Mitt Romney has largely been able to skate through Republican debates relatively unscathed when it came to the health care law he championed and signed in Massachusetts. But that changed tonight, when Rick Santorum effectively skewered Romney’s plan, noting that it would be difficult for him to argue health care with President Obama when his Massachusetts plan was the model for the national law. He also described the disastrous effects of the law on health care in Massachusetts in much more detail than other challengers.
Romney attempted to come back by his talking points, claiming it wasn’t a market based plan. But Santorum correctly fired back that much of the expansion was in government-run Medicaid.
Santorum also went after Newt Gingrich for his support for a federal individual mandate, not just in the early 1990s as an alternative to President Clinton’s health care plan, but also at least as late as in 2008.
It was a powerful moment for Santorum.
