Axelrod: Romneycare was 'template' for Obama

David Axelrod is singing the praises of “Romneycare” – yet again.


The former White House senior adviser smiled and laughed as he twisted the knife in Mitt Romney on Friday, saying that the ex-Massachusetts governor’s health plan “inspired” President Obama and was a “template” for the White House’s own national program.

"I mean, quite seriously. It was a template, apart from all the jokes," Axelrod, who has repeatedly talked up Romney’s plan, said on MSNBC's "Morning Joe."

Egged on by the show's hosts, he called Romneycare – which mandates that individuals have health care coverage, like Obama’s plan – is something Romney should embrace.

"People in the state like it, and he ought to be proud of it, and he ought to embrace it. And one day, I think he will," the former White House senior adviser said. “That work inspired our own health care plan.”

Romney, who has called for the repeal of Obamacare, has said that his own plan “wasn’t perfect.” He said there are parts of it he would change or eliminate altogether, without offering specifics. He also has said states should be free to design their own health plans and not have that dictated to them by Washington.

Continuing to make mischief in the GOP 2012 field, Axelrod also took on Jon Huntsman, the U.S. ambassador to China who is leaving his post next month and considering a run for the Republican presidential nomination.

"He was very encouraging about what the president was doing, both foreign and domestic, but maybe he's rethought that," Axelrod riffed.