As usual the NYTimes has absolutely nailed a very inconvenient (for Republicans that is) political truth in this morning's editorial: The ‘Moderate Mitt’ Myth
...The best way to judge candidates is not by the popular way they describe their plans near the end of a campaign; it is by the most divisive presentations of themselves earlier on. A candidate’s political calculations when fewer people are watching is likely to say far more about character than poll-tested pleasantries in the spotlight.
That’s what is disingenuous about the “Moderate Mitt” in recent speeches and the first presidential debate. He hasn’t abandoned or flip-flopped from the severe positions that won him the Republican nomination; they remain at the core of his campaign, on his Web site and in his position papers, and they occasionally slip out in unguarded moments...
That was only one snippet of a very succinct and deadly accurate eight paragraphs of Mitt 101. This editorial should be read far and wide. The reader comments that follow are interesting as it seems the Mitt damage control team was in full on red-alert response mode grabbing the first two comments to defend him.