Mitt Romney signs Romneycare in 2006 and campaigns against Obamacare in 2012

Mitt Romney signs Romneycare in 2006 and campaigns against Obamacare in 2012

As his surrogates were warming up a crowd of 3,600 at the SeaGate Convention Centre in downtown Toledo, Romney sat backstage for an interview with NBC News, during which he fully embraced the health care overhaul he signed into law as governor of Massachusetts. “Don’t forget,” Romney said, “I got everybody in my state insured. One hundred percent of the kids in our state had health insurance. I don’t think there’s anything that shows more empathy and care about the people of this country than that kind of record.

Then, just minutes later, Romney stepped out to rally his supporters here with a sharp critique of Obama’s national health-care overhaul, calling the federal law “Exhibit No. 1” of Obama’s liberal view of government, even though it is very similar to Romney’s own Massachusetts law. “I will repeal Obamacare and replace it with real health care reform,” Romney said at the rally. “You see, Obamacare is really Exhibit No. 1 of the president’s political philosophy, and that is that government knows better than people how to run your lives. It is a view that government should stand between you and your doctor. I don’t believe in a bigger and bigger government…I believe in freedom.”

Philip Rucker captures a precious Mitt Romney backflip that took place over the course of just thirty minutes Wednesday night:But having reminded people that he once had empathy, Romney didn't want anybody to get the wrong idea:Usually, politicians flip-flop in the right direction. And usually they get away with it because it's better to be right than to be consistent. But this is a case of Mitt Romney flip-flopping in the wrong direction. Even worse, the only reason he flip-flopped is to appease the right-wing base of the Republican Party. So he didn't just turn his back on empathy, he did it for political gain. That's as cynical as it is weak and says nothing good about his true capacity for compassion.