Last Sunday on the eve of the first "serious" Republican president debate, Tim Pawlenty infamously referred to Mitt Romney's healthcare plan as "Obamneycare."
Many predicted, including myself, that this was a precursor to a night of piling on Mitt Romney by the other candidates, but it wasn't. Pawlenty did not criticize Mitt Romney to his face during the debate. Not even once. And when asked to explain himself to Sean Hannity yesterday, Pawlenty backtracked again and referred to Romney as President Obama's co-conspirator.
“Well, I think in response to that direct question, I should have been much more clear during the debate, Sean,” Pawlenty said on Fox News’s Hannity. “I don’t think we can have a nominee that was involved in the development and construction of Obamacare, and then continues to defend it. And that was the question, I should have answered it directly. Instead, I stayed focused on Obama, but the question really related to the contrast with Governor Romney.” [...]
“I don’t think you can prosecute the political case against President Obama if you are a co-conspirator in one of the main charges against the president on the political level,” he said.
So brave!
I personally do not believe Mitt Romney can win the nomination because he simply isn't wacko enough, but if the other candidates are too chickenshit to directly criticize him, he just might win.
By the way, If you're afraid of saying "Obamneycare" to Mitt Romney's face, how are you going to deal with China? With Pakistan? How are you going to deal with the really important issues which directly affect people's lives? Issues which President Obama has to deal with on a daily basis while the occupants of the Republican Clown Car flail around in search of their balls.