Staunch:

1. Firm and steadfast; true. See synonyms at faithful.
2. Having a strong or substantial construction or constitution.

I had to crack up when I saw this one: Romney Accuses McCain of ‘Dirty Tricks’

Republican Mitt Romney accused John McCain of using dirty tricks by suggesting the former Massachusetts governor wanted a deadline for withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq, in a spirited debate Wednesday night that underscored the intensity of their presidential rivalry. Coming 24 hours after McCain defeated him in Florida, Romney vented his frustrations over the Arizona senator’s claims from last weekend.

“I have never, ever supported a specific timetable” for withdrawing troops, Romney said. McCain’s accusation on the eve of Tuesday’s primary, he said, “sort of falls into the dirty tricks that I think Ronald Reagan would have found reprehensible.”

LOL. Ronald Reagan would have laughed at Romney. This is a guy that sticks his finger in the wind to determine what he is going to say at any given point in time. Oh, he was “for” the surge alright. After Gen. Petraeus’s report, that is .

For Romney, the broadside allows him to shift attention away from his wait-and-see approach to the surge, and the broader conflict, that McCain and other pro-war hawks have seized upon.   Hence, the former governor issued a statement this morning that most all in the GOP big tent can agree upon, expressing anger at the “attempt to call into question the reputation and character of” the four-star general.

“Democrats must make a choice,” Romney asked, seizing the safe terrain.  “Will they embrace these deplorable tactics or give General Petraeus a fair hearing?”

He added that “all Americans should keep an open mind.”  Which is not the same thing as saying that the surge is succeeding the way McCain portrays it as.