Speech could save — or kill — prez campaign
Mitt’s speech could save — or kill — his prez campaign
Former Bay State Gov. Mitt Romney will try to reverse the RomneyCare curse tomorrow in a high-stakes speech that even supporters say is vital to hitting a home run in his expected 2012 presidential run — but could also strike him out early on.
“It carries a tremendous amount of risk to call attention to a subject so controversial this early in his run,” said state Senate Minority Leader Bruce Tarr (R-Gloucester), a longtime supporter who called the speech “very important,” to Romney’s chances in the GOP primary.
Seeking to blunt what has increasingly become the sharpest attack against him, Romney will use the speech to deliver a detailed comparison of the universal health-care law he signed in Massachusetts vs. President Obama’s health-care plan.
“People are continuously talking about what he did in Massachusetts. This gives him a solid set of talking points moving forward,” a Romney aide said yesterday.
Romney’s afternoon address, which will be delivered in the University of Michigan’s Cardiovascular Center, represents the perceived frontrunner’s largest attempt to confront his lingering Achilles’ heel, said Andrew Smith, director of the University of New Hampshire’s Survey Center.
“He’s going to sink or swim on this issue,” said Smith. “It’s the biggest problem he faces during his entire campaign and it’s going to be a sign of his skill as a candidate to address it in a way that voters think is probable.”
Marty Linsky, a political professor at Harvard’s Kennedy School, said the address will also reflect on whether Romney appears presidential as he seeks to explain away a persistent criticism.
“He’s in this box, the question is can he get himself out of the box in a way that makes him look more presidential and more trustworthy, or will he do it in a way that makes him look like a person we can’t rely on,” said Linsky.
Romney will detail his own plan for national health-care reform in the hotly anticipated speech — echoing his earlier arguments that health-care reform should be decided on a state-by-state basis and call for the repeal of ObamaCare.
“What will be clear is that he has the exact same stance as other Republican contenders,” said his aide.
But for some critics, who argue that Romney’s Massachusetts reform law was the blueprint for the reviled ObamaCare, that’s exactly the problem.
“Politicians will say anything to get themselves elected,” said Lisa Gravel, a Tea Party member who lives in Manchester, N.H. “He’s going to try to whitewash it, but actions speak louder than words. I don’t think he could say anything that would change my mind.”
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Mitt Romney to unveil national healthcare pitch
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