The Los Angeles Times reports today:
During his first 18 months as governor of Massachusetts, Mitt Romney spent considerable time hammering out a sweeping climate change plan to reduce the state’s greenhouse gas emissions.As staff briefed him on possible measures and environmentalists pressed him to act, Romney frequently repeated a central thought, people at those meetings said: That climate change is occurring, that the United States has the resources to handle its vast impact but that low-lying poor countries like Bangladesh would suffer greatly…
Indeed, one of Romney’s top environmental staffers, Gina McCarthy, now runs the air pollution unit of the Environmental Protection Agency under Obama. John Holdren, a scientist Romney turned to on at least one occasion to discuss climate change, is the White House senior advisor on science and technology issues.
Romney’s gubernatorial record on energy and the environment has little in common with the positions he has staked out in the presidential race, those who knew him in Massachusetts say. The presumptive Republican nominee expresses doubts about climate science like the majority of his party, and his official website has no mention of environmental policy, except for reining in the Clean Air Act and the EPA…
This newest “Old Mitt Romney” revelation, needless to say, is a serious problem for a campaign that has focused unusual time and resources–especially here in Colorado–on attacking President Barack Obama’s energy policies. Does Romney believe what he said as governor of Massachusetts? Or does he believe what he says now in the energy-producing regions of Colorado, not to mention the long GOP primary, about the origin of climate change?
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 and reduce CO2 emissions is not the right course for us.
Which Romney will you get as President? Nobody knows. Romney would do much better to hold a consistent position, even one with which many will disagree, than to be trusted by no one.
But we’re kind of past that, aren’t we?
or care about anything but becoming President. He fell in love with the notion when his dad was running. He ran for Senate and Gov only to establish a little political cred and decided not to run for re-election because too much of a record would be too much taint. If he really believed what he pursued as Gov and was campaigning on those efforts and those successes I might even be inclined to understand why someone else might vote for him.
Rather, folks are going to vote for him because he made a pile of $? He demonstrated that he knows how to use a LBO and how to get local, state and fed govts to chip in to help him and his investors make $ even when he closes a business down and gets rid of hundreds of employees and all their pensions and health benefits
People are going to vote for him because he’s not Obama, and because he’ll do what his real bosses tell him to do.
Another day, another flip-flop. Virtually everybody knows and accepts that you cannot believe a thing Romney says.
This election is purely a referendum on Obama. The Stinky Cheese Man would poll as well as Romney.
This election will be a referendum on Obama. That I agree completely with.
You’re wrong about Romney. Romney is allowed to “evolve” his views on issues just like Obama. For me, Romney is “evolving” toward my position, as opposed to Obama who “evolves” away from what I believe. That you applaud Obama’s flip flops, I mean “evolutions,” but refuse to allow Romney to do the same, only proves you are partisan hacks and out of touch.
Fortunately, most Americans will give both the benefit of the doubt. If they do, and the election is a referendum on Obama, then say hello to President Romney.
Glad to hear a Republican that believes in Evolution. Refreshing!
However, I don’t believe that term should be used as a synonym of “What do I need to say to get your vote?”.
Evolution is a slow process; Romney’s flip-flops are stunning in their quantity and velocity. Plenty more where they come from.
more quickly than a Haggunenon from Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, which writes of the Haggunenon (as paraphrased in Wikipedia):
Just one.
That’s the only one that will matter anyway.
The reason this post took hours to attract comments is that Democrats are becoming demoralized. Your comment halfway concedes this. I talk to Democrats all the time who are tried of Obama’s broken promises. This will be a referendum on Obama, and I predict a lot of Romney Democrats this November.
I talk to twice as many Republicans all the time who think Romney isn’t even eligible for the Presidency on account of being a giant piece of shit. I predict a lot of Obama Republicans, or maybe it’s more proper to say a lot of anti-shitters this November.
Infinity times six whatever you say.
wildest fucking dreams. You guys shoulda listened to Ann Coulter. Romney is such an aristocrat, he doesn’t even know what a doughnut is.
As Americans get to know him better, they will come to dislike him as much as the rest of the Republican presidential candidates do…which I seem to recall someone describing as “intensely”.
demoralized?…keep dreaming.
Everybody across the political spectrum expects Romney to flop to the right on virtually every position. Nobody believes that he has any core convictions, other than “me first”.
because I was working until I was able to do non-work for a few minutes. It is common on this site for posts to go uncommented on for several hours on weekdays or even on weekends when the weather is wonderful
But this, another Romney 180 on a significant policy issue, really drew no interest for quite some time. At this point, it really doesn’t surprise anybody.