho i may not agree with his changes i can support this man because its just refeshing as MellowFellow said for some1 to explain himself like that and not just to say that he didnt flip flop like kerry did...this is a man that i think can make america better

When he ran for Governor. He ran as a pro abortion and gay rights candidate, Reagan never came up for him to spew all over his presidency. What an arse.

Could all the Romney staff give us a few and not start posting how refreshing he was. Thanks.

The primary source of the attacks on Romney as a flip flopper came from the Boston Globe- and that was primarily a reverse Moby attack so I tuned it out.

Not to say that those true conservatives who are concerned over Romney's change in position on abortion are somehow illegitimate. It's perfectly reasonable to be suspicious of the conviction of a recent convert.

It is also reasonable to be trusting of the conviction of a recent convert. It all depends on the circumstances. The fact that several liberal sources were deliberately trying to attack Romney as "too liberal" for social conservatives did a lot to sooth my concerns. The way I see it- if they're so scared of him, he's probably on my side.

So I guess I was never as concerned about the whole "flip-flopper" thing. I felt abortion was the only issue that was truely a concern- and after listening to Romney on that issue, and considering his dependability on other social issues I'm willing to accept him into the pro-life fold. I'll keep an eye on him to see if there's any backsliding, but don't feel the need to worry about the possibilty.

I'm more concerned about the recent rash of attacks on Romney for being a Mormon:
This supporter of Jim Gilmore compares Mormons to Wiccans. (Note that I believe Gilmore is not involved in the attack on Romney and Mormons).

But most of the vitrol is coming from the "tolerant" left:
Urging Reverse Mobys to attack Romney as gay friendly

Now there is even some spill over into attacking other Mormons (only Republican ones of course): Attack on Gordon Smith
(This may be motivated by a hope of damaging Romney as Oregon is possible Swing State.)

I would like to point out that I was actually present at the speech given by Mormon Church Pres. Hinckley that the above article describes as "denouciation of the war". In fact President Hinckley said no such thing. Instead he spoke about how war is a terrible thing even when necessary. Which is the common interpertation by those present- as well as the article she links to in her own story as the supportive proof that Hinckley denocunced the Iraq War. Given Here:
Hinckley hates War- reminiscent of FDR

Meanwhile the rest of the MSM won't give Romney's Mormonism a rest- can't they find something else about him interesting? If they have to write human interest stories can't they write something about his carrer or family in more detail?

Anyway, the way the left has started to openly and boldly attack Romney's faith as disqualifying without any response from the MSM concerns me. There hasn't even been any tut-tuting.

As for Romney himself, I am currently supportive of his candidacy- but mainly as a result of my low enthusaism for the other candidates.

What I what most to hear from him is were he stands on gun rights. If he's in the right place on that issue it will do a lot to shore up the tenative support I'm giving him right now.

Romney is a good man, and I think he would have had a good chance had he not tried to reinvent himself as the uber conservative candidate for 2008. He and his handlers apparently saw a void in the field, and thought that a reinvention that moved him to the right would give him the best chance to overtake the not-so-conservative frontrunners.

The problem is, rebranding is tough, whether for brands of beer or political candidates, and even tougher for politicians since people are who they are. What Romney is is a moderately conservative, smart, reasonable guy who has shown some flexibility and confusion on the very issues that divide the hard right from the moderate right. By going after the super conservative position on the board, he put the focus on those issues, his weakest issues.

Now he's stuck on the tracks. He hasn't persuaded the hard core that he's one of them, but he's pretty much persuaded everyone that he's not resolute.

In a word, his grand repositioning positioned him as a flip-flopper.

If he gets the nomination, this will be the theme of the general election - this guy you don't know all that well is a flipflopper who was against it before he was for it before he was against it. You will hear Ted Kennedy's "multiple choice" quip over and over and over again. It will stick, because the first thing most people are hearing about Romney is that he's that guy who was against it before he was for it before he was against it.

Every development in the nuances of his positions will get portrayed by MSM as a flip flop, because once they grag a meme, they don't let go of it.

The video is more significant than the text, because video has lots more emotional impact. The video is skillfully done to have just that emotional impact.

I think the guy is in a very bad position right now. Once enough people see him as a flip flopper - even if abortion and gay marriage aren't their hot button issues, and even if they don't care even a little bit about the boy scouts - they will also see him as unfit for the highest office.

It was all unnecessary. He could have run as who he is, let someone else be the uberconservative, and put the focus on his charisma, his understanding of business, and his keen intelligence. He would have been conservative enough in the end. Running as the super conservative alternative invited this focus on how conservative he really is, which has only had the unfortunate effect of positioning him not as a movement conservative, but as an opportunistic flip flopper.

Is the phone just a prop? It's obvious this was a prepared response since it's videotaped and I wonder how many takes were done before they got a good one. But, staging the response as an impromptu response to a phone call (from a reporter?) lends it an air of more credibility. Just the sort of slickness I've come to expect from Romney.

Listened to it again and it sounds like the woman who asks him the leadoff question is in the room with him. She certainly doesn't sound like she's on a speaker phone?