Bye, Mittens, Thanks For Playing

This pretty much sums up Romney's position on his record.

First: Hey!  Blogger's back!

Second: So remember when Obama used to be a Christian, but he was the bad, black type of Christian who yells in church, which hurts God's ears because he listens REALLY close to churches?  And this was going to sink his presidential aspirations?  And then he gave an extraordinarily thoughtful speech on race in America?  And everyone was like, Damn!

Well, Mitt Romney didn't do that.

Mitt's problem is that - as a governor - he took on a vexing problem, worked with Democrats to come up with a solution and then implemented that solution.  And that crap just doesn't fly with today's Party of No.

The differences between RomneyCare and ObamaCare are superficial.  For instance, RomneyCare covers abortions, ObamaCare does not.  So, Mitt had to explain why - with the GOP hellbent for leather to destroy ObamaCare - he was the right guy to be the standard bearer for the party that wanted to run on ending the program that was effectively modeled on the one he helped create in Massachusetts.

Tough spot for old Mittens.

So, what would you do?  Well, the smart thing to do would be to say that Ted Kennedy slipped him a roofie and forced him to sign the bill, and he was sick the day they went over the detail in class, and well it was Massachusetts with the gay marriages so he was busy defending marriage from people who wanted to get married, and... Well, you see his problem.

Romney didn't get the nickname Multiple Choice Mitt by accident, and frankly, he should have just pandered and lied and flip-flopped.  Changing your position for political expediency is only a problem if you're John Kerry - or any Democrat, really.  Instead, Romney defended the plan.

But only for Massachusetts.

In effect, he put his entire candidacy on a Clinton-esque, too clever by half gambit on the Tenth Amendment.  The problem isn't mandates or universal coverage or regulation.  The problem is that Obama did it for the whole country, when really it should be done state-by-state in a patchwork of systems and schemes.

No, seriously, that's his story.  As TPM put it, Romney "will never impose (his) awesome Massachusett's law on the nation."

The first read on this is that this is the end of Romney's chances of getting the GOP nomination.  There are merits to this argument.  First, Romney was never THAT popular.  This makes him LESS popular.  Second, this gives GOPers who are uncomfortable with Romney's religion an "out" to vote against him without admitting it's because he's Mormon.  Third, the Tea Party will go apes**t over this.  And right now, the Tea Party calls the tune.

There is a counter-argument to be made, however.  The old GOP establishment was hoping that Romney could find a way to win, because he's likely the most electable Republican currently running.  Huntsman's toast, because he actually served in the Obama Administration, so that pretty much leaves Mitch Daniels as the last gasp of Wall Street Republicans.  If Daniels falters or doesn't get into the race, Romney could hang around as Michelle Bachmann and Ru Ron Paul amp up the crazy and sort of slide in the backdoor.

If that happens, this speech might work to help him in the general.

But right now, the Right is savaging this speech.

I can't say it looks good for Mitt Romney.

UPDATE: How bad is it for Romney?  This bad.