I don't have the numbers to back this up, but I have to believe that 99.6781284% of people past the age of 6 years, 4 months, 13 days and 27 minutes have changed their mind at least once (margin of error +/- .0000000394861%). I can't remember the first time I did such a thing. Perhaps it was when I wanted to play chess, but then changed my mind and wanted to play strip poker. This was when I was a week old and still in the hospital. What can I say? I've always liked nurses (no, not just the male ones). So yes, even I have changed my mind a time or forty-six. Most of these changes occurred during my teenage and young adult years, when other "parts" of me were changing as well. I still love to pull a Johnny 5 from "Short Circuit" and feed my brain input on a very regular basis, which makes it possible that my mind can change again. However, with so much more information lodged inside my noggin than when I was in middle and high school, it'll be a much rarer occurrence for my opinions to be altered subtlely, let alone drastically. This is the case for most people. However, it doesn't seem to be that way for one Willard Mittens Romney. Politicians tend to receive a great deal of flack for changing their minds (flip-flopping) in any manner and I can be more understanding in such a change of mind or heart when that alteration is slight. Romney's flip-flops are so large, they wouldn't fit the feet of The Incredible Hulk. Most mathematicians have lost track of just how many times Mr. Romney has flip-flopped, so I'll be sharing with you, in my opinion, his ten largest flip-flops to this point and then attempting to interpret what Romney's opinions actually are with regard to each of them. Let's get started...
1) The Flip: "I believe that abortion should be safe and legal in this country... I believe that since Roe v. Wade has been the law for 20 years, it should be sustained and supported. And I sustain and support that law and support the right of a woman to make that choice." - in a 1994 debate against Democratic Senator Ted Kennedy
The Flop: "I am pro-life and believe that abortion should be limited to only instances of rape, incest, or to save the life of the mother. I support the reversal of Roe v. Wade, because it is bad law and bad medicine. Roe was a misguided ruling that was a result of a small group of activist federal judges legislating from the bench. I support the Hyde Amendment, which broadly bars the use of federal funds for abortions. And as president, I will support efforts to prohibit federal funding for any organization like Planned Parenthood, which primarily performs abortions or offers abortion-related services." - June 18, 2011 op-ed in the National Review
Interpretation: "I believe it should be a woman's right to choose what to do with her body after she becomes pregnant, so long as that choice isn't abortion. I'm pro-choice when it comes to a woman's right to make a decision, but pro-life when it comes to what her decision should be. It's like what I told my wife many years ago. I told her that it's her choice to either be a stay-at-home mother or work outside of the home, but that if she worked outside of the home, I'd divorce her and take the children away as well."
2) The Flip: "I purchased a gun when I was a young man. I've been a hunter pretty much all my life." - April 3, 2007
The Flop: "I'm not a big-game hunter. I've made that very clear. I've always been a rodent and rabbit hunter. Small varmints, if you will. I began when I was 15 or so and I have hunted those kinds of varmints since then. More than two times." - 2 days later
Interpretation: "I was released from my mother's womb with a gun in my hand and it's been there ever since. People call me trigger-finger, pistol-grip, rifle-hand and Squirt-gun Sally because of this. Yet, and I want to make this perfectly clear to everyone, the only things I've ever hunted are baby squirrels, kangaroos and dogs on car-roofs."
3) The Flip: “I was an independent during the time of Reagan-Bush. I’m not trying to return to Reagan-Bush.” - in a 1994 debate with Ted Kennedy
The Flop: “Ronald Reagan is also my hero and a friend of all of ours…I believe that our party’s ascendancy began with Ronald Reagan’s brand of visionary and courageous leadership.” – Source: Speech in South Carolina (February 2005)
Interpretation: "I wasn't even a Republican during the Reagan-years, yet the guy is my biggest hero. It's like a few of the guys I know from the NRA - they are just die-hard Gandhi-lovers."
