"The Man Who Likes Mandates"
That's the title of Bill Kristol's latest over at the Weekly Standard.
"Why," Bill begins by asking, "is there still so much resistance among Republican primary voters to Mitt Romney, the likely but not inevitable GOP nominee?" Bill answers by quoting a an exchange four years ago among GOP primary candidates Mitt Romney and Fred Thompson and debate moderator Charlie Gibson:
Charlie Gibson: Governor Romney’s system has mandates in Massachusetts, although you backed away from mandates on a national basis.
Mitt Romney: No, no, I like mandates. The mandates work.
Fred Thompson: I beg your pardon? I didn’t know you were going to admit that. You like mandates.
Romney: Let me—let me—oh, absolutely. Let me tell you what kind of mandates I like, Fred, which is this. If it weren’t . . .
Thompson: The ones you come up with.
(Laughter)....
Gibson: We have an expression in television: We get in the weeds. We’re in the weeds now on this. . . . Yes or no, in your national plan, would you mandate people to get insurance? . . .
Romney: I would not mandate at the federal level that every state do what we do. But what I would say at the federal level is, “We’ll keep giving you these special payments we make if you adopt plans that get everybody insured.” I want to get everybody insured.
Gibson: Okay.
"Romneycare," Bill Kristol then concludes,
was an understandable effort to fix the system over which Mitt Romney presided in Massachusetts. But the country has changed markedly in the last six years—without a corresponding change in Romney’s views. If our current problems lent themselves to technocratic and managerial fixes, Romney could be a reasonably compelling candidate. But they don’t....
If we are sick of being managed by liberal technocrats, we’re not going to be thrilled merely to replace their rule with that of moderately conservative technocrats.
Mitt Romney likes mandates. Conservatives—especially in light of Obamacare—don’t. Conservatives like liberty.
Well and truly said, Bill Kristol. Well and truly said.
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Comments:
Jul '10
Re: "The Man Who Likes Mandates"
Romney ran to the left of the Kennedy in Massachusetts and now is trying to run from the right. Every time he gets cornered without a cue card (sometimes even with) he emits the Left's axioms. My favorite was "Severe Conservative". And his response to all the "eat the rich" stuff isn't to discuss the social good that emanates from the "1%", but to start talking gouge with a small g rather than the capital G. He is a blue state one term bumbler who ditched a re-election bid and earns all the right wing cred of a Michael Steele (Maryland blue stater) or an Ahnould Schwartzenegger.
Obama Lite is not a platform that will resonate with the grassroots.
May '11
Re: "The Man Who Likes Mandates"
The alternative to mandates is not liberty. Liberty is nice, but it is not on the table. The alternative to mandates is single-payer.
Which illustrates the point. I have finally figured out what the "establishment" is. The "establishment" is whoever has figured out that you can't always get what you want. Thanks for the theme Mick.
May '10
Re: "The Man Who Likes Mandates"
Sisyphus: Please defend the statement,"Romney ran to the left of Kennedy." Take it issue by issue. Please.
I don't think you can do it. In fact, I know you can't, because it isn't true. Not even close. Yet this canard has been repeated again and again -- by other candidates, by radio talkers, and, yes, by Ricochet contributors.
And it matters. A candidate's moving from center/center-right to center-right/right over the course of a decade or two, as Romney did, is unspectacular, even if cynical. Moving from far left to right is scandalous. But that didn't happen, and the repeated and unchallenged charges by conservatives that it did have done great and unfair harm to Romney, and this false narrative will be a godsend to Obama in the fall if Romney's his opponent.
Dec '10
Re: "The Man Who Likes Mandates"
I disagree. The alternative to mandates is the harsh reality of pain and death. We, however, are not a nation that lets people just suffer even at their own hands.
Mar '11
Re: "The Man Who Likes Mandates"
The alternative to mandates is, you know, the free market. We need tort reform. We need to abandon the silly "employer pays" concept. We need to allow interstate health insurance purchases. Are we so far removed from pre-FDR America that these concepts seem foreign to conservatives?
Mandates are an affront to liberty, no matter how much one might be conditioned to believe otherwise.
May '10
Re: "The Man Who Likes Mandates"
The King Prawn
I disagree. The alternative to mandates is the harsh reality of pain and death. We, however, are not a nation that lets people just suffer even at their own hands.
We have to be. Emergency care is the only medical burden we can financially afford to share, if we choose to.
Fighting cancers, performing joint replacements and covering cases of the sniffles are not endeavors government can or should pursue.
