This is funny. Mitt Romney's campaign — in an effort to defend itself against criticism from John McCain on abortion — has just released a video tape that it says refutes McCain's attack against him.

But that video inadvertently revealed yet another flip flop from Romney on another issue: Stem cell research. The vid seems to show that back in 2005, he endorsed federal funding of embryonic stem-cell research. That's a position that's off limits to any GOP candidate — and one that Romney now claims he opposes.

A quick recap. As we
noted two days ago, John McCain's campaign circulated a YouTube of Mitt Romney in May 2005, in which he seemed to be endorsing the pro-choice status quo in Massachusetts. McCain charged that this shows that Romney's claim that he'd had an earlier conversion on the issue was bogus.

In response, the Romney campaign released this longer YouTube of that same press conference, showing the remark in its proper context:

(Turn up your volume — the audio signal on this video is rather weak.)

The vid does seem to back up Romney's case to a degree — it shows that he also said he opposed embryo farming, and that he was against abortion but was going to fight more winnable battles in liberal Massachusetts politics, such as the cloning issue.

The problem, though, is that on this longer video, Romney also said this:

"The United States House of Representatives voted for a bill that was identical to what I proposed. What they voted for is what I proposed, all right. They voted to provide for surplus embryos from in vitro fertilization processes, being used for research and experimentation. That's what I've said I support."

It sure sounds like Mitt Romney endorsed federal funding of embryonic stem-cell research in this video, doesn't it?

This is a potential disqualifier in a GOP candidate. And Romney now claims he opposes it. Did Romney's campaign really commit the error of putting out this video itself?



We asked Romney campaign spokesman Kevin Madden for comment on whether Romney had flip-flopped on stem-cell research.



"Governor Romney does not support taxpayer funding of embryonic stem cell research," Madden wrote in an e-mail. "It’s my understanding that the answer of support was regarding a question about allowing research to move forward on IVF embryos that would otherwise be discarded, not the issue of taxpayer funding."

So was that bill about federal funding or not? From The New York Times, May 24, 2005: "The House passed a bill on Tuesday to expand federal financing for embryonic stem cell research, defying a veto threat from President Bush, who appeared at the White House with babies and toddlers born of test-tube embryos and warned the measure 'would take us across a critical ethical line.'"



Nope, no taxpayer funding here...