Which Economist Might Have A Big Impact On The U.S. Presidential Election?

John Gruber of M.I.T. who helped design Romney’s healthcare plan in Massachusetts.  In an interview with MSNBC, he says:

Romney is “the father of health-care reform…. think he is the single person most responsible for health care reform in the United States. … I’m not trying to make a political position or a political statement, I honestly feel that way. If Mitt Romney had not stood up for this reform in Massachusetts … I don’t think it would have happened nationally. So I think he really is the guy with whom it all starts.

On the “individual mandate” which stipulates that everyone buy insurance or face a penalty:

“This was a big decision to be made and Governor Romney clearly stated that he believed without an individual mandate healthy people could just free ride on the system.”

On Romney’s claim that the Massachusetts law led to no tax increases:

[Gruber] also noted that the Massachusetts law didn’t require any increase in taxes only because it received federal health-care funds that defrayed the costs of the new law.

These comments are bad for Romney – they weaken him against Obama and Perry.  They are good for Perry. Are they good for Obama?  This depends on whether Perry or Romney would be stronger against Obama…