The first thing to note is that this is not a young man coming to terms with his philosophy. This is not a youthful indiscretion. Though he looks younger than his age, Mitt Romney just celebrated his 65th birthday. He turned 55 in 2002.

Second — and this is important to understand — is that this video shows a Mitt Romney passionately attempting to persuade people that he is just as pro-choice as his liberal opponent. In so doing, he uses many of the exact same rhetorical devices that he uses today when he attempts to persuade similarly incredulous conservatives that he’s one of them…

“YouTube is the worst thing to ever happen to the inconsistent politician,” says another top GOP strategist. “Romney’s problem is that there are just so damn many examples of what he said in the past, and what he says now, being polar opposite. Most people think it’s old news that he has changed a lot of his positions, so that’s why this hasn’t sunk him. But it’s also one of the key reasons why he hasn’t been able to close the deal with primary voters.”