Not really, although you would think he had, given the coverage of one rather innocuous remark he made about his agenda.
Romney, in an interview with the DesMoines Register, did not state any change in his views on abortion-- he's already done that enough times in the past. Instead, he appears with this remark to be placing abortion farther down on his list of priorities. This just looks to me like a fairly typical dodge-controversy maneuver in the weeks before the election:
Martin Bashir suggested that this 'flip flop' was going to make things difficult for Paul Ryan in the vice-presidential debate tonight. It won't. Ryan and Romney already have substantive policy differences on abortion (whether there should be an exception for rape, for example), and Ryan is adept as papering over those differences.
One interesting bit of news to come out of this was that he head of Planned Parenthood, Cecile Richards, is taking a leave of absence to "officially" help the Obama campaign fight Romney (see Daily Beast article). I know it is obvious that Democrats and Republicans have sorted largely into the pro-choice and pro-life parties, but this strikes me symbolically as a little much. On the one hand, it makes more sense than ever, given that Romney, like many Republicans, wants to de-fund Planned Parenthood. Perhaps for that very reason, however, having the head of Planned Parenthood take off her non-profit hat and put on a campaign hat for the Obama campaign seems like a step too far.
Links:
Article from the DesMoines Register (October 9, 2012): Romney says abortion isn't part of his agenda
Article from The Daily Beast (October 11, 2012): 'Proudly Pro-Life' Romney's Wriggle on Abortion Seen as 'Pragmatic'
MSNBC News' Martin Bashir (October 10, 2012): Romney abortion flip-flop complicates Ryan's debate 'Jell-O'
Los Angles Times editorial (October 10, 2012): Romney's latest fudge on his abortion agenda
Romney, in an interview with the DesMoines Register, did not state any change in his views on abortion-- he's already done that enough times in the past. Instead, he appears with this remark to be placing abortion farther down on his list of priorities. This just looks to me like a fairly typical dodge-controversy maneuver in the weeks before the election:
“There’s no legislation with regards to abortion that I’m familiar with that would become part of my agenda,” the GOP presidential candidate told The Des Moines Register’s editorial board during a meeting today before his campaign rally at a Van Meter farm.Some news coverage is treating this like a big deal. Really?
Martin Bashir suggested that this 'flip flop' was going to make things difficult for Paul Ryan in the vice-presidential debate tonight. It won't. Ryan and Romney already have substantive policy differences on abortion (whether there should be an exception for rape, for example), and Ryan is adept as papering over those differences.
One interesting bit of news to come out of this was that he head of Planned Parenthood, Cecile Richards, is taking a leave of absence to "officially" help the Obama campaign fight Romney (see Daily Beast article). I know it is obvious that Democrats and Republicans have sorted largely into the pro-choice and pro-life parties, but this strikes me symbolically as a little much. On the one hand, it makes more sense than ever, given that Romney, like many Republicans, wants to de-fund Planned Parenthood. Perhaps for that very reason, however, having the head of Planned Parenthood take off her non-profit hat and put on a campaign hat for the Obama campaign seems like a step too far.
Links:
Article from the DesMoines Register (October 9, 2012): Romney says abortion isn't part of his agenda
Article from The Daily Beast (October 11, 2012): 'Proudly Pro-Life' Romney's Wriggle on Abortion Seen as 'Pragmatic'
MSNBC News' Martin Bashir (October 10, 2012): Romney abortion flip-flop complicates Ryan's debate 'Jell-O'
Los Angles Times editorial (October 10, 2012): Romney's latest fudge on his abortion agenda
Comments