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Addressing a crowd of mostly seniors and using a new visual aid, Mitt Romney hit Texas Gov. Rick Perry for the Texas governor's past statements that Social Security may be unconstitutional and should be a state program.
As dual giant projector screens posed six questions directed to Perry -- about how Social Security would actually work at the state level -- Romney lambasted the idea, arguing that such a system would not work in "any way, shape or form"
The Perry campaign responded with this statement: “Mitt Romney's own book compared Social Security to a criminal enterprise. Now Mr. Romney is again sounding like a Democrat, distorting the truth and trying to scare senior citizens. As he has so many times in the past, Mr. Romney seems to forget he's a Republican."
Romney's pointed out the absurdity of Rick Perry's suggestion that Social Security be turned over to the states—if that were to happen, it would break the back of states like Florida or Arizona with lots of retirees. As E.J. Dionne writes:
For liberals, it is lovely to see Republicans stand up for one of the great achievements of Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal. Mitt Romney is not going to let go of Rick Perry’s disparaging statements about Social Security, the Texas governor’s condemnation of it as a “Ponzi scheme,” and his questions about the program’s constitutionality. And Romney is smart to stay at him. Republicans may say they hate big government, but most of them — particularly those over 65 — love Social Security.
And so this morning came a news release from the Romney campaign quoting four Florida elected officials in advance of Thursday’s debate hitting Perry hard on the issue. FDR’s defenders (excuse me, Perry’s critics) included U.S. Reps. Connie Mack and Tom Rooney and state Sens. John Thrasher and Anitere Flores. It’s delightful to see conservatives trot out the sorts of arguments progressives make all the time and that right-wingers almost always condemn.
But let's not forget that Mitt Romney is hardly arguing a principled position here. Just last year, he was making the same case against Social Security that Rick Perry is making now. He's only saying what he's saying now because he thinks it'll help him win.
The fact that Romney's attack is inauthentic doesn't make it wrong—it just means he's the wrong guy to be making it. And while I would normally say that President Obama should say above the fray when it comes to the GOP primary, this is a perfect opportunity to wreak a little havoc, echoing Romney's argument without letting Romney off the hook for having been all over the map on the issue.
Thursday night, Republicans are going to have another debate, and Romney will want to make Social Security topic number one. Obama has an event in Ohio earlier in the day, and if he spent a minute or so slamming Perry's position, he'd not only claim the mantle of defending Social Security, he'd probably give Rick Perry's campaign a bit of a boost. After all, as far as most Republicans are concerned, the enemy of Obama is their friend.