WHAT (AND WHO) IS LEFT?

To hear Mitt Romney tell it, Republican Mike Huckabee shares more with Democrat Bill Clinton than a hometown in Hope, Ark., and a stint as Arkansas governor. Both men, Romney suggests, have left-leaning governing philosophies, particularly on taxes and spending. "Governor Huckabee's record is more liberal than our nation needs right now," the former Massachusetts governor said in Iowa last week, seeking to link his GOP presidential rival to the former Democratic president who is loathed by many Republican loyalists, to say the least. Romney's aides argue that Huckabee's record as a governor undercuts his claim that he is the only authentic conservative in the race.

And, to be fair, many agree. Take for example, an excerpt from the conservative bible The Weekly Standard (a Bill Kristol publication) who states about Huckabee... "Huckabee's ascent leads us to the most disquieting aspect of his ascendancy. On every major issue save for abortion and gay marriage, Huckabee is dramatically out of step with the Republican party. He talks a class warfare game that would make John Edwards blush. His foreign policy prescriptions make one yearn for the comparably muscular approach favored by Jimmy Carter. His anti-business rhetoric and his past regard for tax increases have left the Club for Growth types fuming. His leniency towards criminals is rapidly becoming legend. "And this obviously is good for Romney. A major conservative publication confirming Romney's claims.

The trouble is, you can say the same thing for him, as well. If you followed only Romney's tenure as governor of Massachusetts, you might imagine Romney as a pragmatic moderate with liberal positions on numerous social issues.

If you followed only his campaign for president, you'd swear he was a red-meat conservative, pandering to the religious right, whatever the cost. Pay attention to both, and you're left to wonder if there's anything at all at his core.

As a candidate for the U.S. Senate in 1994, he boasted that he would be a stronger advocate of gay rights than his opponent, Ted Kennedy. There was a time that he said he wanted to make contraception more available - and a time that he vetoed a bill to sell it over-the-counter. The old Romney assured voters he was pro-choice on abortion. "You will not see me wavering on that," he said in 1994. And, there was a time that he supported stem-cell research, which he no longer supports.

So, with Romney's liberal baggage, he does the only thing he can think of to combat the Huckabee juggernaut. Accuse him of what he (Romney) is being accused of. A conservative in sheeps clothing, with underlying liberal social and economic viewpoints. So Mitt flails away, swinging jabs and hooks before Iowa. Whether or not any of those punches are landing....well, I guess we will find out soon enough.