2012 Decoded

Maybe he can't help himself, but Republican front-runner Mitt Romney offered a very recent example of the authenticity problem that NJ's Ron Fournier describes today in this space.

Speaking at closed-door fundraiser Thursday in Pittsburgh, Romney's position on the causes of global warming continued a rightward shift underway for several months now. "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," he said.

As recently as his 2010 book, No Apology, Romney wrote, "I believe that climate change is occurring...I also believe that human activity is a contributing factor. I am uncertain how much of the warming, however, is attributable to man and how much is attributable to factors out of our control."

Romney's comments at the Pittsburgh fundraiser were captured on video, which ended up in the hands of the liberal Center for American Progress. The center distributed the video to news outlets today.