National Journal reports that a fundraiser for Mitt Romney, Christopher Jenny, is inviting donors opposed to “social arch conservative” Rick Santorum to a reception in support of a “Massachusetts moderate” for president:
“For those of you who are not offended by the idea of a ‘Massachusetts moderate’ in the White House, the opportunity to get involved is fleeting,” wrote Jenny, who has also donated to progressive Democrat Alan Khazei and was a George W. Bush bundler. National Journal obtained the email and attached invitation to the March 7 reception, which Jenny is co-hosting, from someone unaffiliated with the campaign.
As National Journal notes, Romney has worked hard to cast himself as a conservative during the race. He even called himself a “severely conservative governor” of Massachusetts at this year’s CPAC. His opponents, most frequently Newt Gingrich, have tried to play up the “Massachusetts moderate” side of Romney’s past, but as Fred Barnes pointed out in January, Romney has moved further right in this cycle:
Still, there must be a reason a moderate Republican from Massachusetts (who gave $2,500 last year to liberal Democrat Alan Khazei’s failed primary campaign in the race against Republican Scott Brown) is rallying his fellow moderates around the former governor. Why don’t they believe Romney’s the conservative he says he is?
