“Romney has some issues with authenticity,” says Whit Ayres, a GOP pollster. “It’s very difficult to make a seamless transition of being a governor of a liberal state to being the nominee of a very conservative party.” Romney has changed his positions on abortion and stem-cell research.
Perhaps the most talked-about hurdle for Romney this time is health care. The law he signed as governor of Massachusetts served as the template for the federal law President Obama signed in 2010. Both laws have “an individual mandate that most Republicans find abhorrent,” says Mr. Ayres. For his part, Romney opposes the federal law and says the decision of whether to have an insurance mandate should fall to the states.
“It’s a very tall order to [make the distinction] in a way that would satisfy conservative Republicans,” Ayres says. Observers predict the issue will dog him throughout the race. “I can’t see how it won’t come up in every debate,” Pitney says.
In his ’08 presidential bid, Romney sought to allay voter concern about his Mormon faith by addressing it in a major speech. It may be less of an issue this time because he is known nationally, and it’s not a new story, say political observers. However, they note that many evangelical Christians won’t vote for a Mormon because of the differing beliefs.
