Peggy Noonan has always had a soft spot for Willard. In 2008, she angrily accused the GOP's base of rejecting him because he was a Mormon. So Friday, she basically turned her column over to him -- and he laid out the argument for his candidacy.

"I think America is going to decide whether we will put ourself on a path toward Europe—whether we will become another nation dominated by government, where citizens are dependent on government for the things they want in life, where opportunity is sacrificed, where military strength is depleted to pay for government promises, where unemployment is chronically high and wage growth chronically low. That, in my view, is the course the president has put us upon." If Barack Obama is re-elected, "it will be very difficult to get off that path. If I'm elected, I will usher in a period of economic vitality," that will leave the world "surprised."

It's more than a little weird to be running on a hypothetical ("If you don't vote for me, something like this might happen in the future.") Why not run against Obama's actual record?

But let's take a look at these claims, one at a time.

...whether we will become another nation dominated by government...

Under Obama, government has gotten smaller, not bigger. Government spending has increased at the lowest rate since the 1950s. Oh, and taxes are at historic lows. Where is the dominating government Willard talking about?

...where citizens are dependent on government for the things they want in life...

This statement can't be factually rebutted because it's completely fact-free, unless you believe David Cameron and Angela Merkel are giving away free ponies to their citizens.

...where opportunity is sacrificed...

By "opportunity" I'm assuming Willard is talking about upward mobility, and the following European nations offer better opportunities to do better than your parents did than the United States: Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Germany, Finland, Spain -- and France.

...where military strength is depleted to pay for government promises...

Defense spending has increased under Obama -- and the U.S. currently spends more than the next 14 countries combined on defense.

...where unemployment is chronically high...

Unemployment rates in the US and Europe don't look that different over time. But Germany, Sweden, the Czech Republicans and the Netherlands all currently have lower unemployment rates than the US.

...and wage growth chronically low.

Wages have been stagnant in the US since the 1980s.

So Willard is running a completely fact-free campaign -- against a hypothetical that has no basis in reality.