The Best Thing to Happen to Mitt Romney since Xtra Hold Hair Gel

Health care reform continues to be a controversial and heated issue, with a vocal minority of agitated–or, as the President oddly put it this week, “wee-weed” up–conservatives working hard to create an atmosphere of apocalyptic panic around the possibility of reform.

“They want to take over our life!” yell the voters who put up a stink at town halls discussing health care reform. Obama is “conducting an experiment” in big government at the expense of Americans, according to Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele. The Internet is awash with viral images of Barack Obama as a socialist Joker, and potential 2012 presidential contenders like Republican Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty are smugly declaring that “Obama is proposing things that are out of step with common sense, [and] out of step with the notion that the government isn’t going to run everything.”

It’s getting rough out there, and conservative posturing is definitely catching its second wind. Speaking of which: isn’t there another 2012 contender who’s probably got a lot to say on health care reform? You know, what’s-his-name–that guy, Mormon Reed Richards? Ah, right: Mitt Romney.

Despite heading up Massachusetts’–dare I say it–health care reform experiment as governor, Romney hasn’t gotten all that much attention in the health care debate so far. But that seems to be changing.  On Thursday, Romney appeared on the CBS Early Show to criticize Obama’s supposed loyalty to “the extreme liberal wing of his party” as well as to talk up MA’s health care plan. Late last month he told Newsweek that Obama was betraying his campaign promises of bipartisanship by “jamming through a piece of legislation that has numerous flaws”; CNN recently touted “Romney-care” as an alternative to “Obamacare,” and next March will see the debut of the Rom-ster’s book outlining his solutions for the U.S., including in health care.

For those who don’t know, Romney’s plan in Mass. is essentially Obama’s plan–individual mandates, subsidized coverage, a clearinghouse for tightly regulated health insurance options, and an employer pay or play stipulation–without the public option. Given this, Romney probably smells blood in the water: if health care reform passes and it looks a lot like the reforms over which Romney presided as governor (i.e. no public option), then he can go around bragging that he got health care right the first time–and that Obama put the country through months of hardship and political strife when he should have sought the advice of good ol’ Uncle Mitt. Indeed, in his Early Show interview and in a radio interview with Sean Hannity, Romney defended his model as a rousing success and in the Newsweek interview above he notes that no Democrats have called him to ask for health care advice.

On the other hand, if health care reform passes as liberals want to see it–i.e. with the public option–then Romney will just  rail against big government, pointing to the Mass. plan as proof that reform can happen without a government-run plan. And if health care reform doesn’t pass at all, Romney can proudly note that he was able to pull it off. No matter how you slice it, the hubbub over health care reform could provide Romney with a golden opportunity to regain some of the relevance he lost when he became something of a cardboard conservative in the GOP primaries.

Photo by sohrabah