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Hey Rich-
I agree that Romney’s best political move would be to admit his mistake, but this admission is only a slightly less explosive torpedo into his candidacy. If he runs again as a check-the-box conservative, he’ll be even more unconvincing than last time, now admitting he’s changed his mind on abortion and health care. If he more authentically runs as a center-right technocrat, he’ll fatally undercut that narrative by admitting to a colossal misjudgment on his signature policy credential. Imagine Mike Huckabee saying “How can we trust him to solve our biggest problems when he admits he got the ball rolling in creating one of our biggest problems?” I like Romney too, but his relatively strong poll status will take a Crist-like nose dive once the shooting starts.
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You wrote:
“The best thing for Romney to say, I think, is that he flat-out made a mistake, that he tried an idea that ran off the rails. It would also have the advantage of being true. But he can’t bring himself to go there yet.”
Wouldn’t that re-open the flip-flopper charge again? That wound is barely patched from 2008.