The GOP’s ineluctable Romney problem

Ok, Romney is a huge winner in Florida. Ok, Romney showed himself tough and ruthless against Gingrich—showed that he has the stuff to bring the fight to Obama in the general. And yes, Romney is better on illegal immigration than Gingrich. Does any of this mean that the GOP’s Romney dilemma has been resolved? Not at all. Obamacare remains the biggest issue in this election, and, as Andrew McCarthy argued at NRO earlier in the month, Romney is simply not situated to campaign forcefully and believably against it, because, though he has shamelessly flip-flopped on every other issue in his political career, he stalwartly defends his own version of Obamacare in Massachusetts.

McCarthy writes:

Of course he now says he’d fight to repeal Obamacare, but is Romney really the best candidate to be making that fight? How convincing will he be in decrying wealth redistribution, runaway government spending, and freedom-killing government mandates while he continues championing an overbearing state program that stands as a monument to all those things?

Posted by Lawrence Auster at January 31, 2012 10:13 PM | Send