Face it. Mandates crush freedom.

“It’s the economy, stupid,” worked for Bill Clinton. Maybe Rick Santorum should go with, “It’s the Romneycare, stupid” out on the campaign trail. In a sense, that’s the message he’s bringing, but he doesn’t call anyone “stupid.” Rather, he is appealing to voters’ sense of moral reasoning.

From BuzzFeed:

“I don’t think there’s been enough conversation as it relates to the model of RomneyCare and how it’s very close to ObamaCare, and I think he’s got a lot to answer for,” said Santorum campaign manager Mike Biundo.

“It was very clear tonight we were pointing out that Mitt Romney started ObamaCare,” Santorum’s top media advisor, John Brabender told reporters, as Ohio results rolled in. “He started it with Romneycare.”

“More importantly we saw this week that Mitt Romney personally lobbied for Romneycare to become Obamacare,” an apparent reference to a 2009 op-ed in which Romney offered his plan as a model for Obama. “The unfortunate thing is he got his wish.”

In the end, this is why Rick Santorum decided to re-enter public life again, to run for president to save his daughter Bella and others like her from the rationing of healthcare that the Left now openly admits will happen. The individual mandate, which is the main point of Romneycare that Rick Santorum takes issue with, is also the main point of Obamacare that conservatives take issue with. The individual mandate which requires everyone to purchase health insurance or face a government-imposed fine is unprecedented in American history and violates the Constitution in that it is government forcing every person to purchase something merely based on the fact that they exist.

We likely will not see Rick Santorum saying, “It’s the Romneycare, stupid,” but arguments along those lines without name-calling may be expected more and more in the coming days. Truly, it makes no sense to elect a nominee who has a long history of supporting the very thing that is the key issue to most Americans today.