Romney now accused of flip-flopping on gays

Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney is positioning himself as a strong conservative in his quest to win the 2008 Republican presidential nomination. He's already been accused of being a flip-flopper on the abortion issue, now he's being exposed in the same vein on gays and gay marriage.

From the Boston Globe:

Governor Mitt Romney's views on homosexuality have come under increased scrutiny and created a buzz on political blogs after a series of articles indicating that the potential conservative GOP presidential candidate had expressed gay-friendly positions while running for the US Senate in 1994.

The latest report came in today's editions of The New York Times, which details a 1994 letter Romney sent to the Log Cabin Club of Massachusetts, a GOP-leaning gay rights group, in which he wrote that he would be a stronger advocate for gays than his opponent at the time, US Senator Edward M. Kennedy, a long-time gay rights supporter.

"If we are to achieve the goals we share, we must make equality for gays and lesbians a mainstream concern," Romney wrote, according to the Times report. "My opponent cannot do this. I can and will."

This can hurt Romney. Rudy Giuliani, for instance, has had pretty consistent views on abortion and gays, even if the social conservatives don't agree with him on those issues. They'll give him respect for sticking to his guns.

As for Mitt--well, no one likes a flip-flopper.

Technorati tags: Romney gays 2008 elections politics Republicans