Romney Boasts His Health-Care Law Is 'Big Asset'

Romney seeks middle as other GOP candidates vie for right
By Mark Russell,  Newser Staff
Posted Sep 6, 2011 2:48 AM CDT
'Moderate' Mitt Boasts His Health Care Is 'Big Asset' at Forum
COLUMBIA, SC - SEPTEMBER 05: GOP Presidential candidate and Texas Congressman Ron Paul makes opening remarks during the American Principles Project Palmetto Freedom Forum, September 5, 2011 in Columbia, South Carolina. Newt Gingrich, Herman Cain, Mitt Romney and Michelle Bachmann are also scheduled...   (Getty Images)

With the GOP presidential candidates vying to be the rightest-of-the-right at yesterday's Freedom Forum in South Carolina, Mitt Romney kept focused on the general election, where wooing moderates is key, reports Politico. For example, he defended the need for federal regulations. “Regulation is necessary to make a free market work. But it has to be updated, and modern,” Romney said. He also defended what many considered his weakest position, his health-care law in Massachusetts, calling it "one of my biggest assets," as opposed to ObamaCare: “It’s simply unconstitutional, it’s bad law, it’s bad medicine and it has got to be stopped.”

Among the other candidates:

  • Michele Bachmann flubbed an opportunity to explain why ObamaCare is unconstitutional when she was apparently unable to cite any provisions from the Constitution to explain her position, according to the New American.
  • Asked which federal agencies he would abolish, Ron Paul got a big laugh saying: "Well, that's a difficult question because that's a long list. I'd rather you give me the list of the things we should keep. That would be a short list." Paul also said he would withdraw troops from Iraq and Afghanistan, calling their presence there a "miscalculation."
  • With wildfires raging across Texas, Rick Perry returned to his state and skipped the town hall meeting altogether, saying he was “not paying any attention to politics right now." But he did get in a dig at Romney earlier in the day, noting: "While he was the governor of Massachusetts he didn’t create many jobs.”
(More Ron Paul stories.)

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