Mitt Romney, left, greets supporters during a phone bank fundraiser, Monday, May 16, 2011, in Las Vegas. The former Massachusetts Gov. and likely GOP presidential contender worked with volunteers to reach out to voters and donors through cell phones and computers in a bid to raise money. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)MANCHESTER, N.H. – Mitt Romney readied Monday to share a debate stage for the first time with six of the likely rivals who want to strip him of his perceived frontrunner mantle for the Republican presidential nomination.
Romney, who has emerged as the GOP’s candidate to beat during his second presidential bid, was going into his first debate with his critics already telegraphing their eagerness to link the former Massachusetts governor with President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul. Conservatives loathe the Democrats’ plan that mandates all Americans have health insurance and was modeled on a Massachusetts law Romney signed into law.
“I strongly oppose the individual mandate at any level,” former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty said on Sunday, previewing an expected line of criticism toward Romney. “I think it’s a dramatic overreach.”
Elbowing Romney, Pawlenty said Obama had stated that “he designed Obamacare after Romneycare and basically made it Obamneycare.”
Pawlenty was looking to use the evening debate to pitch himself as an alternative to Romney, who came up short four years ago in his bid for the nomination and hardly stopped campaigning. Conservatives who hold great sway in the nominating process, however, aren’t rallying around Romney and are looking for an alternative.