“Moderate has become synonymous with liberal now,’’ said John Carroll, assistant professor of mass communication at Boston University. “What used to be moderate conservatives are now considered more on the liberal side. The whole political spectrum shifted to the right and dragged all the definitions with it.’’
A second case in point: One of Romney’s GOP rivals, former House speaker Newt Gingrich, also described himself as a moderate earlier in his career - using the same term he now employs as an epithet against Romney.
Dean Spiliotes, a professor of political science at Southern New Hampshire University, said Romney’s language shift is the same issue that bogged him down in 2008. “In 2007, Romney was contorting himself into a pretzel to make the case he was conservative, not moderate,’’ Spiliotes said. “It’s the same argument he’s making now. . . . He’s been getting increasingly frantic about getting movement conservatives to accept he’s one of them.’’
Added Spiliotes: “This is part of the standard game you have to play when you run for the nomination of the party. You have to cater to the base.’’
Romney’s shift was evident in his remarks at the CPAC conference, as he talked about his time as governor “defending our conservative principles’’ in Massachusetts, a “deep blue state.’’ He spoke about cutting taxes and balancing the budget, opposing same-sex marriage, and vetoing a bill providing emergency contraception without a prescription.
Romney’s campaign released a Dec. 30 letter from nine conservative leaders in Massachusetts, praising the former governor for having “solid social conservative credentials.’’
A decade ago, Romney described his social credentials differently. Slate’s David Weigel quoted a 2002 story in the Boston Herald in which Romney was asked about his national political future. Romney responded, “I don’t know that the world is pining for a progressive-on-social-issues governor of Massachusetts.’’
