First we had the Michelle Bachmann fade and now we may be seeing Rick Perry fade. The one constant has been Mitt Romney. And that’s scaring me. A lot.

I’m really starting to wonder if Mitt is actually going to win this thing.

And here’s something a bit disconcerting. We all know about Mitt Romney’s conversion on abortion. I hope it’s a real conversion and not a strategy.

But the Politico reports today Romney’s take on end of life issues are also pretty scary.

But Romney does have a history on the issue, and a controversial one at that. In 2005, aides to then-Massachusetts Gov. Romney pressed vigorously in court for a pull-the-plug order on a severely-beaten 11-year-old girl who appeared to be brain dead, only to rescind the request when the child unexpectedly emerged from a vegetative coma.

In late 2005, with the GOP fight over Terri Schiavo still fresh in the mind of party conservatives, Romney’s social service department, presented with a damned-if-you-do-damned-if-you-don’t scenario, petitioned the state’s Supreme Court to remove life support for young Haleigh Poutre, who was sadistically, horrifically abused by her adoptive mother and stepfather for months.

When doctors examined the girl’s brain stem, they were shocked to find it had sheared – an injury most often associated with high-speed car crashes.

In Sept. 2008, officials with Romney’s Department of Social Services – admitting they ignored numerous signs the girl was being battered over a period of months — obtained custody of Haleigh, determined that the had “no possibility of regaining a meaningful existence” due to the extent of her brain damage, and began to consider judicial end-of-life options including removal of life support and feeding.

Haleigh’s jailed stepfather, possibly trying to dodge murder charges if he was able to keep the child alive, objected; The girl’s birth mother and another close relative supported the state’s request to obtain a “do not resuscitate” order.

On Jan. 16, 2008, the state’s highest court sided with Romney’s DSS and gave permission for the removal of a respirator and feeding tube.

But a day after the decision, Haleigh regained consciousness and began responding to simple commands, to the astonishment of doctors at Baystate hospital in Springfield.

A few days later, Romney, who had remained mum on the case up until that point, was pressed by reporters to articulate a broader position on end-of-life, but demurred, telling them:

“My concern is with this young girl and her current status,” he told the Boston Globe. “In light of reported improvements in her medical condition, it should be clear to everyone that no action should be taken to end this girl’s life.”

Look, you can’t blame Romney for what happened to the little girl in the first place. It’s not his fault she was beaten within an inch of her life. But to pull the feeding tube from a little girl? Seriously? And he may be the standard bearer for the GOP? I know Terry Schiavo’s brother was pretty ticked at Romney for this and rightly so.

I’ll admit that last time I was probably taken in by Romney a bit but much of that was because McCain scared me to no end. But I’ve done my research now on Romney and I’m just not seeing what GOP voters are seeing in the guy. He’s questionable on abortion, terrible on end of life issues, and he’s an economic Big Government type. He can argue all he wants about states rights as opposed to federal rights but the crux of the matter for me is that the guy sees government as the solution, not the problem.

So why are so many OK with this guy winning? I’m really asking. What is it that people see in Romney that I’m missing.