A case of damning with strong praise . . .
For some time now, Pres. Obama and his camp have taken malicious glee in praising the health care plan Mitt Romney put together as governor of Massachusetts. The Dems well know that their accolades amount to a millstone around Mitt's GOP primary neck.
David Axelrod took the art form to another level on Morning Joe today. With Joe Scarborough egging him on, Axelrod went out of his way to solemnly state for the record that RomneyCare "quite seriously, really was a template" for ObamaCare.
All this came much to the amusement of the Morning Joe crowd. View video and screencap after the jump.
Things began when John Heilemann of New York magazine tried to lure Axelrod into demeaning the GOP field. Axelrod was careful to avoid providing any bulletin-board material.
DAVID AXELROD: I think they're all formidable candidates. Any one of them would be a worthy opponent, and I wish them all well.
[Chuckles all around].
MIKA BRZEZINSKI: And you appreciate the work that Mitt Romney has done with health care.
AXELROD: That work inspired our own health care bill.
JOE SCARBOROUGH: Can you say that again so that we can have a clean clip of that? What do you think of RomneyCare in Massachusetts?
AXELROD: I think it's been a great boon: 98% of the people are insured up there. People in the state like it, and he ought to be proud of it and he ought to embrace it and I'm sure some day he will.
SCARBOROUGH: Did that inspire what you all did in Washington?
AXELROD: Absolutely.
BRZEZINSKI: My God!
AXELROD: Quite seriously, it really was a template, apart from all the jokes.
