Freshman senator Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania tells National Review Online that he supports Mitt Romney’s tax plan, and he predicts that its framework would boost GOP candidates in a general election, should Romney lead the ticket. “This is a winner,” he says. “It’s a more dramatic, more sweeping reform than anything he has proposed before on the tax side. Republican primary voters, I think, will almost universally see it as very pro-growth.”

Toomey adds that Romney’s proposal is a better option than Rick Santorum’s tax plan, which eliminates the corporate tax for manufacturers. “Senator Santorum’s plan has some constructive elements,” he says. “But my own view is that it’s best for the government to not be picking winners and losers. When you say that one sector will have a lower tax rate than another sector, you really are playing favorites. And I prefer a tax code that is neutral in that respect.”

To win in November, Toomey, who has not endorsed a presidential contender, says Republicans must have a strong, simple tax-reform message. Romney’s 20 percent across-the-board cut on individual tax rates, he says, provides a snappy, “supply side” blueprint. “I think having a bold, sweeping plan that people can understand in a moment is really important,” he says. “This could be part of that. There is a lot to still be disclosed. But this combines, as I did with my supercommittee plan, simplicity with fairness and lower marginal rates.”

“Simplicity, and fairness, and stronger economic growth, that’s a great combination,” Toomey says. “As you long as you explain it that way, and you stress how you achieve those three goals in one tax reform, I think that will play very well in the Philadelphia suburbs and many other places.”