Romney follows Bachmann's lead and opposes debt limit deal

Profiles in political courage
 

Does anybody believe Mitt Romney when he says he would choose default over the debt limit deal negotiated by House Republicans?

After a week of attacks from left and right alike over his failure to take a position on the latest round of Republican debt ceiling proposals, Mitt Romney has made up his mind on the final deal: he's against it.

"As president, my plan would have produced a budget that was cut, capped and balanced - not one that opens the door to higher taxes and puts defense cuts on the table," he said in a statement. "President Obama's leadership failure has pushed the economy to the brink at the eleventh hour and 59th minute. While I appreciate the extraordinarily difficult situation President Obama's lack of leadership has placed Republican Members of Congress in, I personally cannot support this deal."

For weeks Romney cowered in the corner, refusing to take a clear position on what he'd actually do about the debt limit. And now that a debt limit deal done, he "boldly" follows the lead of Michele Bachmann and Tim Pawlenty and comes out against the debt limit deal.

So he "personally cannot support" the debt limit deal. But he completely understands why Congressional Republicans would disagree. Because he's a man of principles, or something.