Why Romney needs to talk about himself
I mentioned in a brief comment yesterday that Mitt Romney has to do more than attack President Obama’s record if he’s to win this election. He has to convince voters he’s a credible alternative they can trust with the job.
I planned to expound on that thought in a future blog post, but Sean Trende of Real Clear Politics beat me to the punch.
Trende begins his piece — worth reading in its entirety — by noting some key findings of a recent Pew poll:
- Just 8 percent of registered voters say they need to know more about Obama.
- More than three times as many, 28 percent, say they need to know more about Romney.
Specifically, Trende writes, among the voters most likely to still be making up their minds, independents,
… 42 percent say they want to know more about his record as governor, 37 percent want to know more about his record as CEO of Bain Capital, and 35 percent want to know more about his tax returns. Just 21 percent of independents want to know more about his wealth, 19 percent want to know more about his family and upbringing, and 16 percent want to know more about his religious beliefs.”
This, Trende explains, is indicative of the kind of election which is a referendum on the incumbent. In such contests, he says, voters ask themselves two questions: “First, do I want the president to be re-elected? Second, is the challenger so unacceptable that I simply can’t bring myself to vote for him?”
Almost all voters have made up their minds about Obama, so question 2 is clearly in play at this point. And yet, the Romney campaign is spending almost its time and money attacking Obama rather than explaining who Romney is — leaving it to the Obama campaign to define Romney on its own. Negatively, of course.
Trende theorizes that Obama’s negative ads may not have moved the needle in opinion polls yet because undecided voters are waiting to hear what Romney has to say about himself.
Right or wrong about that last point — I’m not really sure — Trende is spot-on correct about the rest in my view. Pointing out that the economy is still stagnant is fine, but it’s inadequate. Romney has to explain who he is, what he wants to do, and how the former proves he can accomplish the latter.
There will be opportunities to do that: The Republican Party’s convention late next month will (or should) be a time for the GOP to burnish Romney’s image and tell his story. The question is whether he can wait until Labor Day to begin defining himself. I tend to think not.
– By Kyle Wingfield
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385 comments Add your comment
H.G. Pennypacker
July 25th, 2012
2:09 pm
We’ve given you people have all you need to know.
Ann Romney
H.G. Pennypacker
July 25th, 2012
2:10 pm
We’ve given you people all you need to know.
Ann Romney
(typo)
Auntie Christ
July 25th, 2012
2:11 pm
md…again. Yet the irony of that statement is that a business had to be created to fund all those items mentioned…
I don’t care to argue whether the chicken or the egg came first, but please go ponder it. It will be a better use of your time than the comments you post here.
Slick Rick
July 25th, 2012
2:12 pm
md – Austerity has consequences, too. See Great Britain, now officially in its second recession in the past ~4 years. To be contrasted with ‘Merica and its stimuli which have produced growth ranging from poor to fair to good, but all the while growth nonetheless. You think conservatives will put 2 and 2 together? I don’t. I think they’ll say it equals negative 5.
md
July 25th, 2012
2:13 pm
“Better than going full speed reverse when bush gave us losses of 800K per month.”
More of the it’s Bush’s fault baloney. As I said before, had the dems not blocked his reform of Fannie and Freddie, would we even of had all those losses??
It’s a double edged sword as we’ll never know. But to even try to put all the blame on bush shows a lack of honesty.
Auntie Christ
July 25th, 2012
2:17 pm
But to even try to put all the blame on bush shows a lack of honesty.
Who’s blaming? I just stated facts. You’re doing the blaming, saying Obama is the reason only 90K jobs/Mo are created. I merely pointed out a truth, that when Obama took office we were bleeding 800K a month
md
July 25th, 2012
2:18 pm
“I don’t care to argue whether the chicken or the egg came first, but please go ponder it. It will be a better use of your time than the comments you post here.”
I don’t blame you, I wouldn’t want to argue a losing case either………
Gov’t was born of money from business…..it’s impossible to do it the other way around in a capitalistic system.
Kyle Wingfield
July 25th, 2012
2:20 pm
getalife: What austerity?
md
July 25th, 2012
2:24 pm
“Who’s blaming?”
“when bush gave us losses of 800K per month.”
“Gave” being the operative word……..and had his reform gone through, do you think “his” policy might have made a difference???
If you want to use “gave”, one may want to insert “democrats” there considering it was them that “gave” us an un-reformed Fannie and Freddie……correct??
gadem
July 25th, 2012
2:24 pm
all I want to know is where is the jobs IF tax cuts create jobs, then where are the jobs. Taxes were cut a decade ago. What are the business leaders doing with ALL of that money? Someone ain’t being truthful…
curious
July 25th, 2012
2:25 pm
“We’ve given you people all you need to know”.
