Mittstah Soljah
by digby
This looks to me like Romney’s version of a Sistah Soljah moment:
It seemed like a straightforward question on a second-tier issue: Would Mitt Romney disavow the science behind global warming?
The putative Republican presidential front-runner, eager to prove his conservative bona fides, could easily have said what he knew many in his party’s base wanted to hear.
Instead, the former Massachusetts governor stuck to the position he has held for many years — that he believes the world is getting warmer and that humans are contributing to that pattern.
Romney’s answer to the question about climate change last Friday during his first town hall meeting since announcing his second presidential campaign allowed him to demonstrate what he hopes voters will see as a new and improved candidate — an authentic leader with core convictions.
[…]
So far, Romney’s reviews from the right are not positive. His views about climate change in particular put him at odds with many in his party’s base.“Bye-bye, nomination,” Rush Limbaugh said Tuesday on his radio talk show after playing a clip of Romney’s climate remark. “Another one down. We’re in the midst here of discovering that this is all a hoax. The last year has established that the whole premise of man-made global warming is a hoax, and we still have presidential candidates that want to buy into it.”
Then came the Club for Growth, which issued a white paper criticizing Romney. “Governor Romney’s regulatory record as governor contains some flaws,” the report said, “including a significant one — his support of ‘global warming’ policies.”
And Conservatives4Palin.com, a blog run by some of former Alaska governor Sarah Palin’s more active supporters, posted an item charging that Romney is “simpatico” with President Obama after he “totally bought into the man-made global warming hoax.”
You can’t do a Sistah-Soljah moment on the right. They don’t care if your convictions are authentic. Indeed, they really prefer if they aren’t — there’s more power in being able to force a politician to pander, after all. No, the only thing that matters to them is ideological conformity and pissing off liberals (and not necessarily in that order.)
But then, I doubt that Mitt did this for them. I suspect he’s looking ahead and trying to maintain some sort of “moderate” beachhead for the general election and decided that he’s take his stand on climate change. After all, he hasn’t agreed to do anything about it. He’s just acknowledging that it exists.
Also remember that Limbaugh and the boys tried to tank McCain in the primaries too. I’m guessing Mitt figures he can get past them too.
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