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How Romney’s Extreme Policies Insult Us All

Tonight's debate is the perfect opportunity to call out Romney’s campaign dishonesty. 

Katrina vanden Heuvel

October 16, 2012

Editor’s Note: Each week we cross-post an excerpt from Katrina vanden Heuvel’s column at the WashingtonPost.com. Read the full text of Katrina’s column here.

At first glance, it might seem as if Mitt Romney’s path—from voting in the 1992 Democratic presidential primary to being the 2012 Republican presidential nominee—was linear. But over the past, winding twenty years, Romney has held every possible view on every possible issue—often at the same time. When it comes to policy, he’s been downright promiscuous.

He was for a woman’s right to choose before he was against it. He was for tax cuts for the rich before he was against them. He was for—no, he wrote—health reform before he was against it… before he was for the parts that everybody liked.

This isn’t a platform—it’s a punchline.

Now, eighteen months into the presidential campaign, countless campaign events, interviews, a convention and a debate later, one thing is clear. Mitt Romney isn’t Etch-A-Sketching or flip-flopping. He’s being dishonest. And at Tuesday’s town hall debate, it’s time for the American people and the president to go the way of Joe Biden and call out his malarkey.

Editor’s Note: Each week we cross-post an excerpt from Katrina vanden Heuvel’s column at the WashingtonPost.com. Read the full text of Katrina’s column here.

Katrina vanden HeuvelTwitterKatrina vanden Heuvel is editorial director and publisher of The Nation, America’s leading source of progressive politics and culture. She served as editor of the magazine from 1995 to 2019.


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