But wasn't he the governor who...?

As part of his public campaign to repeal President Obama’s health care law, Mitt Romney is pushing “Issue 3” in Ohio this week, a referendum banning mandates. But in addition to trying to block Democrats’ health care law, the proposal would also outlaw the very same kind of state-level health care law that Romney considers one of his proudest achievements in Massachusetts.

If passed, the referendum would add an amendment to the state’s Constitution stating that “no federal, state or local law or rule shall compel, directly or indirectly, any person, employer or health care provider to participate in a health care system.” ...TalkingPointsMemo

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Mitt Romney’s strategy is different: he’s more-or-less staked out a conservativism without the crazy. Oh, he’s campaigning as a hard-line conservative all right. But there’s no birther nonsense there. He’s either avoided or played down many of the positions that might play well among the 20 percent or so most conservative and ideological Republicans, but are vastly unpopular in the nation as a whole.

But how long can Romney refrain from embracing the crazy? If Perry breaks through and winds up seriously challenging Romney in the primaries and caucuses next year, Romney is going to be pushed hard to match him step for step: in a Republican nomination battle that gets defined as moderate vs. conservative, the moderate has no chance. On the other hand, if Romney can dominate from the start, or if his only challengers are fringe candidates such as Cain, Michele Bachmann, or Newt Gingrich, then Romney will be able to emerge from the primaries with relatively little general election baggage, and Republicans will have reason to be quite happy with how the nomination battle played out.

That is, if they can stomach Mitt Romney as their nominee. ...Greg Sargent