I’ve always said that everybody likes Mitt the first time around. What’s not to like? A first impression is important, so good for Mitt. The problem is that the longer you are around him, the more you realize,

“Geez, you’re really pandering to me.”

National Review’s Rich Lowry has the details.

Wait until the 2nd amendment crowd gets a hold of Mitt’s views on gun control. These people, for the most part, are absolutists. Let’s say you believe it should be illegal to buy a semi-automatic machine gun that could stop a tank in its tracks at the local Wal-Mart. That position would mean that you are a “gun grabber” and “enemy of the 2nd amendment”.

What are they going to say about the self-described “the true conservative in this race” when they see this,

In favor of the Brady Bill
Regarding the Brady Bill which required waiting periods to buy a handgun, Romney stated, “I don’t think [the waiting period] will have a massive effect on crime but I think it will have a positive effect.”
– Boston Herald, 8/1/1994

Supports federal assault weapons ban
According to his 2002 gubernatorial campaign, Romney “is a supporter of the federal assault weapons ban.”

Signed state assault weapons ban
On July 1, 2002, Romney signed a permanent ban on assault weapons. “Deadly assault weapons have no place in Massachusetts,” Romney said, at a bill signing ceremony with legislators, sportsmen’s groups and gun safety advocates. “These guns are not made for recreation or self-defense. They are instruments of destruction with the sole purpose of hunting down and killing people.”

My problem with Mitt isn’t that he’s not conservative enough for me. It’s that I hold most of the same positions he is now running away from. His reasons for doing so are obvious, which makes the pandering that much harder to stomach.