Romney struggles to explain that RomneyCare is not ObamaCare

Michael Steele isn’t the only Republican who has had a rough time lately.

Mitt Romney tried during the past two weeks — following the passage into law of ObamaCare — to convince the country that the universal health-care plan he authored as governor of Massachusetts is different.

So far, his arguments have not stuck, many Republicans in Washington say.

“He’s got to figure out a better way to explain it. What he’s doing now is not working,” said one Republican political hand, who is not aligned with or against Romney but did not want to publicly criticize the man who still may be the GOP nominee for president in 2012.

Part of the problem is that Romney has failed to offer a consistent and concise message in defense of his plan.

He sent out a fundraising letter arguing that President Obama’s plan should be repealed because it is too costly and will result in insurance price controls. But health-care costs in Massachusetts have skyrocketed since RomneyCare passed in 2006, and just last week Gov. Deval Patrick imposed price controls on insurers.

Romney has argued that his decision to mandate that each person in Massachusetts obtain insurance or face a financial penalty – similar to Obama’s plan – is “the ultimate conservative plan” because it encourages personal responsibility. But most conservatives dismiss that out of hand.

And the former governor has also tried to take a states rights tack, arguing that it is wrong for the federal government to mandate insurance coverage and impose a one-size-fits-all system, because health-care decisions should be left up to the states.

“Like any experiment, this was meant for one thing: Massachusetts. It wasn’t meant for Vermont or Texas, and their systems would not work in Massachusetts,” said Ron Kaufman, a D.C. lobbyist and close adviser to Romney.

Kaufman offered yet another line of argument in defense of RomneyCare. He said it was a necessary step in the process of state experimentation needed to show the federal government what works and what doesn’t.

“We wouldn’t have any kind of welfare reform if governors didn’t experiment in their states,” Kaufman said. “It took five or six governors doing different things to come up with a solution at a national level.”

And Kaufman appealed to Romney’s core capability: his track record as a successful businessman and chief executive.

“As we get closer and closer to 2012, and people are more and more scared of what the future is going to look like for their grand kids, people are going to say, ‘You know what we want in our president? Someone who is really competent to get stuff done,’” Kaufman said.

Romney’s surrogates also said in interviews with The Daily Caller that Patrick has removed key cost containment provisions that were in the bill when Romney signed it into law. The Patrick administration says this is not true.