Mitt Romney Contradicts Own Campaign, Acknowledges Individual Mandate "Is a Tax"

Romney: Individual mandate "is a tax"

Related: The Daily Rundown: Interview with Romney Senior Adviser Eric Fehrnstrom

Politico's Maggie Haberman ( @maggiepolitico ) tweets:

Romney cleanup on Fehrnstrom reiterates Boston concern about the base, will raise q's about why Obamacare diff than Masscare, and...

...is unusual departure from where his longtime senior adviser was on something publicly

BuzzFeed's Andrew Kaczynski ( ‏@BuzzFeedAndrew ) notes:

In admitting the individual mandate is a tax, Romney admits he raised taxes in Massachusetts.

Caroline Horn of CBS News tweets:

Obama spox on Romney saying "it's a tax": "He threw his top aide Eric Fehrnstrom under the bus by changing his campaign's position."

UPDATE: Wall Street Journal reporter Sara Murray tweets:

"Of course, if that's what they say it is." Romney's ropeline response when @DanaBashCNN asks if health care penalty is a tax per SCOTUS.

Politico's Alex Burns ( @aburnspolitico ) observes:

Romney's position would be tougher to sustain if the WH weren't engaged in its own set of acrobatics on whether the mandate's a tax

Or if, say, the president were delivering a detailed, consistent message on health care that would engage Romney in a fact-based debate

AP: 'Obamacare's a tax,' Romney says, while maintaining the health care mandate he established in Mass. is not: http://apne.ws/NA7gsm

Neil King of the Wall Street Journal tweets:

So if it's a tax, can Romney still say he didn't raise taxes as Mass governor? Romneycare garnered $20 million in taxes last year.

Wall Street Journal: Romney's Tax Confusion: The candidate's response on the ObamaCare mandate reveals larger campaign problems.

The Boston Globe's Matt Viser: WSJ hits Romneys “insular staff” & “lame jujitsu spin.” Adds it “looks confused in addition to being politically dumb”

WSJ: “For the sake of not abandoning his faulty healthcare legacy in MA, Romney is jeopardizing chance @ becoming Pres”

Politico's Ben White: Wow. WSJ edit page rips Romney over shifting stance on Obamacare tax/non-tax

WSJ: "tragedy is that for .. sake of not abandoning his faulty health-care legacy in Mass ... Romney is jeopardizing .. chance at [winning]

More from WSJ bazooka editorial: "[T]he [Romney] campaign looks confused in addition to being politically dumb."

beating the horse here, but that WSJ edit is a ballistic missile aimed right at boston and it captures lot of c-suite anger

Roger Simon: Romney shakes the Etch A Sketch and decides health care mandate is a tax.

First Murdoch attacks Mitt & then the WSJ attacks him. Next: Somebody will bug his jet ski.

Jim Manley: As a general rule, The wsj editorial writers are unusually skilled prevaricators, but damn, the piece on the romney campaign is BRUTAL

Zeke Miller: WSJ ed: " the rich man obliged by vacationing this week at his lake-side home with a jet-ski cameo."

WSJ: Romney promised Republicans he was the best man to make the case against President Obama...So far Mr. Romney is letting them down.

OUCH: WSJ on Romney: " the campaign looks confused in addition to being politically dumb."

WSJ ed board says @ericfehrn's MSNBC interview may be a turning point in this campaign. I think this editorial might be a bigger one...