Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) blasted GOP front-runner Mitt Romney in no uncertain terms Thursday, saying his state’s former governor is “a man totally devoid of any commitment to any principle except his own advancement.”
The Massachusetts lawmaker blasted the Republican presidential hopeful as politically opportunistic, and predicted that his shifts on major policy issues likely accounted for Republicans’ wariness to fully embrace his candidacy.
“Usually, when a politician shifts position to a certain group, they don
’t mind — people are usually tolerant of people who flop toward them,
” Frank said on MSNBC.
“But Mitt Romney has been so obvious in his absolute lack of principle that even the people who he temporarily says
‘I agree with you
’ are not reassured because they understand when the wind blows he will go.
”The 16-term congressman said Romney
’s shifts on gay marriage, environmental policy, abortion rights and healthcare access betrayed his desire for personal success.
“There is literally not a public policy that he has not advocated one side of at one time and one side at the other,
” Frank said.
“I have never seen a major political figure so absolutely unburdened by any commitment to any principle whatsoever.
”Frank also accused Romney of having
“a meanness at his core,
” pointing to attack ads run by the Romney campaign against political opponents in previous races and the GOP primary.
“You will not find a more devoted practitioner of the vicious aspects of American politics than Mitt Romney,
” Frank said, accusing the former Massachusetts governor of running
“the most relentlessly savage campaign against anybody who dare get in his way.
”
