This afternoon, Republican presidential hopeful **Mitt Romney** is giving a major speech on health care, in an attempt to redefine his position and persuade conservative skeptics. The pundit consensus is that this is an exercise in futility -- see: [Jonathan Chait](http://www.tnr.com/blog/jonathan-chait/88308/romney-death-watch) and [Josh Green](http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2011/05/how-romneys-health-care-speech-will-go-down/238787/), for example -- but as Salon's **Steve Kornacki** points [out](http://www.salon.com/news/2012_elections/index.html?story=/politics/war_room/2011/05/12/romney_healthcare), Romney has a fairly low bar for assuaging conservative doubts:>Yes, from a strictly rational and logical standpoint, it should be impossible for Romney to win the 2012 GOP presidential nomination after imposing an individual health insurance mandate on millions of American citizens and refusing to say he was wrong for doing so. But that's OK, because the right's fanatical opposition to "ObamaCare" is rooted much more in reflexive, emotion-driven resentment of President Obama and his fellow Democrats than in a rational, logical assessment of the law. [...]>How does this help Romney? It means that his cover story on healthcare doesn't necessarily have to be rational for GOP elites to ultimately rally around him and to help sell him to rank-and-file GOP voters. It may be enough to cater to the basic sensibility that now animates the right ("ObamaCare must be repealed!") and to gloss over his own Massachusetts record with confident gobbledygook about states' rights and ... whatever else he offers by way of a cover story.Kornacki analogizes this to **John McCain**'s problem with immigration, and that sounds about right; if Romney can prove his conservative bona fides to Republican elites and conservative activists, then they'll set aside his previous health care heterodoxy in the same way that they ignored John McCain's previous support for immigration reform.To echo a [point](http://thephoenix.com/BLOGS/talkingpolitics/archive/2011/03/02/romney-s-real-problem.aspx#ixzz1I0ywpgAt) from **David Bernstein**, insofar that Romney has a serious problem with conservatives, it's with his stance on abortion. McCain, who [maintained](http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=18632802) conservative orthodoxy on abortion throughout his career, never had this problem, and his credibility on the issue allowed activists to overlook his stance on immigration. By contrast, Romney is a recent convert to the GOP's anti-abortion consensus, and even now, some conservatives remain unconvinced. Today, for example, the _Washington Times_ [reported](http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/may/11/romney-speech-venue-raises-pro-life-doubts/) on pro-life anger with the venue for Romney's speech:>The center is part of UM’s medical school, where researchers are “vigorously” pursuing studies on stem cell lines extracted from leftover human embryos donated by fertility clinics, which many conservatives say violates core pro-life beliefs.>“His choice of location for the announcement raises questions as to his true pro-life commitment from conception to natural death,” said Andy Blom, executive director of the conservative pressure group American Principles Project. “Let us remind him and all 2012 candidates: There will be no truces on social issues in the conservative movement.” [...]>Jim Sedlak, vice president of American Life League, said pro-lifers “will be watching closely to see if the governor defends human life from the moment of creation or if he expresses a belief that some human embryos are considered only valuable enough to be used in research to benefit others.”If Romney can deal with his abortion problem, then conservatives might be able to overlook Romneycare and his previous support for the individual mandate. Otherwise, it suffices to say that he's in trouble. Will Health Care Doom Romney?
This afternoon, Republican presidential hopeful **Mitt Romney** is giving a major speech on health care, in an attempt to redefine his position and persuade conservative skeptics. The pundit consensus is that this is an exercise in futility -- see: [Jonathan Chait](http://www.tnr.com/blog/jonathan-chait/88308/romney-death-watch) and [Josh Green](http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2011/05/how-romneys-health-care-speech-will-go-down/238787/), for example -- but as Salon's **Steve Kornacki** points [out](http://www.salon.com/news/2012_elections/index.html?story=/politics/war_room/2011/05/12/romney_healthcare), Romney has a fairly low bar for assuaging conservative doubts:>Yes, from a strictly rational and logical standpoint, it should be impossible for Romney to win the 2012 GOP presidential nomination after imposing an individual health insurance mandate on millions of American citizens and refusing to say he was wrong for doing so. But that's OK, because the right's fanatical opposition to "ObamaCare" is rooted much more in reflexive, emotion-driven resentment of President Obama and his fellow Democrats than in a rational, logical assessment of the law. [...]>How does this help Romney? It means that his cover story on healthcare doesn't necessarily have to be rational for GOP elites to ultimately rally around him and to help sell him to rank-and-file GOP voters. It may be enough to cater to the basic sensibility that now animates the right ("ObamaCare must be repealed!") and to gloss over his own Massachusetts record with confident gobbledygook about states' rights and ... whatever else he offers by way of a cover story.Kornacki analogizes this to **John McCain**'s problem with immigration, and that sounds about right; if Romney can prove his conservative bona fides to Republican elites and conservative activists, then they'll set aside his previous health care heterodoxy in the same way that they ignored John McCain's previous support for immigration reform.To echo a [point](http://thephoenix.com/BLOGS/talkingpolitics/archive/2011/03/02/romney-s-real-problem.aspx#ixzz1I0ywpgAt) from **David Bernstein**, insofar that Romney has a serious problem with conservatives, it's with his stance on abortion. McCain, who [maintained](http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=18632802) conservative orthodoxy on abortion throughout his career, never had this problem, and his credibility on the issue allowed activists to overlook his stance on immigration. By contrast, Romney is a recent convert to the GOP's anti-abortion consensus, and even now, some conservatives remain unconvinced. Today, for example, the _Washington Times_ [reported](http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/may/11/romney-speech-venue-raises-pro-life-doubts/) on pro-life anger with the venue for Romney's speech:>The center is part of UM’s medical school, where researchers are “vigorously” pursuing studies on stem cell lines extracted from leftover human embryos donated by fertility clinics, which many conservatives say violates core pro-life beliefs.>“His choice of location for the announcement raises questions as to his true pro-life commitment from conception to natural death,” said Andy Blom, executive director of the conservative pressure group American Principles Project. “Let us remind him and all 2012 candidates: There will be no truces on social issues in the conservative movement.” [...]>Jim Sedlak, vice president of American Life League, said pro-lifers “will be watching closely to see if the governor defends human life from the moment of creation or if he expresses a belief that some human embryos are considered only valuable enough to be used in research to benefit others.”If Romney can deal with his abortion problem, then conservatives might be able to overlook Romneycare and his previous support for the individual mandate. Otherwise, it suffices to say that he's in trouble. 
