Obama Finally Shows His Teeth
Has Barack Obama finally learned his lesson? He’s the incumbent; his strategy is simple: attack Mitt Romney, and God knows there are reasons to attack the former Massachusetts governor!
But you have to know how to attack. It’s one thing to attack Romney’s past during his years as head of Bain Capital. It’s another thing to attack his mediocre record as governor of Massachusetts. These attacks worked for a while; they created a buzz and made the evening news. But they aren’t enough.
Obama’s strategy is very simple: attack Mitt Romney’s agenda. Basically, the only important question is this: Do Americans want to return to the politics that brought them economic disaster? “This election presents a choice between two fundamentally different visions of how to create strong, sustained growth; how to pay down our long-term debt; and most of all, how to generate good, middle-class jobs so people can have confidence that if they work hard, they can get ahead. Now, this isn’t some abstract debate,” said the 44th president, during a speech on the economy in Cleveland. With this speech that resembled a State of the Union address, Obama tried to refocus his campaign after two weeks of wavering that threatened his re-election.
Obama warned that voting for Romney was a return to Bush politics; that is to say, to tax cuts for the rich and serious cuts to education, medical research, health programs, and early childhood programs. “This -- this is their economic plan. . . if they win the election their agenda will be simple and straightforward; they have spelled it out.” Changing his tone after several weeks of apathy, Obama challenged his audience. “If you agree with the approach I just described, if you want to give the policies of the last decade another try, then you should vote for Mr. Romney. . . You should vote for his allies in Congress. You should take them for their word . . .”
At the same time he changed the focus of his attacks, going from Romney’s past to his policies for the future, some of the president’s advisors made him pass around a memo advocating change in message for the coming months. For several weeks, the 44th President has come across as having lost his touch a bit. But his last move - the executive order preventing the deportation of young Hispanics - is a masterful move that completely changes the game, forcing Romney to alienate either Latino voters or his conservative base. It should be interesting to see what happens in the coming weeks.
But you have to know how to attack. It’s one thing to attack Romney’s past during his years as head of Bain Capital. It’s another thing to attack his mediocre record as governor of Massachusetts. These attacks worked for a while; they created a buzz and made the evening news. But they aren’t enough.
Obama’s strategy is very simple: attack Mitt Romney’s agenda. Basically, the only important question is this: Do Americans want to return to the politics that brought them economic disaster? “This election presents a choice between two fundamentally different visions of how to create strong, sustained growth; how to pay down our long-term debt; and most of all, how to generate good, middle-class jobs so people can have confidence that if they work hard, they can get ahead. Now, this isn’t some abstract debate,” said the 44th president, during a speech on the economy in Cleveland. With this speech that resembled a State of the Union address, Obama tried to refocus his campaign after two weeks of wavering that threatened his re-election.
Obama warned that voting for Romney was a return to Bush politics; that is to say, to tax cuts for the rich and serious cuts to education, medical research, health programs, and early childhood programs. “This -- this is their economic plan. . . if they win the election their agenda will be simple and straightforward; they have spelled it out.” Changing his tone after several weeks of apathy, Obama challenged his audience. “If you agree with the approach I just described, if you want to give the policies of the last decade another try, then you should vote for Mr. Romney. . . You should vote for his allies in Congress. You should take them for their word . . .”
At the same time he changed the focus of his attacks, going from Romney’s past to his policies for the future, some of the president’s advisors made him pass around a memo advocating change in message for the coming months. For several weeks, the 44th President has come across as having lost his touch a bit. But his last move - the executive order preventing the deportation of young Hispanics - is a masterful move that completely changes the game, forcing Romney to alienate either Latino voters or his conservative base. It should be interesting to see what happens in the coming weeks.