Ann Romney
That statement in itself says it all: They know what’s best for us (you people).
Sit down and eat your cereal.
I Report (-: You Whine )-: mmm, mmmm, mmmmm! Just sayin...
July 25th, 2012
2:26 pm
Take them for their word, Kyle. They consider an expansion of government and increases in spending to be “austerity.” Give it to them. Let them own it. It should frighten the majority as to what economic illiterates these liberals really are.
Dusty
July 25th, 2012
2:27 pm
oh no,
AUNTI CHIRST has gone to blaming BUSH again. He’s not running, Aunti.
SLICK RICK has got to be talking about Obama with his “pile of disengeniousness nothingness”. That ‘pile” is better known as the national debt
I’m thinking that Romney needs to talk about the national debt every day as it gets bigger and bigger every day. Mention it! It belongs to every one of us and our grandchildren. It’s the basic “bomb” that’s going to blast us. !
md
July 25th, 2012
2:30 pm
Rick…..spending has 2 elements, one a given and one not a given. The given aspect is the spending….once spent, it’s gone. The other element is the “possibility” of an outcome…..with zero guarantees. The only guarantee is the spending side of that equation.
Japan has been trying to stimulate it’s economy with spending for 2 decades…..their current debt to gdp ratio is 200%+……..not a good road to be on.
Greece, Spain, ireland, and Portugal ALL had spending problems……..now, they are at the mercy of others for the duration as they no longer have the option to spend…….austerity is now their only course of action.
You decide which is worse……spending? or saving?
weetamoe
July 25th, 2012
2:30 pm
My daughter, whose tech writing job now pays considerably less than the average 49 thou since she and her colleagues agreed to cuts in order to remain employed, spends two evenings a week as a volunteer in a therapeutic horseback riding program for autistic kids. There are also horse programs for vets suffering from PTSD. If any part of his qualifies as a business expense, then there is nothing wrong with claiming it. I think the Romney lawyers are too smart to make any illegal claims. Good grief, even lower than middle class Joe the Plumber was audited after asking candidate Obama an innocent question about taxes. In his talk to the Olympic athletes, Romney first praised the individual effort, incredible sacrifice,and talent of the athletes before mentioning the help of their parents, other family members and communities. Any attempt to equate that with Obama’s petty, envious, mendacious denigrating of the intelligence, hard work, and incredible sacrifice of business owners is dishonest. Romney praised the athletes. Obama showed a sneering contempt for the business owners.
Kyle Wingfield
July 25th, 2012
2:31 pm
Pennypacker @ 2:10: A pointless “scandal,” not least since the network that aired the interview now says she didn’t even say “you people.”
Kyle Wingfield
July 25th, 2012
2:33 pm
I Report: Oh, I definitely think they believe slower spending growth = “austerity.” I just want everyone else to know that’s what they’re talking about — and to wonder what kind of spending discipline they’d ever favor, if they consider the kind Britain has shown to be out of bounds.
Auntie Christ
July 25th, 2012
2:36 pm
gadem @224: “All I want to know is where is the jobs IF tax cuts create jobs, then where are the jobs. Taxes were cut a decade ago. What are the business leaders doing with ALL of that money? Someone ain’t being truthful…” You may be interested in this from AllGov.com yesterday:
If you combined the economies of the United States and Japan, you would have the dollar equivalent of the amount of money being stashed away by the super-rich of the world in offshore tax havens.
A new report from the Tax Justice Network found $21 trillion was hidden in foreign bank accounts in 2010. This amount is equal to the combined economic output of Japan and the U.S. each year.
Overall, there may be as much as $32 trillion held in offshore accounts, such as those located in banks found in Switzerland and the Cayman Islands. End of Article
Maybe Willard Mitt will tell us how this is creating jobs.
St Simons - we're on Island time
July 25th, 2012
2:37 pm
Rmoney needs to………bu….but….
“We’ve given you (little) people all you (peasants) need to know. (now
bring me my tax payer funded dancing horse and use the service
entrance on the way out)”
They might as well go all Al Capone/Marie Antoinette on ‘merka,
’cause he won’t be the final nominee
Slick Rick
July 25th, 2012
2:37 pm
Dusty – you can thank . . . here it comes . . . prepare for it . . . conservatives (Reagan, Bush, Dick) for the pile of debt we have.
Mr_B
July 25th, 2012
2:39 pm
md: For a more balanced view (blames both sides)of the causes of the 2008 meltdown, see
http://www.factcheck.org/2008/10/who-caused-the-economic-crisis/
Dusty
July 25th, 2012
2:43 pm
To tell the truth,
I think we are all wasting our time here. Most of the people I know have made their decisions about the next president. I suspect the so called “independents” also know whom they favor or maybe they are waiting to follow the crowd.
