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Forget seeking to tie Mitt Romney's past with one woman's death from cancer - a charge that lacks much evidence.

A political pundit and journalist took a great leap further when he said Thursday that a Romney presidency would cost people with preexisting conditions and those out of work their lives.

On MSNBC Thursday night, Jonathan Alter spoke out against the repeal of Obamacare.

"People will die in the United States if Obamacare is repealed," Alter said on air last night. "That is not an exaggeration. That is not crying fire. It's a simple fact."

Alter then went on to claim that, since Romney has said he would repeal Obamacare on his "first day" in office if elected in November, "a lot of people will die" if the Republican is elected to the presidency - putting the responsibility for these individuals' deaths squarely on Romney's shoulders.

"They don't need to embrace this ad and get into a big fight about whether they were calling Mitt Romney a murderer or whatever," Alter said, referring to the controversy surrounding the Priorities USA spot. "They need to move on to a debate about the main issue, which is Obamacare. And they can bring death into the conversation and say, 'No, we're not calling Mitt Romney a murderer, what we are saying is that if he's elected president, a lot of people will die.' Those are two slightly different, but related issues," Alter said.

Romney has recently lightened the tone of his anti-Obamacare message, saying that he would embrace health care reform, particularly coverage for those with pre-existing conditions, as president. Read more about that here.

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