Mitt Romney was in Tennessee to meet and greet in Nashville. Bill Hobbs has a big write up, and it made it over to National Review–The Corner.

I’m just little ole’ me…no big time consultant, just a grassroots kind of gal, but I’m sensing a GOP defeat in 2008 if we don’t come up with something better than the current field. I know it’s early, but unless we get some better candidates, I’m just not feeling really good about the GOP chances.

Candidates for President don’t just require policy positions that sell, they require that “backyard barbecue” factor–the likability, the trustworthy factor.
Romney appears to be the candidate that conservatives are trying to get to be a consensus candidate, but I’m of the opinion that “I don’t think so.”

A lot of folks criticize Dick Morris, but I think he has a pretty good feel for what sells to the average guy on the street. Morris points out some of the problems:

The current conservative front-runner is soon-to-be former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. But Romney’s social positions aren’t likely to appeal to mainstream conservatives. During his 2002 race for governor, Romney said that while he personally opposed abortion, he “would protect the current pro-choice status quo in Massachusetts. No law would change. The choice to have an abortion is a deeply personal one. Women should be free to choose based on their own beliefs, not the government’s.” He said he would “preserve and protect a woman’s right to choose.” Ted Kennedy couldn’t have said it better himself.

Romney said, in a 1994 television debate against Kennedy (he ran for the Senate that year against Teddy), that he changed his pro-life stand after, “A dear, close family relative…passed away from an illegal abortion…Since that time, I have been committed to the belief that…we will not force our [pro-life] beliefs on others. You will not see me wavering on that.”

Wavering? No. But out right reversing, yes. Romney seems to be a chameleon who adjusts his positions to suit the need of his environment. When he was running in a liberal state against the most liberal member of the Senate, he talked liberal. But now that he wants to win a Republican primary with a conservative base, he speaks their language.

Now, he says that his views on abortion have “evolved and changed” since he sought election in the most liberal state in the nation and he now considers himself pro-life.

But on abortion, the only thing liberals and conservatives agree on is that they can’t stand those who would flip-flop on this moral issue, adjusting not only to the political winds but also to the geographic area in which they are running at the moment. Since Romney has flip-flop-flipped, going from pro-life to pro-choice to pro-life, he is unlikely to gain traction on the right.

More from Morris here. Romney has similar problems on other issues such as gay marriage. The New York Times has info on the letter here, and here’s an excerpt if you don’t feel like linking over:

Mr. Romney’s standing among conservatives is being hurt by a letter he sent to the Log Cabin Club of Massachusetts saying that he would be a stronger advocate for gay rights than Senator Edward M. Kennedy,

It’s going to be hard to garner enthusiasm for such a flip-flopper…just ask Bob Corker and John Kerry.  I hope and trust that Romney has changed his opinions, but it’s hard enough electing a candidate in general, without having to convince friends and voters that a change was real.

The Boston Globe has a good article on Romney’s move to the right, click right here.
I’m not saying this is the guy, but I’d like someone like this.