My Support for Romney

Among tea party supporters, much has been made of Mitt Romney's various faults. The latest is a 2009 Op-Ed piece for USA today regarding health care. The offending language? Mr. Romney, in describing what was good about his Massachusetts plan:

First, we established incentives for those who were uninsured to buy insurance. Using tax penalties, as we did, or tax credits, as others have proposed, encourages “free riders” to take responsibility for themselves rather than pass their medical costs on to others. This doesn’t cost the government a single dollar.

For the record, I deeply disagree with that approach. Those who don't get health insurance should be allowed to make a rational choice for their situation, but held accountable when they end up in an emergency room. But I digress.

The real issue is who is the best candidate to defeat Barack Obama and as a result repeal the damage he has done through Obamacare. That end requires two results, the first of which is Obama's defeat. One might argue that Romney won't repeal Obamacare if he is elected, but we know this for certain; if Obama is re-elected the PPACA won't be repealed.

Neither Santorum, Gingrich nor Paul appear to be as electable as Romney to me. They all have serious deficits, but are to be admired for their perseverance and presenting their alternatives to the President's policies. I have said before that there are other candidates that I wished had run, but they did not. At a time when the country is in crisis and needed its best to step forward, regardless of their personal calculus, they chose to remain on the sidelines.

Mitt Romney is by all accounts a decent and honorable man. Please see Word Warrior of So Cal's article, we could certainly do worse. Running for President is grueling and difficult and not for the faint of heart. I am supporting Mitt Romney because he is the best remaining serious candidate. Faint praise perhaps, but I consider the President's policies so dreadful, that Romney is a shining exemplar of constitutional rectitude by comparison.