Yesterday, Mitt Romney gave a courageous, honest speech in which he vigorously defended the universal health care bill that he signed in Massachusetts. He is now toast. You can take him off your list of potential Republican nominees. He obviously made a calculated decision to defend the program now, take the heat, and hope that by next Fall, no one will care. He is wrong. At every Republican debate, it will be thrown in his face. It is in the interest of every single one of his competitors never to let him forget "Romneycare," so they won't.
Where does that leave us in the speculation? Theoretically, this should help Pawlenty, Daniels, and Huntsman, the other apparently sane suits who are in the running. But I cannot see any of them doing well in Iowa, New Hampshire, or South Carolina, and by the time things roll around to Super Tuesday, where one or another of them might break out, it may be too late. It still appears questionable whether Huckabee will run.
Anybody have any usable intuitions?
