Santorum's message: Romney would face trouble against Obama on health issues

GOP presidential hopeful Rick Santorum continues to attack rival Mitt Romney's Massachusetts' health reform record, arguing that it weakens his ability to run against President Barack Obama, and candidate Newt Gingrich also is not escaping the criticism.

The Washington Post: Santorum Steps Up Attacks On Romney's Massachusetts Record
In an interview on NBC's "Meet the Press," Santorum told host David Gregory that Romney has sought to mislead voters about what his position on health-care reform was when he was governor of Massachusetts. "Governor Romney in the state of Massachusetts mandated every person in Massachusetts had to buy health care," Santorum said (Sonmez, 3/11).

Boston Globe: Santorum Says Romney Untruthful On Health Law
"Governor Romney actually advocated for the Massachusetts model that President Obama adopted with mandates, and then went out on the campaign trail and repeatedly didn't tell the truth,"' the former Pennsylvania senator said on NBC's "Meet the Press" (Schoenberg, 3/12).

CNN: Santorum Blasts Gingrich Over 'Romneycare'
Saturday, fresh off his projected win in the Kansas caucuses, Santorum added that GOP presidential rival Newt Gingrich is "honestly not a whole lot better." "For 20 years when I was pushing medical savings accounts, he was pushing a federal mandate for health insurance," Santorum said. "And when 'Romneycare' passed, he sent out a glowing statement talking about how this wonderful bill had just passed in Massachusetts" (Welch, 3/10).

The Hill: Health Care Issues Will Be A Heavy Lift For Romney Against President Obama
[A]s an Obama-Romney matchup becomes increasingly likely, so does the prospect that Republicans won't be able to aggressively campaign against a law that helped propel their historic wins in 2010 -; and hasn't gotten much more popular since (Baker, 3/10).

Reuters: Analysis: Romney Is Clear Favorite Of Washington Lobbyists
Apart from the financial industry, most notable was the connection of many Romney donors to healthcare. The industry awaits drastic changes from Obama's signature healthcare reform that is scheduled to kick into full gear in 2013. ... Several of Romney's donors came from the drug lobby and work for the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) and makers of medicines and medical devices (Selyukh and Cohen, 3/9).

The Associated Press: Romney Used Private Email Accounts As Governor
Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney and some of his top aides used private email accounts to conduct state business at times when Romney was governor of Massachusetts, according to documents obtained by The Associated Press. The communications were legal ... Some of the emails obtained by AP describe Romney's internal deliberations on his health care policy (Braun, 3/9).