Former Governor of Massachusetts Mitt Romney is among the top tier of candidates for the GOP presidential nomination. As one of the leading contenders, he has often been assailed by his rivals for flip-flopping, waffling or just flat out changing his views on an array of issues in order to endear himself to the base of his party.

Yesterday, one of my colleagues – Don Kraus – had a personal experience with the Romney campaign. An experience that feeds directly into the frame that Romney, and his campaign, is an evolutionary thinker when it comes to policy stances.

Don called the Romney campaign headquarters in Boston. He was following up with the Romney policy team, as it had not returned our organization’s candidate questionnaire. In an attempt to educate our members and anyone else who comes to our web site, we feel it is important that Americans know what the people who wish to become president think about the U.S. role in the world, Darfur, energy and climate change, the International Criminal Court, torture and range of other important global issues.

So, back to Don and his chat with Courtney on the policy team at the Romney campaign….

Don: “I called the campaign’s main number, (857) 288-6400 and asked if I could speak with the policy department in order to follow up on the candidate questionnaire we sent the campaign last month.

“I was then transferred to the policy department, and said: ‘Hi, this is Don Kraus, I am with Citizens for Global Solutions, and I am following up on a candidate questionnaire we sent to the Romney campaign (via fax and U.S. mail) in early August.’

Courtney: “Well, it is the campaign’s policy not to respond to surveys or questionnaires.”

Don: (scratching his head) “Just out of curiosity, why is that?”

Courtney: “Because we are constantly developing new policies.”

Now, having worked on a national presidential campaign myself, I understand it can sometimes be a bit bothersome to have to coordinate the constant need to answer questions from various groups about the position of your candidate. But Courtney’s response to Don’s inquiry yesterday is certainly consistent with the image that Romney is willing to shift and shuffle his way around policies in order to garner his party’s nomination.

Other than his amazing hair, and very cool tan, I was especially turned off by Romney during one of the debates this past spring when he was asked about closing Guantanamo Bay. During the debate on May 15, Romney said:

I am glad [detainees] are at Guantanamo. I don’t want them on our soil. I want them on Guantanamo, where they don’t get the access to lawyers they get when they’re on our soil. I don’t want them in our prisons, I want them there. Some people have said we ought to close Guantanamo. My view is we ought to double Guantanamo.

Well, I guess if the Romney campaign has a policy of not answering “surveys or questionnaires” at least we know – for the time being – where Romney stands in regards to Gitmo and the U.S. adhering to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Howard Salter