Yesterday was the sixth anniversary of Mitt Romney signing his Massachusetts health care reform plan into law, a milestone the presumptive Republican presidential nominee seems eager to ignore.
How eager? Ezra Klein made an interesting observation about this.
Here’s something odd: There’s nothing on Mitt Romney’s Web site about the sixth anniversary of Romneycare. No news releases. No blog posts. Nothing.
That’s true, and it made me curious about the rest of Romney’s website. Sure, the campaign chose to completely ignore the anniversary of “Romneycare” — aides apparently had other issues on their mind yesterday — but in general, what do Romney materials have to say about his signature policy accomplishment?
As it turns out, nothing.
On Romney’s biographical “About Mitt” page, there are only two paragraphs about his one term as governor — the only experience Romney has in public office — and there are literally no references to the health care law that came define his time in Boston.
OK, but what about his page on health care policy? The Romney campaign has a 700-word summary of Romney’s position on health care, but there are literally no references to the former governor’s landmark law. This is rather bizarre. Romney’s health care reform initiative was supposed to be his springboard to national office. It wasn’t just his signature accomplishment as governor, it was a historic victory for Romney, giving him the kind of bragging rights few policymakers in either party could claim. This breakthrough achievement demonstrated his ability to tackle major policy challenges and work with members of both parties to pass a sensible, mainstream legislative milestone. Of course it would be the sort of accomplishment to build a presidential campaign around. And yet, here we are — the single best and most impressive thing Romney has done in his entire adult life is, paradoxically, the one thing he’s least eager to talk about. To shine a light on his achievement is to remind voters of his support for government mandates, while inadvertently making the case for the same Obama law Romney has promised to destroy, regardless of the consequences.
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