If they are waiting for the “crowd”, Obama is in. That’s how he got in the first time. Another “nice” speech or two and he’s got the vote. Doesn’t matter what Romney says. The pied piper of politics calls his puppets again and he’s saying “Don’t think! Follow me!” and they jump.
Mr_B
July 25th, 2012
2:43 pm
Kyle: Mr Romney will talk more about who he is, just as soon as he decides whom it is more advantageous to be at the moment.
Strangely, the previous president that Romney most resembles to me is JFK, a guy whose greatest claim to the Oval Office is something along the lines of “Well, the nation owes it to me.”
Jeffrey
July 25th, 2012
2:46 pm
I think Romney lost the chance to talk about himself a long time ago. He has changed positions so many times anything that tries to further define him would just confuse folks even more Say what you will about santorum and Gingrich they were at least defined I really can’t imagine what he could do now
Auntie Christ
July 25th, 2012
2:47 pm
Let me type this reeeeeeeeaaaaaaallllllllll sllllllooooooowwwwwwww, so you can understand thsi complicated statement:
Who’s blaming? I just stated facts.
You people really have your own way of reading between the lines don’t you, not just between the lines, but the pages and everywhere else. Like wee wee moe at 230 talking about Obama’s “sneering contempt for the business owners.” That’s a sign of a delusional, paranoid hater, to impute to someone faults that are not evident to anyone else (except other paranoid delusionals). wee wee, you haven’t dyed your hair orange have you?
Jeffrey
July 25th, 2012
2:47 pm
JFK fought in a war. Unless I’m missing the downside of having a rich father.
Mr_B
July 25th, 2012
2:53 pm
Jeffery: I’m not attacking JFK, but Joe Kennedy was determined that one of his sons would be president. JFK did bring a sense of entitlement with him. That said, I’m glad it was him and not Nixon during the Cuban missile thing.
I Report (-: You Whine )-: mmm, mmmm, mmmmm! Just sayin...
July 25th, 2012
2:53 pm
I’m not gonna say who it is but one of these libs has an obsession with people’s private parts.
Could you calm it down, little freak?
md
July 25th, 2012
2:54 pm
“md: For a more balanced view (blames both sides)of the causes of the 2008 meltdown, see”
MrB…..I’ve read that one before, hence the reason I said it was a double edged sword and we will never know.
Mandingo
July 25th, 2012
2:54 pm
The united GOP voter suppression efforts should have R-Money in pretty good shape.
md
July 25th, 2012
2:57 pm
“Let me type this reeeeeeeeaaaaaaallllllllll sllllllooooooowwwwwwww, so you can understand thsi complicated statement:
Who’s blaming? I just stated facts.”
Words have meaning…..use the ones that convey your message and there won’t be any misunderstandings. To use the phrase “Bush gave us” implies the man…vs “during the Bush years” (or something equivalent). There is a difference. One has an element of blame while the other does not.
Auntie Christ
July 25th, 2012
2:58 pm
Jeffrey @ 247: JFK fought in a war. Unless I’m missing the downside of having a rich father.
That was a different generation, a generation that believed in sacrifice, sacrifice of their blood and their treasure. They saw the value of building infrastructure and schools, They didn’t whine about being “taxed enough already,” and avoid their responsibility to pass that infrastructure and the American dream on to the next generation, with the expectation that this generation would do the same.
md
July 25th, 2012
3:06 pm
” They didn’t whine about being “taxed enough already,” and avoid their responsibility to pass that infrastructure and the American dream on to the next generation, with the expectation that this generation would do the same.”
Is the 50% that don’t pay any income tax whining? How dare they……….
independent thinker
July 25th, 2012
3:06 pm
Here is what I already know about Willard Mitt Romney :
1. He is a Mormon and will not answer any questions about his faith or his support of racist and antisemitic policies of the Mormon Church;
2, Hides all records of past business and government dealings for no obvious reason;
3. Draft dodger who hid in France during the Vietnam War;
4. Keeps money and business dealings offshore and created a fake blind trust while governor run allegedly by his wife and son;
5. Changed his position on every major conservative “hot button” issue once or more;
6. Knows nothing about foreign policy and national security and will rely on the same fools as did George W. and make the same mistakes;
7. Will give bankers the same rope to hang themselves and wreck the economy as did George W.
8. Has the same plan for universal health care as Obama and
9. Sounds terrible when singing
Other than that he claims to be the job creator with no proven track record to prove that but is a nice guy.
