<p>John McColgan</p>

Now that Barack Obama has been president for nearly four years, most voters have a pretty good idea who they think he is and what he stands for. My rough math tells me that about a third of the country loves him, about a third despises him, and the other third likes him but isnt sure whether he has earned a second term. Time will tell how that middle third votes.

Mitt Romneys identity is much more elusive, because Romney floats around the political spectrum like a leaf in the wind. Consider two issues abortion and taxes that illustrate what one of Romneys own campaign advisers referred to as his candidates ability to erase and re-create an etch-a-sketch of himself for voters.

When Romney ran for senator and later for governor in Massachusetts, he claimed to be pro-choice. As CEO of Bain and its various affiliate companies, Romney made millions investing in Stericycle, a medical waste firm that disposes of aborted fetuses. As governor, Romney championed a health care reform law which not only permits but actually provides abortions at taxpayer expense.

Yet Romney has also proclaimed himself to be strongly pro-life, and his running mate, Paul Ryan, assures voters that Romney opposes abortion except in cases of rape, incest, or to protect the life of the mother. But Ryans assurances are befuddling, considering that Romney himself recently stated, Theres no legislation with regards to abortion that Im familiar with that would become part of my agenda. At different times during his political career, Romney has said that he supported and more recently opposes Roe vs. Wade, so his record and rhetoric offer no sure guidance about what type of Supreme Court justice he would appoint.

So what is Romneys position on abortion? Feel free to draw your own etch-a-sketch.

Then there is the matter of income taxes, where Romney promises a 20 percent cut across the board. He says he would pay for that cut by closing loopholes for high earners, but neither he nor his running mate have been willing to specify which loopholes they intend to close. The nonpartisan Tax Policy Center has estimated that Romneys cuts would cost the federal government about 4.8 trillion dollars over 10 years, and they have said that the only way to find enough loopholes to offset that lost revenue would be to eliminate or severely reduce deductions that benefit the middle class, such as those on home mortgage interest, college education costs, medical expenses, and charitable contributions. Even the studies that Romney cites in support of his position cant determine whether his numbers really add up, since Romney has refused to offer a detailed plan.

Romneys notorious insinuation that the 47 percent of Americans who pay no federal income tax are moochers is especially insulting coming from a guy whose own overall federal tax tab is a mere 14 percent of his personal income. His slur also ignores the fact that most of the folks that he degraded are elderly and living on Social Security, college students, or working people with low incomes. Many of us who are self-employed know that even before we pay a dime of federal income tax, our federal payroll taxes have historically been over 15 percent, at least prior to the recent reduction in FICA taxes during President Obamas term. Moreover, we ordinary working stiffs dont have the benefit of secret accounts in the Cayman Islands, Bermuda, or Switzerland to shelter and hide our real income.

In 1960, John Kennedy asked voters whether they would buy a used car from Richard Nixon. Thats a question people should ask themselves about Mitt Romney, who keeps trying to sell us something that sounds too good to be true.

The most enduring truth that we really know about the political chameleon who is Mitt Romney is that he is a very successful businessman. He knows how to close a deal, but many companies that Bain Capital harvested later discovered the hard way that Romneys deals turned out to be good for him and his wealthy friends, but not necessarily good for their company or its employees.

Romney has indeed made his mark in the world, and if youre not careful, his next mark just might be you.

John McColgan is a small business owner who writes from his home in Joseph.