Clinton camp still hammering Mitt as a flip-flopper

BOSTON — Republican Mitt Romney has delighted in his attacks on Hillary Rodham Clinton, questioning the Democratic presidential contender's experience by labeling her an "intern" and saying "she has never run a corner store."

The Clinton camp is fighting back with a singular rebuttal that harkens back to the GOP's devastating attacks on Democrat John Kerry in 2004. It's also sure to echo into next year should Romney emerge as his party's presidential nominee.

"Hillary Clinton needs no lessons on character from a man who switches his positions on a daily basis," said campaign spokesman Howard Wolfson.

Phil Singer, another Clinton spokesman, said after Romney focused on immigration a week ago: "Considering how often he flip-flops, we wouldn't be surprised if Gov. Romney later decides he's for sanctuary cities — again."

The singularity of response, delivered regardless of what Romney says, homes in on what proved to be one of Kerry's major vulnerabilities: the perception his positions change with the political winds.

Kerry delivered President Bush a gift amid the 2004 campaign when the Massachusetts senator said of a war-funding bill, "I actually did vote for the $87 billion before I voted against it."

In the case of Romney, another Massachusetts politician trying to reach the White House, the flip-flop charge could carry equal potency.

The former governor acknowledges he's switched positions on abortion rights, while he's also taken a no-new-taxes pledge that an aide labeled "political gimmickry" during his 2002 gubernatorial campaign.

At the same time, Romney is touting a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage after saying during a 1994 U.S. Senate campaign that he'd be a better advocate of gay rights than his opponent, Democrat Edward M. Kennedy. Romney says he also opposed gay marriage in 1994, and is as committed to opposing discrimination based on sexual orientation today as he was 13 years ago.

"No matter how long you've been in public office, the first time you're running nationally, you're being defined in a national context. The Clinton campaign is trying to make sure that Mitt Romney is firmly perceived as a flip-flopper," said Erik Smith, a veteran Democratic strategist not working for any candidate this cycle.

Smith said the label is especially troublesome for presidential contenders because the public yearns to see them as something more than political figures.