Jul '10
Re: "The Man Who Likes Mandates"
So Bill Kristol votes "Present" yet again?
Wow. That takes guts.
The correct question is: are conservatives so divorced from reality that we believe the general public agrees with us? I want to kill all of those things. If we run a national campaign based on them we will get creamed.
There is a reason that Tea Party types oppose attacks on Social Security and Medicare while simultaneously opposing Obamacare and the Stimulus grab-bag: people don't like waste, but they hate to see their interests threatened.
Jun '11
Re: "The Man Who Likes Mandates"
Romney is a conservative lite. Like George H. W. Bush, he can't see the plus in a strong conservative message. It's available and he sees it but he doesn't see the value in it.
Mar '11
Re: "The Man Who Likes Mandates"
Palaeologus: So Bill Kristol votes "Present" yet again?
Wow. That takes guts.
The correct question is: are conservatives so divorced from reality that we believe the general public agrees with us? I want to kill all of those things. If we run a national campaign based on them we will get creamed.
There is a reason that Tea Party types oppose attacks on Social Security and Medicare while simultaneously opposing Obamacare and the Stimulus grab-bag: people don't like waste, but they hateto see their interests threatened. · 43 minutes ago
I often see the argument that Tea Party types oppose entitlement reform, but I haven't seen evidence that this is the consensus view of the Tea Party. It sure isn't mine.
Apr '11
Re: "The Man Who Likes Mandates"
Aaron Miller: I have been fine with the high level of scrutiny up to this point. We can't rely on Democrats to vet our candidates for us. We don't care about the same things Democrats care about, so internal scrutiny is healthy for the Republican Party.
But our candidates have now had months to point out each other's weaknesses. We know what their weaknesses are. It's time to focus on strengths.
The competition between Republican candidates is not over yet. But it's time that competition took the form of demonstrating how Obama and Democrats will be defeated. ·
I think that the time to push back against criticisms of Romney as wrong in principle, rather than wrong as based on false assumptions (as I believe this to be, but I'm typing after coming back from my wife's birthday meal while she removes make-up, and am not in a good position to master the relatively nuanced argument this requires), is not now. It's in either about 4 days time, if Santorum fails to win a landslide in either Puerto Rico or Illinois, or it's in April (or even later).
Apr '11
Re: "The Man Who Likes Mandates"
Gus Marvinson
Palaeologus: So Bill Kristol votes "Present" yet again?
Wow. That takes guts.
The correct question is: are conservatives so divorced from reality that we believe the general public agrees with us? I want to kill all of those things. If we run a national campaign based on them we will get creamed.
There is a reason that Tea Party types oppose attacks on Social Security and Medicare while simultaneously opposing Obamacare and the Stimulus grab-bag: people don't like waste, but they hateto see their interests threatened. · 43 minutes ago
I often see the argument that Tea Party types oppose entitlement reform, but I haven't seen evidence that this is the consensus view of the Tea Party. It sure isn't mine. · 2 minutes ago
I wholeheartedly wish that this was my experience, too. Sadly, most Tea Partiers respond to means testing with the warmth with which they would treat an HHS mandate to cheat their spouses with an ugly underage member of the same sex. Means testing, retirement age raising, benefit cutting, premium raising; all meet the same confused and disgusted response that a conservative could even use the words involved.
Apr '11
Re: "The Man Who Likes Mandates"
Palaeologus: So Bill Kristol votes "Present" yet again?
Wow. That takes guts.
A friend who works for a rival magazine told me that everything Bill Kristol says should be measured in terms of what could sensibly be expected to increase the influence and market share of a: the Weekly Standard and b: Bill Kristol. Viewed through this light, opposition to the near prohibitive favorite candidate only makes sense (although it would be better for Bill if, as in 2000, he was able to pick some loser [expletive] to back over the best candidate for the party, this time for some reason he's found himself unable back anyone since Mitch dropped out).
In 2008, he took a different strategy, but if McCain had won, the Weekly Standard would have been his only serious and consistent backer, meaning that it would have had a different sizable and loyal constituency.
Mar '11
Re: "The Man Who Likes Mandates"
According to Romney supporters in this thread, the rest of us should accept less conservatism from the uninspiring Romney instead of challenging all candidates--indeed, all politicians--to inspire us with more conservatism. No thanks. I'm sick of conceding ground to people with less conservative ideals.
Oct '10
Re: "The Man Who Likes Mandates"
Scott Reusser: Sisyphus: Please defend the statement,"Romney ran to the left of Kennedy."
