As TPM reported earlier, the Democrats have been having a field day attacking Mitt Romney already, and they think their jabs are starting to draw some blood.
They’ve got a new one coming that moves somewhat beyond the standard “flip-flopper” line and delineates the various identities Romney has worn over the years. Here’s the list:
The Unabashed Social Liberal: When he ran for the Senate in 1994, he was an unabashed social liberal – proclaiming to be more of a champion for gay rights and a woman’s right to choose than even Ted Kennedy. He also held himself out as the ultimate independent Republican – famously rejecting the Reagan-Bush era by declaring in one debate with Kennedy: “I was an independent during the time of Reagan-Bush. I’m not trying to return to Reagan-Bush.”
The Competent Manager: By the time he ran for Governor in 2002, Mitt Romney was on to personality number two – the competent manager who was best suited to run the state – a moderate Republican who promoted the role of government in solving tough problems like health care and climate change – and who was still a social liberal on issues like abortion.
The Social Conservative: By 2007 when he started running for President, Mitt Romney, who once said he be a better advocate for gay rights than Ted Kennedy, ran as a social conservative – appearing before every right wing social gathering he could find to promote his brand new anti-choice, anti-gay rights social views. He even tried to out-social conservative Mike Huckabee and ran hard to win over Iowa’s social conservative voters in an unsuccessful effort to win the state’s first in the nation caucus.
The Economic “Mr. Fix-It”: After personality number three failed to win Romney the Republican nomination in 2008, he was on to political personality number four in 2011. An economic “Mr. Fix It” whose private sector experience was supposed to set him apart from the rest of the field. Gone were his desperate appeals to social conservatives to accept him as one of their own and instead Romney, for the better part of year, focused almost exclusively on the economy and shied away from personal political attacks on his primary opponents.
And finally, they identify personality number five as “PalainRich” – a compound of Palin-Cain-Gingrich. Doubling down on their interpretation of his speech earlier today, the Dems are claiming he’s starting to channel “tea party favorites” in his attempt to court the “anyone-but-Romney vote,” which even stretches to hiring Sarah Palin’s former speechwriter.
Given the way the Dems have previously sunk their teeth in after identifying a vulnerability, you can expect to hear plenty more about “Romney 5.0” in the days ahead.
