Does Mitt Romney have principles? This is the root of the flip-flopping criticism against him.

One of the main reasons I support Ron Paul is that he clearly does have principles (following the Constitution, and supporting liberty), and I generally share those principles.

Mitt Romney does have principles but not in the same way. Looking especially at his political career, Romney focuses on representative democracy and sound management.

The representative democracy principle is the source of his flip-flopping on issues. Seeing himself as Governor of Massachusetts, Mitt Romney was pro-choice because his constituents were pro-choice. Once he started running for the Republican nomination for President, his constituency became pro-life and so did Romney. The same analysis explains his changing positions on universal health insurance, gun rights/control, climate change, and so on.

If Romney becomes President he would view his constituency not as just Republicans, but the whole nation. As such, he is unlikely to do much about the controversial issues that trouble Democrats. Instead, he would focus his presidency on his second principle.

Mitt Romney’s greatest strength in the campaign is his history of competence in business, in saving the Salt Lake City Olympics, and as Governor of Massachusetts. At his core he is running for President because he believes he would do a better job of managing the federal government than any of his GOP opponents, and better than Barack Obama. With the exception of Ron Paul, I have to agree.