Dusty
July 25th, 2012
3:07 pm
Ho hum…I think I will turn off the propaganda pipe line here. Liberals have “lost it”.
Example: “wee wee, you haven’t dyed your hair orange have you?” from Aunti Christ.
Besides, the Braves are playing and they represent a strong team with an honest effort. Most enjoyable. Go Braves!
Auntie Christ
July 25th, 2012
3:13 pm
md @ 257: To use the phrase “Bush gave us” implies the man…vs “during the Bush years” (or something equivalent). There is a difference. One has an element of blame while the other does not.
I will remember that in the future, especially when I hear someone talking about the “prosperity raygun brought us,” or how “raygun got the economy moving.” I’m counting on you to help me catch all those abusers of the language.
md
July 25th, 2012
3:13 pm
Gee HBD, where did you get that awful analysis……..
“He was already utilizing IRAs and 401(k)s to shelter much of his investment income, possibly worth as much as $100 million today, from taxes.”
I would certainly hope so, that is why we all have them………..
and:
” It is reported that once the Olympics showed a profit, Romney ended up donating his salary to charities, thus further lowering his reported income for tax purposes.”
Heaven forbid anyone give their entire salary to charity……..I’m shocked, just absolutely shocked….
That whole piece does a pretty bad job of masking the intent of pure smear………
Kyle Wingfield
July 25th, 2012
3:14 pm
HDB: Shorter excerpt, please.
md
July 25th, 2012
3:18 pm
“I will remember that in the future, especially when I hear someone talking about the “prosperity raygun brought us,” or how “raygun got the economy moving.” I’m counting on you to help me catch all those abusers of the language.”
You seem to be having a problem distinguishing between things happening during an administration and things happening because of a direct policy of an administration……..
Credit or blame is fine if applied toward an outcome of a policy implemented by any given President.
Such as the high credit card rates we are all currently enjoying…….directly in response to the credit card bill signed by the current president……..
Auntie Christ
July 25th, 2012
3:19 pm
md @ 300 pm: Is the 50% that don’t pay any income tax whining? How dare they…
To quote a great American, “words have meaning.” 50% indicates more than one, ergo we say ARE the 50%…..
Is our children learning?
clyde
July 25th, 2012
3:25 pm
This election should be so simple for the Republicans that it’s simple.But it ain’t.And the Candidate is the problem.
Romney’s saving grace with me is that I don’t believe he can do a worse job in the next four years than Obama is capable of doing.
md
July 25th, 2012
3:25 pm
“ergo we say ARE the 50%…..”
And you are correct, it should be are……but you are also grasping if a grammatical error is all you have.
Tense doesn’t really change the “meaning”……….that would be on the backside of that sentence.
Slick Rick
July 25th, 2012
3:28 pm
md – Credit card rates should be higher, much higher. So we can, ya know, ween ourselves off of spending money we don’t have on things we don’t need.
That Black guy
July 25th, 2012
3:34 pm
md
July 25th, 2012
1:20 pm
“He likes to bully people. Not much else you need to know.”
Have something to back that up or is it just bully speech?
_________________________________________
They may be talking about when Obama attacked the little Black girk when he was younger.
catlady
July 25th, 2012
3:34 pm
While I am not 100% thrilled with everything Obama has been able to do, I am 100% NOT willing to vote for Romney. He is NOT what we need. I had hoped the Republicans would come up with a much better candidate.
It seems like all Romney is running on is NOT being Obama. That’s just plain stupid!
HDB
July 25th, 2012
3:39 pm
The more that comes out about Romney…..
Did Mitt Romney get a ‘bailout’ for Bain & Company??
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/fact-checker/post/did-mitt-romney-get-a-bailout-for-bain-and-company/2012/07/24/gJQAvzSh7W_blog.html?hpid=z10
Jefferson
July 25th, 2012
3:47 pm
President up by 6, on his way — Romney is helping him, not hurting him.
Jefferson
July 25th, 2012
3:50 pm
You folks know Romney IS one of the worse choices, he bought you, how does that feel — you know being bought ?
md
July 25th, 2012
3:51 pm
“md – Credit card rates should be higher, much higher. So we can, ya know, ween ourselves off of spending money we don’t have on things we don’t need.”
You do realize that there are many that can and do use credit cards responsibly. Unfortunately, it’s the one’s that don’t that cause the problems for everybody……..
So much so that the democrats thought it necessary to pass a bill to socialize their bad habits……
I Report (-: You Whine )-: mmm, mmmm, mmmmm! Just sayin...
July 25th, 2012
3:54 pm
He bought us with his own money instead of with ours, like obozo bought you.