This isn’t going to help win him conservative cred. Hell, it’s not going to help him win moderate cred. If there’s one thing all sorts of Republicans oppose, it’s tax hikes. It’s perhaps the single strongest uniting factor in the party.

Gov. Mitt Romney lobbied the credit ratings agency Standard & Poor’s in 2004 to raise his state’s credit rating in part because Massachusetts had raised taxes during an economic downturn two years earlier.

The claim was part of a presentation to the ratings agency obtained by POLITICO under a state freedom of information law from the Massachusetts Executive Office of Administration and Finance. The Nov. 4 presentation, stamped “confidential,” helped persuade S&P to raise the state’s grade and handed Romney the perfect talking point for last week’s humiliating national downgrade by the same agency.

The presentation to the ratings agency reveals that Romney’s administration made the case to Standard & Poor’s that his state was creditworthy because of both spending cuts — the current preferred GOP method — and new revenues, including fees he imposed and tax “loopholes” he closed. The presentation also prominently cited a controversial set of tax increases in the summer of 2002, which Romney, then a candidate, had opposed.

Yeah, I know it’s Politico — an outfit which can’t manage to look into anything related to Barack Obama but files FOIA requests to investigate Republican challengers.

And let’s be clear that Politico is so biased that liberal hacks like Greg Sargent complain that the DNC gives tips to Politico rather than other lib outfits.

But still. Unless Politico is lying about the presentation, this is a problem for Mitt.

Especially with Rick Perry entering the race.

Perry also secured a credit rating increase for his state — and he did so without bragging about tax hikes. He’s also presided over a job creation bonanza, entering his third term as governor having overseen the creation of 49% of America’s total new jobs in his state alone. Again, without pushing tax hikes.

So yeah, this is going to be a problem.