Klein: Romney’s Two Faces May Produce Winning Smile

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http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-10-26/romney-s-two-faces-could-produce-a-winner-s-smile-ezra-klein.html

In the 2008 presidential campaign, Team Obama prided itself on its facility for “political jujitsu” -- the art of turning political attacks back on the attacker.

Time and again, opponents would uncork a seemingly devastating assault -- Hillary Clinton slamming Barack Obama for being willing to negotiate with dictators, or John McCain proposing to call off the campaign to deal with the economic crisis -- and Obama would use it against them. The payoff was twofold: Obama got to attack without going negative first, and he forced his challengers to second-guess themselves.

In recent months, Mitt Romney has shown a similar talent. Prior to this election, the rap on the former Massachusetts governor was simple: He was too two-faced to ever win the presidency. For Romney’s opponents, it was supposed to be an easy and devastating line of attack. These days, he’s showing that he may be just two-faced enough to win.

This is not the first campaign in which Romney’s sincerity has come under question. Back in 1994, when he was challenging Senator Ted Kennedy, Romney was asked at a debate to explain his position on abortion. His answer, in short, was that he was personally opposed, but he didn’t think his personal preferences should be written into law.

[JoePhilly]

1. Bloomberg searching for a path to move reversible Mitten forward. Too funny.