Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Mmm mmm electable! (updated)

"Barbour joins Mike Huckabee in hitting the program, which bears significant policy resemblance to President Obama's sweeping national health care overhaul. 
On the other side: Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, a Democrat, and Obama himself. Both men have praised Romney for his health program in recent days.
RomneyCare is likely to dog its signer throughout the 2012 primary. If Romney does get win the nomination, it will also make it harder to attack the president on an issue that galvanizes Republican voters."
"'I agree with Mitt Romney, who recently said he's proud of what he accomplished on health care by giving states the power to determine their own health care solutions,' President Obama told a gathering of governors at the White House today. 'He's right.' This wasn't the first time Obama has praised Mitt Romney's approach to health-care reform, and it won't be the last."
John Podhoretz over at Commentary:
"I know Romney thinks he can get away with saying there’s a difference between an individual mandate at the state level and one at the federal level, and that might technically be true, but it’s not true when it comes to the conceptual origins of the policy. Plus, it’s sophistry.
To be completely honest, I can’t understand why on earth he is even bothering to run. This isn’t an albatross. It’s a two-ton weight chained to his torso, and he’s not Houdini."
The only positive thing I've heard anyone say about Romney is that he's "electable". Is this what electable looks like? This ain't how we're gonna take independents, and it sure as hell ain't how anyone's gonna end up wearing the Golden Harness.*

SCORECARD
  • Mitt Romney: -5 for continuity of identity
  • Mike Huckabee: +5 for comparing Chris Matthews to Charlie Sheen
  • Newt Gingrich: +10 for hilarious incompetence
  • T-Paw: +5 for the oh-so-subtle Gaga "Born This Way" vid homage in his most recent Youtube clip, "A New Birth of Freedom"
  • Chris Christie: +10 if he runs with Mitch Daniels, because the two of them together remind me of this photo of Abbott and Costello (a friend suggests a Penn and Teller comparison is more appropriate; too obvious, says I)
  • Rick Perry: -15 for missing hilarious opportunity to turn Juarez flub into a "Who's on First" moment with the press ("Juarez?" "Where is what?") (All the hip young bloggers constantly reference Abbott and Costello, why are you looking at me like that?)

UPDATE (14:27)
"Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney should not expect much support. Ryan was not shy about criticizing the Bay State’s health-care program, which Romney spearheaded. 'It’s not that dissimilar to Obamacare,' he said. “And you probably know I’m not a big fan of Obamacare. I just don’t think that mandates work.” RomneyCare, he worries, is 'beginning to death spiral.'"
*This is an Iditarod reference, you filthy degenerate. It's actually a pretty apt metaphor, since the Golden Harness is awarded to the best lead dog, not the dog that wins the race-- sort of like winning the Republican primary in 2012!

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