Nick Kristof's
column today boils down to this: He hopes Mitt Romney is a liar.
The reassuring thing about Mitt Romney is that for most of his life he probably wouldn’t have voted for today’s Mitt Romney.
This is a man who registered as a Republican only in preparation for his 1994 Senate campaign against Edward Kennedy; previously, Romney had registered as an independent. As recently as 2002, in his successful run for governor of Massachusetts, he described himself this way: “People recognize that I am not a partisan Republican, that I’m someone who is moderate, and that my views are progressive.”
That was accurate, and Romney became an excellent, moderate and pragmatic governor of Massachusetts. But then, in 2005, he apparently began to fancy himself as Republican presidential timber and started veering to the right in what we can all pray was a cynical, unprincipled pander.
Kristof goes on to say that if he had to choose, he'd rather have a chameleon as president—someone merely pretending to be a right-wing lunatic—than having an actual right-winger. But he acknowledges he doesn't really know to which of those categories Mitt Romney belongs.
I understand the impulse behind Kristof's musings, but even if Mitt Romney is a chameleon, the fact remains that he is fueling and encouraging the political right by pandering to them. That alone speaks negatively about his character. Moreover, it is a perfect illustration of what Romney would likely be as president: an empty vessel who allowed Congress to drive his agenda.
Kristof speaks highly of Romney's tenure in Massachusetts, but don't forget, Democrats still controlled the legislature there. Imagine for a moment that Romney had been governor of a state with a conservative state legislature. Is there any doubt that he'd have been a very different governor?
Perhaps with a progressive majority in Congress, a President Romney wouldn't be a disaster. But with a Republican majority—even in just one chamber—Romney would be an absolute nightmare. Anyone who wants a sensible approach to governance needs to realize that there really is no acceptable Republican presidential candidate, chameleon or otherwise. And as important as it is to reelect President Obama, it's also critical that we return Congress to Democratic control.