Back on the first day of February, Mitt Romney said that he wanted to tie minimum wage raises to inflation and cost of living. I was surprised and excited to hear that—the minimum wage has too often been used as a political football in Congress, and allowing the wage to go up automatically as the cost of living increases may not be a catch-all solution, but it’s way more progressive than anything any other Republican candidate for president has said about the minimum wage in recent memory.
Unfortunately, and right on schedule, Romney flip-flopped on the minimum wage on March 5th. It took him a little more than a month to turn completely around and run to the other end of the political spectrum. Here’s video:
This isn’t as fast as Romney’s most recent retreat from reasonability, but it’s pretty goddamned fast. At this point, I’m starting to think Mitt Romney’s moderate twin—Orrin? Bruce? Leland?—is filling in for his brother during these hectic campaign days and occasionally losing the script. That’s a almost more reasonable explanation than the blatant pandering and ungraceful course-corrections we’re witnessing in broad daylight.