Mitt Romney, the “Etch-A-Sketch” Flip-Flop candidate, flips again. This time, on “ObamaCare.” Borderline Personality Disorder?

Given the number of statements which Mitt Romney has made – statements in which he contradicts his own previous statements – it’s more than disconcerting that Mitt Romney has once again switched positions. Late former president Ronald Reagan – then candidate Reagan – once famously intoned while campaigning “there go you again.”

This, however, makes Mitt Romney appear almost schizophrenic, out of touch with reality, incapable of taking a position, constantly changing positions, being a moving target, a reed blown by the wind, wishy-washy, two-faced, hypocritical, liar, indecisive, and more.

“Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) (according to the ICD-10 World Health Organization disease classification, emotionally unstable personality disorder, borderline type) is a personality disorder marked by a prolonged disturbance of personality function, characterized by unusual variability and depth of moods.”

Those are NOT the qualities America needs in it’s Chief Executive.

—

Romney backs away from healthcare pledge

By Anna Fifield in Washington
September 9, 2012 6:18 pm

Mitt Romney has said he would keep the most popular parts of Barack Obama’s signature healthcare reforms if elected president, performing an abrupt about-turn on his earlier campaign promise to repeal the whole law.

His comments will reignite suspicions that the Republican presidential candidate is a politician of expediency and likely anger the party’s conservative base, which sees “Obamacare” as a symbol of the big government approach it wants to scrap.

They came as three new national polls showed Mr Obama extending his lead over Mr Romney following last week’s Democratic national convention, suggesting that the president was enjoying the kind of post-convention “bounce” that eluded the Republican.

Gallup’s latest daily poll and the conservative polling firm Rasmussen both gave Mr Obama 49 per cent support among registered voters, while Mr Romney had 45 per cent. A Reuters/Ipsos poll also gave the president a four-point lead, of 47 to 43 per cent.

“The bump is actually happening,” said Julia Clark, an Ipsos pollster. “How big it’ll be and how long it will last remains to be seen.”

Analysts warned that Mr Obama’s lead might be eroded by the latest jobs report, released on Friday, which was worse than expected and showed the continued malaise in the economy.

But Mr Romney continues to make problems for his own campaign.

In an interview on NBC’s Meet the Press on Sunday morning, Mr Romney said: “I’m not getting rid of all of healthcare reform” if elected president in November.

“Of course there are a number of things that I like in healthcare reform that I’m going to put in place,” he said, including making sure that people with pre-existing conditions can get health coverage and allowing family policies to cover dependants until whatever age they choose.

“I also want individuals to be able to buy insurance . . . on their own,” he said.

These are all key components of, or close variations on, Mr Obama’s healthcare reforms enacted in 2010.

The most controversial part of Mr Obama’s law is the “individual mandate”, which requires almost all Americans to buy health insurance or pay a penalty. When critics attack the law, it is usually the mandate they are objecting to, as many of the other provisions are popular across the political spectrum.

Mr Romney will open himself to further accusations of “flip-flopping” with the comments.

As governor of Massachusetts, he enacted a healthcare plan that became the blueprint for Mr Obama’s reforms. Given conservative opposition to Mr Obama’s law, Mr Romney has since said he never intended it to be a model for a federal plan and has repeatedly vowed to repeal “Obamacare”.

Republican candidate Mitt Romney takes on President Barack Obama in the race for the White House

On Meet the Press, however, he suggested that he would keep many aspects of the law.

“I say we’re going to replace Obamacare,” Mr Romney said. “And I’m replacing it with my own plan. And even in Massachusetts when I was governor, our plan there deals with pre-existing conditions and with young people.”

Mr Romney was also challenged about declining to mention the war in Afghanistan in his convention speech, an omission which commentators on both the right and left have criticised him for.

“I find it interesting that people are curious about mentioning words in a speech as opposed to policy,” Mr Romney said, adding that he mentioned the war in Afghanistan in a speech to the American Legion just before the convention.

Told that that speech did not have the same audience as the convention, Mr Romney replied: “You know, what I’ve found is that wherever I go I am speaking to tens of millions of people. Everything I say is picked up by you and by others and that’s the way it ought to be.”

Mr Romney also said that he had been to Afghanistan and the troops “know of my commitment”.

—

http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/7bb78234-fa97-11e1-b775-00144feabdc0.html