... and this false narrative will be a godsend to Obama in the fall if Romney's his opponent.
Would you prefer "ran abreast of Kennedy"? I can't go issue by issue (why should anyone bother at this late date?) but the various clips I've seen and articles I've read certainly present a credible picture of a guy trying very hard to be seen by MA voters as credibly "progressive" (Romney's word) as Ted Kennedy. Maybe "to the left of" is rhetorical flourish, but I don't think there are too many who don't understand that this conveys an accurate larger point even if not perfectly precise in every particular. This isn't a court of law, after all, merely one of public opinion.
On the second point, you seem to imply that Axelrod's Opposition Research team is being materially helped by conservative criticism of Romney. The Axe does his homework and isn't waiting for conservatives to write the false narratives on Obama's likely opponents. He's surely got those documents safely stored on the now politically correct Carbonite.
May '10
Re: "The Man Who Likes Mandates"
Gus: Speaking only for myself, I do not wish you to accept anything other than the possibility that sometimes there are no perfectly conservative, perfectly liberty-preserving answers to our problems, particularly re healthcare. I ain't got the answer. Neither does Romney. Neither does Kristol. And if Kristol would just tone down the "I'm a liberty lover, and you're not" stuff and show a little humility, I'd have no problem with the guy.
Apr '11
Re: "The Man Who Likes Mandates"
HVTs
Would you prefer "ran abreast of Kennedy"? I can't go issue by issue (why should anyone bother at this late date?) but the various clips I've seen and articles I've read certainly present a credible picture of a guy trying very hard to be seen by MA votersascredibly "progressive" (Romney's word) as Ted Kennedy. Maybe "to the left of" is rhetorical flourish, but I don't think there are too many who don't understand that this conveys an accurate larger point even if not perfectly precise in every particular. This isn't a court of law, after all, merely one of public opinion.
On the second point, you seem to imply that Axelrod's Opposition Research team is being materially helped by conservative criticism of Romney. The Axe does his homework and isn't waiting for conservatives to write the false narratives on Obama's likely opponents. ·
Check Romney's chief flyer for the campaign (both linked pages), or check his supporter's and Kennedy's. There was no ambiguity about who was on the right.
Calling Romney a liberal does no harm. Spending money persuading voters he is dishonest does harm.
May '10
Re: "The Man Who Likes Mandates"
HVT's: He was "abreast" of Kennedy only on abortion and gay marriage. On the three signature issues of the day -- taxes, spending, nationalized healthcare -- he was solidly conservative. On immigration, too. "He was not a Rockefeller Republican even then", to quote NR. You're no doubt right that the "left of Kennedy" line is used as a rhetorical flourish by those in the know, but it's delivered so often that it's come to be believed literally by a great many people, including many here, I suspect. That's a problem and a shame, imo.
Oct '10
Re: "The Man Who Likes Mandates"
James Of England
Check Romney's chief flyer for the campaign (both linked pages), or check his supporter's and Kennedy's. There was no ambiguity about who was on the right.
Calling Romney a liberal does no harm. Spending money persuading voters he is dishonest does harm.
I think you are drawing out the point so many are making.
Those flyers are from nearly 20 years ago, from Romney's Senate race against Kennedy. He lost, but learned a valuable lesson. A decade later he ran for Governor as a self-described Progressive. This time he won. He's a political chameleon, as are so many other politicians. Is that "dishonest"? He did what he had to do to be successful in Massachusetts politics. I don't need to call Romney names and it wouldn't be the most accurate way to describe his political metamorphosis. There's no reason to impugn his character; nor is there any reason to think that what we most need right now at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave is a Massachusetts Progressive, albeit one better then most of that species. It may come to that, but it isn't my going-in position.
Oct '10
Re: "The Man Who Likes Mandates"
I predict Romney, if he gets the nom, will flip on Romneycare and call it a failure after 6 years of observation/data to position himself against obama.
Won't disown it during the primaries, but will concede it's a failed statewide experiment in the general.
Edited on March 18, 2012 at 6:28amOct '10
Re: "The Man Who Likes Mandates"
There remain serious and legitimate questions about his commitments regarding national healthcare in 2012 and beyond. In short, I don't trust him to repeal Obamacare and I'm not sure with what he'd replace it if he does. His instinct will be to find a 'sensible', managerial progressive solution. And that's what worries me. In the end, managerial progressives are compelled to implement solutions. Conservatives have learned that sometimes the cure is worse than the disease and doing nothing is the best 'action' you can take.