MITT ROMNEY: BRAINY WONK, REPRESENTATIVE OF THE PEOPLE, OR BRAZEN WAFFLER? Has Mitt Romney changed positions on key issues? Absolutely. Should he get the Republican nomination, will he change again? No doubt about it! Yet, his flip-flops may not be as despicably dishonest as they seem. Scott will explore how Mitt’s commitment to leadership may be linked to the principle of agency and the unbreakable pledge elected officials have to represent the views of the people who elected them. In the Republican primaries, the voters will be very conservative. Not so in the general election. Might the conservative Mitt we see today loosen up just in time for the general election and become the Clintonesque policy wonk some say he is?

RONALD B. SCOTT