Opinion: Mitt Romney doth protest too much about his conservative credentials

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Mitt Romney’s speech to the Conservative Political Action Conference included a ‘greatest hits’ of conservative policy positions, but what was striking about it was the repetition of the ‘C-word.’ I counted 23 references to ‘conservative,’ ‘conservatives’ or ‘conservatism.’

Would a politician comfortable with his conservatism feel the need to wrap himself so tightly in the term? It’s as if President Obama were to refer to himself repeatedly as a ‘liberal’ -- or ‘progressive,’ the new preferred usage -- in a speech to a liberal-leaning group. (Or as a ‘centrist’ if he were addressing the moderate Democratic Leadership Council.)

Just as converts to Catholicism often call attention to their religion more than do cradle Catholics, Romney clearly felt that he had to blatantly burnish his conservative credentials before an audience of longtime right-wingers. It’s a wonder he didn’t write ‘conservative Mitt Romney’ on his CPAC name tag.

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--Michael McGough