Therefore, the question should not be whether or not Romney would take back the statement if he could, but rather:

(a) Why he would even offer up such a noxious comment publicly in the first place; and

From TPM:

"The first step is to move the two programs [Medicare and Medicaid] away from their current unsustainable defined-benefit entitlement model to a fiscally sound defined-contribution model," the draft platform reads. "While retaining the option of traditional Medicare in competition with private plans, we call for a transition to a premium-support model for Medicare, with an income-adjusted contribution toward a health plan of the enrollee's choice. This model will include private health insurance plans that provide catastrophic protection, to ensure the continuation of doctor-patient relationships."

The esoteric language gets to the heart of the change that ends the basic structure of Medicare. Since its inception in 1965, Medicare has been a government-run insurance program that directly pays medical bills for the elderly per their needs (i.e. "defined benefit"). Republicans want to turn it into a partially privatized system that pays seniors a fixed amount to buy their own health insurance (i.e. "defined contribution").

"Under the defined contribution approach envisaged by the Rivlin-Ryan plan [a proposal that's remarkably similar to Romney's], most of the risk of future health-care cost increases would be shifted onto the shoulders of Medicare beneficiaries," Uwe Reinhardt, a health policy expert at Princeton University, said last year. "This feature makes the proposal radical."

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office has found that the plan will raise seniors' out-of-pocket medical expenses by thousands of dollars, a fact Democrats hasten to point out. The draft Republican platform claims that the competition among private insurance plans will lead to major cost savings, though little evidence exists to support this argument.

This, people, is how you kill Medicare, not how you "save" it.  This is how you lower the standard of living and quality of life for people, and push more people into poverty.  This is how you make already-fat insurance companies fatter.

What I want to know is, how many Republicans are willing to volunteer - no, pledge, because they do love them some pledges - to give up traditional Medicare and put their access to care, and the affordability of insurance, co-pays and deductibles in the hands of the people who actually think this is a good idea?  Find me some 60-something, average Republican who thinks this is a good idea.  See if they'll commit to giving up Medicare for the chance to keep paying some private insurance company for the opportunity to access care.

Seriously, if there is one, single, redeeming plank, splinter, or even a speck of wood dust, in the GOP platform, I'll eat a bug; in the meantime, I'll just have to consider that it's a reflection of the twisted minds and cold hearts of its proponents.  As a preview of coming attractions, it's a horror show.