Mitt Romney is nothing if not efficient. Shortly after 10:00 this morning, the former Massachusetts governor (and suspected human lifeform) strode down a Manhattan sidewalk, passed three dutifully arranged Ford F-350 New York Fire Department ambulances and parked himself in front of St. Vincent's Hospital--and an awaiting phalanx of reporters and television cameras. (Directly across the street stood a sex-toy shop called Fantasy World--conveniently off-camera, considering it's not really Romney's bag).  The purpose of his visit to the heart of Hillaryland: to trash Mrs. Clinton's new proposal for universal health care, which he called "Hillarycare 2.0" and claimed would have "no more success than Hillarycare 1.0." The reason we cite this as evidence of Romney's efficiency: it happened about an hour before Clinton, in Des Moines, Iowa for the day, even announced the details of her plan. How's that for visionary leadership?

Romney, of course, is no clairvoyant. When asked how he knew enough about "Hillarycare 2.0" to rip it apart, he boasted that his impressions were "based on reports we've seen this morning." Translation: "Who cares?" (The Romney event was scheduled on Sunday.) All Romney needed to know, it seemed, was the word "Europe." "Hillary takes her inspiration from European bureaucracies," he said. "It’s European-style socialized medicine,” he added. "It's the kind of thing they have over in Europe," he concluded. All told, Romney managed to drop the E-bomb six times over the course of his ten-minute appearance. Quelle horreur!

Despite offering public coverage as an option, Hillary's plan isn't particularly European--i.e. state-provided, single-payer care. The problem for Romney--and the reason he's shredding Hillary on this issue before she even opens her mouth--is that back in the deep-blue Bay State he was responsible for enacting a universal health care plan that, like Clinton's, requires individuals to buy insurance. Inconveniently, many GOP primary voters aren't particularly into that sort of thing. So Romney now favors passing measures to make coverage more affordable, and then letting the states decide how to deal with the problem. "Do we believe that Washington knows best?" he asked this morning. "Or do we believe the states know best?" Massachusetts could not be reached for comment.