Pawlenty makes 'Obamneycare' a buzz word in contest for GOP presidential nomination

The Los Angeles Times predicts that the GOP candidates will be making "bold right turns" during Monday night's New Hampshire debate, which is considered the first major debate of the 2012 campaign. In advance of this contest, former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty took swipes at former Mass. Gov. Mitt Romney — connecting his state health overhaul to that of the federal health law.

Los Angeles Times: Republican Presidential Candidates Make Bold Right Turns
Mitt Romney imposed a health care mandate before he opposed it. Tim Pawlenty touted a climate change plan that he now disowns. Ditto Jon Huntsman. Republican presidential contenders aren't just debating one another these days. They're disputing their own decisions and disavowing past positions. Their pirouettes reflect a profound shift in the Republican Party, a rightward turn that will be evident on a New Hampshire stage Monday when seven candidates meet in the first major debate of the 2012 campaign (West, 6/13).

Politico: Pawlenty Assails 'Obamneycare'
In a calculated attack, Tim Pawlenty on Sunday took his most aggressive swipe yet at GOP frontrunner Mitt Romney, using a television interview to coin a cutting phrase that lumped together the health care plans of the former Massachusetts governor and President Obama (Hirschhorn and Martin, 6/12).

CNN: Pawlenty Takes A Swing At 'Obamneycare'
Republican presidential candidate Tim Pawlenty stepped up his attacks on Mitt Romney Sunday, labeling the current health care law "Obamneycare" for its similarities to the plan instituted in Massachusetts while Romney was governor. … The former Minnesota governor previously tiptoed around criticism of Romney's health care plan and the new attack line is the most direct shot at his rival. The two will meet for the first time on a debate stage Monday in New Hampshire (Schwarz, 6/12).

National Journal: Pawlenty Tries To Hang 'Obamneycare' Tag On Front-Runner
On the eve of his first nationally televised matchup with Republican front-runner Mitt Romney, presidential candidate Tim Pawlenty laid down the gauntlet with a cutting phrase: "Obamneycare." The double-edged epithet yokes the health care overhaul Romney signed as governor of Massachusetts to the sweeping reforms spearheaded by President Obama. Both plans require everyone to buy insurance so that both the healthy and sick can receive benefits, but many Republicans view the so-called "individual mandate" as a budget-busting threat to personal freedom (Reinhard, 6/12).

Roll Call: Pawlenty Digs At GOP Competition Ahead Of Debate
Asked on "Fox News Sunday" whether, as Romney says, there is a difference between insurance mandates at the federal and state levels, Pawlenty said, "You don't have to take my word for it, you can take President Obama's words for it. President Obama said he designed Obamacare after Romneycare and basically made it Obamneycare" (Trygstad, 6/12).