4) The Flip: "My father and I marched with Martin Luther King Jr. through the streets of Detroit." - 1978 interview with the Boston Herald
The Flop: "I did not 'see' it with my own eyes." (it's a figure of speech)
Interpretation: "I'm telling you, we (my father and I) literally marched with Martin Luther King, Jr., but we weren't actually with him. It was more a figurative kind of march, yet it wasn't. My dad and I marched with Martin Luther King both literally and figuratively, yet we didn't. If we had been there, we would have marched with him, but we weren't actually and even though we weren't, we kind of were. ...you know?"
5) The Flips: "I don't think (the waiting period) will have a massive effect on crime, but I think it will have a positive effect." - July 1994 question-and-answer session with voters arranged by the Boston Herald
and
"I don't want special-interest groups making this their campaign. I don't want their money. I don't want their help. This is my race... That's not going to make me the hero of the NRA. I don't line up with a lot of special interest groups." - subsequent interview published on Sept. 23, 1994
and
"We have tough gun laws in Massachusetts; I support them." - 2002 race for governor debate against Democrat Shannon O'Brien
The Flops: "The Second Amendment protects the individual right of lawful citizens to keep and bear arms. I strongly support this essential freedom, and I applaud the recent federal appeals court decision in Washington, D.C., which concluded that the Second Amendment protects an individualized right to keep and bear arms. As president, I will support that interpretation and protect the right of every law-abiding American to keep and use firearms. With respect to gun control laws, I believe we need to distinguish between law-abiding gun owners and criminals who use guns. Those who use a firearm during the commission of a crime must be punished severely. The key is to provide law enforcement with the resources they need and punish criminals, not burden lawful gun owners."
and
"No. I believe we need to focus on enforcing our current laws rather than creating new laws that burden lawful gun owners. I believe in safe and responsible gun ownership, and that anyone who exercises the right to keep and bear arms must do so lawfully and properly. I do not believe in a one-size-fits-all federal approach to gun ownership because people keep and use firearms for different reasons. Law-abiding citizens have a right to protect their homes and their families and as president, I will vigorously defend that right." -2008 Washington Post candidate questionnaire (during '08 primary campaign)
Interpretation: "The less guns and more gun regulation we have, the less crime there will be. This is how it was in Massachusetts when I was governor there. At the same time, though, everyone needs guns, because that's our right. That may result in more crime. It may be the dumb thing to do, but as president, I'm willing to sacrifice your lives for the sake of your rights! You're welcome."
6) The Flip: "I concur that climate change is beginning to [have an] effect on our natural resources and that now is the time to take action..." - Boston Herald, July 24th of 2003
The Flop: "Unfortunately, some in the Republican Party are embracing the radical environmental ideas of the liberal left. As governor, I found that thoughtful environmentalism need not be anti-growth and anti-jobs. But Kyoto-style sweeping mandates, imposed unilaterally in the United States, would kill jobs, depress growth and shift manufacturing to the dirtiest developing nations. Republicans should never abandon pro-growth conservative principles in an effort to embrace the ideas of Al Gore." - 2/23/07 Romney For President Press Release
Interpretation: "In the summertime, I'm usually a global-warming believer, because it can get pretty hot. In the spring and fall, I'm never quite sure what to think about it. In the winter, with the snow and cold temperatures, I don't think there's any possible way global warming is real. So, do I believe global warming is real? I guess that just depends on the day. Does that answer your question?"
7) The Flip: "..we can accomplish the same thing for everyone in this country." (health care) - hardcover version of his book, No Apology
The Flop: "It would be wrong to adopt [the Massachusetts law] as a nation. In the last campaign, I was asked, is this something that you would have the whole nation do? And I said, no, this is something that was crafted for Massachusetts." - October of 2011 Las Vegas debate
Interpretation: "Am I proud of the health care reform I passed as the governor of Massachusetts? Yes. Do I think that same kind of plan would work well for the nation as a whole? Yes. Do I think we should do that? No. Why? Because I care about the nation as a whole."
