Charting Romney's positions on the issues is a daunting task. In fact, I had to scale efforts down considerably when realizing the monolithic rabbit hole being encountered... reminiscent of the rabbit warren in Watership Down.
To illustrate the difficulty of tracking Romney's ever-changing stances, take a look at some of what he's said on foreign policy (charted by date):
ROMNEY'S FOREIGN POLICY QUOTES (LISTED & CHARTED CHRONOLOGICALLY):
“The president's failure to secure an agreement and maintain 10,000 to 30,000 troops in Iraq has to be one of his signature failures.” (1) Dec 22, 2011
“President Putin has returned to some of the more heated rhetoric of the past, I think he endangers the stability and peacefulness of the globe.” (2) Dec 23, 2011
“Ultimately, the independence and the security of Afghanistan is going to have to be secured & maintained by the Afghans themselves. We're not going to stay there forever.” (3) Mar 18, 2012
“[Russia] is without question our No. 1 geopolitical foe” (4) Mar 26, 2012
“As president, my goal in Afghanistan will be to complete a successful transition to Afghan security forces by the end of 2014.” (5) Jul 24, 2012
“It’s disgraceful that the Obama administration’s first response was not to condemn attacks on our diplomatic missions, but to sympathise with those who waged the attacks.” (6) Sep 11, 2012
“I will support friends across the Middle East who share our values.” (7) Oct 8, 2012
“America has a proud history of strong, confident, principled global leadership – a history that has been written by patriots of both parties.” (8) Oct 8, 2012
“I will roll back President Obama's deep and arbitrary cuts to our national defense.” (9) Oct 8, 2012
“We can't kill our way out of this mess [in the Middle East]. We don't want another Iraq, we don't want another Afghanistan.” (10) Oct 23, 2012
Once I set a limit of tracking just three stances per issue, the project of charting Romney's positions became doable. Keep in mind these stances are in chronological order, so you can see the shifting of positions as he attempted to target his voting base:
ABORTION:
“I am in favor of maintaining our current [abortion] law, which is the age of consent at 18, and I will preserve and protect a woman's right to choose.” Oct 2002
"I am absolutely committed to my promise to maintain the status quo with regards to laws relating to abortion and choice and so far, I have been able to successfully do that. And my personal philosophical views on this issue are not something that I think should distract from a more critical agenda." May 27, 2005
“I think I’ve said time and again that I’m a pro-life candidate and I’ll be a pro-life president. The actions I’ll take immediately is to remove funding for Planned Parenthood.” Oct 10, 2012
“When I heard about [Don't Ask Don't Tell] I laughed I said that doesn't make any sense to me, and you know what? It has been there for 15 years, it seems to have worked... I look forward to hearing from the military exactly what they believe is the right way to have the right kind of cohesion and support in our troops and I'll listen to what they have to say.” Nov 28, 2007
“There can be domestic partnership benefits or a contractual relationship between two people, which would include as Speaker Gingrich indicated hospital visitation rights and the like, we can decide what kind of benefits we might associate with people who engage in those kind of relationships, state by state.” Jan 7, 2012
“Marriage is a relationship between one man and one woman.” May 12, 2012
I think there is need for economic stimulus.” Jan 4, 2009
"I think had President Bush and Secretary Paulson and Ben Bernanke not pushed for a TARP type program, we would have been in a free fall that would have caused not only the collapse of a few banks on Wall Street, but banks all over the country, killing not only a few jobs, but all the jobs in this country. That's what we were facing, and the TARP program prevented that from occurring. TARP got paid back and it kept the financial system from collapsing... it was the right thing to do.” Jan 28, 2010
"I have never supported the president's Recovery Act, alright -- the stimulus. No time, nowhere, nohow." Sep 28, 2011
“I supported No Child Left Behind. I still do.” May 15, 2007
“I fully support the effort to extend the low interest rate on student loans. There is some concern that would expire halfway through the year, and I support extending the temporary relief on interest rates for students.” Apr 23, 2012
“I’m not going to cut education funding. I don’t have any plan to cut education funding and grants that go to people going to college. I’m planning on continuing to grow, so I’m not planning on making changes there.” Oct 3, 2012
“I believe the world is getting warmer, I can't prove that, but I believe based off what I read that the world is getting warmer. And number two I believe humans contribute to that.” Oct 28, 2011
“My view is that we don't know what's causing climate change on this planet. And the idea of spending trillions and trillions of dollars to try to reduce CO2 emissions is not the right course for us” Oct 28, 2011
“Scientists will figure [climate change] out ten, twenty, fifty years from now” Dec 9, 2011
Is your head spinning yet? Just wait, there's more....
“The president's failure to secure an agreement and maintain 10,000 to 30,000 troops in Iraq has to be one of his signature failures.” Dec 22, 2011
“President Putin has returned to some of the more heated rhetoric of the past, I think he endangers the stability and peacefulness of the globe.” Dec 23, 2011
“Ultimately, the independence and the security of Afghanistan is going to have to be secured & maintained by the Afghans themselves. We're not going to stay there forever.” Mar 18, 2012
“I don't line up with the NRA.” 1994
“When it comes to protecting the Second Amendment, I do not support any new gun laws including any new ban on semi-automatic firearms.” Dec 30, 2007
“With respect to gun control laws, I believe we need to distinguish between law abiding gun owners and criminals who use guns.” 2008
“Obama could learn a thing or two about health care reform from Massachusetts.” Jul 30, 2009
“I’m not getting rid of all of health care reform. Of course there are a number of things that I like in health care reform that I’m going to put in place.” Sep 8, 2012
“But the right answer is not to have the federal government take over health care and start mandating to the providers across America, telling a patient and a doctor what kind of treatment they can have. That's the wrong way to go. The private market and individual responsibility always work best.” Oct 3, 2012
“For me the central issue is that people who are here illegally should be able to apply for citizenship, that should not be prohibited." May 25, 2007
“If you're opposed to illegal immigration, it doesn't mean that you don't have a heart. It means that you have a heart and a brain.” Sep 23, 2011
“They should instead go at the back of the line and they should not be allowed to stay in this country and be given permanent residency or citizenship merely because they have come here illegally.” Nov 29, 2011
"We're going to cut taxes on everyone across the country by 20 percent, including the top 1 percent.” Feb 22, 2012
“And the answer is yes, we can help, but it's going to take a different path, not the one we've been on, not the one the president describes as a top-down, cut taxes for the rich. That's not what I'm going to do.” Oct 3, 2012
“I will not reduce the share paid by high income individuals. I know that you and your running mate keep saying that, and I know it's a popular thing to say with a lot of people, but it's just not the case.” Oct 3, 2012