Maybe this is what Rick Santorum had in mind when he called Mitt Romney a "liberal."

On Thursday, Romney, the former Massachusetts governor and putative Republican presidential nominee, visited a north St. Louis County manufacturing business to tout his free enterprise credentials.

The purpose of his visit to St. Louis (other than raising money) was to spin the narrative that President Barack Obama is against business, while he is for it. It's not true, as Romney knows, but this sentence in his speech is:

"Our government has an absolute moral commitment to help every American help themselves."

The sentence, though grammatically problematic, fits nicely with those printed at the top of this page — written by Joseph Pulitzer in 1907 — the "Platform" that guides our opinion writing.

During his long rightward primary slog against Mr. Santorum and a host of other challengers, Romney endorsed many less-progressive ideas. He supports economic policies that benefit the richest 1 percent of Americans to the detriment of others. He brushes off holes in the safety net for this country's poorest people. He endorses the slash-and-burn economic policies of U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., that would significantly reduce senior citizens' health care benefits.

There was a time, such as when he signed Massachusetts' mandatory health insurance law, that Romney seemed serious about the "moral commitment to help every American help themselves." Now he trashes the president's health care reforms that were based on the Massachusetts model.

The relationship between government and business, between government and its citizens, is complicated, and it doesn't fit neatly into sound bites that drive presidential races. Mr. Romney's choice of a venue on Thursday, Production Products, a defense contractor, is a case in point.

Founded by Barry Corona, the company's key clients are the various armed services of the U.S. government and defense contractors. Because Corona is Hispanic, his company has a bidding advantage because of government regulations that support minority-owned businesses. The company proudly proclaims that it developed its business model with help from the Small Business Administration. Production Products lists 21 awards on its website; all but four of those awards came from the government.

It is a fine company, and Corona undoubtedly worked hard to build it. But it has had a lot of government help. The end-user of its products is the government itself.

Romney's visit to St. Louis beautifully illustrates the disconnect in the national conversation about the role of government. Conservatives decry the heavy hand of government — except when government can help business make a profit.

Romney blames Obama for the $535 million in federal loans to Solyndra, a failed solar cell firm. He faults him for the ineffectiveness of some stimulus projects. But he defends government policies that pad Wall Street profits, offer tax breaks to Big Oil or help certain defense companies.

The presidential race should not be about which candidate is pro-government or anti-government, pro-business or anti-business. It should be about the proper role of government. We agree with Romney that part of that role is the "moral commitment" to help Americans help themselves succeed.

If Romney is serious about America's moral commitment to solving those sorts of problems, then we welcome him to the fight.

REPRINTED FROM THE ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH