Now that Mitt Romney has secured the GOP nomination, he is obviously free to be himself. His masquerade as a conservative is over as he has returned to many of the moderate to liberal stances he held as Governor of the People’s Republic of Massachusetts. He has also returned to being the polite politician who treats his Democratic opponents with respect.

Mitt Romney only gets nasty against other Republicans. In the GOP primary, the Governor eviscerated his opponents with high priced, non-stop, hard hitting attacks. He is not employing the same tactics in his general election showdown against President Obama, who he continues to refer to as a “nice guy.”

At the same time that Romney is playing nice, Barack Obama has been on a rampage, tearing to shreds the U.S. Constitution. On June 15 at the White House Rose Garden, Obama decided to issue de-facto amnesty to 1.4 million aliens who illegally entered the country at a young age. The President evidently decided that standing immigration laws do not apply to this category of individuals, who will now be able to apply for work permits and no longer have to face the threat of deportation. To the 23 million unemployed Americans looking for work, get ready to face more competition for scarce jobs. Romney’s response to this outrageous move is that he wants to seek “common ground” on the immigration. During an interview on Face the Nation last Sunday, Romney refused on five occasions to pledge that he would rescind the new Obama immigration policy.

Last week, the President issued a questionable Executive Privilege order protecting his Attorney General from congressional investigators and covering up documents that dealt with the scandalous Fast and Furious program. In response, the Governor should be condemning the President’s order, demanding that Holder resign and insisting on full transparency and the release of all documents. Instead, Romney’s response has been non-existent, as he has been “largely silent” on the Fast and Furious debacle, which resulted in the death of a border patrol agent.

On Monday, the Supreme Court struck down three of the major provisions of the state of Arizona’s law dealing with illegal immigration. The justices upheld the remaining provision, which allows law enforcement to question suspected illegal aliens about their immigration status. After the ruling, it only took the Obama Department of Homeland Security several hours to rescind agreements with seven law enforcement agencies in Arizona. Thus, the federal government will provide no assistance to Arizona in dealing with illegal immigrants arrests, except those caught crossing the border or with felonies in their criminal history. Horace Cooper of the National Center for Public Policy characterized the administration’s move “a complete disregard of the constitutional process.” As noted by Arizona Governor Jan Brewer, Obama told Arizona, “drop dead.”

With the U.S. Constitution, law abiding Arizona residents and a Republican Governor under attack, what did presumptive GOP nominee Mitt Romney say? His spokesman refused to condemn the Supreme Court ruling or offer support for the Arizona immigration law. After being hounded by reporters for an answer and evading 20 questions on the issue, Romney spokesman Rick Gorka offered this meek response, “The Governor supports the right of states, that’s all we’re going to say on the issue.”

When the people of Arizona, the conservative movement and the GOP needed a champion, Romney hid under his moderate cloak. He did the same disappearing act several weeks ago when President Obama announced his support for gay marriage. This cowardice in the face of controversial issues should alarm conservatives. It does not bode well for a potential Romney administration. It is another indication that the worries of conservatives about Romney were well founded.

Romney masqueraded as a conservative in the Republican primaries. Now he is being his true self, the Massachusetts Moderate. If he is elected as President, he will be another George H. W. Bush who will manage the growth of government, not seriously curtail it. He will work with Democrats, not oppose their socialist agenda. He will use government to “solve” problems and not provide the only real solution, limited government.

So called political experts claim that any Republican presidential nominee must “move to the middle” to win the general election. Romney is obviously following this advice; however, just the opposite is true. America is thirsting for a conservative alternative to Obama. Voters want a real choice, not an echo. Romney should be clearly differentiating his positions with the President on all issues, not just the economy.

At this time in our history, illegal immigration is a vitally important issue. Millions of citizens along with southern border with Mexico feel overrun with illegal immigrants and are frustrated by a federal government which refuses to take action.

Romney is trying to placate the Latino vote by toning down his rhetoric on this issue. During the Republican primaries, Romney expressed staunch support for the Arizona immigration law. Today his spokesman goes to great lengths to avoid the issue.

Sadly, Romney does not possess the core conservative principles that the Republican Party and this nation desperately needs.

Governor Romney may become our nation’s 45th President, but as his tap dancing on these issues prove, he will not govern as a conservative.

Jeff Crouere is a native of New Orleans, LA and he is the host of a Louisiana-based program, “Ringside Politics,” which airs at 7:30 p.m. Fri. and 10:00 p.m. Sun. on WLAE-TV 32, a PBS station, and 7 till 11 a.m. weekdays on WGSO 990 AM in New Orleans and the Northshore. For more information, visit his web site at www.ringsidepolitics.com. E-mail him at jeff@ringsidepolitics.com.