In early October, Ann Coulter appeared on “Hannity & Colmes” and stated that she has no problem with politicians “flip-flopping” on issues, provided they do so in the right direction:
COLMES: Mitt Romney, the other possible contender, flip-flopped on every issue, has flip-flopped on illegals, flip-flopped on gays…
COULTER: He’s flipping in my direction.
COLMES: But he’s flip-flopped. He’s changed his position. It depends on what office he’s running for in terms of what he says.
COULTER: Have I ever said I’m against flip-floppers? … I just want them to flop in my direction.
With Mitt Romney working to position himself as a consensus candidate for the various right-wing leaders who cannot make up their minds about who to support but know that they will not accept Giuliani, it seems as if this mentality is starting to gain traction:
But [Giuliani’s] position on abortion seems to have benefited Mr. Romney, whose new, pro-life position has helped him with religious conservatives. Some say they fear Mr. Giuliani’s pro-choice stance enough to overlook Mr. Romney’s late-in-life conversion.
“If they come around to seeing things our way the last thing we should do, I think, is throw stones at them,” said Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, an influential social conservative group. But, he warned, “For whatever reason, the positions Governor Romney has arrived at are his positions, and if he is to remain politically viable in any way, he will have to maintain those positions.”
The latter part of Perkins’ statement pretty well sums up Romney’s current predicament in that the only reason he is even being considered a legitimate candidate by the Right is because he has done a 180 degree turn away from his record in Massachusetts and blatantly pandered to their agenda.
And many on the Right seem perfectly willing to overlook that, provided that Romney remains committed to the post flip-flop positions he now claims to hold.
It must be difficult to run for President when the people you have been pandering to suddenly start demanding consistency and accountability.