8) The Flip: "I think a lot of people expected the president just to cave and to write a big check and hope for the better. I'm glad that he's expressing some backbone on this and saying to those guys, 'you have to get your house in order or you guys are gone, you'll have to go to bankruptcy'." - 2009 interview with CNN
The Flop: "It would have been best not to have had the president and government put their hands on the bankruptcy process...Bailouts are not the answer." - 2011 Detroit campaign visit
Interpretation: "Okay, I admit, I thought at first that President Obama did the right thing with regard to the bailouts and bankruptcy-process, but after it was successful, I got to thinking about it and decided perhaps it wasn't such a good idea. It's like back in school when I got a history exam back that I aced. I'd look through all the questions and answers and think to myself, 'You know? I really should have answered these five differently. If only I had done that, I would have attained an even better score!'"
9) The Flip: ...supported Clinton's "don't ask, don't tell" military policy, saying it's "the first in a number of steps that will ultimately lead to gays' and lesbians' being able to serve openly and honestly in our nation's military."
The Flop: "...would not change" the policy... It's been the policy now in the military for what 10-15 years and it seems to be working. This is not the time to put in place a major change, a social experiment in the middle of a war going on. I wouldn't change it at this point. We can look at it down the road."
Interpretation: "Gays should be and will be allowed to serve openly in our military one day, but today isn't that day, nor is tomorrow. Honestly, I don't think that day will ever come."
10) The Flip: "We must make equality for gays and lesbians a mainstream concern. [Ted Kennedy] cannot do this. I can and will." - 1994 letter sent to the Log Cabin Club of Massachusetts (saying he would be a stronger advocate of gay rights than Ted Kennedy)
The Flop: In 2011, he signed a pledge opposing gay marriage. The pledge, sponsored by the National Organization for Marriage, commits candidates to supporting a federal marriage amendment to the Constitution that defines marriage as between one man and one woman; defending the federal Defense of Marriage Act in court; appointing judges and an attorney general “who will respect the original meaning of the Constitution”; appointing a commission to investigate harassment of traditional marriage supporters; and introducing legislation giving Washington, D.C., residents the right to vote on same-sex marriage.
Interpretation: "Even though I'm more liberal than Ted Kennedy ever was on gay rights, I still don't think gays should ever be allowed to marry. There should be an amendment added to the Constitution to ban gay civil unions and marriages. If any of them do get married, they should be placed in jail for life without parole. If you think that's bad, just imagine what Ted Kennedy would have said. Like I said the gays, I'm one of you. Vote for me and let us be one with one with each other."
*Vegas has it at infinity : 1 odds that Romney will flip-flop at least 50 more times from now until the election in November and 1 : 2 odds he will flip-flop on his gender identification.
Sources
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2012/mar/22/american-bridge-21st-century/pac-ad-sketches-romney-abortion-flip-flopper/
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/article/2008/jan/28/another-flap-over-flip-flops/
http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Elections/President/2011/1212/Mitt-Romney-gaffes-9-times-the-button-down-candidate-should-have-buttoned-up/Small-varmints-if-you-will
http://www.businessinsider.com/14-bald-faced-mitt-romney-flip-flops-that-were-dug-up-by-john-mccain-2012-1#3-anti-reagan-then-now-pro-reagan-3
http://www.americansformitt.com/mittissues.html
http://www.thegrio.com/politics/mitt-romney-martin-luther-king-problem.php
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2007/dec/28/mitt-romney/george-romney-and-mlk-marched-but-not-together/
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2011/nov/02/jon-huntsman/jon-huntsman-accuses-mitt-romney-flip-flopping-gun/
http://www.businessinsider.com/14-bald-faced-mitt-romney-flip-flops-that-were-dug-up-by-john-mccain-2012-1#6-is-the-planet-warming-mitt-probably-agreed-with-you-at-one-time-or-another-6
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/mitt-romneys-top-contradicting-comments/story?id=14805513#.T6MuW6uXRbw
http://www.tnr.com/blog/jonathan-cohn/89981/parsing-romney-auto-gm-chrysler-bailout-obama
http://www.boston.com/politicalintelligence/2011/08/romney-signs-new-pledge-banning-gay-marriage/zJRPrbdHIRmqYYEbgXsmwJ/index.html
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