Mitt Romney must think voters have very short memories, said Joan Vennochi in The Boston Globe. To advance his presidential ambitions, the departing Massachusetts governor has moved hard to the right, and is now presenting himself to the Republican base as a true-blue conservative who shares their traditional values on gay rights and abortion. But Romney's record is catching up to him. When he ran for the Senate against Ted Kennedy in 1994, Romney vowed to fight for "full equality" for gays. As governor, he pushed for domestic partner benefits, appointed gays to high-profile posts, and doubled funding for a commission on gay youth. A devout Mormon, Romney is anti-abortion, but he once declared that abortion opponents should not "force our beliefs on others." Religious conservatives are taking the news hard, said Steve Kornacki in The New York Observer. They'd hoped Romney would give them a viable alternative to centrists John McCain and Rudy Giuliani. But now they're wondering if he's just another liberal in disguise. "Either Mr. Romney was faking it then or he's faking it now."
That's not fair, said Dean Barnett in Townhall.com. In 1994, Romney may have advocated tolerance and equality for gays, but he never supported gay marriage. As governor, Romney was confronted with an activist court ruling that imposed gay marriage on the state's citizens. His opposition simply reflects his heartfelt belief that the institution of marriage "should not be mucked with," especially by unelected judges. This makes him neither a bigot nor a hypocrite. Besides, the fixation on this issue says more about Romney's critics than about him. They assume that to win over Christian conservatives, you have to be a homophobe
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