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I agree that Mitt’s “message” (the current one) is conservative. I just don’t believe that Mitt’s core principles (if he has any) are conservative.

Romney ran on conservative principles way back in 1994 when he ran for the Senate

A campaign flyer unearthed from the 1994 race lists a side-by-side comparison of positions between Romney and Kennedy for 24 election issues. A closeup of the flyer with the candidate comparison on the issues is shown below:

Romney held the solid conservative position for 23 of the 24 issues listed; the only exception being the pledge to maintain the status quo in Massachusetts regarding a woman's right to choose. A pro-choice position in Massachusetts in 1994 was a socially moderate stance accommodating the large majority opinion of voters in the state.

It's understandable how a first-time candidate in 1994 and former businessman running a crusade for fiscal conservatism with solid conservative positions on crime, welfare, foreign policy, healthcare, and congressional reform might accept the status quo on a social issue respecting the liberal constituency he would represent.

Romney’s conversion was less abrupt than is often portrayed. In his 1994 Senate run, Romney was endorsed by Massachusetts Citizens for Life and kept their endorsement, even though he declared himself to be pro-choice, because he supported parental-consent laws, opposed taxpayer-funded abortion and mandatory abortion coverage under a national health insurance plan, and was against the Freedom of Choice Act, which would have codified Roe v. Wade by federal statute.

Mitt Romney's positions on the issues in the 1994 Senate race make it abundantly clear that Romney was never a liberal or anything approaching that label nor was he even a moderate. His fiscal policies, positions on crime and the military, and stances on domestic issues of school choice, welfare and healthcare firmly fixed his political ideology in the category of conservative in 1994. Romney's strong conservative stances on issues today are consistent with his long-held.
Romney's Conservative Credentials Go Way Back.

“I agree that Mitt’s “message” (the current one) is conservative. I just don’t believe that Mitt’s core principles (if he has any) are conservative.”

A) Mitt Romney’s life is pretty wide open for inspection. He certainly does have the solid core values of family, work ethic, integrity, etc. The only 08 candidate to have been a CEO. The only 08 candidate with 3 degrees. The only major candidate still married to his first wife.

B) On political values, Mitt Romney is not a proven ‘consistent convervative’ as you pointed out, but has been a blue state Republican. However, his record in Massachusetts is a center-right reasonably conservative record, which btw is more conservative than say GWBush was as governor in Texas. And the claims that he a gun-grabber are not fair as the only bills he signed as Governor were NRA supported. Likewise, the flipflop on abortion is brought up, and yet curiously as Governor most of what he did in the area was on the prolife side. He governed about as conservatively as the Massachusetts electorate would allow.

Consider Mitt Romney as a smarter, more capable, more articulate, better-on-immigration and more fiscally prudent version of G W Bush. He ‘gets it’ on judges and would be solid there. He is certainly running on the 3 key Reagan conservative themes of strength in defense and foreign policy, lowering taxes and spending, and defending family. Moreover, Romney is the only candidate speaking out quickly on key issues and going after the Democrats and liberals, for example:
http://www.mittromney.com/News/In-The-News/Iowa_Marriage_Ruling

IMHO, if that is not conservative enough for you, the only proven, consistent conservative worth voting for in the race right now is Duncan Hunter.

If you think for example Fred Thompson is the next ‘Reagan’, I wish we would have seen more of it in the 8 years he was senators; here’s a viewpoint from richard Vigurie that he’s not a solid conservative either:
http://rxpaul.townhall.com/g/2a2376eb-6d66-421e-b321-ebeec7667923

Stylistically, Thompson has a southern drawl that makes southerners more comfortable, but he has the legacy of McCain-Feingold to live down. There are not big differences between Romney and Thompson on the issues (or in their record).

Last point: The nomination race will be won by Thompson, Romney, or Rudy. And right now, the odds-on favorite is Rudy. (Check Intrade odds). A conservative has two choices - find the best candidate to stop Rudy and support them to take down Rudy, or decide that none of the top three are good enough anyway and just support your favorite candidate, knowing they wont win. I frankly dont think Thompson has it in him to stop the Rudy train, based on how he has run his campaign in the past 3 months ... but Romney does, working to get in front in most early states. Part of my calculation in favoring Romney is his personal character and accomplishments; and part of it is the knowledge that he is a far more acceptable candidate for conservatives than Rudy would be.