The Los Angeles Times digs into whether Mitt Romney campaigned more liberal on social issues than he really was back when he was running for governor of Massachusetts. The gist of the story is that gay-rights, abortion-rights and environmental activists think Romney mislead them four years ago and that he's more conservative on those issues than he made them believe.
Though Romney's policy shifts have become widely known, his meetings with activists for abortion rights and other causes - which have received far less attention - show he put much work into winning support from Massachusetts' liberal establishment only a few years ago.
Making personal appeals on the state's liberal touchstones - gay rights, abortion rights and the environment - Romney developed a persuasive style, convincing audiences that his passion matched theirs and that he was committed to their causes
That can cut two different ways with Republican conservatives nationally - it can help make the case that Romney is, deep down, a conservative. Or it can add to the fear some conservatives have that Romney's current campaign statements and promises are just more campaign window-dressing and that they can't really know where Romney stands on a variety of issues.
A word to the wise: The Los Angeles Times is very liberal newspaper with a history of bending the facts to make it fit their predisposed agenda. They wouldn't like Mitt Romney even if he was pro-choice, pro-gay marriage and to the left of the Sierra Club on environmental issues because, on other issues such as the war with Islamist jihad, taxes and such, he is very much a conservative's conservative.
So when you read the LAT's account of events that happened on the Massachusetts gubernatorial campaign trail four years ago - a race they didn't cover that was on the other side of the country - remember they are likely to see everything through an anti-Romney lens, and to write it that way.
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