Boston (CNN) – Less than an hour before Mitt Romney was to announce his second bid for the White House in New Hampshire, Sarah Palin appeared in Romney’s hometown and set about picking apart the health care plan he supported as governor of Massachusetts, suggesting it may be a fatal flaw for his candidacy.
Surrounded by reporters for several minutes while visiting the Bunker Hill monument along Boston’s Freedom Trail, Palin delivered her unvarnished opinions of the Romney heath care plan, which mandated that Massachusetts residents purchase health insurance or else face penalties.
“In my opinion, any mandate coming from government is not a good thing, obviously and I am not the only to say so, but obviously there will be more explanation coming from Gov. Romney for his support of government mandates,” said Palin, on day five of her “One Nation” bus tour of historic sites on the East Coast.
Romney has faced almost unceasing criticism from conservatives within his party for the similarities between his legislation and the national health care reform passed by President Obama.
He has wrapped himself in the Constitution to defend himself, insisting that states, not the federal government, should have the right to develop their own laws and regulations.
Palin was not buying it.
“Even on a state level and a local level, mandates coming from a governing body, it’s tough for a lot of us to accept because we have great faith in the private sector and in our own families and in our businessmen and women in making decisions for ourselves,” she explained. “Not any level of government telling us what to do.”
She said the health care law will be “a big challenge” for Romney as he embarks on a second bid for the Republican presidential nomination.
Tea Party activists, she said, want a candidate with “a record of living out the principles that Tea Party patriots do embrace, which of course is smaller smarter government, not allowing the growth of government to be as rapid as our nation has allowed it to be.”
Before departing for her next stop on the tour, which will eventually take her to New Hampshire for an evening appearance in the early primary state, Palin insisted that her presence was not timed to upstage Romney’s announcement.
With a television camera from Manchester television station WMUR pointed directly at her, Palin pledged that the Romney announcement “was never a consideration” as she planned out her tour itinerary.
“In fact, if he personally would be offended by me stepping foot in a state he was in, I wouldn’t do it,” Palin said. “But I don’t believe that Governor Romney is offended at all that we happen to have on our schedule a stop to meet some good people and have some good New Hampshire food at this time.”
Romney was asked Thursday what he thought about Palin being in the state: "That's terrific – New Hampshire is action central today."
– CNN Producer Mike Roselli contributed to this report.
From CNN Politics
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All of these media whores need to quit. Palin is just after your money......she is the lowest of them all. She need to pay on her house in AZ with your money. The attack on Romey is a attack on her. So people wake up she nothing but trash and a bully. But give her credit she been taking your money and laughing to the bank.
Classic. If Obama's campaign isn't paying for her tour, it should be!
No class at all even to her own party
Poor Mitt, if this fiasco wasn't so funny I could almost feel sorry feel for the guy. He finally announces he's in the race and the media focuses on Sister Sarah and her clam bake. Yesterday he talked smack about President Obama, the media focused on Trump and Palin eating pizza with plastic forks. What's does this guy have to do to get a little attention?
It ain't working Sarah - no amount of push back from you will ever convince me that Romney is in any way an acceptable candidate for President. Go to whatever extreme you like, Romney will never look like a moderate. I have to wonder, though, why the Alaska Permanent Fund never makes it on to your list of "big government" ills. Just think how much cheaper oil would be if the oil companies didn't have to fork over payments to the likes of you!
Has this woman ever put forth a plan or policy of her own? It is so easy to tear something down, but so rare to create something useful.
Coincidence, Ms. Palin? Lying liars are liars.
the enemy of my enemy is my friend
They bash each other and then bash Obama. Too bad they cannot tell the truth. We actually have job growth under the current president in the private sector, under Bush we lost jobs in the private sector. When Bush took office the stock market was just above 10,000 when he left it was 8,000. When Obama took office the stock market was 8,000 now it is above 12,000. Bush had 6 years to get Osama Bin Laden but 6 months after 9/11 he said he wasn't concerned about him. Obama got him in 2 years!
Why does Palin always sounds like she's reading from "Political Tough Talk for Dummies?" Oh, well then, nevermind.
Hilarious!!!...this half-wit cracks me up! Simply amazing that folks dont or wont recognize her for the narcissist that she. Only Trump comes close to her. She isnt interested in helping us, only her pockets!!!
“Not any level of government telling us what to do.” Abortion on the other hand......
So wishing I could find a news site that was a Palin-Free Zone. Such an intellectual fluff should be covered as entertainment, not news.
WHY in God's name are you still covewring anything Sarah Palin has to say?? She obviously is not going to give up her plush 7-figure Fox job to run for president (for which she is woefully unqualified). Stop wasting otherwise valuable broadcast time and print space with her dribble. Please!!
.... she explained. “Not any level of government telling us what to do.”
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It sounded like she just declared mandated auto insurance as unconstitutional. There's a problem with her argument. If you extend her reasoning to its' logical conclusion, then any law passed anywhere is unconstitutional, up to and including The Constitution itself.