by Zack Beauchamp
John Quiggin points out some interesting parallels between Romney and Obama:
In a lot of ways, Romney looks like Obama’s role model. That’s true in terms of their signature policy achievements (very similar health care policies), their general lack of (and even disparagement of) commitment to particular policies or principles, and their acceptance of the centrist view of the world in which the correct position is always midway between extremes, however those extremes may have been determined, and whatever their substantive content. Romney’s success in winning office in Massachusetts was a model for Obama’s success in what is (at least in Obama’s view and that of his advisors) an essentially rightwing country.
Wendy Kaminer has related thoughts:
Putting aside personality, presentation, and political posturing (notably on the auto bailout) their policy differences on the economy and the war on terror, drugs, and civil liberty seem relatively insignificant. Romney, like Obama, would continue the Bush/Cheney anti-terror regime, expanding executive power and the national security state; unlike Obama he would not begin a debate about the deficit by demanding tax increases, but the end result would not differ, if Obama ends up where Romney would begin.
The Dish 