Mitt Romney Refuses to Support Ohio Anti-Union Law He Supported

Poor Mitt, Maybe He Just Can’t Help It

[Editor’s Note:  We have asked The Dismal Political Economist to stop with the Mitt Romney flip-flop commentary, it is getting old.  Unfortunately just like Mr. Romney cannot help himself from taking both sides of an issue it appears The Dismal Political Economist cannot help himself from commenting on Mr. Romney’s consistent inconsistency.]

One of the more interesting election issues in this a non-election year is a ballot initiative in Ohio that would repeal the state’s draconian anti-union law that was just passed by the Republican legislature and signed into law by the Republican Governor.

Politico reports that in June of this year Mitt Romney supported the law that is subject to repeal.

"My friends in Ohio are fighting to defend crucial reforms that the state has put in place to limit the power of union bosses and keep taxes low," Romney wrote on his Facebook page in June. "I stand with John R. Kasich and Ohio's leaders as they take on this important fight to get control of government spending. Please visit www.BetterOhio.org for more information."

which certainly sounds to everyone like an endorsement of the legislation.  However now that polls are showing support for repeal, Mr. Romney has a different story

Appearing today at a GOP phone bank near Cincinnati, Romney told reporters that he wouldn't indicate his position on the referendum.

"I am not speaking about the particular ballot issues," Romney said, according to CNN. "Those are up to the people of Ohio. But I certainly support the efforts of the governor to reign in the scale of government. I am not terribly familiar with the two ballot initiatives. But I am certainly supportive of the Republican Party's efforts here."

Ohio will be a key state in the 2012 election, and Mr. Romney doesn’t want to get on the wrong side of this issue.  Of course, should the law be upheld and repeal voted down Mr. Romney can say he was on that side all along.

Update:  Mr. Romney now says he is sorry if he confused anyone.  His position now,

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney said Wednesday he is “110%” behind an Ohio referendum that would curb the collective bargaining rights of public employee unions in the blue-collar swing state.

And just to clear up things

“What I was referring to was I know there are other ballot issues there in Ohio, and I wasn’t taking a position on those,” Mr. Romney said according to news reports. “I, of course, took my state in one direction; they may want to go in a different direction. I don’t want to tell them what I think they ought to do in that regard. That’s up to them. It was with regards to that issue that I didn’t want to make a commitment.”

Classic Mitt.  Only Mr. Romney can three different positions on an issue that really only has two.