Romneycare

The anniversary of Obamacare's passage is later this week, and the debate over health care and mandates (both regarding Obamacare and Romneycare) continues to carry on. Here's Jeff Jacoby, writing about Mitt Romney's health care plan--and the former Massachusetts governor's commitment to it--in the Boston Globe:

Why is there still so much resistance among Republican primary voters to Mitt Romney, the likely but not inevitable GOP nominee? Perhaps the deepest reason is this: At a moment in history when we need a bold commitment to reform, a fundamental willingness to limit the state and revitalize self-government, Romney’s achievements and qualifications seem out of step with the times.

James Lileks: "The Toll"

Slate: "The 'Birth Control Permission Slip' Is Insulting and Misleading"

Shikha Dalmia: "Romneycare does not have the numbers on its side"

During Wednesday night’s Republican debate, moderator John King said, “Governor Romney, both Senator Santorum and Speaker Gingrich have said during your tenure as governor, you required Catholic hospitals to provide emergency contraception to rape victims. And Mr. Speaker, you compared the governor to President Obama, saying he infringed on Catholics’ rights. Governor, did you do that?”

Remember the second Florida GOP debate on Thursday night, January 26, in Jacksonville? Mitt Romney came out pummeling Newt Gingrich, Gingrich was ineffectual in response, and Romney sailed on to a decisive victory five days later in Florida. This was soon followed by Romney's easy triumph in Nevada last Saturday. The Romney inevitabilists were once again out in force.

Between Sunday and Wednesday, Newt Gingrich went from leading Mitt Romney by 8 points to trailing Mitt Romney by 8 points in the Florida GOP primary polls. Thursday night's debate in Jacksonville was Gingrich's best opportunity--and most likely his only--ahead of Tuesday's primary to reverse Romney's momentum. But far from landing a knockout blow, it was Gingrich who was thrown back on his heels.

In wake of his 12-point defeat in the South Carolina primary (which no previous Republican nominee has lost), Mitt Romney’s principal challenge is to convince Republican primary voters that he shares their core convictions and concerns. Above all, he needs to convince them that he shares their determination to repeal every last one of the 2,700 pages of Obamacare.

The latest Rasmussen poll of likely voters shows that, by a margin of 11 percentage points (52 to 41 percent), Americans favor the repeal of Obamacare.

In tonight’s debate, Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum both questioned whether Mitt Romney actually governed in a pro-life fashion, even after his public conversion on abortion. Both claimed that Romney’s health care law increased access to taxpayer-subsidized abortion. Romney denied any culpability, replying, “That was done by the courts.” Fortunately, PolitiFact has looked into this matter on more than one occasion.

North Charleston, S.C.
Considering the extended discussions of health care overhauls and unreleased tax returns, Mitt Romney had a tough night in the final debate before Saturday’s primary.

It's notoriously hard to judge the political consequences of candidate debates. The media and political elites tend to opine as either drama critics judging performance art or as professors judging intellectual arguments. Doing well on one or another of these criteria can matter for a candidate. But usually not much.

In this morning’s Republican presidential debate on Meet the Press, David Gregory asked Mitt Romney, “What would you say to conservatives, so that they'll trust that you'll stand up for conservative principles?” Without skipping a beat, Romney replied, “They've got my record as governor.”