When Log Cabin Republicans Attack!

Romney has the reputation of being a flip flopper, and with good reason. He's currently having a "reap what you sow" moment with the Log Cabin Republicans.

A 30-second TV spot that recently aired in Iowa opens with a still frame of Mitt Romney and a calm female voice intoning, "For years, he's fought conservatives and religious extremists." It goes on to show the former Massachusetts governor stating a variety of socially moderate views, at one point reprising a video clip from a 1994 debate in which he says, "I believe abortion should be safe and legal in this country." The ad closes with the lines, "A record fighting the religious right. A pro-choice record. Massachusetts values. Mitt Romney."

As Romney strives to remake himself as a social conservative—the candidate who represents "the Republican wing of the Republican party," as he recently put it—his previously moderate views on gay rights, abortion, and gun control are precisely the issues he's trying to distance himself from. So who's behind the devious ad? Not a liberal 527 or one of his GOP rivals—it's the Log Cabin Republicans, the national organization of gay conservatives, who have made Romney the target of a full-fledged attack campaign.

Mitt Romney has done a complete reverse on LGBT issues. When he ran for governor of Massachusetts, he had the Log Cabin Republican's endorsement, based on his stated support of domestic partnership rights, federal non-discrimination legislation, and his statements of support for "gays and lesbians . . . to serve openly and honestly in our nation's military."

Now Romney is the only Republican candidate to support a constitutional amendment to prohibit same-sex marriage. He now also opposes federal non-discrimination legislation (ENDA), and supports Don't Ask, Don't Tell. That's a dizzying spin in a few short years.

Romney is one who will tell you what you want to hear to get your endorsement....and your vote. I don't know about you, but I'm really hoping to elect a president this time that places some value on personal honesty. The cheap, cynical pandering to the far right is getting tiresome. I'm sort of burned out on the deception thing now.

In addition to the commercial below, LCR has provided a helpful list of Romney's ever changing statements, in all their flip-floppy goodness.