Mitt Romney is 'Wishy-Washy' in California's Central Valley

From Steve Lopez, at Los Angeles Times, "In Central Valley, conservative flight to the right":

The way things are going in the GOP presidential primary, there's now an outside chance that California's 169 delegate votes — the most of any state in the nation — could come into play.

Who knew?

It seemed, way back when, that Mitt Romney was a safe bet to make it to the dance with President Obama in November. Then Newt Gingrich came on like the bull terrier he is, followed by a surprising surge from Rick Santorum. If the seesaw ride continues, it could even make California's June 5 primary relevant for once.

So whom do California conservatives like?

My poll may have a wide margin of error, scientifically speaking, but I did zigzag my way through the heavily Republican Central Valley one day last week, asking that very question.

"Gingrich," said Joe Rebella, owner of Fresno's Whirlwind Car Wash, where the sign says "you'll see a whirl of difference."

Romney comes off as "wishy-washy," said the carwash man, who isn't exactly "conservative" with a capital C. He said he's voted for Democrats and Republicans, but business at the Whirlwind has been worse than ever since Obama took office. About a year ago, Rebella lost a big prize when Fresno City Hall stopped having him wash its fleet of cars because of budget troubles.

OK, but given the GOP gospel of ever-smaller government, does Rebella really think he'd get the city fleet back under a President Gingrich?

In the tiny farm town of Pixley, south of Tulare, I strolled into the True Romance Tattoo parlor, because how could I not?

"I'm a convicted felon," said the owner, Josh Richardson, explaining why he won't be voting in June or November. But if he could, he'd definitely vote Republican, on gun-rights issues alone.

OK, swell.

His grandpa, James Crawford, said he had switched party affiliation from D to R that very morning because Obama is nothing but "promises, promises, promises." Crawford plans to vote for Romney in the primary because Gingrich is nothing but a politician and lobbyist.

OK, but with so many people suffering through a rough economy, does it bother Crawford that the fabulously rich Romney said he didn't care about poor people, or that he paid 13.9% in taxes on dividends while lots of working folks paid twice as much?

"No," said Crawford. "That's the way it's set up."

More at that top link. That's interesting that folks are switching to Democrat affiliation at this late date. It's not your mother's party, as Andrew Breitbart remarked at CPAC, not by a long shot.